Articles

marketing Article

<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/critics/amber-bar">Amber Bartholomeusz</a> is the founder of <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.abmarketedge.com/">ABMarketEdge</a> and a CMS Critic contributor.<hr /> In early 2025, CMS Critic published <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/in-a-fast-and-furious-tech-world-cms-kickoff-25-was-a-love-letter-to-slow-down">In a fast and furious tech world, CMS Kickoff 25 was a ‘love letter’ to slow down.</a> At the time, it felt like a thoughtful counterweight to an industry that rarely pauses long enough to reflect.A year later, that message reads less like a cultural observation and more like a warning that many organizations chose to politely acknowledge – and then ignore.Instead of slowing down, the industry accelerated. AI became the headline, the shiny penny, the roadmap bullet, the board-level talking point. Every LinkedIn feed or technology blog suddenly had its own take on AI. Companies rushed to prove they were “doing AI” before they had decided what doing it well actually meant, driven by a quiet panic about being left behind.And a lot of the fundamental work was skipped. That is why an AI reckoning feels imminent. Not eventually. Not hypothetically. Very likely in 2026, when expectations collide with reality and the tools, workflows, and promises made start to fall apart.<h3 id="ai-tactics-outran-strategy,-governance,-and-standards">AI Tactics Outran Strategy, Governance, and Standards</h3>The first and most obvious fault line is that AI adoption became a tactic before it was ever a strategy.In many organizations, AI showed up as a response to pressure. Competitive pressure. Board pressure. Market pressure. But it was also a cultural pressure, amplified by social media posts, conference keynotes, event themes, and industry commentary delivered with total confidence and authority. The signal was subtle but clear: if you were not already doing it, you were behind.The result was predictable. Tools were implemented before anyone slowed down to ask the uncomfortable questions, the ones that are actually hard to answer, and don’t fit neatly into a demo or a LinkedIn post. Questions like:<ul><li>What does success actually look like beyond “we launched something with AI in it”?</li><li>How does this align with our overall business strategy, not just this month’s roadmap?</li><li>Who owns the decision when AI output is wrong, and who is actually qualified to pass judgement?</li><li>What data is acceptable to use, and what gaps are we pretending not to notice?</li><li>Where is human judgment required, and where are we quietly replacing actual expertise because AI feels faster?</li><li>How is risk measured, documented, and revisited once the novelty wears off?</li></ul>(And no, asking ChatGPT or Claude to figure this out for you is not a strategy.)In far too many cases, the answer to those questions is still unclear.Instead, AI has been treated like a checkbox. If it exists, it must represent progress. If it is deployed, it must be valuable. If it produces output, it must be working.That assumption holds until it doesn’t.Without a clear operating model, AI initiatives turn into collections of disconnected experiments. Without standards, quality and trust are impossible to measure. Without strategy, organizations automate confusion and call it momentum.You can’t scale what you don’t control. And right now, many organizations do not actually control their AI programs. They are running them, watching the outputs, and hoping the gaps do not surface.<h3 id="interoperability-was-always-an-organizational-problem-first">Interoperability Was Always an Organizational Problem First</h3>There is a persistent belief that AI readiness is primarily a technology problem. It never was.Long before AI entered the picture, most organizations struggled with interoperability for a much simpler reason: alignment. Teams operated in silos. Goals conflicted. Some departments were rewarded for outcomes produced by the whole, even as the machine itself remained deeply fragmented and no one seemed to be accountable for fixing it.AI did not resolve that tension. It exposed it.Models trained on fragmented inputs produce fragmented outputs. Tools introduced without cross-functional buy-in struggle to gain adoption. Systems that lack transparency generate mistrust, especially among the people expected to rely on them day to day.Before interoperability was about APIs, it was about people.That truth did not disappear when AI arrived. It just became easier to ignore. Technology offered an illusion of mass progress. It felt easier to buy a tool than to align teams. Easier to automate than to clarify. Easier to move fast than to build shared understanding.AI amplifies whatever organizational dynamics already exist. In cohesive organizations, it can accelerate progress. In fragmented ones, it accelerates friction.<h3 id="unsexy-fundamentals-were-skipped,-and-ai-is-about-to-punish-that">Unsexy Fundamentals Were Skipped, and AI Is About to Punish That</h3>The third issue is the least exciting and the most consequential: data fundamentals.Data connectedness, consistency, taxonomy, and context are deeply unsexy. They don’t demo well. They don’t create buzz. You don’t see technology influencers chasing mainstage speaking slots by talking about data hygiene, and budgets rarely materialize for work that does not look impressive on LinkedIn.So they are postponed.Then AI gets layered on top.Fragmented data sources produce inconsistent outputs. Poorly defined schemas lead to confident but incorrect results. Missing context turns into misleading answers delivered at scale, often with far more confidence than accuracy.There is a growing body of research, including work out of MIT, that points to the importance of <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://mitsloan.mit.edu/ideas-made-to-matter/to-help-improve-accuracy-generative-ai-add-speed-bumps">deliberate friction</a> in complex systems. Small constraints, checkpoints, and moments of pause are not inefficiencies. They are what allow humans to apply judgment, verify assumptions, and catch errors before they compound.In this scenario, data fundamentals are that friction.When they are skipped in the rush to automate, AI does not compensate. It accelerates and often amplifies the failures. Outputs become harder to explain, harder to trust, and impossible to trace back to reliable sources. At that point, the problem stops being technical very quickly. It becomes operational, reputational, and much harder to dismiss. And that is usually when the finger-pointing starts.The irony is that the most important work enabling effective AI is the work least likely to be prioritized because it is not flashy. But those fundamentals are the difference between AI as leverage – and as liability.<h2 id="why-2026-is-the-‘collision-year’">Why 2026 Is the ‘Collision Year’</h2>Taken together, these patterns create the conditions for a reckoning.Not because AI is experimental. Not because the technology does not work.But because much of what has been built has not yet been tested under real pressure.Tactical adoption without a clear strategic throughline. Organizational fragmentation reframed as technical complexity. Foundational data gaps obscured by polished interfaces and confident demos.For a while, that can look like progress.In 2026, it starts to look like exposure.This is when it stops being theoretical. Boards want real answers, not roadmap slides. Regulators get clearer about standards and governance. Customers notice when things don’t add up. Internal teams push back on systems that create more friction than value. And claims made in 2024 and 2025 start getting measured against what actually happened, not what was promised.And to be clear, this is not an argument against AI. It is an argument against assuming readiness. The organizations that struggle will not be the cautious ones. They will be the ones that moved fast without thinking through how this would actually hold together. The ones that mistook visible activity for progress and assumed technology would somehow make up for the structural gaps they never addressed.CMS Kickoff 25 talked about slowing down as a cultural counterpoint to nonstop acceleration. Looking back, it reads less like commentary and more like advice some organizations were too busy to take.The next phase of AI will not be decided by speed alone. It will be shaped by clarity, alignment, and whether the fundamentals underneath were ever solid, especially when that work was unglamorous and easy to overlook.The gap between hype and reality is closing fast. When it does, it will be clear who built something that can actually hold up and who just moved quickly.The AI reckoning is coming.2026 might be when it stops being theoretical. <hr /><h3 id="upcoming-events">Upcoming Events</h3> <img style="width:30.06%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/01/cms-summit-26-logo.jpg" alt="" /><h4 id="cms-summit-26"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmssummit26">CMS Summit 26</a></h4>May 12-13, 2026 – Frankfurt, GermanyThe best conferences create space for honest, experience-based conversations. Not sales pitches. Not hype. Just thoughtful exchanges between people who spend their days designing, building, running, and evolving digital experiences. CMS Summit brings together people who share real stories from their work and platforms and who are interested in learning from each other on how to make things better. Over two days in Frankfurt, you can expect practitioner-led talks grounded in experience, conversations about trade-offs, constraints, and decisions, and time to compare notes with peers facing similar challenges. Space is limited for this exclusive event, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmssummit26/tickets">so book your seats today.</a> <img style="width:30.13%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/12/image-1765546475634.png" /><h4 id="umbraco-codegarden-2026"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://codegarden.umbraco.com/">Umbraco Codegarden 2026</a></h4>June 10–11, 2026 – Copenhagen, DKJoin us in Copenhagen (or online) for the biggest Umbraco conference in the world – two full days of learning, genuine conversations, and the kind of inspiration that brings business leaders, developers, and digital creators together. Codegarden 2026 is packed with both business and tech content, from deep-dive workshops and advanced sessions to real-world case studies and strategy talks. You’ll leave with ideas, strategies, and knowledge you can put into practice immediately. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://codegarden.umbraco.com/">Book your tickets today.</a>

The AI Reckoning Is Coming. 2026 May Be the Turning Point

amber-bar

<hr /> When I recently connected with <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandeep-menon-1087901/">Sandeep Menon</a>, we talked a lot about the customer journey. In many ways, it's a perilous trek for marketers. Kind of like scaling Mount Doom in The Lord of the Rings.But good prevails in that epic tale – and there's hope for downtrodden teams that are trapped by monstrous hoards of data. As co-founder and CEO at <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="http://auxia.io/">Auxia</a>, Sandeep spends a lot of time thinking about ways to improve the marketer's magic across a growing expanse of channels and touchpoints. Auxia is part of that solution: an AI-powered platform that enables enterprise marketing and product teams to harness their first-party data to seamlessly orchestrate 1:1, adaptive, hyper-personalized customer journeys. Built by former <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/google-cloud-platform">Google</a> and <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meta_Platforms">Meta</a> engineers and leaders, the Auxia platform is giving marketing teams the ability to unlock hidden signals from their data, fueling a flexible suite of intelligent growth models that automate months of data science and engineering work.Customer Journey Orchestration – or often just “Journey Orchestration” – has become a fixture in DXPs, marketing clouds, and CDPs. It’s a concept that’s found its way into myriad features, enabling brands to identify audiences throughout the buying cycle and connect relevant marketing campaigns that align with their behaviors.At the center of it all is data, the Gold Standard in digital currency that fuels the tailoring of customer experiences with real-time, AI-driven personalization. It also enables meaningful cross-channel coordination that can send proactive alerts or actions based on specific signals. This is where agents entered the conversation with Sandeep, because they’re having a profound impact on how Auxia is evolving the space. As he explained, his tool combines advanced infrastructure with agentic AI to seamlessly orchestrate hyper-personalized customer journeys. <figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:33.88%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/10/image-1761791281990.png" /></figure>Auxia co-founder and CEO Sandeep Menon. Source: LinkedIn “We’re really trying to be an agentic customer journey orchestration platform,” he said. “We are going from the ‘Old World,’ which is about static, rule-based systems, to one that is much more dynamic.”Now, Auxia is taking a major leap forward with its marketing platform, launching a new AI-native interface for marketers that brings decisioning, insights, and content generation together in one unified experience. The new interface addresses a central challenge for marketers that we’ve been talking a lot about recently: cognitive overload. The transformative design replaces complexity with clarity, so marketers can see their ideas, data, and creative work come together in a visual manner. Armed with enhanced strategic and holistic control, they can manage disjointed campaigns and design, optimize, and analyze every customer journey in a unified space. Auxia’s agentic capabilities are key to this, but it all feels streamlined and thoughtfully crafted, more like a ride-along co-pilot and less like another tool in the toolbox. And for marketers, less chaos means more calm. They don't need another unruly dragon to ride – but they do want the power to rule it all. <h3 id="harnessing-the-potential-of-ai-for-marketers">Harnessing the potential of AI for marketers</h3>Since launching in early 2024, Auxia has been on a meteoric rise. The scale-up has added several Fortune 1000 clients and delivered some astounding results. That led to <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://venturebeat.com/ai/auxia-raises-23-5-million-to-tackle-enterprise-marketings-reacquisition-treadmill">$23.5 million Series A</a> funding round to tackle a huge gap in the marketing ecosystem: transforming raw data into personalized customer experiences.AI has been a core pillar for Auxia since its inception. When I spoke to Sandeep a few months ago, they were on the cusp of introducing new agents that were focused on enhancing various dimensions of the marketing experience. At that time, marketing teams were still dealing with fragmented experiences that lacked intuitiveness – where campaigns, assets, and insights were piled together without clear guardrails based on use case or objective.Like many modern enterprise software platforms, AI capabilities have been historically reactive in nature. Marketers needed to ask the right questions, rather than having an AI system that could proactively anticipate their needs. Again, this exacerbated the cognitive load – especially for teams juggling multiple campaigns.As Sandeep explained, the ideas for Auxia’s agents sprang from the needs of real marketers who have been hamstrung by these challenges, specifically the “black box” areas where data science needed to shine a light on the missing insight. Back in July, the company released an enhanced version of its <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250709871181/en/Auxia-Announces-New-AI-Analyst-Agent-to-Help-Marketing-Teams-Convert-Campaign-Data-Into-Revenue-Insights">AI Analyst agent.</a> Using a natural language interface, it provides marketing teams with high-speed insights into campaign performance. Before, it was hard to know why AI-powered campaigns were succeeding or failing without complex data analysis. Now, marketers can just ask Auxia’s agent for the answers.“One of my frustrations as a marketer was that I would launch, and I would have these systems doing stuff on my campaigns,” he said. “And then if I wanted to go back and determine what worked, or what didn't work, I had to rely on a data scientist or spend endless hours playing with Excel to find out. Now, imagine you can get those answers within a platform through a natural language interface. That's what prompted us to launch our Analyst agent, where you, as a marketer, can go in and interact with the data set and gain deep insights. So you don't need to rely on a data scientist or data engineer. We do it.”With Auxia’s new interface, teams have these agent resources in arm’s reach through a more unified experience, powered by agentic AI that’s helping them move from idea to execution with less friction. Built from the ground up with native AI capabilities, the console is designed to think and act alongside marketers – surfacing insights, suggesting actions, and automating complexity behind the scenes.<h3 id="a-unified-experience-that-streamlines-everything">A unified experience that streamlines everything</h3>One thing that immediately pops up for me is the elegance of Auxia’s new UX. It’s lightweight, intuitive, and makes it incredibly simple for marketers to navigate the ecosystem. You can access its agentic capabilities – like the Decisioning or Analyst agents – from one consistent, chat-based interface that modifies content based on your query. And rather than waiting for prompts, Auxia’s AI is humming constantly in the background, anticipating what you might need next. It surfaces insights and content recommendations automatically, cutting through the noise and reducing cognitive load.The console offers a reimagined home screen experience that brings campaign health, performance trends, and creative recommendations into a single view, helping teams take action faster. There’s also this concept of a “Spark,” which is a lightning moment of insight that agents uncover and proactively surface for marketers. You can review the insight daily from the dashboard, where it is ranked based on overall confidence. <figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:84.6%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/10/auxia-featured-2.jpg" alt="" /></figure>Auxia home screen featuring Sparks. Source: Auxia “One big shift that we are making is this whole idea of a Spark,” Sandeep described. “You have our Analyst agent working in the background, trying to understand and highlight insights that they are seeing. It will take an analyst team maybe days, if not weeks, to come up with insights like these, and then they would also need to know what to look for. Our agents are constantly working in the background, trying to determine what insights are relevant based on the current campaigns you're managing.”Drilling into the insights also provides recommendations, and you have the persistent presence of the “Ask Auxia” copilot for targeting natural language queries. <figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:84.97%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/10/image-1761772811781.png" alt="A screenshot of a computer

