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Empowering finance: The composable technology starter-guide
Why composable for finance makes sense (and dollars)The financial services sector, a front-runner in innovation, faces intense competition, from major investment firms to independent banks. When it comes to financial services, today's customers demand agility, security and continuous innovation. To surpass these expectations, the financial world is embracing composable technology for its unparalleled capacity for customization and innovation. Imagine tailoring services to meet each customer's unique needs, staying ahead of evolving regulations, and fostering relentless innovation. Composable Digital Experience Platforms (DXP) are the secret ingredient that fuels this transformative journey for today’s financial services organizations.Benefits of a Composable DXPThis shift offers financial institutions a chance to revolutionize their technology spectrum, driving revenue growth, faster market entry, cost efficiency, enhanced risk management and elevated customer contentment. Through a composable DXP, financial businesses gain the agility to adapt swiftly to market dynamics, personalize customer interactions, unveil new services quickly, and seamlessly integrate innovative solutions to maintain a competitive edge in the ever-evolving financial landscape. So what should financial institutions consider before getting started on their composable journey and how does this shift truly move the needle?Personalized digital experiencesToday’s customers crave personalization. They no longer want to be just another number on a spreadsheet; they want services tailored to their unique needs and preferences. This shift towards personalization isn't just a trend; it has become a necessity in the financial landscape. Composable technology serves as the backbone for this personalized evolution, allowing financial institutions to craft bespoke solutions that resonate with each customer. By leveraging modular components, these building blocks enable financial institutions to design personalized offerings that cater to individual needs. By breaking down services into smaller, interchangeable parts, institutions have the flexibility to mix and match these components, creating dynamic and tailored solutions for their customers. “Integrating a headless CMS into our cloud-native approach allowed us to really optimize edge delivery of a lot of our content… Render times are five times faster when compared to our legacy CMS.”— Clay Gregory | Principal Architect, MorningstarThis composable approach empowers organizations to adapt quickly to changing market demands, stay ahead of the curve and deliver innovative, customer-centric experiences.Improved connectivity, compliance and risk mitigationCompliance and risk mitigation have always been critical in finance. However, the increasing complexity of regulations and the fast-paced nature of financial transactions make these aspects even more crucial.Composable technology serves as a game-changer, not only enabling swift adjustments to comply with regulations but also enhancing risk mitigation strategies. Known for its inherent flexibility, composable technology empowers organizations to seamlessly update their systems to adapt to regulatory changes. This facilitates real-time risk assessment by enabling continuous monitoring and analysis of potential threats. Its modular architecture facilitates the integration of advanced risk management tools and AI-driven analytics. Additionally, it streamlines risk mitigation efforts by providing the agility to swiftly implement necessary controls and measures in response to identified risks. By leveraging composable technology, businesses can proactively identify and address potential risks, predict potential vulnerabilities, and implement preemptive measures, ensuring a robust and secure operational environment.Such a proactive approach not only fortifies the regulatory compliance stance but also bolsters the resilience of financial systems against unforeseen risks, safeguarding the integrity of operations in an ever-evolving regulatory environment.Increased customer engagement: Building loyalty with contentEngaging content is no longer limited to media companies. Financial institutions are recognizing the value in building loyalty and trust among their customers — and nurturing that customer loyalty requires a strategic blend of informative and engaging content. To build lasting relationships and deliver value beyond transactions, more financial services organizations are demonstrating their commitment to customer needs with personalized newsletters, social media, targeted emails and other various channels.But how does composable technology come into play in this context? By enabling seamless integration of various content delivery platforms, it empowers financial firms to create localized and omnichannel content strategies, ensuring meaningful engagement with customers across different channels and regions.This approach enhances the overall customer experience and strengthens the bond between financial institutions and their diverse customer base.“We’re aggressively making changes to the website. We’re trying to draw people in, and we haven’t done that before. We can spin up new pages faster now than they could previously.”— Jason Hagen | Software Architect, Harbor Capital AdvisorsModernizing workflows for today's expectations around agility and innovationAgility and innovation are no longer just buzzwords — they are non-negotiables. Composable technology is a force multiplier when it comes to modernizing workflows and increasing agility. The integration of composable technology not only amplifies agility but also catalyzes a culture of innovation within organizations. With composable technology, teams can streamline operational processes, seamlessly integrate new tools, and optimize collaborative efforts, resulting in enhancements in productivity and efficiency. "We cut out 40% of our tickets by having a CMS where other users can make updates to the website. That 40% is so valuable for us, so we can focus on revenue-driving initiatives and find new ways to get users to engage with our web properties to get more leads in the pipeline for sales. It is a huge advantage for us!"— Kevin Yang | Senior Manager, Digital Experience, ICE Mortgage TechnologyAdditionally, the rapid deployment of new functionalities and enhancements encourages a culture of adaptability, allowing teams to respond swiftly to market shifts and emerging opportunities. Composable technology not only future-proofs operations but cultivates a dynamic ecosystem where innovation thrives, positioning organizations at the forefront of industry advancements.Composable is the key to new growth and revenueIf you are still wondering why composable technology is the future of finance, consider this: it paves the way for new growth and revenue streams.By enabling customization, fostering innovation, enhancing compliance and improving customer engagement, composable technology helps financial institutions tap into previously unexplored opportunities. Composable Digital Experience Platforms are not just about keeping up with the times; they are a linchpin of progress. Composable DXPs embody modernization, propelling businesses forward in a landscape defined by agility, innovation and customer-centricity. Embracing these platforms isn't just about staying relevant; it's about reimagining your digital experiences to thrive in an era where adaptability, personalization and swift evolution are paramount. Are you ready to not just meet but exceed customer expectations?Get started today.
Composable commerce: Best-in-class tools for the job
Many people today use the phrase "composable commerce" — including monolith vendors like Adobe and Shopify. As the composable commerce space has matured, and as more and more brands have seen the value of a system that lets you leverage best-of-breed microservices for your brand needs, it makes sense that legacy tech platforms would want to carve out a piece of the composable pie. But the reality is, a monolith can never truly be composable. If you're on Adobe, you may be able to leverage a handful of third-party services with relative ease—but only ones that have been approved and integrated by them. You’re still locked into their ecosystem, and your ability to make changes and update your commerce experiences is driven by their feature development and priority list. True composability is about breaking down those barriers and putting control in your hands.What is composable commerce?What sets pure-play composable commerce apart? At its core, real composability involves component-based architecture, cloud-native infrastructure and API-first connectivity. This means that modular capabilities can be mixed and matched, scaled, iterated, and swapped as needed. Instead of an all-in-one toolset, brands access integrated microservices via APIs.Cloud-native infrastructure provides the foundation for this plug-and-play extensibility. Containered services scale automatically, while APIs enable headless commerce functionality alongside other capabilities. As capabilities expand, composable stacks stay cohesive yet cutting-edge.“The ability to curate your commerce experience using best-in-breed microservices, with access to the tools you want and need—nothing more, nothing less—is a compelling argument for modern retail and commerce brands,” notes Jason Cottrell, CEO of Orium. The market moves quickly. Brands need to be able to move alongside it.Benefits of composable commerceModular composability centered on APIs and the cloud provides:Targeted personalization: Leverage real-time data for contextualized messaging connecting commerce and contentContinuous experimentation: Rapidly test and scale what resonates without significant liftsFaster innovation cycles: Plug emerging engagement channels into your stackIf a new, better alternative comes on the market, swapping it out won't be an option. When you lock into a monolithic platform, your options will always be limited by their platform. With a truly composable stack based on MACH technologies, you'll be able to leverage the best solutions in the market for your needs. For example, if you need to understand user behavior (and you do), quantumetrics is an industry-leading solution that can be implemented into a modular composable architecture with relative ease. The same can't be said for monolithic counterparts.Overcoming implementation challengesSome brands hesitate to adopt composable commerce, fearing overly complex implementations involving stitching together disparate systems. However, MACH’s open APIs and microservices architecture streamline integrations. Composable also offers the freedom to work with preferred agency partners versus being locked into an agency ecosystem dictated by a suite vendor.With expert guidance, brands can launch composable stacks rapidly. Many even realize faster time-to-market versus monolithic solutions given leaner, more lightweight systems. Vendor-agnostic flexibility also allows engaging your preferred system integrator partners to streamline rollout.“As the space has evolved, moving to a MACH-based architecture has become easier. The emergence of accelerators, like Orium’s Accelerator, can smooth the process for brands, speeding time to first value without sacrificing the flexibility and scalability of a fully composable system,” notes Cottrell.Separating composable leaders from followersIncreasingly, legacy platforms now pay lip service to composability but lack the cloud DNA and API foundations required. Their tools remain a walled garden, restricting the versatility that authentic composable architecture provides. Even with approved partners, integration is complex, expensive and provides minimal capability.Forward-looking brands opt for these purpose-built composable commerce technologies to future-proof innovation potential. With composability anchored fundamentally in the cloud and powered entirely by APIs, curating cutting-edge yet cohesive stacks becomes simple — an unmatched advantage.ConclusionComposable commerce delivers instantly extensible, best-of-breed stacks aligned to business goals. In 2024 and beyond, composable architecture offers unmatched adaptability to address digital experience challenges through continuous experimentation powered by specialized tools. It lays the foundation for optimized customer journeys that convert. This unmatched advantage makes composable the obvious choice for digital experience success.
