Agencies’ content marketing services are in huge demand, with “across the board” rises in briefs as marketers seek help to put their autumn and upcoming winter campaigns to bed.
That is the conclusion of the latest Marketers Most Wanted report, which monitors the actual projects posted by chief marketing officers and brand owners on the Studiospace platform.
Social media topped the list for the fourth month in a row on 18.8%, the category has grown every month for the past six.
In second place were briefs looking for help with UX and UI design – 12.5% – which has risen from third to second place this month, pushing creative and production briefs, which made up 15.2% of briefs in August but only 10% of the total in September, down into third place.
Other content-related categories such as video and copywriting also gained which means the four main content categories made up nearly 40% of briefs combined.
StudioSpace CEO Pete Sayburn said the biggest areas of investment in terms of content management are TikTok and influencer campaigns.
He added: “Brands are looking to outsource specialist skills to help them reach and grow brand awareness amongst new target customers in non-traditional ways, such as through a use of trending audio and product placements. They are looking for external resources to boost internal capability as they undergo digital transformation.
“Much of this transformation is driven by a move to D2C, and we’re finding that brands enjoy the flexibility to up weigh or downweigh external UX/UI resource for critical delivery crunch-points.”
Other key features of September’s report included a re-entry from research and insight (5%) – likely as a result of brands looking to analyse their YE data and predict forecasts for the coming year – and from event and spatial design (3.8%).
A new entry was also seen from media buying, with 3.8% of briefs looking for this sort of specialism. This entry indicates that brands are still wanting to outsource media planning and buying to external specialists and thus ensure that they spend their investments in the right place.
Despite persistent tough economic conditions, brands are still looking externally for support across a range of specialisms. Sayburn concluded: “As we move into the colder months, businesses are looking for fresh ideas from specialist agencies to reach people from the comfort of their own homes, hence the increase in social media and content briefs we’ve been seeing and expect to continue to see.”
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