AI-generated content may be incorrect." /></figure>Detail view from a Spark. Source: Auxia Campaigns are now organized into core marketing workflows called Journeys that align with customer needs. This includes Evergreen journey, which are always-on journeys optimized for continuous AI decisioning – and Burst journey, which are time-bound campaigns where marketers can override and steer based on their desired experiences.<h3 id="availability-and-pricing">Availability and pricing</h3>Auxia’s new console is already rolling out to select enterprise partners, with general availability planned for Q4 2025 – so any time now. If you’re interested in early access or live demos, you can visit<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://auxia.io/"> auxia.io</a>I asked Sandeep about pricing, which is a bit of an enigma. That said, this isn’t a standard model. As he explained, a typical engagement would involve going deep into a specific marketing journey or use case that an enterprise wants to transform, and pricing is based on the calculated volume of decisions and usage. In other words, it’s highly custom – so you’ll need to connect with their team for details.<h3 id="the-verdict">The verdict</h3>Customer Journey Orchestration is becoming an elevated imperative as marketers look for new ways to optimize and enhance their campaign performance. Enterprises are hungry to get personalization right – and the stakes have never been higher. Journey orchestration is bridging the gap, but AI is making it more effective than ever. Auxia’s pure-play solution is challenging some of the built-in features of other platforms. From a first-party data standpoint, it’s been handling security and privacy from day one with GDPR compliance and other features that help ensure governance. Sure, pricing is vague, but that’s part of the discovery process. That said, if you can fill the role that data scientists play to divine insights and automate decisioning, it could be worth its weight in gold. One thing I do like is the composable, agnostic nature of the product. As Sandeep indicated, they work natively at the cloud layer, and they’re able to play with CMS and enhance 1:1 personalization with content decisioning via their agents.“We connect to content management systems, where you can use our agents to determine what is the right content to showcase to somebody at a point in time in their journey to get them to the objective,” he said. The redesigned UX is something to marvel at. It’s clean, concise, and delivers the unified experience that Auxia was aiming for. For marketers, reducing those “swivel chair” moments and crushing cognitive overload is key – especially in a dark landscape drowning in data and apps. If that sounds a bit like Mordor, relax. Auxia might just be your one UX to rule them all.  <hr /><h3 id="upcoming-events">Upcoming Events</h3> <img style="width:31.61%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/08/storyblok-joyconf-2025-logo.jpg" /><h4 id="storyblok-joyconf-2025"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://joyconf.storyblok.com/">Storyblok JoyConf 2025</a></h4>November 4, 2025 – New York, NY November 6, 2025 – Los Angeles, CAJoin us at JoyConf 2025, where the future of content meets the people shaping it. Built for developers, marketers, and digital innovators, this free conference goes way beyond product updates or yet another strategy playbook. It’s where you’ll get inspired, get real, and get connected – to ideas, to the community, and to what’s possible when you build joyfully. Whether you're building lightning-fast frontends or launching cross-channel campaigns, this is where content becomes connection and collaboration becomes second nature. Come for the talks. Stay for the community. Leave with joy. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://joyconf.storyblok.com/">Save your spot.</a> <img style="width:28.9%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/08/sitecore-symposium-2025.jpg" /><h4 id="sitecore-symposium-2025"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://symposium.sitecore.com/">Sitecore Symposium 2025</a></h4>November 3-5, 2025 – Orlando, FLAt Sitecore Symposium, you’ll learn how to meet your customers where they are – across channels, moments, and touchpoints that didn’t exist a year ago. You’ll hear how the boldest brands in the world are transforming content into outcomes and creating experiences that are fast, relevant, and human. Join 1,500 marketers, digital leaders, and technologists in Orlando to see what’s possible when personalization scales, AI accelerates creativity, and trust becomes your competitive edge. This is the Third Wave of the Internet. And this is your moment to lead in it. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://symposium.sitecore.com/">Get your tickets today.</a> <figure class="image image-style-block-align-left image_resized" style="width:28.08%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/10/image-1759840698475.png" /></figure><h4 id="raise:-lifting-content-into-the-future-with-agentic-cms"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://kontent.ai/events-and-webinars/raise/">RAISE: Lifting Content into the Future with Agentic CMS</a></h4>November 11, 2025 – London, UKJoin Kontent.ai at RAISE: Lifting Content into the Future with Agentic CMS, a premier free event for forward-thinking marketing and technology leaders shaping the way today’s most ambitious brands create and deliver content. Expect bold ideas, discover innovative strategies, engage with industry leaders, and gain insights that will lift your content strategy to new heights. At RAISE, you'll learn how to deliver faster, more engaging content experiences while AI does the busywork of audits, compliance, and localization with Agentic CMS, built to give you and your teams more time on creativity that matters. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://kontent.ai/events-and-webinars/raise/">Reserve your seat today.</a> <img style="width:29.67%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/10/image-1761136749603.png" /><h4 id="live-webinar:-can-we-ever-get-composable-without-complexity?"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://umbraco.com/webinar-cmscritic">Live Webinar: Can We Ever Get Composable Without Complexity?</a></h4>November 20, 2025 – 6 PM (CET) / 5 PM (GMT) / 12 PM (EST)Composable architecture promised to simplify digital experience creation by giving organizations the flexibility to combine the technologies that met their needs. But for many enterprises, it’s done the opposite, which has led to complex integrations, spiraling costs, and what some are now referring to as composable regret. In this live conversation, Umbraco CEO Mats Persson joins Matt Garrepy, Chief Content Officer at CMS Critic, for a candid exploration of what went wrong in the first wave of composable and what needs to change. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://umbraco.com/webinar-cmscritic">Register for the webinar.</a> <img style="width:29.08%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/10/image-1761594434824.png" /><h4 id="typo3-conference-2025"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://t3con.typo3.com/">TYPO3 Conference 2025</a></h4>November 25–27, 2025 – Düsseldorf, GermanyT3CON is the premier annual event for web professionals, developers, marketers, and decision-makers. Much more than just a TYPO3-focused conference, T3CON spotlights the latest trends, innovations, and leaders shaping the future of content management, covering everything from grassroots initiatives to new technologies, strategies, and success stories. The event is designed to empower businesses and organizations with the knowledge and tools they need to thrive in the evolving digital landscape. The conference culminates in an awards ceremony celebrating the best TYPO3 projects across various industries. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://t3con.typo3.com/">Get your ticket.</a> <img style="width:31.44%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/08/cms-kickoff-2026-logo.png" alt="" /><h4 id="cms-kickoff-2026"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff26">CMS Kickoff 2026</a></h4>January 13-14, 2026 – St. Petersburg, FLMeet industry leaders at our fourth annual CMS Kickoff – the industry's premier global CMS event. Similar to a traditional kickoff, we reflect on recent trends and share stories from the frontlines. Additionally, we will delve into the current happenings and shed light on the future. Prepare for an unparalleled in-person CMS conference experience that will equip you to move things forward. This is an exclusive event – space is limited, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff26">so secure your tickets today.</a>

One UX to rule them all: Auxia powers customer journeys with AI agents in new unified experience