How to leverage real-time personalization for deeper customer engagement
Personalization across digital experiences is like having a linear conversation with a friend, where every interaction strengthens the relationship. Just as a friend remembers your likes and dislikes, knows your behaviors and maybe even has your coffee order memorized, the goal of digital personalization isn’t too far off.Personalization in digital experiences is no longer a luxury; it's a necessity. Today's consumers crave bespoke experiences designed for their unique needs and preferences. Brands that deliver these personalized experiences, quickly and at scale, can boost customer loyalty, drive up conversion rates and propel themselves into the global market. This tailored approach fosters a sense of connection, creating an ongoing dialogue that feels more intuitive, engaging, and authentic – much like having an effortless conversation with someone you know and trust.How? By leveraging a composable Digital Experience Platform (DXP).What is a composable DXP?Composable DXP, unlike its legacy counterparts, is inherently more flexible and adaptable. It's akin to a set of Lego blocks – you can assemble, disassemble and reassemble them to create whatever you envision. This flexibility allows businesses to build and modify their digital platforms per their changing requirements.Omnichannel personalizationThe magic of composable DXP really comes alive with omnichannel personalization.Imagine knowing exactly what your customer wants, when they want it, and being able to deliver it instantly. Sounds like a dream, right? With real-time personalization, this dream becomes reality. By analyzing a customer's behavior, preferences and interactions in real time, businesses can provide personalized experiences that hit the mark every single time.But why should you care about personalization? Let's look at some numbers. Personalization can reduce customer acquisition costs by up to 50%; Increase revenues by 5-15%;And improve the efficiency of marketing spend by 10-30%. That's not all. Studies show that 84% of consumers expect to be treated as individuals, not numbers. They desire personalized experiences that make them feel understood, valued, and connected to your brand. From local to globalNow, let's take a leap from local markets to the global arena. Composable DXPs help businesses expand their reach beyond geographical boundaries. By providing the ability to customize content per regional preferences, languages and cultures, a composable DXP makes it easier for businesses to cater to a global audience.Looking into the future, it's clear that composable DXPs will continue to shape the landscape of personalized digital experiences. This evolution offers an exciting opportunity for businesses to stay ahead of the curve by delivering what modern consumers desire — highly personalized, seamless and engaging experiences across all touchpoints.How real-time personalization worksModularity and flexibility enables you to mix and match different tools and functionalities to create personalized experiences without being limited by a monolithic system.Rapid deployment of new content facilitates faster personalization of experiences based on changing user needs and behaviors.When it’s time to expand your digital offerings or handle increased traffic, a composable DXP can accommodate these changes without significant rearchitecting or rebuilding.With the help of AI and automation, Composable DXPs can help in analyzing vast amounts of data to derive actionable insights, predict user preferences, and ultimately enhance the overall personalization process.With a modular structure, it becomes easier to iterate and test different personalized experiences. You can quickly test digital content, gather feedback, and make adjustments without disrupting your entire platform.How to leverage real-time personalizationNow, you must be wondering, "How do I leverage real-time personalization?" The answer is simpler than you think. With composable Digital Experience Platforms (DXPs) like Contentstack, you can create and deliver personalized content across multiple channels in real time. Whether it's a promotional email, a product recommendation on your website, or a push notification on a mobile app, every piece of content can be customized to resonate with each customer.Conclusion In today's digital age, personalization isn't just about knowing your customer's name. It's about understanding their needs, preferences and behaviors to offer an experience that feels uniquely theirs.By delivering hyper-personalized experiences, businesses can deepen customer engagement, foster brand loyalty and drive significant business growth.Are you ready to step into the future and harness the power of real-time personalization? Remember, the future is not just about predicting what your customers want; it's about knowing it in real time and delivering personalized content that catches their attention.With a composable DXP, you can do it faster and easier than ever before.
The future of travel content: Unlocking the potential of composable experiences
The holiday season is upon us, and there is nothing more enticing than finding the perfect travel offer right when the weather gets colder and everyone dreams of an easy trip home for the holidays — or the perfect winter getaway. And that means travel companies are on the hook for providing that perfect offer, to millions of travelers, all looking for something just right, just for them. Composable content makes that task easier than ever. The concept of composable content is revolutionizing how we create, manage and deliver travel and tourism-specific digital customer experiences. It's a dynamic shift from traditional monolithic content creation to a more flexible, efficient and scalable approach. What is composable content in the travel industry? Composable content is designed to be reusable, rearranged and reassembled in different ways across multiple platforms and contexts. It's like building blocks — creating smaller, self-contained content pieces that can be compiled into a larger, more comprehensive travel experience. Each module independently holds value but can be combined and recombined to create diverse omnichannel offerings without the need for repetitive content creation. For example, Icelandair uses composable content to serve localized content in 12 languages, to 16 local markets, all with a relatively small team of content editors. This way, they can serve customers in their local language and create custom travel offers for every region, all from one central content platform. The power of composable experiences The force-multiplying power of this approach lies in its inherent flexibility and efficiency. It allows for more efficient travel and tourism-related content production. Instead of creating new content for every scenario, modular content enables repurposing and re-packaging existing modules as needed. This reduces the time and resources spent on content creation and ensures a consistent brand voice and message across all channels. Composable content also makes updating information significantly easier. Instead of searching through extensive page backlogs to make updates, with composable content, you simply update the relevant module and the changes are naturally propagated through any channel that uses that module. Additionally, in the era of highly personalized travel and tourism experiences, composable content shines through its ability to adapt to individual needs. Modules can be rearranged, substituted and assembled based on specific preferences, allowing for a truly tailored travel digital content experience. Travel experience brand GetYourGuide uses composable content modules to create exclusive, once-in-a-lifetime experiences — called “Originals” by GetYourGuide — that are promoted using rich videos and influencer content, allowing them to reach new audiences in new markets compared to their regular suite of traditional travel offers. Empowering content creators To harness this force-multiplying power, content creators need to be able to execute a customer-data-driven content strategy. They need to identify the core travel messages, divide them into logical modules, and ensure each module is self-sufficient and capable of standing alone. Essentially, they're creating a content library, which content creators can draw from and combine in countless ways to craft unique, personalized travel experiences. It goes without saying that technology that supports composable content is paramount to successfully executing this approach. Pedro Torres, Product Manager at GetYourGuide, says leveraging Contentstack composable technology has been a game-changer for content editors. “Contentstack helped us establish pre-approved components where users can quickly create content and drop it into flexible templates, transforming our approval processes and how we think about new experiences.” Content reigns supreme in the travel industry The future of travel and tourism digital experiences is indeed modular. As we navigate the ever-changing digital landscape, the force-multiplying power of composable content will become increasingly apparent in the travel and tourism industry. Composable content offers a streamlined, efficient and adaptive approach to content creation perfectly suited to our dynamic digital age where content reigns supreme. It's not just about creating content anymore — it's about composing unforgettable travel and tourism experiences.
From local to global: The evolution of localization strategies
The way we interact with global audiences has gone through a major makeover, all thanks to the digital revolution. In today's interconnected world, businesses are no longer confined within the borders of their home countries. Nailing your expansion strategy comes down to one word: localization. It's the secret sauce for connecting with consumers from different corners of the globe, smashing through language and cultural barriers, unifying your brand, and unlocking new opportunities for business expansion. In fact, about 73% of customers prefer to buy from websites that speak their language, according to the Harvard Business Review.But localization is so much more than language. How can you ensure your message hits the mark no matter where it's heard? The answer lies in understanding the cultural and geographical attributes of your customers and how those attributes influence their buying decisions.Localization in practiceThese examples illustrate the various dimensions of localization beyond language translation, emphasizing the need for a comprehensive and culturally sensitive approach when expanding globally.Cultural representation in visuals: Tailoring visuals to resonate with local cultureLocalized customer support: Providing support in the customer's native languageAdapting to regional trends: Aligning products or services with local trendsLegal compliance illustration: Adhering to local legal requirements and regulationsLocalized social media engagement: Customizing social media content for diverse audiencesCelebrating local holidays: Acknowledging and participating in local celebrationsUser-generated content across cultures: Showcasing diverse user experiences globallyGlobal collaboration: Fostering collaboration among teams from different regionsLocalized packaging design: Adapting packaging to suit local aestheticsMultilingual marketing collateral: Presenting marketing materials in multiple languagesWhat is localization?Localization is not merely translating words from one language to another. It is a comprehensive process of adapting your content, products, and services to the culture, preferences, and requirements of a specific target market. It's about speaking the language of your audience, not just linguistically but also culturally, economically, and legally.Let's explore the evolution of localization strategies and understand why they are critical for businesses aiming to expand globally.Localization vs translationLocalization goes beyond mere translation. It involves a deep understanding of cultural nuances. Does the color red symbolize luck in your target market, or does it denote danger? How should you lay out your content to appeal to your audience's aesthetic sensibilities? What images or visuals would resonate with them? Are there any local laws or regulations that you need to comply with? All these factors are taken into account while localizing content.Even marketing practices are tailored to cater to specific markets, such as optimizing keywords, link-building strategies and lead-generation techniques to align with local search behavior.Understanding cultural fitLocalization is a powerful tool to overcome cultural barriers. It helps businesses to understand, respect, and align with the preferences and norms of different markets. By crafting content that reflects local cultures and values, businesses can effectively engage with their target audience and foster brand loyalty.Imagine trying to sell a product without understanding the needs, tastes, and preferences of your consumers. It's like shooting in the dark, isn't it?Business benefits of localizationThe benefits of content localization are manifold. It increases sales by addressing the language needs, marketing practices, and preferences of diverse audiences. It helps build brand loyalty by showing an understanding of the target market and creating a connection with customers.Localization also enhances brand integrity by avoiding cultural faux pas and ensuring consistency across global markets. Moreover, it reduces customer support costs by providing localized troubleshooting guides and content in the preferred language of the customers.Global footprint with a local feelThe evolution of localization strategies from simple translation to comprehensive content adaptation has been a game-changer for businesses expanding globally. A nuanced and well-executed localization strategy not only ensures linguistic accuracy but also embraces the richness of cultural nuances, fostering a sense of connection and belonging among global consumers. Brands that go beyond mere translation and delve into the intricacies of local cultures demonstrate a commitment to understanding and respecting their diverse customer base.By resonating with local sensibilities, businesses can establish an emotional connection with consumers, transcending language barriers and creating a lasting impact. To sum it up, localization transforms a brand from being a mere product or service provider into a cultural collaborator operating on a global scale. So, if you're planning to go global, remember, localization is not an option but a necessity. It's not just a matter of words—it's about crafting an immersive and authentic experience for every individual, turning the challenges of global expansion into opportunities for meaningful, personalized engagement.
