Sitecore has published its "Websites 2025 report: How marketers are adapting to changing digital trends," highlighting the ambiguities between marketers' ambitions for website development and the current capabilities of content management systems (CMS) to accommodate emerging technologies.
The report, which surveyed 200 marketing executives across the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and Australia, showcases that personalization, AI, and advanced analytics are emerging as top priorities for marketers. A significant 92% of respondents indicated personalization as essential for achieving business outcomes, and 97% identified AI and automation as critical for future website success.
Despite the high prioritisation of these technologies, many marketers face hurdles due to the limited capabilities of current CMS platforms. Only 32% of surveyed marketers feel their existing CMS tools can effectively support personalization efforts. Surpassing this, a substantial 65% consider robust integration and scalability vital, yet a mere 13% express high confidence in their CMS's ability to scale and integrate with new technologies like AI.
Budget constraints are cited by 76% of executives as the primary obstacle to advancing their website capabilities. Alarmingly, 31% allocate less than 5% of their marketing budget to web experience, which is reflective of only 16% of marketing leaders feeling that their websites support their principal revenue-generation objectives adequately. This shortfall potentially limits businesses' abilities to leverage personalised, omnichannel experiences that are instrumental in fostering organic growth.
Sitecore's report underscores the impending necessity for marketers to reassess their CMS investments and incorporate AI to enhance personalisation and drive marketplace differentiation in the years ahead. The company has carved a niche as an originator in the CMS market, propelling forward with a composable, SaaS-based Digital Experience Platform (DXP). Notably, its headless CMS, XM Cloud, is described as its quickest expanding solution, providing innate personalisation and optimisation features, along with extensive scalability in content management across various digital interfaces.
Further advancing in the field, Sitecore has introduced Stream, delivering embedded, brand-conscious AI functionalities within its DXP framework. Such innovations aim to equip marketers with the tools necessary to meet continuously shifting consumer expectations through swift creation and delivery of personalised digital experiences across all customer interactions.
