Digital Experience Platforms (DXPs): What Are They And Should You Build One?

In digital marketing, delivering an excellent customer experience is essential to success. And to do that, you need a Digital Experience Platform (DXP). But what exactly are DXPs, and why do you need one? Let's take a closer look.

What's A Digital Experience Platform (DXP)?

A digital experience platform is a comprehensive software solution that assists organizations in creating, managing, and delivering personalized digital experiences to their customers across all channels. A DXP includes:

- A content management system (CMS)
- A digital asset management system (DAMS)
- An eCommerce platform
- A customer relationship management system (CRM)

A DXP should be built on a robust, scalable, and extensible architecture that can support a wide range of digital experience capabilities.
Some of the capabilities that a DXP should provide are the following:

- Content management
- Personalization
- E-commerce
- Omnichannel delivery
- Marketing automation
- Analytics
- Social engagement

Building a DXP from scratch can be a daunting task. However, doing so has many benefits, including having complete control over your data, customizing the platform to your specific needs and strategies, and getting the most bang for your buck (since you're not paying for features you don't need).

If you're unsure whether you need a DXP, here are some things to consider. A good DXP like Optimizely can help you:

Build Better Customer Relationships

A DXP can help you manage your customer relationships more effectively by giving you a single, unified view of your customer data that allows you to deliver more personalized and relevant customer experiences across all channels.

Drive More Sales And Conversions

A DXP can help you drive more sales and conversions by delivering personalized experiences to your customers. You can increase your sales and conversion rates by providing the right message to the right customer at the right time.

Increase Customer Loyalty And Retention

DXP can help you increase customer loyalty and retention by delivering personalized experiences that keep your customers returning. You can also strategically keep your customers engaged and loyal by providing the right platform.

Reduce Costs

A DXP can help you reduce costs by consolidating your customer data into a single platform. It allows you to reduce the number of disparate systems you need to manage and maintain and can help you reduce the costs of managing your customer data.

As you can see, there are many considerations before building a digital experience platform as part of your digital transformation initiative. By uniting all customer touchpoints and data, you can create efficiencies and improve your customer's digital experience while reducing your overall costs.

Do I Need A DXP?

Now to answer the big question - do you need a digital experience platform? The answer depends on two things: what you want to achieve as a company and how you want to get there.

DXPs like Sitecore can be a great solution if you're looking to create a seamless, omnichannel experience for your customers or if you need to launch and iterate on new digital experiences quickly.

However, a DXP can be overkill if you only want to create a simple website or are not ready to commit to ongoing platform maintenance and support.

Here are some tell-tale signs:

You Have A Complex Web Ecosystem

The first sign that you might need a digital experience platform is if you have a complex web ecosystem with multiple websites, mobile apps, and other digital touchpoints. It's especially true if your website is integrated with several back-end systems, channels, and front-end technologies. You need to unify these systems and make them work together seamlessly to create a consistent user experience across all touchpoints.

That's where a digital experience platform (DXP) comes in. A digital experience platform can help you manage your web ecosystem by providing a unified interface for all your back-end systems, making creating and managing content for each customer easier. In addition, a DXP can help you optimize your website for better performance and more conversions.

You Need To Deliver Personalized Customer Experiences

Another sign that your company needs a digital experience platform is if you're still using a one-size-fits-all approach to your customer experiences. If you're still using the same content, same design, and same user experience for all of your customers, regardless of their specific needs or interests, then it's time for a change.

A DXP helps companies create and deliver personalized digital experiences to their customers and prospects. A DXP is typically a cloud-based platform that provides a single, unified customer view and enables companies to deliver a consistent, personalized experience across all digital channels, including websites, mobile apps, and social media.

You Want A 360-Degree Market View

Aside from the need for agility, one of the main reasons enterprises are looking to build digital experience platforms is to get a 360-degree view of their customers. To do this, they need to unify all of their customer data--from social media interactions to customer service interactions to product usage data--into a single view. This data can then be used to create a complete picture of each customer and their needs.

As a digital marketer, you want to be able to see and track customer interactions across multiple channels in one place. It helps you create a holistic view of the customer experience and identify areas where you can improve your marketing efforts. A digital experience platform (DXP) is a solution that helps you do just that.

You Need To Streamline Your Processes

You might also find yourself stuck in a rut, relying on legacy systems that are no longer effective. A digital experience platform (DXP) can help you break free from these limitations.

A DXP can help you streamline your processes and break free from legacy systems by integrating your tools and data. Many companies have a variety of tools that they use to manage their digital products and customer experiences. A DXP can help you connect these tools and make them work together seamlessly.

A DXP can also help you manage your data more effectively. By integrating your tools and data, you can understand your customers' needs better. In return, it can help you provide better services and improve your product offerings.

If you can relate to any of the above, a digital experience platform could be a game-changer for your business.

Final Thoughts

Building a DXP can be a major undertaking, but it can also be a major differentiator for your business. If you can successfully create an integrated system that provides a great digital experience for your customers, you will be well ahead of the competition.
Before you build a DXP, you should carefully consider your business needs and objectives. If you have the resources and the commitment to make it happen, a DXP can be an excellent investment.