Composable content: The catalyst for composable digital experiences
Today’s most successful digital brands create experiences that is disruptive, compelling, and informative. How do they do that? They use composable content — a strategy that enables them to scale content production to the level demanded by today’s dizzying proliferation of content channels. Brands cannot create static, one-off content pieces and hope they get noticed. They need a new approach to creating and delivering engaging digital experiences — one that is flexible, scalable and adaptable. This is where composable content and composable digital experiences take center stage.What is composable content?Composable content refers to digital or multimedia elements, such as text, images, videos, or interactive components, that are structured. This means a given piece of content is composed of several elements, and each one of these can be used on its own — not through copy and pasting, but through code. This composable method allows for seamless integration, recombination and repurposing within various contexts and platforms. It’s designed to be modular and adaptable, allowing content teams to repurpose content already created to assemble new experiences to cater to different audience preferences, devices, or communication goals, hence the term "composable".Benefits of composable contentThe primary benefit of composable content is its inherent scalability. Because each element of a given piece of content is a standalone entity, it can be easily used – or not – depending on the requirements. For instance, if a business wants to expand its digital presence, it can simply create more content blocks that can be populated with content that already exists in new configurations, rather than redesigning entire pages or sites.Composable content also fosters adaptability. With traditional content, changes can be time-consuming and costly as they often require extensive redesigns or rewrites. On the other hand, with composable content, businesses can quickly and easily update, add, or remove content blocks to adapt to changing market trends, customer preferences, or business strategies.Each piece of content, whether it's an image, a paragraph, or a video, is a complete entity in itself. However, when you combine these pieces of content in different ways, you create composable digital experiences. These digital experiences retain the essence of the original content but present it in a new, adaptable form that caters to the unique needs and preferences of each user.This ability to create diverse digital experiences from the same set of content blocks is what makes composable content so valuable in today's digital landscape. It allows businesses to deliver highly personalized, engaging experiences to their customers, driving customer satisfaction and business growth.Personalizing digital experiences with composable contentTo illustrate, let's consider a hypothetical case study. A global e-commerce company wants to enhance its customer experience. It decides to implement composable content. By creating content blocks for product descriptions, customer reviews, images and videos, it can easily assemble and disassemble product pages to cater to different markets. It can also personalize content for individual customers based on their browsing history and preferences. As a result, the company can deliver a more engaging and personalized experience, leading to increased customer satisfaction and sales.Composable content supports omnichannel delivery. Customers interact with businesses through many channels, including websites, mobile apps, social media and more. With composable content, businesses can ensure consistency across all these channels. They can use the same content blocks on their website, in their mobile app and on their social media platforms, providing a seamless experience for their customers.Plus, composable content enables rapid experimentation and innovation. Businesses can test different combinations of content blocks to see what resonates best with their customers, allowing them to continually improve and innovate their digital experiences.Start building todayComposable content powers the composable digital experiences businesses need to capture the imagination, attention and dollars of their customers. It provides the scalability, adaptability, personalization, omnichannel delivery and innovation businesses need to thrive in the digital age.As businesses continue to strive for superior digital experiences, the role of composable content will only become more critical.Learn about the Developer Fast Track to see how you can start building composable digital experiences at scale.
Why composable architecture is the future of digital experience
As digital experiences rapidly evolve, more enterprises should consider moving to a composable digital experience platform. Should your business be one of them?If you haven’t started your journey to composable architecture, read on to learn:Why experts say composable architecture is the way of the futurePotential benefits of a composable digital experience platform (DXP)How to get started and why being “fully composable” mattersWhat is a composable DXP?The composable DXP is the most recent concept to emerge in the evolution of the digital experience from its beginnings when enterprise content was limited to a static website viewed on a desktop where customers could find information about a brick-and-mortar business.With no need to frequently update or publish to multiple digital channels, a monolithic architecture was the answer to publishing enterprise content. Businesses would purchase a predetermined set of tools designed by one vendor.Then came the smartphone, which led to today’s e-commerce landscape, where consumers shop online on many devices and digital channels. Monolithic platforms, which require developers to code any changes to content, cannot keep up.The composable DXP is the latest solution for businesses aiming to delight customers, increase customer loyalty, improve customer experience management, and serve customers across multiple digital channels and devices. A composable DXP uses a headless CMS as the foundation for a content hub where microservices are delivered via independent APIs, allowing content to be quickly and easily deployed across channels.Why a composable DXP is the way of the futureAs businesses are transitioning through digital transformation and as digital commerce evolves, customers not only expect to be able to interact with your digital products and services; they expect a seamless and personalized experience. Monolithic systems, which require IT teams to code every change and update, can’t rapidly respond to customer preferences and publish fresh omnichannel content.According to Gartner Research, businesses can no longer meet their objectives with monolithic platforms. In its 2021 report “Drive seamless digital customer experiences with composable UX,” Gartner predicted that by 2023, analyzing and understanding the nature of enduring changes in customer behavior will be a crucial factor for organizations in determining the most influential business strategies for the remainder of the 2020 and organizations that adopt a composable content approach will outpace competition by 80% in implementing new features.Potential benefits of a composable DXPA composable DXP offers many benefits for enterprise marketing and IT teams, which can positively impact the success of the overall business. These include:Flexibility, scalability, and faster developmentComposable architecture allows organizations to choose and combine a unique mix of best-in-breed tools and microservices and to change this mix as business needs evolve quickly. The modularity of composable architecture supports the seamless integration of these independent best-in-breed solutions. Components and building blocks can be added, removed, and recombined in composable architecture quickly without downtime. The ability to deploy services independently to multiple websites and channels from one central hub enables enterprises to scale faster and more efficiently as needed.Speed and agilityBecause the tools and microservices in composable architecture are modular – meaning they work as independent components or APIs – each can be updated incrementally as needed without impacting other tools, services, or channels. Organizations become more agile, improving their experience strategy as marketing and IT teams are empowered to act faster to keep pace with changing customer expectations by providing more up-to-date content experiences.Ease of useWithout coding or technical expertise, marketing teams can modify user interfaces and content experiences without opening tickets and waiting for developers to fulfill requests. Workflow governance for multiple sites and channels is managed from one central hub with customizable user controls, ensuring the right persons have approved content before rollout.Rapid innovationMonolithic platforms have complex pain points that require hundreds of hours of development time and resources to upgrade and maintain with heavy reliance on tech teams. A composable platform is more manageable for IT to upgrade as technology evolves because new apps and integrations can be launched independently. Major website overhauls become a thing of the past. Free from mundane marketing requests and maintenance, IT can focus on innovation and delivering better customer experiences.Increased ROIA composable DXP reduces both development and publishing time, resulting in reduced costs and an increased profit.Real-time feedbackWebsite analytics, social media, customer relationship management, and other data sources collected via the tools and microservices in a composable architecture can provide a complete picture of your customers in real time. This enables the personalization and up-to-date, relevant content experiences that customers expect.Omnichannel content deploymentIn a composable DXP built with a headless CMS, the creation of content and the channels where it’s published are mutually independent. This allows marketers to maintain a responsive presence across digital channels and devices from one central hub by seamlessly and rapidly optimizing and pushing out marketing campaigns to reach customers where they are.Getting started on the journey to composable architectureIf your current digital experience solution is holding you back from experiencing the benefits above, it may be time to switch to a composable DXP. But where do you begin?Start by listing everything that isn’t working in your current platform. Consider the parts of your current system that are working well to meet the needs of your business and whether those needs will change soon. This will help clarify which apps, mobile apps, and microservices you should include in your future solution and how to approach implementing it.Transitioning to composable doesn’t necessarily mean throwing out your current system and starting with something new. Based on your assessment of what’s working and not working, you may want to adopt a gradual approach by implementing composable applications in crucial areas where it could make the most impact and where your monolithic platform is slowing you down.Finding the right composable DXPOnce you’ve decided on the best approach, it’s time to research solutions. If you decide on a gradual process, ensure the vendor you choose can help your organization reach its goal of going fully compostable.Many vendors currently market their platforms as “composable architecture” even though they aren’t fully composable. Instead, they sell platforms built on monolithic architecture that offer composable functionality, such as plugging in some APIs or integrating with specific microservices.A fully composable DXP, on the other hand, is built on a composable architecture rather than a monolithic. A headless CMS at its foundation separates the back-end coding from the endpoints, such as your website interface. Instead of being one centrally controlled system, it’s a variety of independently managed solutions that work cohesively from one central hub.Does being ‘fully composable’ really matter?If you’re wondering if it makes a difference whether a DXP is fully composable or not, it matters a great deal. A DXP built on monolithic architecture will not deliver all the great benefits of a fully composable platform we’ve covered in this blog. It will have many limitations that a fully composable platform won’t have.One of the most notable differences is with monolithic architecture; the vendor controls the type of technology that you can and cannot use. Your organization will only sometimes have the flexibility to choose and leverage the best available apps and microservices for success as your business grows. This is especially important moving into the future as technology continues to evolve and new options become available.A fully composable DXP provides the flexibility to choose the best solutions now and later so your organization can always leverage the most up-to-date technology tools it requires for success. A fully composable architecture puts you in control of creating a unique DXP that will evolve to continuously align with business needs without being limited by a vendor.Learn moreReady to embark on your journey towards composable architecture and transformative digital experiences? Discover insights in the report "Drive seamless digital customer experiences with composable UX," and learn how to develop an organization-wide digital experience strategy.Schedule a free demo to see how Contentstack’s composable digital experience platform can help future-proof your enterprise.
