By MARK McCORMICK

A recent Neil Patel webinar preached how content is no longer king. Rather, as marketers grapple with AI-realities in the SEO world we’ve lived, it’ll be amazing, engaging, authoritative, proprietary-data-heavy content that’s king.

Which is all well and good. But tell that to the marketers under the gun to continuously create more with less.

In a recent survey of more than 600 marketing, brand, and communication professionals, PhotoShelter found that 85 percent face increasing pressure to produce more content more rapidly, “creating numerous challenges with their content creation workflows.”

More than three-quarters (76 percent) said economic fluctuations are amplifying the need for strategic pivots in workflows, 71 percent continue to have concerns about budget (concerns that are long-standing), and almost half (45 percent) struggle to stand out amongst their competition.

“Marketing and creative professionals have identified content creation as the stage of their workflow with the most friction,” the study says. “So it’s no surprise that 65 percent of marketing professionals believe this friction negatively impacts revenue-driving functions.”

PhotoShelter says AI tools and digital asset management platforms are already being put to use to increase overall efficiency and productivity, with 69 percent believing AI can help their companies expand to new markets and 71 percent believing companies not adopting these tools will lose their competitive edge.

For those who use AI, 82 percent say it’s streamlined processes and manual tasks, 39 percent have seen it as a significant benefit in their content reporting campaign optimization, and 35 percent have seen reduced expenses when used for content. Perhaps most important of all, 88 percent say AI has increased the ROI of their work and freed time up for more meaningful tasks.

“Looking ahead, 82 percent of creative and marketing professionals believe that AI will redefine the future of branding and marketing,” the study says.

Being a digital asset management (DAM) platform itself, PhotoShelter highlighted how those DAM tools also empower marketers, particularly when paired with AI technology. 90 percent of survey respondents saw improvements in productivity, 88 percent in efficiency, 84 percent in quality of work, and 81 percent in work environment.

“As content creation demands soar, brand and marketing teams must leverage technology to stay ahead,” says PhotoShelter CEO Andrew Fingerman. “The creative industry is facing a pivotal moment as AI allows creative professionals to work in new and innovative ways.”

Mark McCormick is president of Mirabel Technologies.