• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, December 12, 2024

Email may not be the most widely used channel for promoting content. But it ranks right up there -- third among many.  

Among content producers, 37% have email platforms in their content ecosystem, meaning that they use them for creating, managing and distributing content, according to The State of Digital Content, 2025 Edition, a study from Canto conducted in partnership with Ascend2.

Email is outranked only be social media management and scheduling tools (51%) and content creation technology (41). But 33% apiece use customer relationship management tools and analytics and reporting solutions.  

Companies are also jamming their tech stacks with these platforms:

• Project management/workflow automation tools — 32%
• Content management systems (CMS) — 31%
• Search engine optimization (SEO) tools — 31% 
• Digital asset management (DAM) platforms — 27%
• Content distribution platforms — 27% 
• Marketing automation platforms (MAP) — 24%
• Project information management (PIM) systems — 21%

And there is a downside to this proliferation of platforms. 

“With nearly half (45%) of content teams using four or more solutions to create, manage, and distribute content, streamlining the content ecosystem is crucial, the study says. “Consolidating and integrating these tools can significantly improve workflow efficiency, reduce friction, and enable teams to produce higher volumes of quality content.”

It gets worse — 38% use six or more platforms. 

There soon will be more pressure on these systems. Of the creative teams polled, 77% expect their production volume to increase in the year to come, compared to 72% in prior years. 

Yet 25% feel they have the right tools for the job, and 17% expect budget cuts, up from 10% last year. 

One challenge they face is managing and accessing product information for use in content. The hurdles include: 

• Lack of standardization in product naming conventions — 31%
• Limited search functionality for product information — 30% 
• Product data stored across multiple locations — 30% 
• Lack of version control for product information updates — 30% 
• Disorganized or incomplete product information — 28% 
• Limited access to product data due to permissions or restrictions — 27% 
• Duplicate or outdated product data — 26%
• Inability to integrate product information across systems — 26% 
• Inconsistent product data attributes/descriptions — 25% 

So how do companies manage product information? They use:

Spreadsheets (e.g., Excel, Google Sheets) — 43%

Website content management systems — 39% 

Internal built system — 33%

Product information management (PIM) system — 32% 

E-commerce platforms (e.g. Shopify, Amazon) — 32% 

Enterprise resource planning (ERP system) — 32% 

No formal tool — 6%

In general, content producers also face these challenges:

• Keeping up with increasing content demands for various channels — 45%
• Allocating adequate budget and/or resources — 37%
• Managing a growing volume of content, amplified by generative AI — 36%
• Finding and/or implementing the right technology — 33%
• Aligning teams for effective collaboration and/or efficient workflows — 31%
• Maintaining brand consistency — 31%
• Inability to deliver at the speed of business — 26%
• Locating and accessing assets efficiently — 23%

Ascend2 surveyed 423 professionals.