An ever-increasing volume of digital content is crippling marketing teams and wasting time and money for UK businesses.
The People Cost of Content report reveals the average marketing department wastes 13 days per staff member every year hunting for digital assets and filing content.
This inefficiency is impacting the performance of marketing teams, with 41% admitting it has caused them to delay releasing materials, and it’s also taking its toll on staff morale and wellbeing.
Almost half (46%) of the marketers surveyed have worked late because they have lost time hunting for files and more than half (54%) find searching for digital assets frustrating and time-consuming.
Mike Paxton, Head of UK Business Development at Canto, who commissioned the research, said: “From photographs, graphics and videos, to documents, presentations, design files and other media, marketing teams use more digital assets than ever before, so internal shared servers and simple file sharing services are no longer enough.
“Our research shows that marketing staff are working late, forfeiting their breaks and skipping exercise in an attempt to make up for the time they spend hunting for digital files. It’s well known that your people are your most valuable asset, so allowing this sort of impact just doesn’t make good business sense.”
According to the Canto research, the top five frustrations for marketing teams are:
1. Searching for a file having forgotten the file name (46%)
2. Trawling through folders of photography/imagery to find a suitable shot (37%)
3. Looking for folders or files that have been moved by colleagues (36%)
4. Looking for content in the right place but finding that colleagues have saved them somewhere else (29%)
5. Trying to send large file sizes back and forth with colleagues or external partners and suppliers (25%)
Other frustrations include trying to find every photograph of a particular person and being unable to check who a file has already been shared with.
Despite all of this, over two thirds of marketers (69%) would still like their organisation to produce more marketing content.
Asked how they would rather spend their daily time lost hunting for digital assets and filing content, nearly half of respondents (48%) said they would finish work on time. Almost a quarter (24%) said they would instead do some exercise.
Paxton added: “The problem is not that there’s too much content. Digital content is fundamental to marketing and is only going to increase. The problem is that it’s not stored in a user-friendly and efficient way. Digital Asset Management (‘DAM’) software uses the latest technology and functionality to solve these problems.
“In recent years there has been an explosion of self-help advice around the benefits of decluttering and organising your life. As individuals, we’re embracing this trend but it seems that many workplaces are behind the curve when it comes to tackling their outdated digital filing practices. For marketing teams with high-volume, fast-growing folders, it’s a no-brainer.”