Top Six Strategies for CMS/Digital Marketing Success

Transcription

1 white paper Top Six Strategies for CMS/Digital Marketing Success

2 Table of Contents Planning for a Successful CMS Deployment 1 Success Factor #1: Make Application Development Easy 1 Success Factor #2: Get It Right from the Beginning 2 Success Factor #3: Provide Deep Integration 3 Success Factor #4: Go Native 3 Success Factor #5: Optimize for Mobile 4 Success Factor #6: Utilize the Developer Community 5 Your Checklist for CMS Project Success 5 About Sitecore 6 Copyright Copyright 2011 Sitecore. All Rights Reserved. Restricted Rights Legend This document may not, in whole or in part, be photocopied, reproduced, translated, or reduced to any electronic medium or machine readable form without prior consent, in writing, from Sitecore. Information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of Sitecore. Trademarks Sitecore is a registered trademark of Sitecore. All other company and product names are trademarks of their respective owners.

3 Planning for a Successful CMS Deployment In 1996, when the Internet boom was just underway, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates famously insisted that content is king. 1 Much has changed since then. The Internet of 1996 was, by and large, a vast collection of static webpages. Much of the content represented the archives of traditional media, transferred directly from print to digital format. In other words, content was king in 1996 because content was the only game in town. That s no longer the case. Today, user experience rules the Web. And while content is still a key component in any online experience, it s the way you disseminate it that really counts. Unlike the content-focused website of yesteryear, the experience-focused website must: Deliver content in real time Engage customers and prospects in a continuous, dynamic conversation Avoid dependence on a single platform or device Enable marketers to keep learning about users A high-quality web CMS should enable your company to do all of the above, at a minimum. And many CMS solutions include these capabilities, at least in concept. So why is it that these systems sometimes fail? The short answer is that when many companies choose a web CMS solution, they often fail to plan thoroughly enough. They also fail to gain input and buy-in from key stakeholders, including developers. In this white paper, we ve outlined six key success factors to help ensure that your company s web CMS solution is developer-friendly. Read it, circulate it, discuss it and push for these capabilities when a new web CMS is in the works. Success Factor #1: Make Application Development Easy In any discussion of CMS usability and deployment success, people tend to focus their attention particularly on marketers and business users. And for good reason it s important for those users to edit content on the fly without IT intervention. But what about developers? Shouldn t a web CMS be easy for you to use, too? While you can probably develop anything from scratch if you put your mind to it, how long will that take? Will that distract you from projects more crucial to the business? The longer the development cycle, the easier it is to lose sight of why you began a project in the first place. Parameters change. People move on. What you need, in other words, is a CMS that provides maximum agility with minimal disruption. Here are just a few hallmarks of the developer-friendly CMS environment: You shouldn t have to learn new tools. Developers want to save time, too. Your CMS should enable you to work with the tools you re already familiar with, like Microsoft Visual Studio. 1 Content is King, Microsoft.com, January

4 Keep coding overload to a minimum. Relatively straightforward tasks for instance, editing a press release shouldn t require heroic efforts from a coding perspective. In an optimized environment, developers should be able to spend less time on administrative work and more time on innovative, interesting programming tasks. Rely on easy-to-use APIs. An intelligently designed CMS will support languages like Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and application frameworks like ASP.NET and ASP.NET MVC. Support your processes. Insist on compatibility with development techniques used in your organization such as Scrum and continuous integration. Success Factor #2: Get It Right from the Beginning Planning should always begin by defining requirements. Gone are the days when your website was simply a data depository. In many cases, it s now the primary means by which customers discover and interact with your company. As the engagement engine driving all of your digital marketing channels today, your website can have a direct impact on your business s bottom line. As such, all of your colleagues have a stake in your website s success everyone from marketing to business users to executives. Your first priority is to understand what these stakeholders require. Only then will you be able to determine what kind of a web CMS the company should implement. 2 Here are some examples of what you ll need to understand from the get-go: Business objective: Do we need to support affiliates around the globe? Are we dealing with multiple languages? Do we need to implement e-commerce? Content strategy: What types of information need to be disseminated? How often? To whom? On what device, and with what level of interactivity? Usability requirements: It all comes down to audience. What type of person will visit our website? And how can we make the experience as intuitive as possible? Once you ve gathered this information, you can begin deploying a web CMS that meets key requirements while observing IT-specific needs, including: Process link-up Integration with existing systems Interoperability Scalability and extensibility In all aspects of business, the best software for you is the one that best matches your needs your budget, scope, and the type of project you re engaged in. This is particularly true when it comes to selecting a website content management system. Theresa Regli, Inc. Magazine 2 2 How to Choose a Website Content Management System, Theresa Regli, Inc., March 19,

5 By defining stakeholders needs within the context of IT feasibility and by doing so at the very beginning of your process you can anticipate and optimize for the widest possible range of needs across a broad spectrum of the organization. Success Factor #3: Provide Deep Integration The enterprise ecosystem is in the midst of great change. Online channels play an increasingly central role in the mix, often surpassing traditional sales and distribution channels. In some cases, they ve replaced traditional channels altogether. But don t be fooled: tradition may still have an important role to play. The key is creating a web CMS that enables you to integrate all channels into a seamless, centralized whole. Here are a few important guidelines to keep in mind: Don t forget your line-of-business applications. Whatever applications you currently use from customer databases to CRM to ERP systems should be easily (and deeply) integrated into your web CMS. Avoid unnecessary work. Look for a solution that includes pre-built integration with leading enterprise software, including the ability to connect to databases and web services without complex programming. A scalable CMS will offer you a balanced, extensible architecture that enables you to create your own oneof-a-kind solution neither restricted by cookie-cutter design options nor overburdened with complex integration processes. Take the opportunity to re-imagine your ecosystem. Evaluate your existing systems and see if anything can be replaced. You might even want to consider a digital marketing implementation, which could connect you to e-commerce, analytics, CRM, and more. Make access easy. Single sign-on enables any user to gain access to the entire system without logging on multiple times. And data re-use gives your colleagues the option to populate the entire system with their personal data. Those may seem like minor features, but they go a long way toward helping users see the web CMS as a unified, enterprise-wide entity. Success Factor #4: Go Native 3 4 Localization should never be an afterthought. In an increasingly global economy, you must deliver a consistent message across a wide range of channels, media, and geographies. That means adapting your message and designing and developing your website for a wide range of cultures and languages. English Is No Longer the Default Less than a quarter of the world s web users are native English speakers, 3 and 85 percent of e-consumers say they won t make an online purchase if the product details aren t available in their preferred language. 4 3 Internet World Stats, June How to Measure ROI for Spanish-Language US Sites, Forrester Research, January