matt-garrepy

<hr /> Every conversation I'm having right now with vendors, agencies, and enterprises is squarely focused on agentic AI. Without question, it represents a game-changing initiative for organizations as they look to transform their operations – and prepare for the promise of the agent-to-agent ecosystem.While I've been steadily tracking the evolution of digital experience platforms and their customer data layers, I've also been paying close attention to the pure-play CDPs and data platforms, each of which is leveraging its composable position and innovating in unique ways. As the data warehouse takes on an even more strategic role in the AI landscape, we're seeing more transformation – and faster. That's certainly been the case with <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/hightouch">Hightouch</a>, a composable CDP and AI decisioning platform that's keenly focused on activating data warehouses to power personalized marketing. They've been aggressively solving some of the key operational challenges within the data channel, adding <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/hightouch-adds-new-ai-powered-adaptive-identity-resolution-to-its-cdp">AI-Powered Adaptive Identity Resolution</a> to its CDP, and even <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/hightouch-partners-with-narrative-io-to-power-multi-vendor-identity-resolution-and-activation">partnering with Narrative I/O and Snowflake</a> to provide multi-vendor identity resolution and activation.Hightouch is definitely blazing its own trail, ignited by an <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/u-cant-touch-this-cdp-hightouch-nails-80m-series-c-to-power-its-ai-decisioning">$80 million Series C</a> that closed earlier this year. While AI decisioning continues to be a key emphasis (and a category we're following with several other vendors), the company is driving its position as a data and AI agent platform for marketers. With agentic AI exploding at the seams – and the potential for extending agents beyond vendor ecosystems – it's clear that Hightouch is making a strong play as it telegraphs its differentiated value in this area. Now, it's adding the right talent to lead the charge by bringing an AI heavy hitter to its ranks. Announced today, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/akilesh-bapu-24b333258/">Akilesh Bapu,</a> co-founder and former CEO of <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.deepscribe.ai/">DeepScribe</a>, has joined Hightouch as Head of AI Product Development. Bapu will lead the company’s AI product strategy, focusing on the development of autonomous, context-aware marketing agents that leverage Hightouch’s Composable CDP foundation.<h3 id="adding-an-ai-luminary-to-the-team">Adding an AI luminary to the team</h3>AI talent acquisition is fast becoming a key strategy for organizations, with leading tech brands like Meta and OpenAI <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2025/09/06/ai-talent-war-tech-giants-pay-talent-millions-of-dollars.html">spending hundreds of millions</a> on human capital to drive their strategies. Successful experience and demonstrable outcomes are key fixtures on the resumes of many candidates entering these roles, which makes the playing field much tighter – and incredibly competitive. Bapu is a rare gem in the AI talent pool. His technology credentials certainly put him at the top of the ladder, but they're bolstered by his proven business acumen. During his tenure at DeepScribe, he helped pioneer a medical AI solution that provides ambient clinical documentation by listening to patient-provider conversations in real time. Based on the input, DeepScribe automatically generates accurate medical notes that integrate into electronic health records, helping doctors save time and focus more on patient care.It's clear that governance, compliance, and trust were key considerations for Bapu and his team at DeepScribe. The sensitivity to a highly regulated intersection of AI and healthcare data has equipped him with the added muscle for managing risk relative to data privacy. No small task.As CEO, he also successfully built DeepScribe's growth strategy, leading multiple funding rounds and scaling the business through partnerships with major health systems. His work has established him as one of the foremost executives in applied AI, and he sees ample opportunity for leveraging his experience with Hightouch.A graduate of the esteemed UC Berkeley College of Engineering, Bapu was previously an NLP research scientist at <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/19024048/">Berkeley Artificial Intelligence Research</a>, where he focused on deep learning. He even has some Apple DNA in his work history. He is also a <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fprofile%2Fdeepscribe%2F&amp;esheet=54331279&amp;newsitemid=20251001835418&amp;lan=en-US&amp;anchor=Forbes+30+under+30+honoree&amp;index=1&amp;md5=a5a00a53af80fed5a4be049367454795">Forbes 30 under 30 honoree</a>. <h3 id="powering-context-aware-marketing-agents">Powering context-aware marketing agents</h3>As we know in the CMS category, context is now driving the AI horizon. The same is true for CDP, where marketing presents a uniquely powerful domain for agentic AI. This is due to its closed-loop posture, which supports workflows that are fully autonomous and continuously optimized against enterprise data. Context-aware marketing agents are intelligent systems. They use AI to collect and interpret real-time data about a customer's behaviors, or "context," to deliver highly personalized and relevant marketing actions. Unlike traditional chatbots that use predefined scripts, these agents can adapt their behavior by remembering past interactions, analyzing user intent, and integrating data from various sources. CDPs (at least the best ones) are designed with scale as a cornerstone. With integrations across leading data platforms – including <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.snowflake.com/en/">Snowflake</a>, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/databricks">Databricks</a>, and <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/google-cloud-platform">Google</a> – Hightouch is positioned to bring its enterprise-grade context to agentic reasoning, and do it at incredible scale. This could provide significant value to brands that are banking on agentic strategies to help drive the future of their personalized marketing by leveraging unfettered access to data. “As foundation models rapidly commoditize, the real breakthroughs will emerge at the application layer,” said Bapu. “Hightouch’s combination of deep enterprise data access and agentic reasoning creates the conditions for AI marketing agents that not only assist, but truly operate autonomously to drive measurable outcomes.”<h3 id="why-it-matters">Why it matters</h3>Hightouch is already setting a high bar in the pure-play CDP category. They are reimaging their place in the space with a compelling vision for AI and how agents can be harnessed across the data landscape. As a composable solution, Hightouch is uniquely positioned with the modularity and flexibility to accelerate innovation as enterprises push into new areas with agentic AI. Now, with a proven talent like Bapu shaping its AI product strategy, the company has assembled a dynamic foundation to challenge the market with its differentiated value.Context-aware marketing agents represent an evolutionary step in AI-powered agentic capabilities. They're a big part of this story, providing a continuous cycle of perceiving, analyzing, and acting that can elevate hyper-personalized marketing strategies in compelling ways. With the increased efficiency and scale, brands can harness these agents to make smarter, faster decisions while tapping autonomous workflows that are continuously optimized against enterprise data. By investing in a visionary roadmap for their applications, Hightouch can pull further ahead – and lay the framework for future capabilities. Hightouch is also being steered by a young, brilliant, and fiery leadership team that's focused on disruption. Bapu is cut from the same cloth, and the combined resources could deliver a powerhouse braintrust for new ideas that are accelerated by an AI-centric posture. And bringing in a talent at Bapu's level is sending a strong signal to the market about their overall confidence.“Akilesh’s track record of building transformative AI products and his conviction around the future of agentic workflows make him an extraordinary addition to the team,” said <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/tejasmanohar/">Tejas Manohar,</a> co-founder and CEO of Hightouch. “Together, we’re building the most advanced AI marketing agents in the industry.”Data is at the center of everything. To compete, modern brands need this kind of forward-thinking technology in their composable stacks to power what's next in the agentic race – and Hightouch just leveled up. While the roadmap has arguably been amplified with Bapu's addition, you should still focus your evaluation on core capabilities relative to your goals and consider the pricing model based on your anticipated scale. But Hightouch should be on your short list.  <hr /><h4 style="text-align:center" id="looking-for-guidance-on-hightouch?-talk-to-an-expert.">Looking for guidance on Hightouch? <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/contact">Talk to an expert.</a></h4><hr /><h3 id="upcoming-events">Upcoming Events</h3> <img style="width:31.61%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/08/storyblok-joyconf-2025-logo.jpg" /><h4 id="storyblok-joyconf-2025"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://joyconf.storyblok.com/">Storyblok JoyConf 2025</a></h4>October 14-15, 2025 – Amsterdam, Netherlands November 4, 2025 – New York, NY November 6, 2025 – Los Angeles, CAJoin us at JoyConf 2025, where the future of content meets the people shaping it. Built for developers, marketers, and digital innovators, this free conference goes way beyond product updates or yet another strategy playbook. It’s where you’ll get inspired, get real, and get connected – to ideas, to the community, and to what’s possible when you build joyfully. Whether you're building lightning-fast frontends or launching cross-channel campaigns, this is where content becomes connection and collaboration becomes second nature. Come for the talks. Stay for the community. Leave with joy. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://joyconf.storyblok.com/">Save your spot.</a> <img style="width:28.9%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/08/sitecore-symposium-2025.jpg" /><h4 id="sitecore-symposium-2025"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://symposium.sitecore.com/">Sitecore Symposium 2025</a></h4>November 3-5, 2025 – Orlando, FLAt Sitecore Symposium, you’ll learn how to meet your customers where they are – across channels, moments, and touchpoints that didn’t exist a year ago. You’ll hear how the boldest brands in the world are transforming content into outcomes and creating experiences that are fast, relevant, and human. Join 1,500 marketers, digital leaders, and technologists in Orlando to see what’s possible when personalization scales, AI accelerates creativity, and trust becomes your competitive edge. This is the Third Wave of the Internet. And this is your moment to lead in it. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://symposium.sitecore.com/">Get your tickets today.</a> <img style="width:31.44%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/08/cms-kickoff-2026-logo.png" alt="" /><h4 id="cms-kickoff-2026"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff26">CMS Kickoff 2026</a></h4>January 13-14, 2026 – St. Petersburg, FLMeet industry leaders at our fourth annual CMS Kickoff – the industry's premier global CMS event. Similar to a traditional kickoff, we reflect on recent trends and share stories from the frontlines. Additionally, we will delve into the current happenings and shed light on the future. Prepare for an unparalleled in-person CMS conference experience that will equip you to move things forward. This is an exclusive event – space is limited, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff26">so secure your tickets today.</a>

Hightouch Taps AI Luminary Akilesh Bapu to Accelerate Push into Context-Aware Marketing Agents

Lights, Camera, AI Action: Key Takeaways from Wistia’s 2025 ‘State of Video’ Report 

