As a part of your digital strategy, a CMS or DXP solution could help empower your organization to meet customer expectations and achieve your business goals.
Not all that long ago, having a digital strategy meant little more than building a website and establishing a social media presence. Today, however, the concept of a digital strategy has evolved into a solid business strategy that is enabled through technology.
Having a modern digital strategy means aligning your customer’s online experiences to your business goals, not just for the sake of digital transformation, but as a way of improving customer engagement and fueling growth.
From Traditional CMS to Modern DXP
Not surprisingly content management systems (CMS) and digital experience platforms (DXP) are evolving to meet the challenges associated with having a modern digital strategy. As an example, older CMS tools were geared toward channel management (blogs, websites, etc.). In contrast, the modern digital experience focuses collectively on any and all interactions that a customer has with your brand.
As such, organizations must provide a continuity of experience, so customers have a consistent experience regardless of the device that they are using or the channel that they are accessing.
This is not to say that CMS has become irrelevant in today’s world. CMS still fills a very real need in countless organizations. But whereas CMS solutions focus on publishing content, DXPs combine content, personalization and analytics into a single platform that is designed to drive the customer experience. DXP systems turn every customer touch point into an opportunity to strengthen engagement.
Meeting Modern Content Management Challenges
While organizations may choose between leveraging a CMS solution or a DXP solution, both are evolving to address the modern content management challenges.
A big part of this evolution has centered around the way that modern systems are used. While some CMS and DXP systems remain cloud-only, others readily support hybrid environments.
Hybrid and Headless Architectures
It is also becoming increasingly common for CMS and DXP systems to support headless use. A headless system is one that does not require a traditional web interface, though one may be provided for convenience.
Instead, vendors may provide application programming interfaces (APIs) or software development kits (SDKs) that customers can use to interact with the system programmatically. This allows developers within an organization to easily integrate content management tasks into existing workflows.
Expanding Capabilities Through Integrations
And while a customer may be able to use an API to tie their content platform to existing workflows, developing custom code might not always be required. It is becoming increasingly common for vendors to offer native integration with other tools and services. As an example, a content platform might be designed to integrate with an organization’s customer relationship management (CRM) software or to tie into marketing automation or ecommerce systems.
Security and Compliance as Core Priorities
Not surprisingly, content management vendors have also placed a heavy emphasis on security and compliance in recent years. Modern content platforms are specifically designed to handle sensitive data in a responsible manner and that content storage, hosting and publishing tasks adhere to any applicable regulatory requirements.
Increasing Collaboration in Content Workflows
Another way that content platforms are evolving is that they have become more collaborative than they once were. These platforms may include tools for real-time collaboration and version control, making it easier for content creators and content managers to work together.
The Growing Role of AI in CMS and DXP
Finally, content platforms are increasingly adding AI integration. Although AI enabled CMS and DXP systems are still in their infancy and are still evolving, AI integration has the potential to dramatically change the way that content management is done.
Optimizing Customer Engagement With AI
As an example, an AI system can potentially be used to monitor user behavior and engagement metrics. In doing so, the AI engine may be able to recommend some strategies for optimizing online content, thereby increasing overall user engagement.
Another way that AI may potentially be used is as a tool for generating personalized content recommendations. By analyzing a user’s behavior, an AI engine could conceivably learn a user’s likes, dislikes and interests, and then use that knowledge to recommend content that the user will find appealing. Once again, this can help to improve the overall user engagement.
Still another way that AI may be able to help out with content is to perform sentiment analysis for newly created content. This means that before content is published, AI can analyze that content to determine its sentiment and tone to verify that it aligns with your brand image. If, for example, an author was having a bad day and wrote content that was just a little too negative, the AI engine may be able to detect the negativity and recommend some ways of putting a positive spin on the content before your customers see it.
AI-Assisted Content Quality and Risk Review
This same technology can also be put to work in optimizing content in other ways. As an example, an AI engine might check the content for readability, flow and for any minor errors that might have slipped through the editing process.
It’s even possible that a content provider might integrate an AI-based legal review that is designed to catch targeted issues that might lead to the organization being legally exposed. Of course, such a system should never be used as a replacement for review by human legal counsel. An AI-based legal review may, however, be useful for catching potential red flags.
Preparing for the Future of Digital Experience
As organizations continue to work toward modernizing their digital strategies, they must also modernize their CMS or DXP systems so that they can meet emerging challenges and customer expectations. By embracing native integrations, collaborative tools and AI-powered content optimization, organizations can unlock new opportunities for customer engagement, growth and loyalty.
As you assess your own digital strategy, consider how a modern CMS/DXP solution can help you stay ahead of the curve and achieve your business goals. Whether you prioritize customer experience, personalization or content optimization, having the right CMS/DXP system will empower your organization to thrive in today’s rapidly changing digital landscape.
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Brien M. Posey
Brien Posey is an internationally best-selling technology author and speaker, and a former 22-time Microsoft MVP. Prior to going freelance, Posey served as lead network engineer for the United States Department of Defense at Fort Knox and as a CIO for a chain of hospitals and healthcare facilities. In addition to his continuing IT work, Posey has spent the last 10 years actively training to be a commercial astronaut.