Understanding the content experience platform and its components

In today's rapidly evolving world, people want the most seamless, quick, and effective digital interactions when buying online, using any services, or communicating with companies. Those businesses who embraced technologies earlier than others set a high bar of expectations, forcing other companies to evolve and adjust to keep the competition. 

Content experience platforms are one of those tech tools that help organizations craft exceptional customer experiences using content as the key asset. But how do these platforms differ from content management systems (CMS) or digital experience platforms? Let's find out. 

Section titled What are content experience platforms? CXP meaning explained  What are content experience platforms? CXP meaning explained 

A content experience platform, or CXP, is a tool for creating personalized digital experiences for multiple audiences and target groups. The main idea of such platforms is to store and manage digital assets centrally, allowing tagging and categorizing them for further use. With correct content labeling, businesses can easily create personalized experiences based on multiple factors such as audiences, use cases, previous customer interactions, etc. Meanwhile, organizations can analyze and track content performance and audience insights.

In a nutshell, the ultimate goal of such experiences is to initiate the desired user action, be it making a purchase, filling out the forms, or requesting a call. Nowadays, personalization is one of the main drivers of performance, and CXP allows you to drive true value from your content. 

According to G2, the largest software marketplace and review platform, in order to qualify as a content experience platform, a product must:

• Allow companies to store digital assets in a repository, and provide features like segmentation and organizing content for various use cases, audiences, and accounts.
• Provide templates to create and adjust personalized content experiences.
• Allow the creation of lead forms, customized recommendations, and CTAs that increase the likelihood of conversions.
• Allow users to analyze content performance by providing various metrics and audience insights.

Section titled 3 key components of content experience platforms 3 key components of content experience platforms

Now let's dig deeper to understand what shapes a CXP and help you decide if you need one for your business. 

Section titled 1. Content creation and management 1. Content creation and management

At the core of any CXP lies its capability to enhance and simplify content creation and management processes. With the ability to handle diverse content types – from text to multimedia – CXPs empower businesses to curate compelling digital experiences that resonate with their audience. A modern content experience platform is a centralized content hub that allows business users to seamlessly update content without developers' help.

Section titled 2. Personalization and targeting 2. Personalization and targeting

CXP provides data-driven insights and predictive analytics, helping companies deliver personalized content experiences. Businesses can tailor content offerings as they get the interpreted user behavior and preferences, allowing them to develop deeper connections with their audience. 

Section titled 3. Omnichannel distribution 3. Omnichannel distribution

Omnichannel publishing is something most businesses crave. Why? Because it allows for creating a seamless customer journey. Unlike multichannel, where a brand can simply push the same content to multiple digital channels, omnichannel also connects all the interactions between these channels. 

Here is a simple example – you see the ad on Facebook, click the link, get to the website, scroll, and put the item in the cart but don't complete the purchase. At the same time, you have this app installed on your smartphone. Later, you receive a push notification that the item in your card is almost gone, so you open an app and finally proceed with a purchase. 

Such a synchronized experience increases customer engagement and provides consistency across all the touchpoints throughout the buyer journey.

Section titled What is the difference between a content experience platform and a content management system? CXP vs. CMS comparison What is the difference between a content experience platform and a content management system? CXP vs. CMS comparison

So, if the CXP is designed to simplify content management, why do you still need a CMS, and what is the main distinction between them?

CMS is a fundamental software solution that allows users to create, store, and manage all of the content on a website or application. It acts as the tree roots – creating a foundation for your technology infrastructure.

CXP, on the other hand, is also meant for content management, specifically content experiences. However, CXP is more of a supplement to a CMS, similar to tree branches. 

You might ask: "Why does CXP exist if CMS can do the same?". The answer is: it depends on the CMS.

Let's take a traditional (monolithic) content management system, where the backend and frontend are coupled. The problem is that such solutions can't provide omnichannel experiences, personalization, and other advanced features. That's why companies needed special tools for that, such as CXP. WordPress, Drupal, and Joomla are the most famous examples of monolithic CMSs. 

Meanwhile, with the introduction of more sophisticated headless CMSs with decoupled backend and frontend, there is almost no need to embrace CXP as a separate tool. Why? The difference is in architecture. Headless CMSs, such as Storyblok, use a different approach. Instead of bounding the entire system, they break it into smaller composable parts known as microservices. This allows users to completely customize the tech stack and add only the necessary tools and technologies. 

Section titled What makes headless CMS better than a CXP What makes headless CMS better than a CXP

All this is possible due to the API-first approach. Basically, API (application programming interface) serves as a bridge between the backend (database), all the digital touchpoints, and third-party tools. It means companies can distribute content anywhere, including marketing tools, CRMs, sales tools, etc. Another benefit of this approach is the ability to implement the best-of-breed third-party tools without being bound by the predefined functionality of the CMS. This helps businesses to be more agile and quickly adjust to market changes.

However, some headless solutions lack one vital feature – a convenient editor for non-tech users to operate the content. Meanwhile, Storyblok revolutionized this by introducing the Visual Editor, allowing business users to create, edit and publish content independently. Content creators can compose refined experiences directly in the CMS app and preview each tiny change in real-time. They can also access all the content via the built-in Digital Asset Manager without the need to search for it in external tools. To sum up, marketers can perform all the tasks CXP solutions claim they can do, directly in a CMS, avoiding content silos and having all the data in one place.