This post is part of G2's 2022 digital trends series. Read more about G2’s perspective on digital transformation trends in an introduction from Tom Pringle, VP, market research, and additional coverage on trends identified by G2’s analysts.

Keeping up with content creation    

There is no doubt that content is taking over the world. The amount of digital content published has skyrocketed in recent years with no signs of slowing down. The term “content” is broad. It can refer to internal documents, client information, creative material, and more. Thus, the software used to create, store, and manage content are vast. 

Traditionally, tools such as enterprise content management (ECM) systems, knowledge management software, content management systems, and digital experience platforms (DXP) have shared use cases and features, but these platforms were always viewed as separate solutions by users because of their distinguished technical architecture. They were perceived by what they were instead of what they accomplished. This is changing.

Businesses are beginning to think beyond just storing and managing content. They are beginning to ask—how can our content work for us? In describing their products, many content management solution providers are using the word “knowledge” in place of words like “content”, “information”, or “data”. This reflects a mindset shift in the wider business landscape indicating that people are craving a deeper understanding of the information they are fed.

G2’s Knowledge Management category is expanding

According to G2 data, the Enterprise Wiki category, a subcategory of the Knowledge Management category that houses products that provide central repositories to store, organize, and distribute business knowledge, has grown by 22% in the past 12 months. 

This growth is attributed to both new products on G2 and existing products that have been recently added to the Knowledge Management category at the request of vendors. This places the Enterprise Wiki category in the top 10% fastest-growing categories on G2. 

Extracting value from content internally and externally

Internal-facing content is often meant to help employees get their work done, whether by answering process questions, finding the action points from last week’s meeting, or providing the correct data for analysis. Making this content simpler to access offers numerous benefits. It offers a layer of transparency that builds trust with employees. It also empowers them to be more autonomous and efficient. Overall, the result is happier employees and higher productivity.

Another major factor influencing this content management trend is the expectation of a seamless customer experience. Once this was a nice-to-have, now it is a must. Traditionally, the creation, publishing, and distribution of content were passed through a funnel of siloed tools. This process wasn’t conducive to an iterative approach to content design, leading to an end result that wasn’t optimized for the customer experience. Platform solutions integrated with functionality to manage every part of this process makes it possible to deliver a more personalized and consistent omnichannel experience to customers.

Looking forward

There is an overall shift in mindset. Content creation and the generation of other forms of information aren't slowing, but the focus is now on how best to utilize it—make it accessible, get it to the right audience, recycle it, and optimize it.