The impact of composable commerce on peak traffic moments: Black Friday and beyond
Summer has come and gone, and soon we enter the season retailers plan for all year long. It starts with back-to-school shopping and Labor Day sales and then snowballs into pre-holiday deals, Amazon specials, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Giving Tuesday … oh my! Who can keep up? It’s no wonder e-commerce businesses are investing in technology to ensure their sites don’t crash in the middle of these high-traffic periods. To put the opportunity into perspective, technology provider Salesforce Inc. reported U.S. Black Friday online retail sales reached $17.2 billion.The patterns of "holiday shopping" have undergone a significant transformation thanks to e-commerce. This shift not only elongates the duration and timeframes of shopping activities but stretches and blurs the conventional notion of seasonal patterns in "holiday" shopping.Back when consumers set their alarm clocks to wake up before the sun and tackle the good sales, brands could focus on revenue goals alone. Now that shoppers are more likely to set their alarms and open their computers, still in their pajamas with coffee in hand, businesses are required to account for every aspect of the customer journey — from discovery to conversion. In order to cater to today’s pajama-clad Black Friday shopper, companies need to consider the complete e-commerce experience: from page load times, the possibility of site crashes, the reviews, resources that help consumers make smart decisions and, lastly, a smooth checkout experience with options like curb-side pickup or easy financing. So how can businesses stay ahead of their competition and build an e-commerce engine to deliver on shopper expectations without disruptions and technical snafus? The answer is composable commerce. In this article, we’ll guide you through how a composable DXP (digital experience platform) powers personalized omnichannel content, and share how to leverage these tools to supercharge your e-commerce performance. For the purpose of this article, we’ll focus on Black Friday success, however, a composable commerce engine is the key to transforming the online shopper experience of Black Friday and beyond.The Expense of scalability challengesGiven that website performance leaves a tangible imprint on both SEO rankings and conversion rates, brands are compelled to accelerate their efforts in delivering swift, mobile-centric and seamlessly integrated omnichannel experiences. While the holiday season historically ushers in a surge of online shopping, the realm of high-volume digital transactions extends throughout the year, encompassing far more than just Black Friday. This underscores the necessity for brands to remain equipped to tackle unforeseen spikes in demand at any given moment.The bottom line is that companies need to be ready for unexpected surges in shoppers anytime. Think about it: how well a website works impacts both how easily people find it on search engines and how likely they are to buy something. Brands need to step up their game by making sure their websites are super fast, work well on smartphones, and offer a seamless shopping experience across different channels. Sure, we all know the holidays mean a shopping frenzy online, but really, people are buying stuff online all year round, not just on Black Friday. The good news is there's a straightforward way to tackle these hurdles: using modern e-commerce solutions that team up with big names like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud Platform (GCP), and Microsoft Azure, along with an endless ecosystem of partners to help scale your e-commerce operation into a fine-tuned machine. With more computing power, companies have their best sales days ahead. Marketing technology makes all the differenceIn today's digital world, the potential of e-commerce is vast, especially when it comes to peak-season sales. One of the key technological advancements in the retail industry is the ability to leverage a headless content management system (CMS) and a composable DXP to streamline and personalize their customers' online shopping experiences.What is composable commerce?Composable commerce refers to the process of using modular, API-driven and interoperable components to design, build and manage your e-commerce store. This approach enables businesses to create a seamless and interconnected shopping experience by integrating various components (such as inventory management, payment gateways, and marketing tools) with their existing e-commerce platform.How composable commerce helps retailers drive sales during peak trafficDuring events like Black Friday, a substantial influx of traffic can strain your e-commerce infrastructure, resulting in reduced performance or even system crashes. Composable commerce can mitigate this risk by enabling flexible and scalable solutions. Here's how:Adaptability: Composable commerce components can be easily added, removed, or modified, allowing you to scale and adapt your e-commerce store to fluctuating traffic and customer demands.Reduced latency: With API-driven composable commerce solutions, retailers can optimize their loading times, ensure faster transactions and maintain a seamless shopping experience even at peak traffic hours.Enhanced user experience: Composable commerce enables businesses to harness the power of personalized content, impressing customers with relevant recommendations, promotions and targeted messaging.Lastly, one of the main advantages of composable commerce is its ability to manage high traffic volumes during peak sales events like Black Friday. This is achieved by distributing the load across multiple servers, enabling your e-commerce platform to become highly scalable and resilient.How a composable DXP powers personalized omnichannel contentA composable DXP is designed to integrate with various marketing tools and channels, amplifying your brand's presence across multiple touchpoints. With a composable DXP, you can:Deliver personalized content: With headless CMS integration, retailers can funnel targeted content to different customer groups based on their preferences, browsing habits and purchase history.Enable omnichannel content: By integrating with POS systems, mobile apps, social media and more, a composable DXP helps shrink the gap between online and offline shopping experiences.Improve conversion rates: By providing a seamless shopping experience, retailers can reduce cart abandonment rates and boost conversions during Black Friday sales.By integrating a Headless CMS with a composable DXP, marketers can craft unique, dynamic content and seamlessly distribute it across multiple channels, such as web, mobile and social media.This new infrastructure allows for a quicker and more efficient response to customer needs, ensuring a consistent and engaging user experience throughout the customer journey.Supercharge marketing agility and flexibility with composable commerceIn a world where consumers have their credit card numbers programmed into their phones for one-click transactions, every factor of the shopper experience matters. As industries face increasing competition, the role of composable commerce in fueling the success of Black Friday sales and other critical e-commerce moments cannot be underestimated. By harnessing the power of modern marketing technologies, such as a headless CMS and composable DXP, businesses can enhance their customers' experiences, ensuring Black Friday success and winning over loyal customers for the next shopping season. Now is the time to supercharge your marketing agility and harness the power of personalized omnichannel content to drive success across your e-commerce operations. Stay ahead of the curve and transform the way you engage your customers. After all, any day could deliver a Black Friday-like traffic spike. Prepare your business for the unexpected with composable commerce to win over and retain repeat customers and scale your operations.