<hr /> Skip the intro and directly access my <a target="_blank" href="https://bit.ly/Responsible-AI-Guidelines-For-Content-Teams">downloadable Responsible AI Principle worksheet</a> for your team now.<h3 id="an-introduction-to-responsible-ai-for-digital-marketing-teams">An Introduction to Responsible AI for Digital Marketing Teams</h3>In today's digital age, artificial intelligence (AI) has rapidly become a cornerstone of marketing strategies and tactics, driving innovation and efficiency across various tasks that marketers must complete. However, as AI technology becomes increasingly integrated into digital marketing teams, the need for ethical guidelines and responsible usage is also becoming increasingly crucial.I’m just going to say it: As powerful as AI is, in my opinion, content creation and digital teams are rushing headstrong into using tools like <a target="_blank" href="https://chat.openai.com/">ChatGPT</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://copilot.microsoft.com/">Copilot</a>, and <a target="_blank" href="https://gemini.google.com/">Gemini</a> without considering how to use them responsibly. I think there is a need to have a prudent approach and set of guidelines in place to ensure these tools are integrated correctly into their content operations. Does your digital marketing team have an AI Policy in use? Mine didn’t. In fact, I’d wager that most teams haven’t even prioritized having such a policy. I believe it’s time to start thinking about implementing one. Below is some context and background that may help. I’ve also listed some of the main factors you should consider when developing guidelines for your team's responsible use of AI.<h3 id="the-rise-of-ai-in-digital-marketing">The Rise of AI in Digital Marketing</h3>AI has revolutionized the marketing landscape, offering tools that can write content, translate from one language to another, automate content delivery, and optimize campaign performance. These advancements have enabled digital marketing teams to achieve high levels of efficiency, leading to more effective writing and improved ROI. CMS platforms and tools such as <a target="_blank" href="http://kontent.ai">Kontent.ai</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.sitecore.com/">Sitecore</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.kentico.com">Kentico</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.contentful.com/">Contentful</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.optimizely.com/">Optimizely</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.storyblok.com/">Storyblok</a>, etc., are all rushing as fast as possible to add more value with AI-enabled features in their products. I’ve seen it firsthand in many of them. All of these platforms want to be seen as the market leader in the space through AI innovation.In fact, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.futurepedia.io/ai-tools/marketing">Futurepedia</a>, a tool that tracks new AI tools as they come on the market, has over 211 AI tools listed in the Digital Marketing category.  <figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:83.28%"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXftvTU4IabsW3KwL1ga2eWKlnhaDjSgAxG64tQEQ8O_vHarNdLMXPU70heYHuek2Loa9bVU5ln_WmC8Da2JE_QKs8avuqLGXZ6I8l1tmTE_rb0GS-8OhSoqZRQPubq6c1S2cUvye4yoQJMEY3uM996fRQLd?key=CLw_KJ6KxDiqOvRg30VM1w" /></figure> Heck, by the time I publish this article, there will probably be 212 or more listed. The pace of change and innovation is impressive. However, with great power comes great responsibility. The reliance on AI-driven tools necessitates a framework that ensures these technologies are used correctly, both from a vendor perspective and a digital team perspective.How do we place some governance on all this change? The answer is to be prudent in the approach to AI by leveraging Responsible AI as a core theme.<h3 id="what-is-responsible-ai?">What Is Responsible AI?</h3>Responsible AI refers to the development and use of artificial intelligence in ways that prioritize ethical, fair, and safe outcomes. Major tech companies like Google, Meta, IBM, and Microsoft emphasize that organizations should follow a set of key principles when leveraging AI. The principles listed below are the most common ones I see. They combine to be a set of guiding principles when using AI.<h3 id="six-key-principles-when-leveraging-ai">Six Key Principles When Leveraging AI</h3><ol><li>Fairness: AI systems should treat all people fairly.</li><li>Reliability and safety: AI systems should perform reliably and safely.</li><li>Privacy and security: AI systems should be secure and respect privacy.</li><li>Inclusiveness: AI systems should empower everyone and engage people.</li><li>Transparency: AI systems should be understandable.</li><li>Accountability: People should be accountable for AI systems.</li></ol>I actually completely agree with the way that Microsoft and others have laid this out. All of those large tech giants have complex resource sites or large PDFs that spell out even more detail around the idea of Responsible AI. The challenge is that these resources are extensive. As an example, the <a target="_blank" href="https://ai.meta.com/static-resource/responsible-use-guide/">Meta Responsible AI guide</a> is over 25 pages. Motivating myself to read all of that or browse multiple pages on the Microsoft Responsible AI site is hard enough. I can’t see my team or my client’s team going through all of that information. That’s why I really like focusing on the main six principles above.I believe that having a responsible approach to using or producing any AI tool in an organization is critical. It is also something that is needed in digital marketing/content teams as well. That’s why I started down this path. I wanted to put a policy in place at my own agency, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bizstream.com">BizStream</a>. <h3 id="why-an-ai-policy-is-essential">Why an AI Policy is Essential</h3>Adopting AI in digital marketing isn't just about leveraging new technologies for improved outcomes; it's also about acknowledging and mitigating the potential risks associated with AI's autonomy and influence. Issues such as data privacy, bias, and the chances of hallucinations (errors by a generative AI tool) pose significant challenges. Without a comprehensive AI policy, organizations risk breaching ethical standards, violating customer trust, and potentially facing legal consequences.In fact, to me, the clearest example of where generative AI can go wrong is the published information around <a target="_blank" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2024/02/18/air-canada-airline-chatbot-ruling/">Air Canada’s chatbot failure</a>. An earlier ruling this year ended in favor of the end customer, and now Air Canada is on the hook for AI that was not used responsibly.An AI policy serves as a guiding beacon for digital marketing teams, ensuring that every AI-driven initiative is aligned with ethical principles and corporate values. It helps establish clear boundaries and standards for AI usage and addresses concerns like fairness, transparency, and accountability.<h3 id="the-role-of-principles-in-ai-deployment">The Role of Principles in AI Deployment</h3>Drawing inspiration from established frameworks like Microsoft’s six principles for responsible AI—fairness, reliability and safety, privacy and security, inclusiveness, transparency, and accountability—digital marketing teams can develop a robust policy that governs AI use. These principles are not just theoretical ideals; they can be necessities that shape how AI tools are selected, deployed, and managed within a team.As digital marketing continues to evolve with AI advancements, having a well-defined, responsible AI policy should reduce friction with AI usage. It can ensure that while organizations pursue technological innovation, they remain steadfast in their commitment to ethical practices, full transparency, and working within societal norms.<h3 id="my-responsible-ai-principles-worksheet">My Responsible AI Principles Worksheet</h3>Bringing us back to my situation specifically, as 2024 has progressed, I witnessed more and more AI tools being used by my team. On the one hand, this was great because we were seeing the benefits firsthand of faster content creation on our website, email, and social media channels. On the other hand, I was getting a little concerned about two things. First, as more tools were added to our digital marketing stack, my SaaS tool spend was climbing quickly, and second, I questioned if all of these tools being used safely and responsibly.In an effort to ensure my own team at BizStream is adequately trained on the benefits and risks associated with using AI in a marketing context, I created the following tool for us internally. The idea is that I wanted to ensure each of my team members working with these types of tools had a set of guardrails or guiding principles. I used the key Responsible AI principles (Fairness, Reliability, and safety, Privacy, and security, etc. etc.) as the main set of information. From there, I pivoted a table across those principles to include the category or type of activity that we perform in our digital marketing efforts. Then, I added a description to explain further what kind of considerations to take around that type of activity that align to a principle. It started to look like this: <figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:88.25%"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXcyan4Kp5V4ui62GBclk3PRP2zf896t_SA2ud9i9Vpo_1v8qPrOQWfOp9xqD3WxN5ckXvPxyMRKoZXo45T-gZ4IY7D5nxcx73So7V4Ke7Bcqg63hunm9UIdd7i0AKnJKRkW2_kd8D0TMDctuawkQD6vaJ0c?key=CLw_KJ6KxDiqOvRg30VM1w" /></figure> After the first draft, my marketing specialist asked me some questions about this, so I added some guiding questions in the last column to help kick-start the brainstorming process. The current incarnation ended up looking like the screenshot below: <figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:83.97%"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXfbgC_IIHSM1GTgfHUuYOxyKFikNuvB0mTdJu7oMB-maSSu0PxyYEKSKqJKnAsyS94qwbCMs_0wXMkIwpNfpD7wAei-G3vA7zYCH1yfadhC_eCth-Qa2Eiyk3OZI2MxajJ9EdHKKf2iiOIC-44Dc2pjylVL?key=CLw_KJ6KxDiqOvRg30VM1w" /></figure> You can <a target="_blank" href="https://bit.ly/Responsible-AI-Guidelines-For-Content-Teams">download the editable version of my Responsible AI Principles &amp; Guidelines for Content Teams</a> for free. My goal for this tool is to ensure that Responsible AI practices are considered when selecting third-party vendors, tools, platform features, and subscription services. I also aim for it to add governance to both our adoptions and those of our clients.Additionally, as we onboard new marketing team members or interns, I believe they will come up to speed faster with how we operate as a team. We are working to improve this process, but only time will tell.<h3 id="periodic-reviews-of-your-ai-policy-on-a-schedule">Periodic Reviews of your AI policy on a Schedule</h3>One other note. Don’t be fooled into thinking that an AI policy or single document is a ‘set and forget’ thing. The AI and especially generative AI world is constantly changing, as are the laws and regulations around it. You must treat your AI policy as a living, breathing document. Schedule time to review it regularly, considering the changes that are coming in at a rapid pace.<h3 id="feedback-wanted">Feedback Wanted</h3>As with any new idea, I’d love to gather feedback on it and improve it. If you download the worksheet and have thoughts on it, please let me know via <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianmckeiver/">LinkedIn</a> or email.<h3 id="conclusion">Conclusion</h3>Using AI in digital marketing and content creation comes with many benefits and responsibilities. By following clear guidelines and responsible principles, we can use AI ethically and efficiently. I recommend that all digital marketing teams strive to implement a responsible AI policy. Note: The above information has been written to provide general guidance only. It does not equate to legal advice. Varying legal requirements exist in different locations, and laws and regulations governing AI, privacy, and cybersecurity do not exist in a consistent manner.Note: Generative AI was used to edit this document for grammar and spelling. <hr /><h3 id="upcoming-conferences">Upcoming conferences</h3> <img style="width:29.67%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/01/cms-connect-2024-logo.png" alt="CMS Connect 24 logo" /><h4 id="cms-connect-24---sold-out"><a target="_blank" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect24">CMS Connect 24</a> - SOLD OUT</h4>August 6-7, 2024 – Montreal, CanadaWe are delighted to present our first annual summer edition of our prestigious international conference dedicated to the global content management community. Join us this August in Montreal, Canada, for a vendor-neutral conference focused on CMS. Tired of impersonal and overwhelming gatherings? Picture this event as a unique blend of masterclasses, insightful talks, interactive discussions, impactful learning sessions, and authentic networking opportunities. <img style="width:29.58%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/01/cms-kickoff-2025-logo.png" /><h4 id="cms-kickoff-25"><a target="_blank" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff25/tickets">CMS Kickoff 25</a></h4>January 14-15, 2025 – Tampa Bay Area, FloridaJoin us next January in the Tampa Bay area of Florida for the third annual CMS Kickoff – the industry's premier global event. Similar to a traditional kickoff, we reflect on recent trends and share stories from the frontlines. Additionally, we will delve into the current happenings and shed light on the future. Prepare for an unparalleled in-person CMS conference experience that will equip you to move things forward. This is an exclusive event – space is limited, so secure your tickets today.

Responsible AI Principles for Digital Marketing and Content Teams 

bmckeiver

"Composable" is becoming the operative word across the DXP marketplace. And rightly so: a composable platform has huge benefits, enabling users to build dynamic web and app experiences more efficiently by reusing content and other components that can be personalized at scale. 
Composable systems also allow for more iterative testing across multiple variants, enabling marketers to optimize performance and gather critical insights faster than ever. We've seen a number of platforms embrace this "composable revolution" over the last few years, and it seems to be paying off. 
Now, Acquia – a leading DXP – on Gartner's Magic quadrant – has announced major updates to its <a href="https://www.acquia.com/products/digital-experience-platform" target="_blank">Acquia Open Digital Experience Platform</a> (DXP) that aim to accelerate the development and optimization of composable digital experiences. According to the company, these innovative new features will weave together the workflows of once-siloed digital marketing and development teams in a single platform, making composable strategies more extensible. 
<h2>Expanding the composable value with Acquia Open DXP</h2>
The Acquia Open DXP is an umbrella brand that comprises both the <a href="https://www.acquia.com/products/marketing-cloud" target="_blank">Acquia Marketing Cloud</a> and <a href="https://www.acquia.com/products/drupal-cloud" target="_blank">Acquia Drupal Cloud,</a> integrating their combined capabilities – including AgilOne, Mautic, and Cohesion – with its existing core. 
This pairing was designed to bring marketers and developers together in a comprehensive, easy-to-use platform powered by machine learning features in both Drupal Cloud and Marketing Cloud – making it faster and easier to launch new websites, applications, and marketing campaigns with modular components.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/07/acquia-dxp.png" alt="Acquia Drupal and Marketing Cloud Diagram" />
Acquia started making its move to composable enterprise back in July by <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/acquia-introduces-composable-enterprise-features-in-latest-version-of-dxp/" target="_blank">introducing composable features</a> in its last version of its DXP.
"The movement toward the composable enterprise is growing as organizations look to gain agility with plug-and-play services, and velocity with simpler application development and delivery," said Dries Buytaert, creator of Drupal and co-founder and CTO of Acquia. "Executing on this strategy requires a new technical architecture and way for teams to work. Acquia is connecting and automating organizational workflows, spanning content and data, to speed development of digital experiences at scale." 
<h2>What is a composable enterprise?</h2>
The concept of a "<a href="https://www.akana.com/blog/composable-architecture" target="_blank">composable enterprise</a>" is becoming more popular as digital transformation enters its next wave. And it makes sense: leading up to Covid, digital stacks were already becoming decoupled and less monolithic, all driven by the rise of the <a href="https://www.openapis.org/" target="_blank">open API</a>. Much of this investment in a composable enterprise is driven by the rise in composable commerce and its impact on the application landscape. 
Gartner defines a composable enterprise as:
An organization that delivers business outcomes and adapts to the pace of business change. It does this through the assembly and combination of packaged business capabilities (PBCs). PBCs are application building blocks that have been purchased or developed.
Gartner also predicts that by 2023, organizations that embrace composability will <a href="https://www.gartner.com/en/documents/3986490/composable-commerce-must-be-adopted-for-the-future-of-ap" target="_blank">outpace the competition by 80%</a> in implementing new product features. This underscores the rapid adoption we're seeing across the market for more composable architectures and frameworks – something the <a href="https://machalliance.org/" target="_blank">MACH Alliance</a> has been focusing on from an industry perspective. MACH is an acronym for Microservices, API-first, Cloud-native SaaS, and Headless, which crystallizes the core tenants of the modern composable enterprise. 
<h2>What else is new in the Aquia DXP Cloud?</h2>
<h4>Drupal Cloud upgrades accelerate digital experience development </h4>
Updates to the Drupal Cloud developer experience streamline and connect workflows to empower fusion teams with no-code/low-code solutions that span DevOps, WebOps, ContentOps, and ExperienceOps. All new products and features are available on <a href="https://www.acquia.com/blog/introducing-acquia-cloud-next-kubernetes-native-drupal-hosting-platform" target="_blank">Acquia Cloud Next</a>, the newest version of Acquia's cloud platform. Key innovations include:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.acquia.com/products/drupal-cloud/code-studio" target="_blank">Acquia Code Studio</a>: A new, 100% cloud-based development environment that integrates with GitLab and Acquia Cloud IDE. Developers can now log into Acquia Cloud Platform, spin up an IDE and then click to connect to GitLab (the platform of choice for application development) using frameworks such as <a href="https://reactjs.org/" target="_blank">React</a>, <a href="https://angularjs.org/" target="_blank">Angular</a>, or <a href="https://vuejs.org/" target="_blank">Vue</a>. With Acquia Code Studio, developers have all the tools they need to plan, build, review, test, and deploy any Drupal application—all from a familiar GitLab environment.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://docs.acquia.com/customer-data-platform/actions/" target="_blank">Acquia Cloud Actions</a>: A new, collaborative release management system that automates the process of deploying and managing code to the Acquia Cloud environment. Once development teams write code, Acquia Cloud Actions manages the build, test, and deploy phases to get code into production. By eliminating manual processes, Acquia Cloud Actions fuels faster digital innovation at scale.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.acquia.com/why-acquia/acquia-digital-commerce" target="_blank">Acquia Digital Commerce Integrations</a>: Powered by the no-code Acquia Site Studio, pre-built integration components make it easy for anyone to assemble digital commerce experiences leveraging Acquia's DAM and PIM. Support for <a href="https://graphql.org/" target="_blank">GraphQL</a> and Node.js allows developers to easily extend and enhance Acquia's pre-built integrations with any MACH-compliant commerce vendor and cut the time required to deliver experiences to as little as 90 days.</li>
</ul>
<h4>Marketing Cloud enhancements increase efficiencies and insights across hybrid teams </h4>
Acquia is announcing key innovations to its Acquia Marketing Cloud, including several features focused on composable machine learning, analytics, privacy, and multi-tenant distributed marketing to empower teams across CampaignOps and MLOps. 
<a href="https://www.acquia.com/products/marketing-cloud/customer-data-platform" target="_blank">Acquia Customer Data Platform</a> (CDP) now has several new capabilities that drive citizen data science and analytical insights across the organization. Building on Acquia CDP's world-class data modeling and analytics platform, Acquia now provides more intelligence, ROI insights, and ML-driven efficiencies across more teams and in more ways than any other customer data platform on the market. New features in this release include:
<ul>
<li>Multi-touch attribution: As the first attribution solution built on top of a CDP, this new capability allows marketers to visualize campaign performance through a range of attribution windows and timeframes to understand the true ROI of marketing investments.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>ML Studio: A first-of-its-kind, low-code/no-code machine learning workbench that enables data scientists to build custom ML models on top of unified data, all within Acquia CDP.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>ML Launchpad: As part of Acquia CDP analytics, Launchpad surfaces ML-driven insights into a visual and highly intuitive dashboard for non-technical marketers, so they can see at-a-glance key insights such as audience propensities, recommended actions to take, and more. </li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Privacy Management: This new tool supports compliance with GDPR, CCPA, and more by allowing faster data erasure.</li>
</ul>
Acquia is also introducing new capabilities in Acquia Campaign Studio and Acquia Personalization, including: 
<ul>
<li>Multi-Tenant distributed marketing automation: This first-of-its-kind capability enables brands using Campaign Studio to scale centralized campaigns across multiple brands, geographies, and teams while adhering to compliance and governance requirements. </li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Visual email and landing page builder: An extension of WYSIWYG capabilities in <a href="https://www.acquia.com/products/marketing-cloud/campaign-studio" target="_blank">Acquia Campaign Studio</a>, this drag-and-drop interface makes it easier than ever to build emails and landing pages for campaigns.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Enhanced A/B testing: Acquia Personalization now has more powerful A/B testing capabilities, including automated self-optimization, which auto-promotes winning variants without requiring any time or effort from marketing teams – and increased website conversion and revenue. </li>
</ul>
<h2>Growing validation with analysts</h2>
Acquia has been named a Leader on the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Digital Experience Platforms (DXPs) for two consecutive years. Additionally, International Data Corporation (IDC) has recognized the usability, extensibility, and enterprise-grade capabilities of the Acquia platform and recently named Acquia a Leader in the inaugural <a href="https://www.acquia.com/resources/report/idc-marketscape-content-management-systems" target="_blank">IDC MarketScape for Worldwide Content Management Systems for Persuasive Digital Experiences 2021 Vendor Assessment</a>.
<h2>About Acquia</h2>
Acquia empowers the world's most ambitious brands to create digital customer experiences that matter. With open source Drupal at its core, the Acquia Digital Experience Platform (DXP) enables marketers, developers, and IT operations teams at thousands of global organizations to rapidly compose and deploy digital products and services that engage customers, enhance conversions and help businesses stand out. Learn more at <a href="https://www.acquia.com/" target="_blank">https://www.acquia.com</a>.

