With more than 64 million websites powered by some form of CMS (content management system), it’s fair to assume you’re reading this article thanks to one of them offering a quick, easy and low-code way to publish content. 

Since the internet was created, the CMS has been a key tool for marketers, publishers and web developers to drive sales, increase online visits and form closer relationships with their customers. 

However, with the explosion in data processing technology, coupled with the growth of APIs, AI and online threats, not to mention the recent rise in DXPs (digital experience platforms), does this mean that time is up for the CMS? 

The simple answer is no.

Far from being redundant, the cloud has injected content management systems with a new lease of life, allowing them to evolve to such as degree that they aren’t just surviving, they’re thriving. This is clear with data showing that the global CMS market is expected to reach $43.1bn this year. 

Nowadays, a cloud-based CMS doesn’t just help teams to manage and publish content quickly, it underpins everything involved in a leading marketing strategy. From helping marketers integrate third party services – including microservices – to maintaining brand consistency, enhancing marketing spend, organising a customer relationship management (CRM) system or enabling a brand to rapidly expand its online presence during a major launch; a modern CMS is integral to the marketer’s playbook. 

Integration is king 

One of the main issues with non-cloud-based CMS – also known as infrastructure or monolithic – was the lack of ability to break down data silos. Today, a cloud-based CMS can easily integrate open APIs to let marketers gather clear and measurable insights from website usage. This can include everything from Google Analytics, Adwords, sentiment analysis, Bing Ads Intelligence, multivariate testing and clickstream analysis. So, whether marketers are looking to track ad spend, or dig deeper into their audiences to understand them better, a cloud-based CMS can help. 

Personalisation and localisation

With the added flexibility to easily separate content from the underlying codebase, marketers can also drive rapid localisation and personalisation. This means that by using A/B and multivariate testing, a brand can choose which content to present to different audiences, across the globe or even in the same country. In addition, the cloud can help control workflow and approval processes, by restricting access to features depending on the regulations and compliance issues – think GDPR – in any given territory. 

Scaling at speed 

Another huge benefit of operating in the cloud is the ability to rapidly drive scale. We worked with Dyson to help launch its 360 Eye robot vacuum cleaner and had just five weeks to create a website from scratch for the Japanese market.

We delivered the website.  But what we didn’t anticipate was every marketer’s dream (and web developer’s nightmare) – the launch went viral. Instead of the expected 150,000 visitors from Japan, the site attracted 2.5 million visitors from around the globe within 24 hours.

To help cope with this huge swell in demand, we deployed the site to four data centres around the world, as well as localising the site into 15 languages to meet customer interest in rapid time, something which wouldn’t have been possible without separating the content from the underlying codebase.

So, rather than being dead, thanks to the cloud and the ability to disseminate content in a secure, managed, robust and scalable way, a CMS has never been more important. But, with DXPs gradually increasing in sophistication, the new generation of CMS must be extensive enough to enable people to deliver digital experiences – across analytics, data and multivariate testing and CRM – and this is where the future of the CMS lies. 

Doug Cunningham, CTO, Forrit

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