How a Composable DXP drives experimentation, innovation and digital transformation
Today's era of relentless technological evolution is challenging companies to break free from the cookie-cutter molds of monolithic solutions and embrace technologies that harmonize their digital strategy with unrivaled agility.To keep pace with customer needs, businesses are no longer playing it safe but instead embracing experimentation and innovation to forge ahead in the race of digital transformation.Enter composable DXPs. A composable digital experience platform (DXP) can be the game-changer your marketing and creative content teams have been waiting for. As businesses strive to provide customers with personalized digital experiences across all channels, the need for a robust, scalable and adaptable technology stack becomes paramount.In this article, we'll explore what a composable DXP is, how it can revolutionize your approach to content and digital experiences, and the benefits it offers your business.What is a Composable DXPA composable DXP is a modern approach to building digital experiences. With a composable architecture, businesses can create, manage and deliver digital experiences across various channels and platforms by leveraging a range of interoperable, modular tools. The fundamental components of a composable DXP are:Headless CMS: A content management system (CMS) that allows content creation, easy updating, and management separately from the front-end layer your customers see.Composable technology: Imagine being able to build your content strategy from a set of building blocks that can be easily configured and reconfigured to work best for you. Composable technology enables businesses to use modular and lightweight components to build tailored digital solutions quickly.Composable architecture: A flexible and adaptable framework that supports the rapid integration of business-critical applications and tools, empowering teams to build better customer experiences.How to leverage a DXP for better contentWith an expansive catalog of configurations, applications, and diverse components, a composable DXP empowers marketing and creative teams to experiment with various combinations to achieve the desired results. This capability helps foster innovation and allows teams to respond quickly to changing customer needs. Here are five ways a composable DXP can drive better content:Personalized digital experiences: Leverage customer data, behavior analysis, and customer journey mapping to deliver highly-personalized, relevant experiences across all your digital channels.Omnichannel: Enable seamless content delivery and interactions across every device and touchpoint you rely on to reach your customers.Experimentation: Empower your teams to innovate and experiment with different tools, solutions, and content strategies, all from a single environment.Collaboration: Streamline collaboration between departments, teams, and individuals by using a centralized platform that fosters efficient workflows and automates manual tasks, enabling your teams to create faster.Scalability: Leverage the scalability of the DXP to quickly adapt to market changes, drive growth, and maintain your competitive edge.Benefits of a Composable DXPBeyond producing better content and creating more space for innovation, a Composable DXP offers businesses the digital tools to create meaningful customer experiences. Companies that migrate away from their rigid technologies and uplevel their digital capabilities have a full toolbelt for swiftly responding to market demands, improving customer satisfaction, increasing operational efficiency and maintaining a competitive edge in the market. How, you might ask?1. Speed-to-marketComposable DXPs enable businesses to respond quickly to changing market dynamics, customer needs, and technology advancements. By adopting a composable architecture, you can minimize time spent on complex integrations and cumbersome traditional CMS systems. As a result, your teams can build and launch new digital experiences much faster.2. FlexibilityA composable DXP provides the foundation for a flexible tech stack that can continuously evolve and adapt, as your business evolves. Businesses can choose best-of-breed technologies that align with their unique requirements, allowing them to build, experiment, and adjust their strategies in real time.3. Cost-efficiencyGone are the days of being locked into vendor agreements and limiting technologies. Businesses can select the tools they need according to budget and requirements. This facilitates better resource allocation, helping organizations operate in a leaner, more efficient manner.4. Innovation and experimentationA composable DXP fosters a culture of innovation by empowering marketing and creative teams to experiment and iterate. This leads to accelerated digital transformation and triggers an innovation domino effect across the organization.Grow faster, scale better, experience more ROIA composable DXP can be a crucial driver of experimentation, innovation and digital transformation for businesses. By leveraging a headless CMS and composable architecture, businesses can unlock the true potential of their digital ecosystem, experience greater ROI from increased customer loyalty and, ultimately, stay ahead of the curve by delivering exceptional digital experiences that drive growth and success.
Transformation through Automation: Keith Mazanec, Brad's Deals
Keith Mazanec (Director Software Engineering, Brad's Deals) returns to share the company's in-depth transformation story, highlighting the content lifecycle automations that made the biggest different for content teams as the company moved from legacy to composable. This session was recorded live at ContentCon 2023.
How to create a roadmap for digital marketing
Having a digital-first marketing strategy is a must for companies today. Customers expect an excellent experience every time they interact with you online. If your digital experience isn't up to par, your customers might go to a provider who's got their digital marketing game on point. If you want to excel in digital marketing, it’s crucial to have a clear marketing strategy. In this blog post, we'll discuss: How to plan for using digital-first marketing technologyHow to determine what your customers want and match your technology to meet their needsHow to set up your tech tools using a digital experience platform (DXP) Define your marketing technology strategyDefining a winning digital marketing strategy is more complex than just picking cool tech stuff. It's about purposefully building around tech tools that can help you better connect with your audience or customers, not just now but in the future. Remember, what works best might be different for everyone. Your strategy should be tailor-made, fitting perfectly to your unique business situation. This may take more time and effort, but it's ultimately worth it. To define your marketing technology strategy, begin by analyzing your customer’s needs and assessing your ability to meet those needs. {{nativeAd:10}}Analyze customer needsDetermine what the ideal customer experience looks like for your audience. Customer trends are constantly changing, as is the technology available to marketing teams. It's essential to look at consumer behavior and determine which digital marketing channels your customers rely on the most and how they prefer to be engaged. For instance, do they respond better to your marketing messages via text, social media posts, or email marketing? Honing in on which technology they leverage at each step of the buyer journey and where you lose them can reveal gaps you need to fill.Assess current capabilitiesThink about what technology you already have in place for marketing automation, web analytics, search engine optimization, content creation and management and other services. Then determine what technology you need to add now and potentially later. Evaluate your people to decide whether or not they have the right mindset and skill sets for any new technology you are considering. If not, what training will they require to get up to speed? Or will you need to hire new staff with expertise in the technology? Be sure to consider your leadership and organizational structure. Will leadership grasp the necessity of transitioning to the new digital-first marketing approach? If not, you must prove to them the investment will pay off.Understanding the needs of your stakeholdersWhen planning to use digital-first marketing technology, you need to think about what everyone involved needs. This includes the people who work in your business, the tech folks who make everything run smoothly, and your customers. Internal business usersYour internal business users are often the people who interact directly with your digital marketing tools. They could be in your marketing department, sales team or customer service. You need to find out what problems they're having and what tools they need to do their jobs better. Try having regular chats, sending out surveys or running workshops to find out. This can help you spot what's missing in your current tech tools and what you need to add or change. DevelopersYour developers are the ones who implement and maintain your digital marketing technology. Hence, it's crucial to consider their needs and feedback. Finding out what they need and listening to their ideas is essential. They need tools that work well, are flexible and they can integrate easily. Talking to them can give you valuable insights about which technology to pick and how to keep everything running smoothly.End-user customersFinally, your end-user customers are the most critical stakeholder. After all, your digital marketing strategy's whole point is to improve their experience. You need to understand what they like and don't like and how they behave. You can do this by looking at data, listening to their feedback, sending surveys and testing how they use your service. Maybe they love easy-to-use websites, personalized content, or quick customer service. Once you know, you can ensure your marketing technology delivers what they value most.Creating a successful digital-first marketing roadmap is an inclusive process. It involves considering the needs of all stakeholders, ensuring they're equipped with the right tools, and fostering an environment that embraces continuous improvement and adaptation. Focusing on these critical aspects ensures your digital marketing strategy is robust, versatile and customer-centric.Align technology capabilitiesOnce you better understand your current technology capabilities and customer needs, it’s time to identify any gaps between the two. For instance, if your buyers are young and make most of their online purchases after seeing a Facebook ad, it may not make sense to inundate them with marketing emails. Instead, devote more technology and resources to delivering relevant social media content and ads.The overarching goal is to deliver quality customer experiences that pay off in the end, whether that means a potential buyer converts by making a purchase or an existing customer renews their subscription to your service.One of the biggest challenges of creating an effective digital marketing strategy is ensuring that it’s future-proof. No one knows what the future holds, and technology changes rapidly. That’s why composable DXPs are at the forefront of most successful digital marketing strategies today.Matching your tech to your strategyIt's important to ensure your marketing tech tools match your digital marketing plan. They need to be able to support the excellent online experience you want to give your customers.Imagine your tech tools are like building blocks. Each block needs to fit together perfectly to build the thing you want. In the same way, your tech tools need to work together to create your digital marketing strategy. This is where composable architecture comes in.Composable architecture is like a set of Lego blocks. You can mix and match different pieces as you need, adding or removing blocks to fit your unique situation. This flexibility makes creating the perfect tech stack for your business easier. It allows you to pick and choose the tools that best fit your strategy and change things as your needs change.So, whether it's email marketing, social media, customer relationship management, or data analysis, make sure your tech tools are up to the task. Remember, the goal is to make the digital experience awesome for your customers. The right tech tools, put together in the right way, can help you do just that.Making your digital plan happenSo, you've made your digital marketing plan. Now it's time to put it into action. Start by breaking your plan into smaller tasks. Then, set a timeline to decide when each task needs to be done. Be realistic — you want to get things done, but not so fast that you make mistakes. Next, decide who will do each task. Make sure everyone knows their jobs and deadlines. This will help everything go smoothly and ensure you remember everything. By planning your tasks, time, and teamwork, you'll turn your digital marketing plan from a dream into reality. Learn moreSchedule a free demo to see how Contentstack's composable digital experience platform and headless CMS can help make your digital marketing plan a winner.