Acquia Upgrades Open DXP Capabilities to Expand Composable Enterprise Features

paris-tuzun

Acquia logo against a composite background of Tetris-like pieces fitting together, reinforcing the concept of composable DXP

The concept of a "<a href="https://www.akana.com/blog/composable-architecture">composable enterprise</a>" is becoming more popular as digital transformation enters its next wave. And it makes sense: leading up to Covid, digital stacks were already becoming decoupled and less monolithic, all driven by the rise of the <a href="https://www.openapis.org/">open API</a>. 
Add a global pandemic, and the hyper-accelerated pace of transformation resulted in more systems "talking" to each other – and integration driving innovation. 
In the simplest terms, composable enterprises are building digital solutions that leverage the <a href="https://www.mulesoft.com/resources/api/what-is-an-api-economy#:~:text=What%20is%20the%20API%20Economy,created%20by%20differing%20software%20platforms.">API economy</a>. This means businesses are assembling their offerings together in a highly modular way – breaking down components into smaller <a href="https://microservices.io/">microservices</a> or packaged business capabilities (PBCs).
I know, I know... more acronyms. But this is a good one because PCBs are becoming a bigger deal. <a href="https://www.gartner.com/en/documents/3976170/innovation-insight-for-packaged-business-capabilities-an">According to Gartner</a>, they encapsulate the concept of composable commerce and how fixed applications are becoming a thing of the past.
And that leads us to the latest news from <a href="https://www.acquia.com/" target="_blank">Acquia</a>, a leading Drupal-based digital experience platform. They just announced major updates to their Acquia <a href="https://www.acquia.com/products/digital-experience-platform" target="_blank">Open Digital Experience Platform</a> (DXP), which is powered by their Drupal Cloud and Marketing Cloud ecosystems. By embracing a new set of component features, Acquia is advancing the composable enterprise by enabling marketers, developers, and IT operators to assemble and deploy digital experiences for every point along the customer journey.
<h2>A tale of two clouds</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/07/acquia-dxp.png" alt="Acquia Drupal and Marketing Cloud Diagram" />
As part of an <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/acquia-launches-new-open-digital-experience-platform/">ambitious growth plan</a>, Acquia is hanging its DXP hat on a bifurcated strategy with their Drupal Cloud and Marketing Cloud. While the former focuses on building and enhancing digital experiences, the latter provides a sandbox for personalizing and orchestrating campaigns and assets with cross-channel capabilities. 
In an age of composable enterprises, this approach is allowing businesses to focus resources while connecting data. Acquia's new version features enhancements to both of their cloud layers – each with its own composable attributes.
Acquia also announced a new <a href="https://www.acquia.com/newsroom/press-releases/acquia-launches-china-managed-services">China managed services offering</a> with in-region security and support as part of their update package. 
<h2>Drupal Cloud updates focus on scalability</h2>
Acquia's improvements to Drupal Cloud are focused on helping companies build and scale their experiences in a number of key areas. This includes enhancements to the HR and employee experience, container-based hosting, advanced search functionality, and developer support. 
"With the accelerated demand for digital experiences, businesses need to continue to scale at greater capacities and speeds," said, Kevin Cochrane, Senior Vice President of Product Marketing at Acquia. "They need to be confident that their digital infrastructure and teams are able to perform without fail no matter when or where they're needed." 
The updates to Drupal Cloud include:
<ul>
<li>Employee Experience Platform: Acquia's new <a href="https://www.acquia.com/blog/powering-digital-workplace-employee-experience-platform" target="_blank">Employee Experience Platform</a> (EXP) is an HR-centric modern intranet powered by Drupal. It combines employee systems in applications via the API framework of Acquia's Open DXP. Acquia's EXP integrates HR applications with dynamic site-building and hosting capabilities – creating a one-stop-shop for benefits and payroll, information access, discovery, cross-team collaboration, and more.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Acquia Cloud Next: Acquia made significant updates to their <a href="https://www.acquia.com/products/drupal-cloud/cloud-platform" target="_blank">Acquia Cloud Platform</a> services to create <a href="https://www.acquia.com/blog/introducing-acquia-cloud-next-kubernetes-native-drupal-hosting-platform" target="_blank">Acquia Cloud Next</a> – an enterprise-grade, Kubernetes-native Drupal hosting platform backed by Acquia's collaboration with AWS. With Acquia Cloud Next, customers benefit from the improved application and site performance along with nearly limitless storage volume, enhanced security and resiliency, and optimized resource utilization. </li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Fully Managed Search: Enhanced Apache <a href="https://solr.apache.org/guide/7_0/">Solr 7</a> search capabilities are now integrated into the Acquia Cloud Platform and fully managed by Acquia. Searches are faster across multiple servers and provide better results to keep site visitors engaged with content.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Acquia Cloud IDE and Developer Support: <a href="https://www.acquia.com/products/drupal-cloud/cloud-ide" target="_blank">Acquia Cloud IDE</a> improves developer productivity with a new cloud-based, fully integrated workflow between development, staging, and production environments. It provides a full stack of optimized development tools – including PHP, Composer, and Drush – readily installed and configured for a fast and simple onboarding process. As a browser-based source code editor and Drupal development stack based entirely in the cloud, Acquia Cloud IDE will help developers accelerate writing and deploying code without adding maintenance or security issues. Best-in-class support enhancements include a new <a href="https://docs.lando.dev/">Lando</a> plugin and support for both <a href="https://www.php.net/releases/8.0/en.php">PHP 8</a> and the latest version of Drupal.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Marketing Cloud gets new Unified User Interface</h2>
Enhancements to Acquia's Marketing Cloud will provide a simpler, more intuitive way for marketers to understand their business. New features are designed to help users build personalized experiences for customers and scale both operational efficiencies and smarter workflows across their organizations. 
The <a href="https://www.acquia.com/blog/acquia-marketing-cloud-introduces-new-ui-enhancements-unified-marketer-friendly-experience" target="_blank">new Unified User Interface (UI)</a> for Acquia Marketing Cloud makes it easier to leverage the combined capabilities of <a href="https://www.acquia.com/products/marketing-cloud/customer-data-platform" target="_blank">Acquia Customer Data Platform</a> (CDP), <a href="https://www.acquia.com/products/marketing-cloud/personalization" target="_blank">Acquia Personalization</a>, <a href="https://www.acquia.com/products/marketing-cloud/campaign-studio" target="_blank">Acquia Campaign Studio</a>, and <a href="https://www.acquia.com/products/marketing-cloud/campaign-factory" target="_blank">Acquia Campaign Factory</a>. The main navigation provides a single view over all Marketing Cloud solutions, supporting a streamlined workflow across teams and regions. This will allow marketers to elevate their control and visibility – and run more effective, data-driven campaigns. 
Some of the other updates to Marketing Cloud include: 
<ul>
<li>Golden Template in Campaign Factory: To help marketing teams effectively govern their campaigns across hundreds or even thousands of brands, websites, and business units, Acquia Campaign Factory is introducing a "Golden Template." This feature will enable users to change all downstream child instances across email, segments, complete campaigns, and more – saving time and accelerating updates.</li>
<li>Machine Learning Center ("ML Center" ): Acquia's new Machine Learning Center gives marketers and business leaders a dashboard that unifies all ML-driven intelligence into one view and allows marketers and business users to understand the impact of their campaigns (both online and offline). The new Metrics Launchpad dashboard provides easy-to-understand visualizations and is enabled for all Acquia CDP customers who use machine learning as part of the platform. </li>
</ul>
To learn more about Acquia's Digital Experience Platform, <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/acquia-launches-new-open-digital-experience-platform/">click </a><a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/acquia-launches-new-open-digital-experience-platform/">here</a>.
<h2>About Acquia</h2>
<a href="https://www.acquia.com/" target="_blank">Acquia</a> is the open digital experience platform that enables organizations to build, host, analyze and communicate with their customers at scale through websites and digital applications. As the trusted open source leader, Acquia uses adaptive intelligence to produce better business outcomes for CX leaders.

Acquia Introduces Composable Enterprise Features in Latest Version of DXP

In another dramatic shift to the content management and digital experience landscape, Episerver <a href="https://www.episerver.com/company/press-room/episerver-to-acquire-optimizely-the-worlds-leading-experience-optimization-platform">has announced</a> its plans to buy Optimizely. 
Episerver, the customer-centric digital experience platform, is recognized as a leader in the <a href="https://www.episerver.com/reports/gartner-magic-quadrant-for-digital-experience-platforms">Gartner Magic Quadrant for Digital Experience Platforms</a>. With the acquisition of Optimizely, an innovator in experience optimization, Episerver appears to be ramping up its competition with enterprise DXP players like <a href="https://www.adobe.com/marketing/experience-manager.html">Adobe</a>, <a href="/acquia-launches-new-open-digital-experience-platform/">Acquia</a> and <a href="/sitecore-updates-experience-platform-and-experience-commerce-releases-new-sitecore-content-hub/">Sitecore</a>.
<figure class="kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/gartner-magic-quadrant.png" alt="Gartner Magic Quadrant for Digital Experience Platforms" srcset="/wp-content/themes/cmscritic/img/cmscritic/content/images/size/w600/2020/09/gartner-magic-quadrant.png 600w, /wp-content/themes/cmscritic/img/cmscritic/content/images/size/w1000/2020/09/gartner-magic-quadrant.png 1000w, /wp-content/themes/cmscritic/img/cmscritic/content/images/2020/09/gartner-magic-quadrant.png 1432w" /><figcaption><a href="https://www.episerver.com/reports/gartner-magic-quadrant-for-digital-experience-platforms">Gartner Magic Quadrant for Digital Experience Platforms</a></figcaption></figure>
In today’s data-driven market, experimentation has become essential. Today's brands need to adapt to consumer changes faster than ever and create more personalized experiences based on data. By combining Episerver’s content and commerce capabilities with Optimizely’s experimentation and optimization, marketers will now be able to build custom digital experiences that get smarter over time and drive more purchases and conversions. 
<h3>Better control of layouts, logic and more</h3>
Together, Episerver and Optimizely will enable organizations to run better experiments across both frontend layouts and backend logic with easy-to-use, tailored recommendations. According to Episerver, the combined power will give organizations the ability to optimize the entire experience across multiple touchpoints while increasing revenue, improving productivity, and realizing cost savings. 
<figure class="kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/layouts-and-logic.png" alt="Layouts and Logic" srcset="/wp-content/themes/cmscritic/img/cmscritic/content/images/size/w600/2020/09/layouts-and-logic.png 600w, /wp-content/themes/cmscritic/img/cmscritic/content/images/2020/09/layouts-and-logic.png 785w" /><figcaption>Layouts and Logic</figcaption></figure>

