What is a CMS?

What is a CMS? A quick definition

A modern web content management system is a tool designed to let you create, manage and optimize your customers' digital experience.

More precisely, a CMS is a software application that lets users collaborate on creating, editing and producing digital content: web pages, blog posts and so on.

CMS platforms have evolved from simple tools for publishing digital content into powerful systems that are essential for managing a global digital experience across different channels, such as email, mobile apps, social networks, websites and much more.

However, in a user-centered world with many different devices, this is not enough. Digital marketing has evolved and now focuses more deeply on the customer experience, while also incorporating mobile apps and many other aspects.

All of this depends on a web content management system, which separates content management from its presentation.

What is the difference between a CMS and a WCM?

The terms "content management system" and "web content management system" (WCM or WCMS) are often interchangeable, and there is no clear industry definition to tell one from the other.

The term CMS tends to imply creating, editing and managing content, while the term WCM implies all of that plus the actual management of websites.

However, when a vendor prefers one term or the other without telling you what you need to know, you have to "look under the hood" of the solution to find out what it really offers.

Essential features of a CMS solution

The important features of a content management solution include:

Content management 🧑‍🎨: create, edit, publish and manage web content (including text, images, video and audio)
Presentation 📱: customers move from one device to another, and no marketing organization can afford to manually optimize every blog post or catalog page for laptops, tablets and smartphones. You should be able to create content once, then let the CMS automate its presentation according to the device.
Integration 🔗: is the solution all-inclusive, or does it use APIs to connect your content to other applications, such as CRM (customer relationship management) and ERP (enterprise resource planning) solutions and crucial external platforms such as Facebook? Are the APIs you need available? (ask us! 😎)
Commerce 🛒: a crucial facet of integration is the ability to connect personalized marketing presentation to your digital commerce systems. You can fully control the "customer journey"!
Personalization 👌: the solution can deliver relevant content to unique visitors based on their persona or location, or even individually, based on their past interactions with your brand.
Analytics 📈: you publish content, but is anyone reading it? And if so, what do they do next? Demand visibility on performance, so you can optimize your efforts and define the return on investment of your solution.
Governance 👑: keep strict control over the publication and modification of your content.
Multilingual support 🇫🇷🇺🇸: translate your content into other languages and publish it worldwide.
Scalability / performance / stability 📊: scale your solution technically in line with your growth.
Training and vendor support: CMS solutions are becoming more and more complex and promise ever more spectacular results; however, most teams need help to master the advanced features. (and we can help you with that 😎)