Create your very own Auto Publish News/Blog Site and Earn Passive Income in Just 4 Easy Steps
Digital Experience Platforms (DXPs) are a relatively new addition to the alphabet soup of martech offerings. However, the creation of these solutions is based on a technology that has been around since the beginning of the digital age: the Content Management System (CMS).
In the early days of the Internet, content was typically published to web pages via HTML files and other labor-intensive front-end delivery mechanisms. To publish content or update their shiny new digital experiences, editors and content producers had to rely on the coding skills of their developer partners.
Discover the evolution of the CMS – a behind-the-scenes content publishing interface that enables content producers to deliver their online content streams.
But those early monolithic CMSs have now given way to platforms that go far beyond the traditional notion of a place to create, manage and publish content.
Today, a CMS is at the heart of everything digital publishers need to orchestrate their content journeys. It also enables important marketing features such as:
- Layering in personalization and segmentation for different target groups
- Monetization and activation of advertising campaigns
- A/B test headlines and news stories to optimize engagement and impact.
But a modern CMS can do much more. It has become a platform for managing entire digital experiences.
CMS, meet DXP
What is the difference between a content management system and a digital experience platform?
As part of a growing set of digital capabilities, analyst groups (including Gartner and Forrester) have coined the term DXP to characterize software technologies that bring together all the capabilities necessary to create and deliver digital experiences. These “digital experiences” refer to the total interactions and interactions that users have with a brand or organization across all digital platforms.
A CMS is one piece of this puzzle. But also customer data platforms, personalization tools, digital asset managers, AI integrations and other martech solutions.
There are thousands of CMS offerings, each tailored to different communications use cases and needs. Likewise, a DXP provides the essential building blocks to provide your audience with exceptional digital experiences.
Are there overlaps between these technologies? Naturally. But you have to know that today's best CMSs in all but name are DXPs.
To support content delivery on any device or channel, an API-first CMS architecture is required. An API-first approach exposes CMS functionality and content through well-defined APIs that are independent of the CMS user interface. These APIs enable developers to programmatically access, edit, and serve content – and in turn support front-end theming where users can consume and interact with that content.
A modern, flexible CMS should also support integration of the countless third-party plugins typically required for a fully functional digital experience. If it has an API, your CMS should be able to integrate and use this service.
Some CMS can provide you with most, if not all, of the day-to-day integrations you need to run your business. Think analytics, video platforms, social media tools, advertising campaign management and customer relationship management (CRM) systems. Even if certain features aren't available out of the box, it's certain that your CMS can be customized to suit your company's unique content ecosystem.
With all of these functions, your content management platform becomes a digital experience platform. There is no need to develop and implement bespoke systems or lock in with a vendor that controls the keys to their walled garden version of a DXP.
The newest DXP frontier: Agility
This leads us to the latest (though certainly not final) chapter in the evolution of content marketing technology: composable DXPs.
A composable DXP provides all the elements of a standard DXP, but breaks the parts down into modular components that can be stacked or removed as needed.
What is the difference? A composable DXP gives development teams and content managers the flexibility to build their digital experiences based on current needs, rather than a buildup of features and code that could become unwieldy over time.
With a composable DXP, you are not tied to a single, fixed platform. Instead, you can go à la carte and work with exactly the tools that work best for you and your business.
This is where the power of a composable DXP approach comes to light. Instead of having to redesign and restructure your technology approach every time your business needs change, your systems are based on an extensible framework that can flexibly adapt to these changes.
The result? Faster time to market, more efficient use of developers' and content producers' time, and more engaging, innovative, and impactful end-user experiences.
About Brightspot
Brightspot is your CMS solution for delivering brilliant, modern digital experiences with a flexible, fast and secure platform you can trust to continually improve your content approach. A powerful suite of enterprise-class tools and templates that can be tailored to your specific business needs for today and beyond. Our robust, ready-to-use library is fully customizable to meet the needs of your organization, content contributors, and developers. But we don't stop there: we offer the flexibility to design front-end experiences and ensure content is delivered exactly how you need it. For more information about why Brightspot is the right CMS platform for your business, visit our website here.
Create your very own Auto Publish News/Blog Site and Earn Passive Income in Just 4 Easy Steps