<h3>Improved Outcomes</h3>
A/B testing has long been an established practice for marketers, helping teams to develop more unique, highly targeted digital experiences for each customer – while scaling to thousands. These "experiments" can help drive transformation, enhance customer engagement and improve brand differentiation.
Embracing a culture of experimentation is driving improved outcomes for many brands, particularly those leveraging the enhanced capabilities of a digital experience platform. Leading platforms like Adobe and Sitecore have integrated deep personalization and analytics into their offerings, and testing has become a key pillar of the experience optimization stack. 
<figure class="kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/outsized-results.png" alt="Measure the outcomes of every action" srcset="/wp-content/themes/cmscritic/img/cmscritic/content/images/size/w600/2020/09/outsized-results.png 600w, /wp-content/themes/cmscritic/img/cmscritic/content/images/2020/09/outsized-results.png 785w" /><figcaption>Measure the outcomes of every action</figcaption></figure>
That said, companies are no longer limiting their experiments to A/B testing, and instead are expanding their efforts (A/B, C/D and so on) across all aspects of the digital experience. Episerver's move to incorporate Optimizely into their platform demonstrates a growing demand for more insight around consumer data, as well as greater speed and control over adapting the digital experience. 
<h2>Optimizely: A Proven Platform</h2>
Optimizely is a leader in experimentation and progressive delivery. Founded in 2009, it became synonymous with A/B testing, subsequently building a broader suite of testing tools for marketers. Its proven platform has run over 2 million experiments across the user journey to optimize the customer experience for some of the world’s most prominent brands like Peloton, Nike and Uber.
The union of Episerver and Optimizely will combine an advanced set of customer-centric digital experience capabilities with more freedom to experiment, enabling digital teams to replace guesswork with evidence-based outcomes.
<figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/dLMqzpXcZNNUoM1_OxXHAQW1ztCKyaZL4aVhaJAVs1_UVxT0KktqrmanWkG0uW0SU0QF346MtL2UJUhVp2dv5XCrDERdCgK9E-lUEC6ns7owJUTODlJOOsATD1DccyehEvOnINOn" /></figure>
<h3>About Optimizely</h3>
<a href="https://www.optimizely.com/">Optimizely</a>'s leading platform offers a complete set of digital experience optimization technologies – including AI-powered personalization and experimentation – which encompasses A/B testing, multivariate testing, and server-side testing. Optimizely enables brands to deliver more relevant experiences driven by data, including Gap, StubHub, IBM, The Wall Street Journal, and many more. To learn more, visit optimizely.com.
<h3>About Episerver</h3>
<a href="https://www.episerver.com/">Episerver</a> empowers businesses to scale through the most customer-centric approach to digital experiences. Its Customer-Centric Digital Experience Platform™ features best-in-class content management and robust commerce, both backed by AI-powered data and personalization solutions. The platform has consistently earned industry, analyst, and media recognition for its vision, capabilities, and customer commitment. Episerver’s 900+ partners and 825+ employees in offices around the globe are proud to help more than 8,000 brands enrich their customer lifetime value, increase revenue, and grow their brands.

Episerver To Acquire Optimizely, Adding Experimentation And Optimization To DXP

Weglot - The easiest way to translate a website

The easiest way to translate a website

#18164c

If you’re a digital marketing professional, you’re probably familiar with the <a href="https://chiefmartec.com/2020/04/marketing-technology-landscape-2020-martech-5000/">Martech 5000 “Supergraphic”</a> that’s published annually by Chiefmartec.com. It depicts the complete landscape of marketing technologies across a range of categories such advertising, content management, eCommerce, and more – all with tiny, painstakingly positioned logos.
Now, if you haven’t seen this graphic before, consider yourself warned: you’ll never look at digital marketing technologies the same way again.
The 2020 edition of this mindboggling compilation was released a short while ago, and while the persistence of COVID-19 has consumed every facet of the daily news cycle, it’s worth a hard look. Why?  Because once again, the field of technologies has ballooned at an unimaginable pace.
According to Martech Conference Chair Scott Brinker (the “Chief Martec” and creator of the graphic), the entire landscape grew by 13.6% to a total of 8,000 tools. In addition, 1 in 5 of the solutions were new to the diagram since last year, which is nearly the equivalent of the entire 2015 Martech landscape.
Perhaps the most compelling metric? Since 2011, the landscape has swelled by a remarkable 5,233%.
Brinker also reported that the churn rate – which might include a technology being acquired, sunset, or going out of business – was 8.7%. 615 tools were removed since last year’s 7,040 count, but even with that, the growth of net new tools was 24.5% with 1,575 new tools added.
<figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/martech-landscape-2020-martech5000-slide.jpg" srcset="/wp-content/themes/cmscritic/img/cmscritic/content/images/size/w600/2020/06/martech-landscape-2020-martech5000-slide.jpg 600w, /wp-content/themes/cmscritic/img/cmscritic/content/images/size/w1000/2020/06/martech-landscape-2020-martech5000-slide.jpg 1000w, /wp-content/themes/cmscritic/img/cmscritic/content/images/size/w1600/2020/06/martech-landscape-2020-martech5000-slide.jpg 1600w, /wp-content/themes/cmscritic/img/cmscritic/content/images/size/w2400/2020/06/martech-landscape-2020-martech5000-slide.jpg 2400w" /></figure>
What’s New in the 2020 Martech 5000 Supergraphic
Let’s start with the obvious: for the first time, the graphic looks like a piece of abstract art. Or maybe even a map of the Kingdoms of Westeros.
Regardless of your interpretation, this new design is a marked departure from the previously structured compositions, which accentuates the organic nature of the ecosystem. It also reflects how fluid and amorphous the industry has become, and how the shape is constantly shifting.
The concept of a map is perhaps the best metaphor, with the technology logos being organized compactly into six “continents” with a number of sub-categories as “countries.” These include:
<ul>
<li>Advertising &amp; Promotion: SEM (Search Engine Marketing) and Social Media Advertising</li>
<li>Commerce &amp; Sales: Sales Automation, Customer Support, and CRM (Customer Relationship Management)</li>
<li>Content &amp; Experience: CMS (Content Management Systems), SEO, and Marketing Automation</li>
<li>Data: Data Analytics and Web Analytics</li>
<li>Management: Project Management Software and Communication Software</li>
<li>Social &amp; Relationships: Social Media Management</li>
</ul>
The other big change is where the growth is happening across these categories. Below is how much each has grown since last year:
<figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/martech-category-growth.jpg" srcset="/wp-content/themes/cmscritic/img/cmscritic/content/images/size/w600/2020/06/martech-category-growth.jpg 600w, /wp-content/themes/cmscritic/img/cmscritic/content/images/size/w1000/2020/06/martech-category-growth.jpg 1000w, /wp-content/themes/cmscritic/img/cmscritic/content/images/2020/06/martech-category-growth.jpg 1600w" /></figure>
While stalwarts like Advertising and Promotion appreciated modest gains, Data lead the way with double-digit growth. Specific areas such as Data Governance and Privacy, Video Marketing, Conversational Marketing and Chat, and Project and Workflow management saw the highest percentages of change, signaling that companies with mature stacks are now focused on harnessing their data assets and optimizing their investments.
The Impact of COVID-19 on Martech
Brinker’s 2020 research was collected before most of the world had ever heard the word “coronavirus.” The Supergraphic was published in the thick of the COVID-19 lockdowns – and while many areas of the world have reopened, resurgences in places like the U.S. continue to stir uncertainty in the markets.
In his article supporting the 2020 Supergraphic, Brinker taps his crystal ball, forecasting that the marketing technology industry will remain strong despite the effects of COVID-19. While he believes there will be short-term damage, the long-term outlook is positive.
While the future is always a little foggy, the pandemic has further obscured the prospects for the Martech landscape. First and foremost, companies may be more risk-adverse, pushing off digital transformation projects to meet budget cuts. Additionally, venture capital investment may be more difficult to secure, putting more pressure on startups.
On the bright side, this challenge has forced brands and organizations to pivot their operations to digital. Consider <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2020/4/23/21232401/zoom-300-million-users-growth-coronavirus-pandemic-security-privacy-concerns-response">Zoom’s jump from 10 million daily users to over 300 million</a> since the beginning of the lockdown; this ripple effect was felt across many categories as a direct result of the crisis. As companies continue to embrace digital operations – from collaboration to eCommerce to service – Martech may continue to experience broad growth.
An Interactive Martech 5000 Database
Including 8,000 logos inside a graphic is not an easy task. And if you’re trying to decipher the various players from a printed page, you might need a magnifying glass.
The good news is the Martech 5000 Supergraphic also comes in the form of an interactive database, making it easier to browse the companies along with their domain names, year founded, headquarter location, and even their Linkedin and Twitter handles if available.
<figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/martech5000-database.png" srcset="/wp-content/themes/cmscritic/img/cmscritic/content/images/size/w600/2020/06/martech5000-database.png 600w, /wp-content/themes/cmscritic/img/cmscritic/content/images/size/w1000/2020/06/martech5000-database.png 1000w, /wp-content/themes/cmscritic/img/cmscritic/content/images/2020/06/martech5000-database.png 1209w" /></figure>
You can sign up to see the database <a href="https://martech5000.com/about">here</a>. To read the Chiefmartec article and download the Supergraphic in all of its glory, <a href="https://chiefmartec.com/2020/04/marketing-technology-landscape-2020-martech-5000/">click here.</a>
About Chiefmartec.com
<a href="https://chiefmartec.com/">Chiefmartec.com</a> is a leading online authority for marketing technology. Started in 2008 by Scott Brinker, the blog offers deep insights on strategy, management, and culture – as well as articles and interviews with Martech leaders, innovators, and entrepreneurs. Scott also serves as VP platform ecosystem at Hubspot.

Marketing Technology Landscape Grows 13.6% in 2020, Supergraphic Now Features 8,000 Tools

