How to Choose a Content Management System: A Step-by-Step Guide
12 Nov, 2024
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12 Nov, 2024
If you are here reading this, you are at an important transformational stage in your organization’s digital growth – selecting the right content management system. A content management system is going to change the way your organization and brand create and manage content that will showcase the best aspects of your company. Now, just selecting the highest-rated or most expensive CMS is not the way. You have to match the CMS features with your organization’s content needs. The new CMS should increase your content capabilities, help you communicate with your audience, and build brand loyalty that results in sales. Therefore, here’s a step-by-step guide that will show you:
Before starting your search, you need to set a few important parameters and conditions against which you can judge whether a CMS is the right fit for your organization.
Even if your business has been working locally, there will be time for you to expand overseas. So might as well invest in a CMS that has multi-language capabilities. It should be able to create content in multiple, localized languages without losing its real essence and meaning. The content should be able to deliver the same effect as your English content.
You may also hire employees overseas who will create this content more accurately. But to communicate with the employees effectively, your CMS should also allow easy collaboration capabilities along with the ability to create detailed workflows in the employees’ language. This is an important component of the content management system that is a must.
Customers are going to respond to content that speaks to them. Gone are the days of content with basic information because online customers are constantly being bombarded with content. So, you have to create marketing content that will engage them enough for them to come to your website.
Once on the website, personalized experiences are what will keep them on the website and convince them to invest in your product or service. If the customers feel like they are getting heard and get exactly what they want, you will have a patron for life. Therefore, look for a robust CMS that will deliver more than just content creation.
Just one single customer generates tones of online data that can be leveraged to engage them better. Right from their geographical location to their online buying behavior, there is so much data that an accurate buyer persona can be created. Your CMS should be able to leverage this data to create personalized experiences.
A CMS powered by robust analytics tools can help marketers collect and analyze the data that can help them understand customers better. This way, they can create personalized experiences and clever touch points right from marketing campaigns to the buying process that will enhance the customer journey. These tools should show what your customers want from you and how you can engage with them on a personal level.
Technology is moving so fast nowadays that something that was trending 5 years ago is now considered obsolete. Technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), Machine Learning (ML), Blockchain, and web assistants are pushing customer experiences and expectations to the max. Your CMS should be able to keep up with this change in technology.
Therefore, you need a CMS that is adaptive and scalable and has the power to leverage all these technologies that will not only help you develop the right kind of content but also help gain insights into the mind of the customer and offer them the additional benefits that come with technological advancement.
There was a time when people logged on to a website, bought what they wanted, and logged off. But this pattern has changed. Now, buyers want great content that engages and appeals to their senses. They want to get a feel of the product or service. They want informative written content, beautiful pictures and videos, and a personalized buying experience.
Your CMS should be capable of doing all of this and more. Its analytics tools should be able to tell you what type of content experiences your customers are looking for and your content creation tools should help you make the most creative content that will take your marketing campaigns to the next level.
Now, let’s get to the brass tacks. Here is a small guide on how to choose a content management system:
Investing in a CMS is a major move that requires input from all the best people in your organization. Form a committee of people who know and understand what a CMS does, how it will help in content creation and management, and its importance towards the future functioning of the company.
Ensure that your committee is diverse and comprises people who will be working with the CMS. A diverse team will ensure that they will judge a CMS from their perspective. Use inputs from the marketing team, the sales team, the content team, the IT department, and senior management to select the best CMS.
Are you investing in a CMS because your organization needs it or are you investing because everyone in your industry has one? You need to know if you really require a CMS before you proceed. Assess the content that is currently being created and whether there is a scope for improvement. Ask yourself questions like, do you have plans to expand into a new market? Will a better website help you grow your traffic and sales? What is your organization’s current technology quotient and where does a new CMS fit into it? What types of technology will you need to create better customer experiences? How many years do you plan to get out of your CMS?
Questions like these and more will help you get a clearer picture of what you need from your CMS. From the best content management system for a small business to robust CMS for large-scale operations, once you have all the answers, you will know exactly what you want.
It’s time to bury your head into your PC and start researching the best CMS in the market. There are many reports by expert analysts’ groups like Magic Quadrant that put a list of the best CMS each year. These lists are based on their own tests and sales numbers of the CMS. Such reports are trustworthy and a great starting point.
You can also check out public forums where people discuss the issues with their CMS like which component of the content management system has been the best one and which one needs work. They also talk about the after-sales service and conflict resolution of the CMS vendor. You will get a clearer picture here. Directly asking current users in organizations similar to yours is another great way. Shortlist the ones you like and match them against your requirements.
It’s one thing to do your research and get all the information you can regarding a CMS and its functionality. But getting all the info straight from the horse’s mouth is a completely different thing. This is where you use a Request for Proposal (RPF). It is, as the name suggests, a proposal you send to the vendor. In this proposal, you outline your needs and wants from the CMS, and the vendor then responds to your proposal.
Based on the vendor’s response, you have to make your decision. But you have to ensure that your requirements are framed in such a way that you get detailed answers from the vendor, that clearly outline what the CMS will do for you. For example, say you are struggling to find the right landing page design. The vendor will then showcase how their CMS will help you create a responsive and effective landing page that will generate more leads.
Ask the vendor tough questions. Ask them to give you real-time demos. Assess their CMS against your creative, technical, business, and functional needs. Also, ask about training and support. Double-check with existing clients of the vendor. See if the CMS will integrate into your existing IT infrastructure and will grow with your scalability requirements. And of course, also check against your budget. Once clear, finalize a CMS and vendor.
Follow this and you will have your CMS. This activity can take weeks, months even. If you don’t have this much time or you find the whole process bothersome, get an implementation partner. Tru Performance has been an implementation partner for many organizations, big and small, and has helped them get the right CMS. We know how to choose a content management system and do the above-given steps and a whole lot more to ensure you get the right CMS. Connect with us today to know more about how we can help you get the best content management system.
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