CMS or DXP: a guide to choosing your marketing solution

Choosing between a CMS or a DXP solution means understanding the challenges of digital transformation for your company. Offering the best digital experience is now the watchword for a successful marketing approach.

But what tools should you adopt to offer engaging content and thus capture an increasingly demanding audience ? What is a CMS ? What is a DXP ? And how to choose between a CMS and a DXP according to your digital strategy ?

 

From CMS to DXP: better understanding, to better choose

Lately, a new acronym has been circulating among the most knowledgeable marketers: DXP, for Digital Experience Platform. Unlike the more familiar CMS (Content Management System), a DXP platform is not only a content manager, but also a true control center for managing the entire user experience.

Publishers, such as Sitecore and its XM CMS, Castelis’ flagship partner, have designed their DXP from an existing CMS, whose functionalities have been increased. Companies can now choose a solution that is better adapted to the new challenges of digital transformation and improve the digital experience.

 

CMS: at the heart of the company’s digital strategy

But let’s get back to the basics: what is a CMS ? It is a software that allows you to configure a web page and manage its contents in a simplified way, without the need for special computer skills.

Since its appearance in the 90s, the CMS has gradually become an indispensable digital tool for marketing teams. Today, it is at the heart of the digital strategy of companies. But what are the key elements of its success ?

 

Workflow optimization

To optimize workflows, a CMS integrates a dashboard that allows you to better organize content management tasks : editing, validation, localization, translation, publication, scheduling, authorization allocation, and report generation. All of this for the benefit of management and teams.

 

The location

If you need to differentiate customer interfaces (for multiple brands or countries), the CMS supports this with customization, localization and compliance services. Your CMS will also support metadata insertion for SEO and contribute to your search engine optimization.

 

Adaptability

The modern CMS provides tools to improve interaction with mobile devices and integrate with an e-commerce system (for online payments, inventory management, etc.). Plugins can also be added to extend the functionality and increase the possibilities of user interaction.

 

The security

Finally, a reliable CMS manager is focused on security and a guarantee of compliance with standards (in terms of cookie management, for example). The encryption and authentication system must protect company and user data and integrate with third-party security systems (such as Azure or OpenID, for example).

 

DXP: the evolution of the CMS towards user experience

Considering the evolution of CMS systems towards ever more complex solutions, one may wonder what the difference is with a DXP platform.

Indeed, DXP platforms are nothing more than an advanced version of a classic CMS, developed to meet the limits of the latter in terms of user experience management. A DXP will always have a content manager at the center of its architecture, but will also offer marketing and digital communication tools for a more in-depth user experience.

 

Integrated omnichannel and consistent control

A DXP platform takes into account a wider range of media (IoT devices, connected objects, mobile apps…) and allows you to sync content across all of these places, so you can maintain full control of the customer experience. This creates a more consistent and omnichannel conversion path.

Thanks to its headless architecture, and its integration in the cloud, a DXP platform is able to deliver the same content on all channels, widening the scope of action compared to a traditional CMS.

 

360° vision for a better customization

A DXP platform allows marketing teams to personalize these omnichannel campaigns at a deeper, more relevant level. Through centralized data management and deployment of content based on specific customer needs, it helps to streamline customer journeys.

Integrating with CRM contact centers, social networks, email marketing tools and other customer interaction services, the DXP platform is able to study each customer’s needs and to respond in a personalized way (with offers by audience segment, automated marketing actions or location-based targeting, for example).

A DXP platform will therefore offer more effective tools for customer retention, in addition to conversion.

 

CMS or DXP: making a choice

In short, DXP offers a more advanced and complete solution. More than a CMS, it is at the center of the enterprise marketing system and is the core for a successful digital strategy. It aggregates data and guides users through an experience that follows their preferences by deploying at the right time, in the right place and on the right medium.

Its adoption is also an investment in the technologies of the future, such as the cloud, machine learning and artificial intelligence. As a digital experience platform, it leverages both traditional and innovative digital tools to deliver a particularly powerful solution.

The choice to move to a DXP system, on the other hand, must be well thought out and must be measured against the real needs of the company: its size, its workforce, its digital presence, its e-commerce integration, etc.

 

Sitecore: the most advanced CMS and DXP solution on the market

Today, Sitecore is the leader in CMS and DXP platforms and offers the most advanced solutions, such as SXA, for Sitecore Experience Accelerator.

To learn more about the Sitecore solution and make the right choice, download our free white paper “Why choose the Sitecore solution“.

As the main French partner of Sitecore, Castelis assists companies in the design and development of websites, in their implementation and in their operational maintenance.

To give your marketing teams powerful tools for content and digital experience management, please contact us to discuss your project.

 

Contact-us ! Our Sitecore experts at Castelis are at your disposal.