Benefits Of Web Content Management

• Completed Surveys
• Promo Code Redemptions
• Purchase/Browsing behavior
• Email Response rates
• External Blogs
• Comments posted on Corporate blogs
• Social Media ( Twitter, Facebook, Tagging, Ratings)

• Deliver relevant content to website visitors
• Personalize emails
• A/B Testing

• Increasing Conversion Rates
• Brand Loyalty
• Long Term Growth

• work with fully supported and 'fit for purpose' Web Content Managements products
• get good and timely answers on their requests, issues, changes and enhancements
• be able to get experienced consultants on-site when necessary

• Former standard functionality has to be customized (like SDL Tridion's BluePrinting)
• support is not (timely) available
• experienced consultancy is scarce and certainly not for free
• Motivation drops after first enthousiasm at the start

• Maintaining consistency of brand and message
• Reduced time to market
• Increased conversion rates
• Reduced operational costs

• Improve the customer experience (44%)
• Improve website traffic (35%)
• Improve overall return on marketing investment (33%)

Aberdeen found that "Marketers are looking for technology that will empower them to deliver impactful, engaging customer experiences online.  Therefore, improving the customer experience is a top pressure driving the adoption and use of web content management.  This is followed by a desire to increase website traffic and increase the overall return on marketing investments by improving the productivity and processes surrounding web properties".

Increasing Conversion Rates

It stands to reason that if you improve the online experience, you will convert more visitors into leads and sales.  The question is, how do you improve the customer or visitor experience on the web?  Personalizing online content is one answer.  Another answer, agreed upon by most WCM and CMS experts, is to deliver rich, engaging content that is relevant to your target audience.

Download the Entire Aberdeen Report Free of Charge

If you are in the market for an enterprise web content management system or looking for solid data to help with justifying web content management, you will find the Aberdeen report a most valuable resource.  Download the report by clicking the link below, compliments of SDL Tridion, a recognized leader in enterprise web content management solutions and technology.

Abdereen Report
Maximize Business Results Online
How Web Content Management Technology is Transforming Digital Marketing

Like confessed before, although I work for a global web content management software vendor, I'm still an old school marketer. I believe it’s the business benefits and not the technical specifics that are making a web content management system - or any interactive marketing tool for that matter - sexy.  But even with all the interactive tools we have at our disposal, taking the benefits of these techniques to the next level is not easy.

I feel that the most important achievement of today’s interactive marketing solutions is that they enable us to measure the result of everything we do. The old credo “I know I’m wasting half of my marketing budget, but I do not know which half” does not fly on the online stage.

A content management system with integrated analytic solutions enables us to close the loop in our marketing activities. We can capture customer responses and behavior and we should use this data to direct and refine our interactive marketing strategy and tactics.

Easier said than done. That’s why we have drafted a whitepaper and a webinar (recorded version) that shows for each step in the AIDAS cycle how ‘closed loop marketing” concepts for the online channel are relevant and what you can do to support them.

We show how customer acquisition on the web starts with being noticed and how you can make people aware of your offering by using activities ranging from online advertising, branding and email marketing to search optimization and social tagging. We illustrate how the web over the years has developed from the mass communication platform it was, to becoming an engagement channel and the consequences this has for online marketing organizations that need to shift focus from traditional shotgun strategy to a rifle approach. To generate desire and action, marketers should actively seek direct dialog and need to offer a relevant and persuasive online experience. Only by establishing a strong emotional bond that creates loyalty to a brand, long-term growth and success can be guaranteed. The key is to make intelligent investments that allow you to measure result, improve and create long lasting relationships with your customers.

1.  Implement and Maintain Current Web Content Management (WCM) Technology

It wasn't that long ago when a basic function calculator could be purchased for $9.99.  Today, walk into any drug store and you can purchase the same calculator for $1.99 or buy a super deluxe scientific model for $9.99.  With most technology products you get more for less over time.  The same principle applies to enterprise web content management.

The web content management market and industry has changed considerably over the last few years and continues to evolve at a rapid pace.  Best-in-class enterprise web content management systems are now at the core of successful online marketing strategies and do much more than simply manage online content.  These systems now include interactive tools that will help you achieve online marketing objectives, such as increasing conversion rates.

To keep your organization ahead of the game and maximizing business results from your online channel, plan on upgrading WCM technology every three to five years.

