You may have heard of a content management system, or CMS for short. The CMS is the basis for many websites on the Internet. However, in recent years a new product has emerged to replace the CMS: the Digital Experience Platform or DXP.
DXPs, like CMS, form the structural foundation of a website, but also represent the latest evolution in web content management as they aim to integrate content management with a range of complicated and sophisticated content, commerce, personalization and cloud capabilities. Combining storage into a single and most importantly manageable digital ecosystem.
To understand the differences between a DXP and a CMS, we first need to look at what a CMS is and how it works.
From CMS to DXP
Most CMS are made up of three key elements:
the database (where all the content of the website is stored),
the programming framework (which stores all the instructions for presenting the content to the website visitors – ie the front end), and,
the UI for the website editors (which allows the website to be managed without having to edit the code directly - i.e. the back-end).
What differentiates CMS from previous website platforms is the separation of code and content. The website is managed through the “backend” interface, meaning the authors can move page elements, write texts and upload images through the interface, which are then stored in the database.
Since the created content is stored in a backend database, it has to be displayed in the frontend according to the design and development rules made by the website designers. A single page links to stored backend content, which is then passed to the frontend where it is given specific display and functional layers. This movement of raw content in the back-end through a design framework en route to the front-end means that a single piece of stored content can be accessed and viewed multiple times depending on the needs of the site.
A simple piece of content such as a blog is made up of a number of elements, but the elements you can see depend on the page you are on. On the blog itself, you may see an image, the headline, and text content, but when you view the blog on the home page, you only see a small and cropped version of the image next to the headline. The content has not been duplicated, instead each page has different rules for referencing and displaying the same content.
The simplicity and flexibility of this type of content management arrangement is why many websites still rank WordPress as the best tool for building and maintaining a website.
Cross-channel functionality for content and data
As CMS platforms have evolved, the idea of storing raw content in a database and letting the frontend retrieve only what it needs has been pushed further and further. Why limit this content and data functionality to just the website?
What if the raw format of the content could be referenced in marketing materials like emails, display ads or an app? With a single source of truth for a range of front-end versions of content, it became much easier to create and maintain content for more and more channels. This is one of the main goals of a DXP.
The last step in the development of DXPs was the integration of a number of different tools and functions. For example, if you wanted to use your database-driven content in an email, your website would act as an email marketing platform. This consolidation of the tools that DXPs can provide has not only created more possibilities for content presentation, but also increased content consistency across channels and enhanced personalization of user experiences.
Other benefits of DXPs
DXPs not only improve the consistency of content across channels, but are also very attractive options for delivering highly personalized content, which in turn means consolidating multiple tools into a single one Platform is due.
Most DXPs have analytics, tracking, and automation capabilities that are included in the suite of aggregated tools. This powerful combination can result in a number of content options being stored in the database, the display of which depends on how the visitor uses the website.
Various actions are tracked and can trigger processes that, for example, result in a certain product being displayed instead of another. Since the DXP also manages the email marketing activities, the same user data can also be used to create more personalized and more effective emails.
Use the potential of DXPs
CMS allow the collection of a variety of information, but since analysis and marketing tools are not directly integrated, but through several platforms distributed, the insights and capabilities of a truly integrated system are lost.
DXPs make it much easier and simpler to maintain large amounts of content and provide users with dynamically constructed and personalized experiences.
DXPs are not suitable for every business, but the potential of DXPs for digital marketing of medium and large companies is undeniable. The value of a DXP comes from the sharing and targeted integration of a set of tools that enable the development of dynamic user experiences across multiple websites and digital media platforms. If a DXP is the right solution for you, choosing the right web design agency for your project will ensure your business can take full advantage of your new digital platform.
Additional information:
https://www.computerweekly.com/de/definition/Content-Management-System-CMS
