Brands plan to boost content budgets despite AI friction

Brands are planning to increase content and creative spending even as teams expand their use of artificial intelligence, according to a survey by digital asset management provider Canto and Ascend2 Research.

The study of 434 content and creative professionals in the UK and US found that more than 80% said their brand plans to raise content and creative budgets over the next year. It also found that AI has increased content volume for 75% of teams, with more than half now relying on AI for tasks such as speeding up creation, tagging and organisation.

The findings also point to a growing problem: operational friction as content operations scale. Respondents reported duplicated work, wasted spend, burnout and missed revenue when digital assets are poorly managed in fragmented systems.

Fragmentation costs

When digital assets are poorly managed, 44% of respondents reported employee frustration or burnout. Another 39% cited wasted or misused budget, and 38% reported duplicated or redundant work.

Commercial impacts also featured. Some 35% pointed to missed revenue opportunities, and the same share reported delayed campaign launches.

Only 6% said their teams are not using AI. The survey suggests that AI adoption combined with disconnected systems can add pressure as volumes rise and work spreads across tools and repositories.

The research compared teams using one digital asset management solution with those using two or more. Those using two or more were more likely to report delayed campaign launches (40% versus 24%) and missed revenue (40% versus 26%).

They were also more likely to report workforce strain and costs. Burnout was cited by 49% of those using two or more solutions, compared with 34% among teams using one. Wasted budget was reported by 44% versus 30%.

Speed constraints

The survey also examined how quickly organisations can update content or product information across channels. Only 32% said they can make updates immediately, defined as in real time or the same day.

Most teams reported slower turnaround times: 43% said updates take a few days, while 19% said the process can take up to a week.

Those timelines were linked to revenue outcomes. Among teams that can make real-time updates, 65% reported significant revenue increases, compared with 16% among teams with slower update cycles.

Product content link

The research also looked at connectivity between product content and digital assets. Teams with full connectivity were more likely to report significant improvements in content return on investment over the past year.

In the survey, 56% of teams with full connectivity reported significant improvements in content ROI. That fell to 13% among teams without full connectivity.

Consistency across channels remains a challenge, with 88% saying they struggle to keep product content consistent.

More than half said product information still sits apart from the digital assets used to market and sell products. The study found that 56% manage product information separately from creative assets.

For product brands, respondents identified several opportunities for improvement. Some 38% said product data needs to be easier to access, while 37% cited the need to eliminate duplicate or outdated product data. The same share pointed to managing product data alongside creative assets as an opportunity.

Jen Neary, Director of Content & Communications at Canto, said teams are under growing pressure on speed, channel growth and accuracy.

"Content and creative teams are under so much pressure right now to move faster across more and more channels while still keeping brand and product information accurate," Neary said.

"The State of Digital Content 2026 shows that the cost of fragmentation is concrete, and it shows up in wasted spend, duplicated work, and frustrated teams. It also shows a clear path forward. When brands centralise assets and connect them to product content, it becomes easier to govern what is current, update information quickly, and reuse work instead of recreating it. The result is better execution, stronger consistency, and more measurable ROI."

The report is in its fourth year and focuses on how content and creative teams are scaling production while working across disconnected tools, workflows and repositories. Canto develops digital asset management software and is based in Atlanta, with offices in Berlin, Cork and Sydney.