6 Not so long ago, companies would populate and manage multilingual websites manually one site at a time. But with globalization proceeding at such a rapid pace, and with users expecting an increasingly interactive, responsive online experience, that approach simply won t scale. An enterprise-quality CMS offers a very different approach: Simplified, centralized management of multilingual and multicultural content Native-language workflow for content editors Consistent global messaging across all international sites Deployment options for consistent site uptime across the globe Efficient translation, either through authenticated access by translators or through integration with translation automation software such as Rosetta Gateway (from Clay Tablet) or Freeway (from Lionbridge Technology) Success Factor #5: Optimize for Mobile Multiple industry watchers believe that by 2014 or sooner, mobile Internet usage will surpass desktop Internet usage. Mobile devices are simply an integral part of daily life. That trend carries great significance for developers. Just a few years ago, it was acceptable to develop a site that was simply mobile-friendly. You could shrink and re-display content for easier reading on Apple iphones, and be done. Not anymore. The new standard for developers is mobile optimization. Consider this: a smartphone user will often have very different objectives than someone sitting in front of their PC. The mobile user will sometimes be searching by location, or require logistical information more quickly. Developers must therefore consider customers goals when accessing the website via mobile device, and adjust accordingly. Possible adjustments include: Delivering location-specific offers Building apps for more devices Simplifying the shopping process But it doesn t end there. Mobile is now a force to be reckoned with, but what about the next big thing? What trend in consumer technology will we be talking about in five years? And when that trend hits, will your web CMS be able to support it? 4

7 That s why it s critical for you to: Choose a flexible CMS that will adapt to technology as it changes. Ensure that your web CMS separates content from presentation. That way you can always present the content in multiple formats. One thing is certain: the landscape will change. All you can do is prepare your infrastructure for maximum adaptation. Success Factor #6: Utilize the Developer Community Even the most savvy and experienced developers occasionally bump up against technical obstacles. Where is the best place to turn to for help? A vibrant, global developer community. Mobile Means HTML5 Developers have long used the Internet to ask questions in forums, swap code, and share their successes. Now it s easier than ever to interact and share with other developers using social media and collaboration tools. The meteoric rise of mobile gives you just one more reason to pay attention to HTML5, the latest version of the HTML markup language which offers greater interactivity and strong mobile device capabilities. ReadWriteWeb called HTML5 one of the top trends of 2010, in part because the language enables developers to create browser-based mobile sites that have a similar sophistication to native mobile apps. 5 In 2011, ReadWriteWeb reported that Microsoft is throwing its weight being HTML5 with the next version of Windows, Windows 8, relying heavily on Web technologies like HTML5 6. With more than half of online video already available in HTML5, 7 it s only a matter of time before the language becomes a standard part of every developer s toolkit. Learn how to make the most of it now. A developer community for your CMS can be an invaluable source for technical tips and tricks, tools, documentation, code snippets, training, problem solving, and more. Using the resources available in an active developer community can help you take full advantage of everything your CMS has to offer. Your Checklist for CMS Project Success Many enterprise developers find themselves frustrated by their counterintuitive CMS solutions. If that sounds all too familiar, there s no reason to consign yourself to such day-to-day irritations. Deploying an easy-to-use, cross-functional CMS is no great mystery. It just requires a little planning. In your planning stage, remember the six strategic guidelines we ve discussed here: Make it developer friendly Define your requirements. 5 Top Trends of 2010: HTML5, Richard MacManus, ReadWriteWeb, November Top Trends of 2011: HTML5, Richard MacManus, ReadWriteWeb, July 26, MacManus, Top Trends of 2010: HTML5 5

8 Integrate it. Globalize it. Optimize for mobile. And of course, join the community. With those goals in mind, you ll be in a fantastic position to create a web CMS that developers actually want to use all with the goal of making your website a richer, more engaging experience for your customers. To learn more about web content management and finding the right fit for your organization s needs, contact Sitecore. About Sitecore Sitecore redefines how organizations engage with audiences, powering compelling experiences that sense and adapt to visitors both online and in-person. Sitecore s leading Content Management System software is the first to cohesively integrate with marketing automation, intranet portal, e-commerce, web optimization, social media and campaign management technologies. This broad choice of capabilities enable marketing professionals, business stakeholders and information technology teams to rapidly implement, measure and manage a successful website and digital business strategy. Businesses can now easily identify, serve and convert new customers with Sitecore s Digital Marketing System, part of its encompassing Customer Engagement Platform. Thousands of public and private organizations have created and now manage more than 32,000 websites and digital experiences with Sitecore including ATP World Tour, CA Technologies, General Mills, ESPN Rise, Heineken, ISS, Lloyd s of London, Microsoft, Omni Hotels, Siemens, The Knot, Thomas Cook and Visa Europe. For more information about Sitecore, please visit 6