How to create a 5-star content strategy: Tips from Juliette Olah of Booking.com
When it comes to content strategy, Juliette Olah knows that a key part of reaching a vision is planning a smooth journey to get there. As senior manager, Editorial at Booking.com, she skillfully blends the needs of customers, technologies and creative teams to define the editorial roadmap for the global travel brand. Olah recently spoke with us about creating high-value content, getting organization-wide support for change, and the advice she has for other leaders driving editorial strategy. Keep the focus on the customer When Olah joined Booking.com in 2020, the editorial content was mainly used for paid social media ads. She quickly saw an opportunity to use these long-form articles in a much broader way to support the brand’s own social, organic and email channels.“I wanted to show that potential but, at the same time, keep focus so that it didn’t seem like I was trying to solve all content challenges through editorial,” Olah said. “If you go too broad, too quickly your message can start to become lost.”A key part of defining and keeping a focused content strategy is taking a customer-first approach — creating a roadmap and choosing themes based on what is most valuable for your audience and then figuring out how to tightly weave business objectives and marketing goals into the plan instead of the other way around. “A customer-first approach is essential; otherwise you lose relevance and value very quickly,” Olah said. “Audiences are incredibly sensitive and perceptive to anything that is slightly off or slightly irrelevant. If your content and your messaging isn’t coming across seamlessly you’ll lose attention immediately, and you’ll also lose trust.” Maximize the value of each piece “Editorial content does take a lot of resources to produce,” Olah said, discussing the research, writing, visuals and translation work required. “So if we’re going to do this, we need to make each and every story work to serve needs and fill gaps so that we’re supporting the brand rather than just adding more content.” Maximizing the value of content starts in the planning phase. For Olah and her team, this includes working with in-house researchers to identify travel trends, with localization specialists to make sure ideas are culturally relevant and with the social and email teams to create pieces that can serve the strategies of multiple channels. It’s also key to set up content for long-term value. This can include structuring content on the back end in a way that makes it easy to reuse across different channels, or enhancing the tagging and taxonomy of your archive to get more out of the content you’ve already invested in. “Editorial at Booking.com has been going on for many years, so we have thousands of pieces of content,” Olah said. “Surfacing that content in a relevant way, being able to curate it, to search through it and filter it efficiently is now really important for audiences to be able to get the most value out of it.” Build a 360 business case for technology change To reach their multichannel ambitions, Olah knew the editorial team needed a technology solution that would let them create, curate and optimize content more efficiently than would be possible with their incumbent, homegrown platform. Having worked with a headless content management system (CMS) in previous roles, Olah started exploring if this approach was a right fit for Booking.com. Through many discussions with tech and product leaders, as well as the creatives on her team, she built a business case that looked at the technology justification and functionality needs, as well as the impact on efficiency and editorial strategy. “The business case is part showing a comprehensive, 360 view of the technical benefits of the platform and part showing that you’ve done your homework on a robust content strategy,” Olah said. “From examples of execution, to tying in brand storytelling and campaign amplification, to details around distribution and channel use cases of the content.” Presenting an aligned, measurable plan for change was key to getting different stakeholders to understand the potential of editorial content and to get the buy-in needed to make the change successful. “Advocacy is needed at all levels and functions, from a leadership level that signs off to the people that are actually involved in using the products and the systems day-to-day,” Olah said. “They need to be happy and settled and feel confident that this is going to make their jobs easier and more efficient.” Don’t change for change’s sake To ensure the move to the new content solution went smoothly, Olah was careful to avoid a common stumbling block she’d seen at other organizations. “When companies launch a new platform, there’s a tendency to launch 10 other things at the same time— a new platform plus new brand guidelines, or an entirely new content strategy, or a refresh of everything that’s associated with the particular platform,” Olah explained. “I was very conscious of not doing that because that is extremely stressful and, in my opinion, unnecessary.” Instead, change was rolled out in stages and, where possible, tied in existing ways of working to make people feel comfortable during the transition. For example, the editorial team was very happy with the workflow that was created around the previous content platform. While a headless CMS might be able to support more efficient processes, Olah decided it was best for the team to first roll out the new platform in a way that worked with the existing workflow. “Don’t try to change everything under the sun at the same time,” Olah advised. “If something is working, keep it, and keep the business case focused on the current challenges that need to be solved.” Plan for potential Breaking transformation into independent steps, rather than a big-bang approach, is also an opportunity to create a content and technology framework that supports continuous change. “Once we launch, there’s still a lot of potential for editorial at Booking.com, and what we’ve been able to do with this platform is build for that potential so that the structures are in place,” Olah explained. For instance, with an API-first approach Booking.com is able to structure content so that it isn’t locked into only being presented as a static long-form article on the site. As the team explores new channels, third party syndication, testing tools and further optimization for local markets they can adapt existing content and processes to meet new needs. “This is a huge benefit of headless,” Olah said. “We don’t know what we will necessarily need in another five years, but we absolutely need something that is flexible and adaptable enough to accommodate that.”“There’s only so far ahead that you can possibly plan for,” she continued. “You need a system that helps you to flex and change in this environment.”
4 questions for e-commerce brands considering composable
There’s a lot of confusion in the market when it comes to composable architectures. A company says one thing and their competitor says something different — all the while, the people who hunger for change inside complex organizations struggle.We see this in potential e-commerce customers all the time, knowing they need a change but not really understanding what composable can do for them. Emma Sleep, one of the fastest-growing D2C sleep brands in the world, was one of those organizations.Andreas Westendörpf, chief technology officer of Emma Sleep, talked about why they chose composable and what it did for them on the latest “People Changing Enterprises” podcast. Hearing him speak about the differences between traditional environments and composable inspired me to create this litmus test. Ideally, this will help provide clarity for e-commerce organizations wondering if composable is the right move for them.Are you aiming to grow quickly?For organizations trying to scale quickly, traditional CMS and legacy systems are far more complicated than composable architectures. They are less flexible and take more developer intervention to launch new markets, products, and content. Composable wasn’t in Andreas’ original plans. But when Emma Sleep introduced their ambitious growth goals, they were operating from a highly customized legacy system. Doubling business every one or two years in vastly different markets would be difficult, frustrating and extremely error-prone with these technologies. They also wouldn’t be able to support personalized content for each market — what works for European audiences doesn’t work for Asia or Latin America. If you are a scaling organization, you need composable. Other options are too rudimentary and inflexible for you. You will have to manipulate and create custom code to force things to work, which is not only a huge risk — as it will most likely break often — but inefficient when efficiency is required.Are you outsourcing the problem to the vendor?Andreas made a good point in the podcast. E-commerce was one of the first ways to make money on the internet, which is why many platforms still follow the architectural design principles of the ’90s and early 2000s when they were founded. While that’s changing, it’s happening slowly. In the meantime, e-commerce organizations are struggling with monolithic technology.The common solution is outsourcing your development to the same vendor you’re struggling with — a tricky catch-22. The problem doesn’t change. Instead, it comes with long consulting timelines and following industry “best practices” that actually aren’t best, like planning out your project five years in advance (more on that to come).Composable solves two problems at once: providing a more flexible, agile technology stack and by bringing control back in-house.Do you need to make room for innovation?I recently read a great piece that nails down what innovation really is: riding a wave. Mary Kay Ash didn’t invent cosmetics; she rode the direct-sales wave. Henry Ford didn’t invent the automobile; he rode the assembly line wave. Steve Jobs didn’t invent computers; he rode the digital wave. So on and so forth.Here’s what I’m trying to get at: Are you equipped to ride the wave?E-commerce brands must ride the wave more than most. They ride the waves of public opinion, of social media, of what customers need when they need it. But the thing about waves is they disappear quickly. If you don’t catch it, you sink. E-commerce organizations don’t have the luxury of submitting a developer ticket or a feature request and waiting around for six months until the request becomes a reality; the wave could be gone by then. Yet that’s often what happens with legacy technology — so many missed opportunities.In the podcast, Andreas expresses his desire to experiment quickly and figure out what works versus what doesn’t. In a composable architecture, their team can integrate up-and-coming tools like ChatGPT for use pretty quickly. Emma Sleep also tests new platforms for new markets beforehand and implements them when ready. That was not possible for them in their previous environment.Do you need to transform quickly?“The five-year plan is dead.”That might be my favorite quote from a “People Changing Enterprises” podcast so far, and Andreas is absolutely right. Why stretch your timelines out that long, especially when you can reap value much earlier?Andreas added: “Don't plan for a five-year project. If you are trying to implement within a five-year timeframe, things change too much. So plan for two years. Two years is a good time horizon. If two years becomes two and a half, fair enough. But you need to somehow have the most critical work done at the end of two years, like 90%.”Enterprises choose to make the transition from monolith to composable in different ways, but one thing all successful transformations have in common is that they don’t push it too far down the road.The litmus test is done. If you answered “yes” to most — or all — of these questions, then it’s time to talk with us about moving from monolith to composable. Here’s the good news: When you choose to make the transition to composable, you’re future-proofing your organization. According to Andreas, “it’s the last replatform you’re going to need.”