2.  Frequently Update Website Content

Adding fresh content on a regular basis to your website will improve your search engine rankings plus has the extra benefit of keeping customers coming back for more.   Use dynamic content to deliver an enhanced visitor experience, build brand loyalty, and drive conversions.

3.  Personalize Website Interactions by Using Landing Pages

One of the quickest and easiest ways to increase the personalization of your online channel is to incorporate the use of more landing pages.  Landing pages should generally be directed at one target audience with one message and have one call to action.  By segmenting your target audiences you can channel them to the landing pages with content that best fits their profile.  Personalized content increases conversion rates.

4.  Conduct A/B Testing of your Website Content

I am the first to admit that marketing is as much an art as it is a science.  And while there are best practices for virtually every marketing tactic, the truth of the matter is that we never know for sure what will work and what won't work.  That is until we've tried it.  When you find out what works, do more of it.  A best-in-class enterprise web content management system will have A/B testing with functionality that makes this kind of testing simple.

5.  Use Old School Segmentation for Target Audience Marketing

Segment your Target audiences into groupings that make sense for your business and deliver persuasive content tailored to each group.  Best-in-class enterprise web content management systems will have this capability.

6.  Personalize the Website Experience

Website personalization is very similar to Segmentation, however here you are personalizing the web experience for individuals rather than groups.  Next generation web content management systems have the ability to deliver personalized content to individual website visitors based upon explicit and implicit behaviors.

Although I have been working in the dynamic area of web content management software for over five years, I'm still very much an old school marketer. I still believe in the traditional concepts of AIDAS and I acknowledge the importance of brand management, brand consistency and personalization.

Like many marketers I have warmer feelings for the business benefits of web content management, than for the technical specifics. For me, our web content management system forms the solid basis of our interactive marketing strategy. Naturally I expect this basis to be robust, future proof and above all user friendly, but for me, the things you can do with it, make our web content management system really sexy.

That’s why I love customer stories to discover what they are doing with their websites, how they use web content management and various interactive marketing solutions. Take a look at how SDL Tridion customer Toyota handles interactive marketing in their webinar or take a look at our other customer cases that can be found on our website. if you want to share your story, please let me know!

It’s certainly no secret that in the current harsh economic environment marketing professionals are having a difficult time justifying technology spending -- and enterprise web content management systems are no exception.

The justification for this major investment might seem hard to make, but delaying the purchase or piecing together an in-house solution can cost you more in the long run and severely impact your brand. Here are four concrete tips and explanations to help you make the business case for an investment in an enterprise web content management system (WCMS).

1.  A Web Content Management System Increases Revenue.

By streamlining and centralizing content creation, a new or revamped WCMS boosts your revenue by allowing content reuse and re-purposing across multiple websites,  channels, and, if you're a global enterprise, in multiple languages.  Additionally, a WCMS simplifies workflow and provides robust analytic measurement capabilities to keep you focused on the timely updates of content that makes you money rather than wasting it.

A best-in-class enterprise web content management system will also have an integrated suite of online marketing tools that will help you achieve important business objectives, like increasing conversion rates. Here are a few examples:

• Brand management tools
• Email campaign tools
• Target audience marketing
• Website personalization

2. A Web Content Management System Decreases Operational Costs.

With the right WCMS, you will spend less money on updating your website and avoid the inefficient practice of copying and pasting content across various pages. Centralized design elements and templates can be created once and then instantaneously integrated across your website. WCM helps you save money on labor, protect your brand and get it right the first time.

Most enterprise web content management systems are easy to use.  One of the major reasons organizations invest in web content management is because it empowers content creators (marketing teams, for example) to create, manage, modify, and publish content themselves- without IT involvement.  Consider the savings of hundreds of IT hours on an annual basis, not to mention the increased efficiency.

3. Create an honest ROI calculator.

Due to the economic environment, the concept of ROI is on the tip of everyone’s tongue when discussing technology investment. Don’t worry: an best-in-class enterprise web content management system almost always provides a sizable ROI. In addition to saving costs and boosting your revenue, a good WCMS interface comes with a high degree of usability. This means you can accelerate and simplify projects such as site development, implementation and content creation.

4.  Save 70% - 80% by Purchasing an Enterprise Web Content Management Solution

Gilbane found that site development based around a content management system saves a company 70-80 percent on cost when compared to in-house development.

