London – August 20, 2024 – The traditionally offline manufacturing sector is still struggling to keep up with the digital race and provide customers with better online experiences, according to new research launched today by Storyblok.
79% of decision-makers prefer working with manufacturing companies that have user-friendly and fast websites, and 46% have even switched suppliers due to poor website performance.
64% said that slow or glitchy websites feel less user-friendly, while 29% indicated that slow websites feel less trustworthy. These online issues also cause problems throughout other parts of the business, because 16% expect poorer service or products from manufacturers with slow websites.
Manufacturers race to modernize their digital experiences
To solve the issues associated with poor digital experiences, 80% of manufacturers have migrated to a new CMS in the past 3 years. However, 61% are still using monolithic systems. This only prolongs problems related to content silos, a lack of flexibility, and poor scaling.
On the other hand, 100% of manufacturers who switched to a headless CMS reported improvements due to centralizing content and making it more flexible. The most common improvements are productivity increases (62%) and increased ROI (60%). Those benefits and more are why 80% said they are likely to switch to a headless CMS in the next 2 years.
Thomas Peham, VP of Marketing at Storyblok, said: “By using Storyblok, Green Paper Products saw a 25% increase in direct traffic conversion and a 16% decrease in bounce rate. Damen Shipyards was also able to develop a multisite environment that led to a 75% reduction in cost. It’s clear that using a flexible content platform unlocks endless possibilities for manufacturers.”
Building the future of manufacturing content
Using a modern and flexible CMS is critical for manufacturers planning for the future of their content. AI-generated content is the most popular content management trend they are actively interested in (48%), followed by automation (44%) and AR/VR experiences (32%).
While only 13% use a CMS to deliver AR/VR experiences right now, those are the most popular channels manufacturers plan to start supporting in the future (59%). This highlights an accelerated focus on blending digital and physical experiences, which can only be achieved with a future-proof content strategy and tech stack.