How to measure performance of your composable DXP
Consumers have high expectations for brands. They want personalized experiences that evolve according to their needs and are delivered seamlessly across multiple channels. On top of that, they want it to be lightning-fast, or they’ll take their business elsewhere. Composability is the future of the digital experience. A composable digital experience platform (DXP) gives you greater flexibility, customization, speed, scalability and reliability. But to be sure you’re maximizing the benefits of your composable DXP, you need to measure its performance. Here are five key metrics to measure and how you can measure them: Flexibility Your organization’s needs will evolve, and your platform has to be able to adapt. A composable DXP provides the flexibility you need to deliver the digital experience customers expect. Benefits of flexibility Reduced cost Composable’s flexibility makes it easier to incorporate new functions. This helps you keep pace with customers’ needs and expectations today, while also future proofing your tech stack. With composable, you only pay for the microservices you need — much more cost-effective than buying a full suite of monolithic functions just to access the one or two you intend to use. How to measure it: Microservice usage: Is your composable DXP weighed down by things you don’t need? Overlap between microservices: If you have a lot of overlapping functions, try to combine them where possible. Number of workarounds: If your platform is riddled with workarounds, review your tech stack and look for ways to optimize its efficiency. Efficient collaboration The IT-heavy nature of monolithic architecture can be a major pain point. With legacy architecture, updating the front end means developers have to update the back-end code, even for minor tweaks. Not only does this add to the IT side’s workload, it’s also frustrating for marketing teams to have to wait for their requests to be handled. With composable architecture, front-end changes can be made without touching the back end. The result: faster turnaround, fewer IT tickets, and better collaboration between both sides of the business. How to measure it: Time from request to action: With less of a burden on your IT team, they should be able to push new changes faster and more efficiently. IT team retention: Less work means less stress and a happier IT team. Number of IT tickets for minor changes Missed deadline percentage Freedom to experiment With a composable DXP, organizations can try out changes to the digital experience before fully committing to them. And since your IT team has to handle fewer small updates, they have more time to focus on strategic initiatives. How to measure it: Number of tweaks to changes after going live Amount of IT time spent on minor adjustments Customization One of the key selling points of monolithic architecture is the in-built suite of programs and functions. In theory, those programs and functions can be used to create whatever experience an organization wants; however, every organization has their own unique needs. The one-size-fits-all functions of monolithic platforms leave little room for customization — so unless the built-in functions are exactly what you need, you’ll have to spend time and resources finding add-ons that can get you in the vicinity of where you want to go. Benefits of customization More efficiency Both composable and legacy architecture let you personalize experiences and deliver content across multiple channels. But with monolithic solutions, that work still has to be completed by a team member. With composable DXPs, organizations can calibrate their microservices for maximum efficiency. How to measure it: Number of users: Too many users can be an inefficient use of resources — and create opportunities for avoidable errors. Governance capabilities: In-built governance capability means less need for human oversight for each piece of content created or delivered. Workflow automation rate: The more processes that can be taken off your team’s hands, the more time they have to focus on what really matters. Seamless integration A composable DXP allows you to seamlessly integrate an app framework or SDK library with minimal setup time. This gives you the freedom to find the perfect tool for each function, so you can deliver the exact digital experience you have in mind. How to measure it: Number of apps in use Time to launch Cost User customizations The customizability of your DXP solution doesn’t just apply to customer experiences, but to users in your organization as well. Your composable DXP can be configured however your marketing team wants, so they can create and deliver content in a format that’s comfortable for them. UI customization: More UI customization within your composable DXP means your team is likely taking advantage of the customization options to build a structure they are comfortable with. Team satisfaction with platform Speed Customer needs and expectations can change in an instant. The speed of your composable DXP allows you to push new content, implement campaigns, and reach your goals — faster. Learn more about the value of speed for your organization in our article, “4 ways your teams can benefit from a composable DXP.” Benefits of speed Faster time to market The quicker you can update your composable DXP to bring new services, functions, or products to market, the better the overall digital experience for your customers. How to measure it: Build time for new initiatives Impressions & Conversions: If you strike while the iron is hot, your content can reach a bigger audience — and that can help bring in new business. Empowered creative teams Along with ease of use, the speed of composable architecture allows marketing leaders to launch campaigns and publish content much faster and without having to wait for IT. How to measure it: Content publishing times Content creation time: Composable DXPs allow your creative team to create a content block for one site, then quickly push it to other sites and channels. That means less time spent re-publishing the same content on different channels and more time thinking up the next big idea. Better customer experiences The digital experience is designed to improve customers’ experience with your brand. Your composable DXP allows you to deliver a personalized experience that your customers will appreciate. How to measure it: Conversion rate Rate of return traffic Cost per lead Scalability If your business isn’t growing, it’s dying. Composable architecture enables continued growth without needing to build each new piece of the experience from the ground up. Benefits of scalability Greater reach The scalability of your composable DXP affords you greater reach and easier access to new markets. How to measure it: Site load speed: Delivering your digital experience to a wider market does no good if it takes users too long to access it. Number of locations Languages in use Optimized content The scalability of your composable DXP means you can increase your content output without sacrificing quality or increasing the size of your team. How to measure it: Conversion rate Percent of return customers Lead costs Better ROI on content creation Using modular content blocks to deliver content allows you to optimize and personalize your content to connect with your audience — and that means a better return on your content investment. How to measure it: Error rate of reused content Time spent reworking content % of automated content Reliability What good is it to build a great digital experience if consumers can’t actually experience it? With composable architecture, you can say goodbye to the errors, downtime, and security issues that can cause customers to leave and not look back. Benefits of reliability Improved security Security breaches cause site outages, lost data, and compromised customer information. The financial impact of poor security can be staggering, but a composable DXP can help prevent that. How to measure it: Security breach rate Data loss frequency & scope Consistent content delivery High traffic is great — as long as your platform can handle it. If it can’t, you risk delivering a subpar digital experience. How to measure it: Site or service downtime during high traffic Site load times Site error rate Improved digital experiences Content can be handcuffed by the limitations of monolithic architecture. That often leads to a mediocre digital experience. A composable DXP doesn’t have those limitations, so you can focus on delivering the best digital experience possible. How to measure it: Bounce rate Impressions Organic traffic Learn more Learn more about composable and how your teams benefit in our post, “4 ways your teams can benefit from a composable DXP.”Schedule a free demo to see how Contentstack’s composable DXP can help your organization deliver the digital experiences your customers desire.
A marketer's guide to composable analytics
Learn the differences between traditional and composable analytics and how composable analytics can benefit your marketing and IT teams in this guide.
Moving from monolith to composable with ASICS' Mindy Montgomery
Mindy Montgomery, Sr. Technical Product Manager at ASICS, describes the brand's journey from monolithic technology to a composable customer experience ecosystem. She describes how their eCommerce, omnichannel, and partnerships brand experiences are underpinned by composable technology, and how all of that stems from their brand mission - "A sound mind in a sound body".Learn about:- The ASICS vision for the truly omnichannel customer experience - How the company moved from a Salesforce monolithic platform to a composable stack- What Mindy has learned about how to run RFPs quickly, efficiently, and effectivelyTimestamps: 1:01 The ASICS omnichannel vision2:30 The company's journey to eCommerce and composable technology3:57 The brand promise that is driving technological strategy at ASICS4:39 The composable model supporting future brand extensions inside the ecosystem platform6:33 Moving off the monolith 8:11 What's next in eCommerce for the brand10:09 Tips for surviving the RFP process13:06 Trust your internal knowledge - and instincts when it comes to vendor conversations
4 ways your teams can benefit from a composable DXP
Whether you’re a company leader, developer or a creative director, chances are that you understand the importance of having good content on your website and other communication channels that your organization leverages. If you’re like most mid-sized to large companies, you have a complex mix of content that’s used for diverse purposes: marketing and promotions, internal communications and investor relations, delivering personalized customer experiences, engaging potential customers and more.Traditionally, having relevant omnichannel content has been disjointed, time-consuming, difficult to manage, slow and inefficient. Compounding these issues is the accompanying frustration from developers who are leaned on to edit code when any little thing needs to change, and from marketers who can’t get updates made fast enough.Fortunately, there’s a much easier and streamlined way to manage and publish content these days with digital experience platforms (DXPs) built with composable architecture and headless content management systems (CMSes). An increasing number of organizations are transitioning to this type of system for benefits including agility, speed and scalability. Last year, Gartner predicted that more than half of mainstream organizations would invest in composable applications by 2023.Before delving into the benefits of composable, let’s first take a look at what a DXP built on a composable architecture actually is.What is composable architecture?Composable architecture is a way of separating the front-end (what you see on the display) and the back-end code (development) of a website, making development faster and easier. This separation means the front and back end can be developed independently of each other, making deployments simpler and more efficient.A composable architecture typically has a headless CMS at its core. This type of CMS provides an application programming interface or API that the front-end code can call to fetch data from the back end. What kind of tools or APIs are used in a composable DXP?In addition to the headless CMS, which is the central hub of the composable DXP, this type of platform will include a wide variety of microservice-based APIs based on what your organization needs. The beauty is that you can pick and choose the best options in each of these areas below in addition to others without being locked to a specific vendor:E-commerceAsset managementCustomer managementOmnichannel managementMarketing automation and analyticsContent workflowsCustomer engagementAI toolsIn a nutshell, composability means you have the freedom and flexibility to create a unique DXP that’s tailored specifically to your organization’s needs by choosing the right microservices. You might think of these microservices as being an arsenal of tools that can help you elevate your organization above the competition.If the idea of switching from a traditional, monolithic platform to a composable DXP seems daunting at first, keep in mind that the transition doesn’t have to take place all at once. Instead, it can take place one piece (or API) at the time as you add different products and services to the headless CMS. Compatibility enables this kind of targeted transition because each component or API works independently of every other component. As you might imagine, this has many advantages. One of the biggest is that a failure in one component doesn’t bring down the whole system.A composable DXP provides many significant benefits for your organization’s executive, creative and technology teams. Here are four key features of composable