Check  the product out at the store. Buy it online. Have it delivered at the  doorstep of your home or office. The omni-channel retail experience is  becoming increasingly ubiquitous, and businesses are going all out to  develop smarter, more seamless engagement strategies for the  ‘post-digital’ world.
More  and more retailers are beginning to understand that merely having a  presence on multiple channels is no longer enough to woo new markets.  Brands are boosting omni-channel engagement by creating personalized,  on-demand content that enriches the customer journey across channels by  offering contextually relevant information and experiences.
In  fact, a powerful omni-channel strategy that delivers a unified brand  experience can unlock new markets and increase your customer base - and  that’s why it’s important to have a strong foundation in place from the  start. Here are 5 essentials that go into building a modern omni-channel  strategy.
<h3 id="data-management-for-consistency-and-convenience">Data Management: For Consistency and Convenience</h3>
Having  a single source of truth or a “golden record” of product information,  i.e., a consolidated, well-defined version of all data entities present  in an organizational ecosystem, is at the heart of effective data  management. This helps you create richer brand experiences by ensuring  that every customer touchpoint offers relevant and consistent  information for every product, thereby letting customers seamlessly move  from one channel to another in their buying journey.
<h3 id="unified-connected-systems-power-omnichannel">Unified, Connected Systems Power Omnichannel</h3>
Siloed  systems and disparate workflows are anathemas to any omni-channel  strategy. To create a seamless customer experience (CX), you’ll need to  deploy APIs to accelerate data transfers and smoothly integrate  mission-critical applications needed to improve your technology  landscape. This way real-time inventory can be synchronized between  physical/online stores with integrated customer data and dynamic  workflow engines. It further makes sure optimum omni-channel enablement  on customer touchpoints like IoT devices, point-of-sale, kiosks, and the  likes.
<h3 id="shared-workflows-help-everyone">Shared Workflows Help Everyone</h3>
It’s  hard to execute omnichannel retail if you don’t have shared workflows  between your stakeholders. Shared workflows make it easier for employees  and third parties to access product information that’s most relevant to their  role. For example, a digital marketer may not need to know the product’s  expiry date or it’s temperature threshold for spoilage, but a logistics  operator could very well find this information essential. Over the  years, several Product Information Management (PIM) solutions have made  it easier to accurately distribute relevant information throughout the  retail landscape. By storing this information in a master file, and  enabling access via API calls, PIM platforms act as a key enabler of any  omni-channel strategy and helps your stakeholders to effectively  contribute to enriching the customer experience.
<h3 id="product-attributes-and-rich-media-integration">Product Attributes and Rich Media Integration</h3>
The  importance of having product attributes assigned to each inventory unit  within your database simply cannot be understated. Not only do product  attributes offer your customers a richer, more relevant view of their  prospective purchases, they can also help nudge them along their buying  journey. Through videos, images and accurate product descriptions, it  can be made easier for warehousing and in-store staff to acquire better  product visibility, which helps them in creating a more compelling  retail experience for the buyer.
<h3 id="segmentation-and-targeting-are-essential">Segmentation and Targeting Are Essential</h3>
If  you aren’t using your customer data to create personalized and relevant  experiences for your customers, you’re not taking full advantage of  your analytics. According to a study by MarketingSherpa, <a href="https://www.emarketer.com/Article/Please-Dont-Unsubscribe-Why-Consumers-Email-Fatigue/1015219" rel="noreferrer">more than 20% of customers</a> opt-out of brand communications due to receiving irrelevant content.  This demonstrates how important it is to segment your target markets and  tailor unique content that is relevant to each section of customers  that engages with your brand. For example, millennials may like  receiving vibrant and contemporary content on their smartphones, while  specific, offer-based emails may appeal to an older audience.
<h2 id="to-summarize">To Summarize</h2>
A  good omni-channel strategy has the potential to exponentially grow your  customer base and revenues. The Harvard Business Review recently  conducted a study showing that <a href="https://hbr.org/2017/01/a-study-of-46000-shoppers-shows-that-omnichannel-retailing-works" rel="noreferrer">73% of shoppers used multiple retail channels.</a> This statistic supports a study by the Aberdeen Group, stating that retailers with a powerful omnichannel game retained <a href="https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/2013/12/31/why-omnichannel-strategy-matters/" rel="noreferrer">over 89% of their customers</a> – which is staggering, to say the least.
To  truly master the omni-channel ecosystem, you’ll need to engage in active  experimentation. It’s not enough to just hit fire-and-forget on your  automation workflows - you’ll need to constantly tweak and re-engineer  product experiences on different channels to see what works best for  each of your target audiences.   
Based  on this article, consider how well your enterprise has executed  omni-channel and whether there are any glaring gaps that need to be  filled. Also, consider investing in a solid product information  management (PIM) and master data management (MDM) strategy that can help  you address all of the above without breaking a sweat. And remember, at  the end of the day, CX is what makes or breaks any omni-channel  strategy. That’s why it’s important to continually deliver new customer  experiences that aren’t confined to a single platform but can instead be  uniquely experienced across a plethora of touchpoints.

5 Key Factors That Go Into Building Unified Omni-Channel Experiences

dietmar-rietsch

Marketing isn’t the easiest thing in the world.
Go around and survey a bunch of business owners, and they’ll undoubtedly tell you how critical marketing is to building consumer-brand trust and building a solid relationship with their customers. This is because marketing and sales go together like mac and cheese, and is the foundation that keeps companies strong and able to continue growing.
While business evolves, it becomes nearly impossible to keep up with daily operations and still maintain value-driven, personalized relationships with each and every customer. This is when marketing directors get called in to build performance-driven programs that create the conversions business owners need for their company.
However, having an efficient marketing director means that company’s marketing program is once again too large to comfortably manage. Budget meetings get held. Expenses get cut. Valuable time and money are wasted on menial, repetitive tasks like email blasts and social media updates.
Fortunately, there’s such a thing as marketing automation software, which plays a huge role in helping professionals grow their business.
<h2>About Marketing Automation</h2>
When you pare it down to the basics, marketing automation is an offshoot of customer relationship management that uses software and web-based services as means of implementing, managing, automating, and even optimizing various tasks and processes that would have otherwise taken up valuable time. This includes things like email marketing, website integration, lead generation, customer profiling, form and page building, and A/B testing.
Basically, it does all of the repetitive tasks that take time and money away from the budget for your marketing department, like email and social media marketing. All of those tasks are replaced by marketing automation software and its applications, which are both designed to optimize the performance of your business.
<h2>How Marketing Automation Works</h2>
Marketing automation creates a web of connections between multiple marketing channels, such as content marketing, email marketing, and social media marketing. This makes sure your leads are generated, scored, and nurtured to better allow your team to focus their attention on other aspects of running your business.
With the help of marketing automation software, it becomes a million times easier to send targeted emails and other messages with personalization so you can build consumer-brand trust by ensuring your brand and the services and/or products offered are directly relevant to the needs and interests of your target consumers.
This automation means your marketing department is then better able to focus on the quality of the campaigns being run, rather than the quantity of the campaigns. Additionally, the software collects data on your prospects’ interests, demographics, purchasing behavior, and needs, to better nurture those leads and personalize any future offers being sent.
<h2>The Benefits of Marketing Automation</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/marketing_automation_img_1703x0-is.jpg" />
The list of benefits that come from using marketing automation to optimize your business is a long one, but there are some benefits that really stand out and are the key to growing your business and getting new leads.
<h3>Saves Time and Money</h3>
Through the use of marketing automation software, a single individual can send out a massive email blast of hundreds of messages and do the work of a large sales and/or marketing department – all on their own.
Implement the software and your business will have automated marketing campaigns in a short amount of time. Your business will be able to send out hundreds – or even thousands – of personalized emails every single day, in addition to generating and nurturing leads while spending less time and money on doing so.
<h3>Increases Revenue</h3>
Increased revenue comes with decreased time and expenses, and makes up the biggest benefit marketing automation has to offer. In fact, last year’s <a href="http://www.hatchbuck.com/blog/the-pulse-of-marketing-automation-platforms-in-2016/">report by Adestra</a> revealed a staggering 74% of all survey respondents claimed their marketing automation software’s ability to save them time was the biggest benefit, with customer engagement being a close second for 68% of all respondents.
With all of this time being freed up, 80% of businesses <a href="http://www.hatchbuck.com/blog/the-pulse-of-marketing-automation-platforms-in-2016/">surveyed by VB last year</a> found that using marketing automation has resulted in significant increase in leads. Considering the fact these are the very lifeblood of a business’ sales, this is one benefit that shouldn’t be taken lightly.
Even better, the same study found that these leads aren’t just any type of leads either – they are generally quality leads that brought about an increase in conversions for 77% of businesses.
<h3>Consistent Branding is Easier</h3>
There’s no question about it: Consistent branding is essential.
With marketing automation software, it’s a million times easier to create a consistent brand that spans across your multiple marketing channels.
Considering how much money and time you save with this, your marketing is better able to focus their efforts on expanding your audience to better reach your target demographic across emails, social media channels, mobile applications, direct mailers, and more. You can spend more money on <a href="https://99designs.com/web-design">perfecting your web design</a>, landing pages, content marketing, and other aspects of building your brand and growing your business.
By making your business more available to your customers, your visibility is gets the boost it needs to turn those website visitors and prospects into customers.
<h3>Versatile and User-Friendly</h3>
Even with all of its uses and benefits, marketing automation is actually surprisingly easy to use. After all, the software is all about optimization and making it easier to grow your business. Because of that, even the employees that aren’t so technically-gifted will be able to use it with little training.
Most marketing automation software packages come with templates, editors, and helpful guides that walk you through the while process all the way from initial creation and design to final distribution.
It doesn’t require your employees to know any coding, graphic design, or other technical skillsets. They can jump right in and get to work once it’s implemented.
<h2>Lead Generation and Nurturing</h2>
Having to spend time reaching out to each individual lead and nurturing that lead through an entire sales funnel takes time. It takes money.
With marketing automation, you can reach out to a potential lead right away from the very first interaction, even if it’s just a simple list subscription.
Let’s say a website visitor spends time reading through your content and offered products/services, and decides to sign up for your mailing list. Once you’ve got that email added to your list, you can send out one of several types of automated solutions.
They’ll receive a welcome message and that confirmation notice (always a good idea), and then the prospect will be immediately guided through the sales funnel. You can use the automation to offer discounts and other offers that are directly relevant to your customer’s needs, interests, and past purchase behavior. As the customer is guided through the sales funnel, the software collects even more data to fill out their customer profile, enabling you to better target your emails and other marketing campaigns.
<h2>Choosing Marketing Automation Software</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/marketing_automation_img_2.jpg" />
Just like with any other type of major software implementation, it’s essential to go through a full assessment of your business before purchasing and implementing marketing automation software. Even with its numerous benefits, you may decide your business hasn’t yet reached the point for it to need all those extra components for your marketing.
You need to go over the needs of your business, such as your staffing capabilities and revenue goals, how much you can invest in new marketing software, and what your current employee skills and abilities are.
Some things to consider are:
<ul>
<li>The type of marketing automation software that would best fit your needs</li>
<li>Your sales and marketing goals</li>
<li>The size of your staff – Do you have enough staff available to implement a marketing automation solution?</li>
<li>How you will measure the marketing automation software’s success – What benchmarks do you have in place?</li>
<li>Your income and expenses – Do you have the financial resources required for this?</li>
</ul>
After taking these things into consideration, it’s best to take some time to <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-prepare-your-business-marketing-automation-alexia-p-bullard">prepare your business for marketing automation</a> before implementing the solution. Just like with anything else in the world, whether it’s business-related or not, marketing automation software isn’t perfect. This is why business owners need to take the time to understand both its benefits and limitations.
While it automates most things, it doesn’t automate everything. You will still need staff available to do hands-on marketing, including sending out messages and interacting with customers. While it optimizes and streamlines a good portion of you business’ workflow, it doesn’t replace a human employee.
A big part of the confusion people have when they purchase marketing automation solutions from a vendor stems from the implementation and utilization being driven by someone who doesn’t think about the fact they need involve the CRM, content, email, and/or SEO teams.
At one point or another, all of these different teams within your marketing department should be expected to handle this technology, so they should be informed of how it works. If they never get to learn about it, explore its different uses, or discuss it with the CMO or the vendors, conflict is bound to come up.
There should also be a discuss of who should be the one in charge of running the marketing platform once it’s introduced and set in place. This person, as well as the rest of the team, should be able to test out the platform and speak to the vendors.
To do this, find a vendor and schedule a demo for your team. Things to consider are:
<ul>
<li>How easy the marketing automation solution is to use. Does it take a lot of time to learn, or is it basic and straightforward?</li>
<li>Your marketing needs, and whether or not the vendor is offering a solution that aligns with these needs and goals</li>
<li>The key features – Will they make a significant difference, or do they simply amount to expensive upsells you could do without?</li>
<li>How difficult or easy it would be to implement the new software within your company. Will it integrate well, or will it be too hard to get everyone on the same page?</li>
<li>The amount of time it will take to implement</li>
<li>Whether or not the vendor offers free trials – You should always test a new business tech before investing in it</li>
</ul>
<h2>Picking a Vendor</h2>
As you can see, marketing automation software can certainly yield a whole host of benefits that grow your business and streamline your marketing efforts.
Unfortunately, the software isn’t exactly “one size fits all.”
There are tons of marketing automation platforms available, and they vary widely depending on price, features, and complexity. This can make it a bit difficult to find one that will best meet your needs.
Once you’ve taken an assessment of your business and prioritized your revenue and marketing goals, it’s time to take the next step in selecting the right marketing automation platform.
<h3>Key Features</h3>
Most of them offer the same basic features across the board, but it’s the key components that set them apart.
<ul>
<li>Are you looking for comprehensive inbound marketing? You’re going to need something that integrates your blogging, social media, and email tools.</li>
<li>Do you want your sales reps to have access to your team’s marketing data? You’re going to want a platform that has its own CRM or at least CRM integration capabilities.</li>
<li>Do you want to be able to create landing pages that convert? Then you’re going to want one that has pre-made landing page templates that make it easy to design a page in the shortest amount of time possible. Those platforms that offer drag-and-drop processes, much like <a href="http://www.sendlane.com">Sendlane</a> offers, are the type you want to look for.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Price Point</h3>
Key features aren’t the only thing marketing automation vendors vary in – price is also a huge factor. Some platforms are bundled packages that are all-inclusive, but others come with a basic package with extra add-ons available for purchase. Pricing also tends to be affected by the number of contacts you have, so you may want to get one that reflects your next benchmark goal rather than your current numbers. This way, you have more time between upgrades.
It all depends on what your industry, budget, and marketing goals are. <a href="https://www.hubspot.com/">HubSpot</a> is more expensive than <a href="https://www.act-on.com/">Act-On</a>, for example, but Act-On doesn’t have a content management platform and essential sophisticated analytics. If you’re focusing on content strategy, HubSpot would be the better choice.
The most reliable marketing automation companies make the purchasing, testing, implementation, and utilization process as easy and efficient as they possibly can. This solution should grow your business, not bring it down with complicated tech components and expensive add-ons that won’t directly benefit you. You want to pick software that is best for your business, rather than one you were talked into buying.
The following is a list of additional vendors that have proven to offer the solutions that best fit their customers, and make everything as easy as possible.
<ul>
<li><a href="http://snaptactix.com/products/">Snaptactix</a></li>
<li><a href="https://sendlane.com/#features">Sendlane</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.salesforce.com/">Salesforce</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.marketo.com/">Marketo</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.sas.com/en_us/home.html">SAS</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.oracle.com/marketingcloud/products/marketing-automation/index.html">Oracle</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.infusionsoft.com/">InfusionSoft</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.ibm.com/us-en/">IBM</a></li>
</ul>
That about sums up all the basics about marketing automation and picking a platform – well, at least for this article. As you can see, marketing automation truly is the key to giving your business a boost, regardless of industry or size. This should give you a fairly good idea as to what marketing automation software is and what you should be considering when selecting the best marketing automation platform for your needs.
Do you have any comments or additional vendors you would add to this list? Let me know in the comments below, or get in touch with me over at <a href="http://www.alexiapbullard.com">www.alexiapbullard.com</a>

