6 key takeaways from the TEI study on Kontent.ai’s ROI

Introduction

While managing content effectively is crucial, the ultimate goal for businesses is ensuring it delivers real value to their customers. But how can organizations accurately measure the impact of their content?

At Kontent.ai, we wanted to help you understand the tangible impact a content management system (CMS) can have on your business, which represents an important part of the overall return on your content. So, we thought, who better to ask than our own users? That’s why we commissioned Forrester Consulting to conduct the Total Economic Impact™ (TEI) study of Kontent.ai CMS Platform. 

In this blog post, we explore six key takeaways from the TEI study, offering valuable insights for any organization choosing a new CMS.

What is a TEI study?

First things first: A Total Economic Impact™ (TEI) study is a research method that helps businesses understand the financial benefits and costs of investing in a particular technology. This study aims to show customers the practical effects a headless CMS can have on their company. This analysis explores the data to examine how our solution can enhance customer experiences, boost sales, and increase productivity—all of which can contribute to better overall outcomes.

To assess how Kontent.ai can financially benefit organizations, Forrester conducted anonymous interviews with four representatives who have hands-on experience with our headless CMS, aggregated their experiences, and consolidated the findings into a single composite organization. Such an organization then serves as a representative example that other organizations can relate to when considering the financial implications of adopting Kontent.ai’s headless CMS.

Top challenges businesses face

Before we delve into the outcomes, let’s take a moment to reflect: What were the main challenges leading the interviewed companies to switch to Kontent.ai in the first place? 

Duplicative efforts in content creation

Believe it or not, you’re not alone in the content creation struggle. Many companies grapple with duplicative efforts, where valuable resources are wasted recreating the same content across different platforms. This often stems from disparate sources—siloed files, emails, and outdated systems—that don’t integrate with their existing legacy CMS. The result? A frustrating lack of a single source of truth. This content chaos leads to inefficiencies and wasted time and, ultimately, hinders teams’ content marketing efforts.

Dependencies between business and IT teams

The companies that were interviewed expressed frustration with content creation bottlenecks caused by dependencies between business and IT teams when using traditional CMSs. Every content change needed an IT request, slowing things down. Not only are there time delays an issue, but communication breakdowns between IT and business teams also impede progress. Requesting a minor content tweak leads to a cascade of technical jargon and back-and-forth exchanges that prolong the process. This lack of seamless collaboration creates frustration and hinders content agility and responsiveness.

Ineffectiveness of legacy solutions

Legacy solutions are often inflexible and struggle to adapt to the ever-evolving demands of the digital landscape. For instance, incorporating new features like mobile apps or dynamic website elements can become a real challenge with legacy systems. This inflexibility hinders organizations’ ability to keep pace with market trends and deliver engaging content experiences, ultimately impacting their success in the fast-paced digital world.

Lack of established workflows

When content creation lacks structure, it can tie companies up in knots, leading to slower time to market and potentially even damaging their brand reputation. If workflows, roles, and responsibilities aren’t crystal clear, confusion reigns. Team members are tripping over each other’s work or scratching their heads over who’s supposed to do what. This is a recipe for disorder, slowing down content delivery to a crawl. Days might slip away on the same task just because no one’s sure who’s in charge, which can put both the quality and promptness of your content at risk.

Does this sound familiar? Let’s dive into the six key benefits businesses experienced after bringing Kontent.ai’s headless CMS into their toolkit, examining how it addressed these challenges.

Quantified benefits

Here are the measurable benefits experienced by users who switched to Kontent.ai:

A staggering 320% ROI

The TEI study found that Kontent.ai generated a 320% return on investment (ROI) over three years for a composite organization. This translates to a net present value (NPV) of $2.35 million. The study attributes these results to factors such as faster time to market and having a single source of truth for content in place. This ROI is evidence of the financial benefits that can be realized from better content management, which leads to increased online sales and improved customer experiences while removing duplication and guaranteeing consistency across channels.

Understanding the significance of ROI in content management is crucial for businesses aiming to optimize their digital strategies. These results show how the right content management system can help brands streamline content workflows, ensuring that teams publish high-quality content faster and more consistently than ever before.

90% reduction in deployment time for new content

Getting content out fast is crucial for every brand, and the ability to quickly adapt and respond to market changes can make a real difference in a company’s success. As the TEI study reveals, Kontent.ai’s headless CMS has proven to be a game-changer by offering a remarkable 90% reduction in content deployment time. This is not just about speed but also about the strategic advantage that comes with it.

With Kontent.ai, companies can streamline their content operations and free up valuable time for their teams. With features such as intuitive workflows or real-time collaboration, teams can work more efficiently. According to the TEI study, this efficiency translates into tangible time savings, equating to $159,000 over three years. It goes without saying that organizations that can swiftly push out new content, update existing materials, and even localize content for different markets find it easier to stay relevant and competitive.

$3.09M in Benefits Present Value

The TEI study also found that in three years, a composite organization using Kontent.ai reported an impressive $3.09 million in Benefits Present Value. This shows the big savings and better efficiency they got by needing fewer resources for managing and putting out content. Kontent.ai helps by getting rid of steps that are done more than once and by offering a system where all the content works well together.

This streamlined approach extends beyond cost savings. Kontent.ai’s collaborative features, like real-time editing and role-based permissions, foster faster and more secure content creation and approval cycles. Such agility allows organizations to react quickly to market trends and customer needs, ensuring their content remains fresh, relevant, and impactful.

Payback period of less than six months

Understanding the payback period is critical when building a new technology stack for long-term use. It’s like getting a refund for what you’ve spent. When the gains, minus the costs, match your initial outlay, you’ve hit the break-even point. The sooner this occurs, the better. According to Forrester’s analysis, companies that adopted Kontent.ai saw a payback in less than six months on average.

Unquantified benefits

The TEI study also highlights several important benefits provided by Kontent.ai that couldn’t be measured in numbers. These include a range of great advantages, including:

Security and compliance assurance

At Kontent.ai, we focus on keeping our customers’ data safe and meeting high-security standards. We’re proud to have earned ISO 27001 and ISO 27017 certifications, which means we’re protecting cloud information. These certifications show that we’ve set up strong processes to find and deal with any security risks, making our whole system more secure. 

Moreover, we meet HIPAA rules, so healthcare organizations can be sure we handle patient data very carefully. We’ve also got good controls in place for who can access and change things in our CMS, which helps stop any unwanted changes or data loss. All of this helps build trust with customers and shows we’re serious about protecting their information.

Improved collaboration between teams

We understand the importance of seamless collaboration between teams to drive business success. The TEI study revealed that implementing our headless CMS significantly improved the working relationships between business and IT teams. By facilitating a platform allowing users to self-serve, IT teams transitioned from being seen merely as service providers to strategic partners within their organizations. 

As a product manager from a pharmaceutical company shared, “Kontent.ai really allowed IT to move from a service provider role into more of a partnership role. By bringing in a platform that allows users to self-serve, it has changed the understanding of what IT does and really elevated the relationship between business and IT team.”

Conclusion

The Total Economic Impact™ study by Forrester Consulting provides a clear and quantifiable picture of the financial and operational benefits of Kontent.ai. With a significant ROI, reduced deployment times, and a swift payback period, Kontent.ai stands out as a robust solution for organizations looking to enhance their content management strategies and achieve long-term success.

If you’re curious about the nitty-gritty and want to understand how Kontent.ai can drive financial benefits for your organization, click here to get a free copy of the Forrester TEI study.