DXP and how each team benefits.Very little to no coding neededWith a composable DXP, most changes don’t require the technical knowledge of a developer. Here’s how this benefits teams at every level of your organization.Executive teamsWhen marketing and technology teams can focus on what they do best, there should be less friction between the two. This reduces frustration levels and makes for happier employees, helping you retain your best workers.Creative teams Composability will empower marketing teams to create, change and publish content without having to have any technical expertise. Content is easy to access in one central location. Marketing teams will no longer have to create tickets and wait for developers to get around to their requests. Instead they’ll create campaigns and push a variety of content types to multiple platforms and channels with greater speed and efficiency.Technology teamsThe time developers typically spend making everyday fixes and working with code to launch new campaigns will be freed up so that they can focus more time on creating user-friendly digital experiences for customers.ScalabilityDo you plan on adding e-commerce down the road? Want to add a mobile channel? Want your website to have chat functionality? It’s very easy to add new apps and services to your websites and other channels with a composable DXP. Executive teamsThe business can more easily expand its product and service offerings without having to worry about downtime for websites and other channels. You can focus on growing the business with confidence that your content management system has the agility to keep up. Creative teamsAs new marketing automation and tools become available, it will be simple to add these to your API mix.Technology teamsIt will be easier for IT to scale apps because services can be deployed independently. Tech can focus on one type of digital service, while others continue to work as normal. There’s no need for rushed overnight deployments or site downtime to release new functionality.SpeedComposability improves speed in several different ways, including speed of publishing content, speed of implementing campaigns and speed of reaching business goals.Executive teamsBusiness goals can be fulfilled faster, whether you aspire to expand into a new region or roll out new products and services. What better way to stay a step ahead of the competition?Creative teamsMarketing leaders will be empowered to launch campaigns and publish content much faster. Again, there’s no waiting on IT to make changes. They can also push content to multiple sites without having to totally recreate content from scratch. Composability makes it easier to create a content block for one site, and then quickly push that content to other sites and channels.Technology teamsSlow implementations become a thing of the past, as IT teams focus their efforts on targeted API functionality, rather than being bogged down with tickets for minor edits and updates.Improved customer experiencesWhen relying on a composable DXP, delivering content that’s personalized and relevant becomes the status quo instead of the exception, boosting customer satisfaction. Executive teamsThe business can expect to reap the rewards of improved customer experiences. A current Forrester Total Economic Impact (TEI) study demonstrates an ROI of 295% with a composable architecture.Creative teamsMarketers will no longer be hindered by the rigidity of a monolithic CMS. Instead, they will have unlimited access to all the tools they need for success with the freedom to expand their toolkit any time they choose.Technology teams With less time spent on repetitive requests, the IT staff can put its expertise to work in key areas which will have the biggest impact on customer satisfaction.FAQsAs a recap and to answer additional questions you may have, here are a few frequently asked questions about composable DXPs.Am I tied to one vendor that determines what solutions I can use?No, a composable DXP gives you the freedom to choose the best solutions, regardless of vendor.How do I know all the components that I want in my composable DXP will work together?Composable providers understand the importance of their solutions being able to integrate with other APIs and have worked to address this issue. Composable providers ensure their solutions can seamlessly enable multiple APIs to work together by making them easy to plug in with software developer kits (SDKs) or one-click connections.What if I want to keep tools on my current websites that are working?With a composable DXP, an organization can choose the best options and even keep using some of the existing solutions that are already working. You are no longer locked into using just the services and apps that your vendor or platform supports.What is the first step in transitioning to a composable DXP?Begin by thinking about the apps and services you would want to have in your DXP if the options were limitless and then write them down. Be sure to get input from executive, creative and IT teams before searching for products and scheduling demos.Learn moreLearn more about composable DXPs in our guide, “What is a DXP? Understanding digital experience platforms.”Schedule a free demo to see how Contentstack’s composable digital experience platform can benefit executive, creative and technology teams at your organization.
The ultimate marketer’s guide to composable DXPs
A composable digital experience platform can be a game changer for your marketing efforts. Read this guide to learn how.
Earning authority: How a team of copywriters changed an airline
Icelandair's content (all of it - from flight destinations to marketing campaigns) was scattered across business teams and third-party agencies. Then this power trio took the reins and brought the process in-house, under control, and to a level of efficiency that allowed them to stay operational through all the chaos during Covid shutdowns and beyond. In the process they became the brand's "content center of excellence". In this episode, Icelandair's Óskar Völundarson, Edvardas Paskevicius, and Hallur Þór Halldórsson dive deep into their content process - so if your organization's content is a bit chaotic, this is a great listen. Or, if you are part of any team that could use some quality control, organization, process and structure, check out this episode to learn how to take the reins and become the managing authority of excellence yourself. Timestamps:01:18 What is the job of content at Icelandair?02:02 The content team as intermediaries02:39 "Before": What was the content landscape before Óskar and Edvardas joined the company?04:23 "During": What transformed in the business, the culture, and the team, to allow change to take place?06:06 "After": What does the content Center of Excellence look like today?07:22 Troubleshooting: What Óskar and Edvardas do when something goes wrong in the content process09:42 How can someone create their own Center of Excellence inside their organization?10:19 Example of a well-oiled content excellence process11:43 How the team ensures clear lines of communication12:30 How to create, or earn, the authority to become arbiters of excellence
Why a composable CMS is right for you
The average digital user spends 54 seconds on a page. That may seem like a short amount of time to formulate an opinion about your site, but from the user’s perspective, it’s practically an eternity. According to the Stanford Persuasive Technology Lab, 75% of consumers decide whether a company is credible based solely on their experience with the company’s site. And research from Google found that 1 in 4 visitors will abandon a site if it takes longer than 4 seconds to load.Your site has a very small window of opportunity to make a good impression. A composable content management system (CMS) can help your organization meet the needs and expectations of today’s consumers while remaining agile enough to adapt when those needs change. (And they will.)Here’s how.What is a composable content management system?Content management systems are traditionally built using monolithic or “legacy” architecture. With the monolithic model, entire applications are designed as a single unit: a monolithic CMS provides a suite of functions, all handled by a single codebase.This model worked well when the digital experience only had to be delivered on desktop browsers, but that changed 15 years ago with the release of the first iPhone. Monolithic was slow to adapt to mobile internet usage; since then, a slew of new channels has popped up, from smartwatches and gaming consoles to devices like Google Home and Alexa.Today’s consumers demand a seamless omnichannel digital experience, and monolithic struggles to keep up: a legacy CMS can be upgraded to fit new channels, but those upgrades are reactive, not proactive. Monolithic is slow to adapt to existing channels, let alone anticipate new ones. In addition, the inherent complexity of legacy architecture makes for a lengthy publishing and launch process, which affects the time to market on any upgrades. That’s not just inconvenient — it’s a genuine risk to an enterprise’s long-term success. That’s why more organizations are moving to composable architecture.How does a composable CMS work?A composable CMS is built using a collection of smaller, more manageable pieces, instead of the single large and complex unit found in monolithic solutions. With a composable CMS, organizations choose the individual systems and services that best suit their needs and allow them to build a custom digital experience. These pieces are tied together using an Application Programming Interface (API) that acts as a middleman for these smaller pieces to communicate and transfer information in a more efficient way.What are the benefits of a composable CMS?The modular approach of composable architecture offers a variety of benefits for both businesses and consumers.Innovation forward Because monolithic is so large and complex, most of the development time and resources are spent on upgrading the CMS just to keep up. Unfortunately, that leaves less time for developers to take a more forward-thinking approach. The rapid development time of updates and upgrades to a composable CMS means your team has more time to focus on innovation.AgilityWith monolithic architecture, even minor front-end changes can require significant updates to back-end code, and that means developer involvement — even for something as simple as updating site fonts or a carousel. With a composable CMS, the front-end and back-end code are decoupled, so front-end changes (i.e., changes to the presentation and delivery of the site to users) can be made without having to update the back end. This flexibility is crucial in the age of digital disruption, when organizations that are unable to adapt to new channels and behaviors can get left behind.Composable CMSs allow you to swap out modular components on the fly. This cuts down on development time and allows organizations to experiment with changes to a site or application before fully committing to them.Scalability A growing user base for your site or application is a good thing, but if you want to maintain that growth, you have to scale. Both monolithic and composable CMSes can scale horizontally by adding more instances of a high-demand function or feature. But in a monolithic CMS, everything is interconnected: if you need to run five instances of a specific feature of your site or app to meet demand, you have to run five instances of the entire application — even if you could meet demand for all the other features with just a single instance. Therefore, ensuring the performance of that one function could mean having to pay for five times more server or cloud storage than you really need.Composable lets you scale individual functions according to demand. It’s a more efficient and budget-friendly way to consistently deliver the digital experience users expect from your business.Enhanced capabilities Every monolithic CMS has its own unique pros and cons: Adobe Experience can handle a lot of site content, but it’s expensive and requires significant IT support throughout its lifespan. Sitecore can be scaled easily and is more secure than most other CMSes, but skilled developers are hard to find and transitioning to Sitecore is a lengthy and expensive process. With a monolithic CMS, the digital experience is limited by what that particular CMS does well. Composable lets you choose the best applications for each function and build a limitless CMS experience. Reduced talent costsTo maintain and upgrade a monolithic CMS, you’ll need developers and engineers who are experts in that specific CMS’ proprietary framework. Those specialized skills mean organizations have to pay more to attract and retain talent. In addition, it’s difficult to learn these complex and highly specific systems on the job, so organizations usually have to hire more top-dollar talent every time a member of the team leaves the company.With composable, organizations can access a much larger talent pool, making it easier to find the right people to handle each individual function — for the right price.Improved user experienceA composable CMS can make a major difference in the user experience. A monolithic CMS can usually only be customized via plug-ins, which negatively impact site loading and speed. This can affect your bottom line: recent research from Portent found that an e-commerce site with a one-second load time had a conversion rate 2.5x higher than a site with a five-second load time. Composable allows for as much (if not more) customization, but without sacrificing speed.Learn moreLearn more about composable architecture in our guide, “What is composable architecture?”Schedule a free demo to see how Contentstack’s content experience platform can deliver the benefits of composable to your organization.