Don't Panic! The Ultimate Guide to Picking a Marketing Automation Tool.

alexia-bullard

So you have managed to choose a CMS, perfect your website design, and invest in some banner advertising. But despite your efforts, your traffic remains frustratingly low.By definition, a content management system is built to manage content first and foremost. Some CMS do come bundled with extra functionality, but if you're serious about your marketing efforts, you'll need to find ways to bolster your chosen platform from the outside.Below, I've listed seven simple ways to add marketing features to your CMS which will help to bring in visitors, measure their activity, and convert them into customers.<h2>1. Landing Pages</h2>A landing page is a page that's designed with one specific goal in mind. Marketers often design one or more landing pages for specific types of visitors to use them as entry points for those coming in from banner ads and other specific sources.For example, if you have a banner ad that pushes a certain product, you can link that banner to a landing page on your website that does nothing but describe and sell that same product. Additionally, a website's homepage can also be a type of landing page – if designed correctly.Here's an example of CodeAcademy's landing page, which as you can see, is funnelling visitors towards a sign up form:<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-3-1.png" alt="sshot-3" />Many landing page builders exist, but I'd recommend <a target="_blank" href="https://instapage.com/">Instapage</a> and <a target="_blank" href="http://wishpond.com/">Wishpond</a> before any others. You can read my <a href="/wishpond-review/">Wishpond Review</a> for my detailed analysis of the platform.<h2>2. Analytics Systems</h2>An analytics system may not directly bring in traffic, but it will help you study the traffic that your website already brings in – and that's absolutely vital.An analytics platform, like <a target="_blank" href="https://www.google.co.uk/analytics/#?modal_active=none">Google Analytics</a> or <a target="_blank" href="https://clicky.com">Clicky</a>, will tell you things like:<ul><li>How your visitors move through your website,</li><li>Where visitors come from</li><li>Which pages on your website are most popular</li></ul>Once you know all of the above, you can construct a powerful marketing strategy (and content strategy) based on your audience's behaviour.<h2>3. Marketing Automation Software</h2>As the name suggests, marketing automation software automates tasks to help you draw in a crowd.Popular features offered by most marketing automation systems include:<ul><li>Behaviour-based triggers</li><li>Audience tagging, tracking, and segmentation</li><li>Landing pages</li><li>Web forms</li><li>Email marketing</li><li>Lead tracking and reporting</li></ul><a target="_blank" href="http://leadsius.com/">Leadsius</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.marketo.com/">Marketo</a> and solid options, and you can find more on our Marketing Software Directory.<h2>4. CRM Systems</h2>A CRM (customer relationship management) system is designed to house and manage your business contacts, projects, and meetings. However, many CRM systems come with their own marketing features, too.For example, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.agilecrm.com/">Agile CRM</a> includes email marketing, landing page building, and web rules to configure pop-up ads and subscription boxes. You can read my<a target="_blank" href="https://www.agilecrm.com/"> Agile CRM review</a> here for more details, and check out our <a href="/products/">CRM directory</a> for other options.But before you research CRMs, be sure you actually need a system to manage your contacts – because that's what a CRM does before anything else.<h2>5. eCommerce Systems</h2>Selling products will give you something to shout about on social media, as well as within your blog content. But what if your CMS isn't built for eCommerce?Well, there's good news. You don't need to start out with an eCommerce platform in order to sell through your website.There are many eCommerce platforms that are built specifically to be integrated with existing websites, no matter how those existing websites are powered. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ecwid.com/">Ecwid</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://selz.com/">Selz</a> are two reputable options, but you'll find more on our <a href="/products/ecommerce">eCommerce directory</a>.<h2>6. SumoMe</h2>Launched in 2014, <a target="_blank" href="https://sumome.com/">SumoMe</a> is a fairly new marketing and conversion tool – but that hasn't stopped it from being adopted by millions of webmasters.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-4.png" alt="sshot-4" />It unites a range of features under one roof, simplifying them so that even novice marketers can make the most of their website traffic. It provides:<ul><li>More traffic with SumoMe's <a target="_blank" href="https://sumome.com/app/discover">Discover</a> feature</li><li>Pop-up email list builders and ads</li><li>Heatmaps</li><li>Social sharing buttons</li><li>Smart bar</li><li>Image sharer</li><li>Contact forms</li></ul>SumoMe also integrates with popular email marketing platforms like Mailchimp and AWeber, so you can build your subscriber list easier.<h2>7. Jetpack</h2>This one is for WordPress users only (good thing a quarter of the internet is WordPress-powered!).<a target="_blank" href="https://jetpack.com/">Jetpack</a> is a plugin created by Automattic, the company behind WordPress – which adds tonnes of functionality to any self-hosted WordPress site.As far as marketing goes, that functionality includes:<ul><li>Automated social sharing via the Publicize feature.</li><li>Site stats via the <a target="_blank" href="https://jetpack.com/support/wordpress-com-stats">Stats</a> feature</li><li>Social sharing buttons via the <a target="_blank" href="https://jetpack.com/support/sharing">Sharing</a> feature</li><li>A mobile theme to attract mobile visitors via the Mobile Theme feature.</li></ul><h2>Give Your CMS a Helping Hand</h2>By itself, a CMS will rarely be equipped to handle a full blown marketing strategy. You need to give it a helping hand with some of the options listed above.Do you use any other tools to extend the marketing capabilities of your CMS? Let me know in the comments section below!

7 Simple Ways Turn Your CMS Into a Marketing Powerhouse

mike-johnston

Marketing automation can be a great way to streamline your marketing processes, but those processes have to actually be in place to begin with, before they can ever be streamlined.
Without a solid content marketing strategy driving your business forward, your marketing automation efforts will be pointless.
Of course, it’s tempting to simply ‘switch off and turn to marketing automation for all of your marketing needs, but the easiest routes in business are rarely the most profitable.
Here’s the thing; you don’t need marketing automation to get leads. You need a website, quality content, and a marketing plan.
<h2>First Things First</h2>
Think about it – how are you supposed to automate your marketing processes if they don’t exist yet? 
The whole premise of marketing automation is to create a system that automatically provides your customers and potential customers with relevant materials based on their specific wants, needs, and behaviors. But if you don’t know your customers, how are you going to market to them? 
This is where small businesses make the mistake of putting the ‘cart before the horse', as they get lured in with promises of easy leads and new business.
The reality is that you have to put the work in if you want to see results, and your marketing automation processes won’t work if they’re not supported by a content marketing strategy that supports your key business objectives. 
If you’re running a small business with limited resources, then you should be focusing on the basics before even considering implementing marketing automation. 
<h4>Here are a few questions you should be answering ‘Yes’ to before investing in marketing automation software:</h4>
<ul>
<li>Do you have an overall marketing plan in place?</li>
<li>Do you have a content strategy in place? Does it align with your key business objectives?</li>
<li>Do you have means to create and publish quality content on a daily basis? </li>
<li>Do you know your customer? (i.e. clearly defined buyer personas)</li>
<li>Is your site already attracting decent organic search traffic and leads?</li>
<li>Do you have a growing database of leads?</li>
<li>Do you have the resources (i.e. people, revenue, time) in place to implement and manage the software? </li>
</ul>
If you haven’t answered yes to at least half of the above questions, then it’s probably not a great idea for you to start automating your marketing at this moment in time (as awesome as that new platform may look).
<h2>Relationships</h2>
Before you can get started with any kind of marketing plan, you have to figure out who you’re targeting and why. You have to find out what they’re interested in and what will make them interested in your business. 
This relationship building is how you humanize your marketing efforts and these personal connections are vital for small businesses as a lot of your initial business will be generated via word of mouth, testimonials, and online reviews/recommendations.
The problem with marketing automation is that it outsources a lot of the tasks that you should be in direct control of as a small business. And if it’s not properly monitored, you’ll lose that ‘personal touch’ that’s so crucial to your success. 
<h2>Engagement</h2>
The most important thing about your marketing and social media channels is engagement with your audience and potential audience. 
Automated marketing often takes the ‘social’ out of social media and can make your company come across as cold and uninterested in its customers. You need a human at the helm to drive conversations and grow an online community around your brand. Nobody wants to be that company with 90 followers that spams <a href="http://www.twitter.com">Twitter </a>with promo links every hour of the day.
<h2>Social Selling</h2>
To follow on from the lack of engagement, marketing automation can have a pretty harsh impact on your social selling techniques. 
Automated social posts can lack the impromptu and personal feel of a real person – even when they’re carefully curated. Social selling is an integral part of a brand’s identity and if you get it wrong it’s going to have a seriously negative effect on how your brand is perceived. Your small business will benefit from personal touch. 
Remember, social selling is SOCIAL – the clue is in the name – which means it should always involve real people talking in real time to other real people. So, leave the bots at the door for this one.
<h2>Email Marketing</h2>
Automating your email blasts is a great idea when you’re a medium or large business with hundreds (if not thousands) of potential leads that need contacting. But what works for a large business won’t necessarily work for a small business that’s just starting out. 
 
When you automate your email marketing as a small business, you risk alienating your clientele or leads with generic and impersonal content. A small business will have much more success by personalizing a good template to ensure that the potential lead feels like they’re valued and not just another @ on a list. 
<h2>Branding</h2>
What a lot of small businesses don’t realize is that branding is absolutely everything when it comes to your marketing. Without a strong brand identity and content strategy, your marketing can come across as vanilla, generic, and lifeless. 
 
We’ve all seen the brands that start trying to sell before they get their marketing nailed down properly – and it’s not a good look. Small businesses often don’t have the resources to get all of these things in place and you need all of them in order to automate your marketing effectively. Without these key ingredients, brands can end up looking dehumanized and listless. 
<h2>Still Think Marketing Automation Is Right For You, Right Now?</h2>
Marketing automation is a great time-saver for businesses with a lot of leads and clientele and it can be valuable for small businesses too – in fact, here are <a href="/8-ways-marketing-automation-can-improve-your-roi/">8 ways that it can increase your ROI</a>. But this will only happen when you have the proper foundations in place to begin with. 
Once you have your ducks in a row, you can have a field day perusing the vast number of marketing automation systems on the market! 
To help you out, you can also check out our post on <a href="/choose-the-best-marketing-automation-system-in-3-easy-steps/">choosing the right marketing automation platform for your business</a>.
Are you considering implementing marketing automation in your small business in the future? Have any particular platforms caught your eye yet? We’d love to hear from you in the comments section below.

Why Your Small Business Isn't Ready For A Marketing Automation System

grainne-logue

CMS Summit 26

Find out at CMS Summit 26, May 12 - 13 in Frankfurt, Germany

What's ahead for CMS in the agentic era?

#ffffff

Explore a wide range of informative articles on marketing, insights, and industry updates. Stay informed and ahead of the curve with our diverse collection of news and posts covering the latest trends and developments in the industry

News

The easiest way to translate a website

What's ahead for CMS in the agentic era?