Content creation in a WCM system looks and feels like standard applications such as Microsoft Word™ and blogging platforms. Gilbane found that this ease-of-use cuts training times by up to 90 percent. With an out-of-the-box commercially available enterprise web content management system, updates don’t get bogged down in IT departments. Marketers and other communicators can create and re-purpose content as easily as making or editing a Word document.

Beyond ROI

In addition, a WCMS can provide benefits that supersede ROI.  Next generation web content management systems can really help to protect brand equity online and across multiple channels.  For large companies, branding remains one of your most important assets and good customer perception is integral for continued success.  A next generation WCM system allows you to build and maintain your brand with minimal hiccups. Even if you come up with initial ROI figures that are lower than you want, maintaining your brand equity and providing the ideal user experience across multiple channels is enough to make the business case for updating your WCM strategy today.

For more information about justifying web content management and building a case to purchase a new enterprise web content management system, SDL Tridion produced an excellent whitepaper titled ROI for the online channel.  Please feel free to download free of charge by clicking on the link.

• Web Content Management Reviews
• Web Content Management Vendors
• Enterprise Web Content Management System
• Global Web Content Management
• Best Web Content Management

• Current offering
• Strategy
• Market presence

• Must have features
• Important features
• Nice to have features

Selecting An Enterprise Web Content Management System

To state the obvious, selecting an enterprise web content management system begins with selecting an enterprise web content management vendor.  While there is no set process for doing so, it’s definitely wise to begin by doing a little research to come up with a “Short List” of similar vendors most likely to meet your specific needs.

Assuming that you have:

• Done your research
• Set project objectives
• Made a plan
• Received executive approval
• Established a budget
• Assembled a team
• Decided on some basic "must have" web content management features

it's time to do an RFI (request for information) from your short list of web content management vendors.  Generally, the enterprise web content management system RFI is used to gather enough information about the vendors themselves and their proposed solutions so you can trim the list to only those from whom you want a demonstration.

Download Your Free Sample RFI Template Here

To help you select the best web content management system for your needs, SDL Tridion has developed a vendor neutral template to get you started.  Please feel free to modify and use it however you like.  Here is the link to where you can download:

Enterprise Web Content Management RFI Template

Other Considerations

A word of advise: Choose your web content management vendor very, very carefully.  Even if a solution has a lot of fancy whistles and bells that you absolutely "must have", you want to be pretty sure that the providing vendor will be around for the next 3-5 years with the ability to provide support. 

I also suggest that you give more weight to the benefits of web content management than you give to the features of a particular system.  In the end, it's about results and ROI- especially in today's economic climate.  So when evaluating WCM solutions, you might want to determine which one will best help you achieve business objectives such as increased conversion rates and improved online brand management.

Full Disclosure: I am a technological dummy and could not code my way out of a paper bag.  And I'm fine with that.  As a marketing professional, I could care less about "technology".  That is, at least, technology for technology's sake.  But I do care about the benefits of technology and the results it can help deliver to the bottom line.

Take, for example, this Blog.  I have no clue what's under this user-friendly interface. Probably a bunch of HTML mumbo jumbo and all kinds of this code and that code.  What I do know, with a reasonable degree of certainty, is that if I use this Blog according to best practices I will:

• Have greater visibility to search engines
• Communicate our corporate message to more members of our target audience
• Drive increased traffic to our website
• Generate more leads for our sales force
• Deliver an acceptable return on investment (ROI)

Believe me, these things I REALLY care about.  In fact, my job depends upon it.  I bet yours does too, if you are a marketing professional like me and have online marketing objectives that must be achieved.

As for this Blog, the same goes for enterprise web content management- the technology of a system is far less important than how it will help me achieve my assigned objectives (and thereby keeping me gainfully employed).

Admittedly, when I started working for SDL Tridion I did not know much about enterprise web content management, nor the underlying technology.  I still don't know much about the technology, but I have become an expert on the benefits of web content management and how a well deployed system can help me reach my business goals, like, for example, increasing conversion rates.

In addition to providing the benefits listed above, the best-in-class web content management system I use helps me do my job better and faster by providing me with:

• An online brand management solution
• An integrated multichannel marketing system
• Interactive marketing tools
• Email campaign tools
• Easy website personalization and target audience marketing

The more I work with the solution I am using , the more I realize that this is "not my fathers web content management system"... clearly it is something much more... probably better described as an integrated online marketing solution than an enterprise web content management system.  Quite frankly, I am less concerned about managing online content than I am leveraging it.  It's the leveraging of online content that produces the results.