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How Businesses Can Evolve Their Content Strategies: 4 Key Takeaways from ContentCon
- Article
- 5 MIN READ
- Jun 6, 2025
-
Apply DigitalStaff
Summary
Members of our team recently attended ContentCon 2025, hosted by our partner Contentstack, to explore how organizations can forge deeper connections with customers through compelling content experiences.
At Apply Digital, we're focused on helping our clients navigate these changes to develop stronger content practices and more meaningful customer relationships. Attending learning events like ContentCon continue to be key to expanding our knowledge and maximizing the value we can deliver for our clients.
Here are four key takeaways from ContentCon 2025 that organizations should leverage to improve customer engagement.
1. Master emotional connections and personalization
For today's consumers, personalization is no longer a novel concept; it's an expectation. In the US, 73% of consumers surveyed in our Leadership Priorities in Personalization report said personalized experiences are important to them. Data from our report The Cookieless Revolution shows consumers are 41% more likely to buy from a business after a personalized experience.
In a world of information overload, customers will only engage with content that feels tailored and relevant to their needs. This is why companies are moving beyond basic personalization towards creating content that stirs particular emotional responses in target audiences. When content anticipates needs or feels intuitively aligned with an individual's interests, it fosters a connection.
The results from the fresh Digital Experience Platform (DXP) we built for our client Kraft Heinz provides a strong example of how personalization drives engagement. After the new DXP was in place, the Kraft Heinz site conversion rate jumped by 78% while customer satisfaction increased by 28%.
To achieve these valuable connections, organizations need to adopt a data-first mindset to collect the customer data needed to power personalized experiences: our research found that 44% of leaders describe their Customer Data Platform (CDP) as only “somewhat” robust, raising concerns about their ability to deliver personalization at scale.
2. Harness AI as your co-pilot for content
With Generative AI tools now widely available, AI has increasingly become part of companies' content strategies. At ContentCon 2025, experts discussed the practical applications of AI and automation in content creation and delivery. At this juncture, many businesses are still working out how to strategically implement these technologies in a way that delivers real value.
For organizations to answer this question, they must first evaluate how their content infrastructure can be enhanced by AI, starting with their tech stack. Composable systems offer the flexibility and modularity needed to deliver modern content personalization, while legacy monolith stacks often cannot support the experiences consumers expect.
Leading fashion retailer White Stuff, an Apply Digital client, wanted to expand their eCommerce business globally. After upgrading their aging monolith stack with a composable eCommerce platform, White Stuff enjoyed a 37% increase in conversion rate, 100% increase in mobile site speed, and a decrease in page load time of 85%. The company is now positioned to deliver even better experiences for their customers with AI features.
To see cutting-edge AI features in action, take a look at the TasteMaker tool we built for Kraft Heinz. By using Gen AI and proprietary brand IP, the company's internal teams have reduced time-to-market for new product concepts from 8 weeks to 8 hours.
From personalized content recommendations to intelligent chatbots, today's AI tools offer new avenues for engaging with customers. While the potential is significant, a strong foundational tech stack is necessary to harness AI's power to connect and drive impact.
3. Create seamless real and digital experiences
The modern customer expects brand experiences to travel with them, seamlessly moving between physical and digital touchpoints. At ContentCon, industry leaders explored how to blend the physical and the digital in a way that bridges the online and offline worlds, nurturing brand loyalty and engagement with relevant content at every step.
The brick-and-mortar space has evolved beyond a simple point of transaction; today it has become a hub for storytelling and engagement. Parkland, a leading North American fuel distributor and retailer, engaged Apply Digital to evolve its loyalty program. To accomplish this, we implemented a composable build that equipped their marketing team with self-service tools, automated workflows, and real-time customer insights. These improvements empowered Parkland to deliver engaging experiences at every step of the customer journey, including digital promotions that can be sent to Parkland customers when they visit Parkland retail outlets. The company also realized a 68% decrease in campaign development costs.
4. Build a unified data foundation for content
As organizations aim to deliver more personalized and AI-driven content experiences, unified and reliable data sources are critical. High-quality, integrated data enables the creation of more relevant and impactful content experiences. Siloed or incomplete data hinders the ability of companies to deliver personalized experiences to their customers, reducing engagement.
We worked with luxury beauty brand Dr. Barbara Sturm to improve their data analytics capabilities to create memorable, personalized experiences that convert. We also delivered a fresh UX with custom routines and recommendations for customers, based on their data profiles. These upgrades drove increases in site conversion rate and improved user engagement, including a 61% click-to-conversion rate from category pages.
Ready to explore how personalized content experiences can help drive deeper engagement with your customers? Contact our expert team today.
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