Digital experience platforms (DXPs) have emerged as the foundation for modern customer engagement—unifying content management, personalization, and digital channel delivery. As customer expectations rise and channel complexity increases, organizations need platforms that enable cohesive, personalized experiences across touchpoints.
This guide provides a framework for DXP strategy, addressing platform selection, capability building, and implementation approach.
Understanding Digital Experience Platforms
What DXPs Do
Digital experience platforms combine:
Content management: Creating, managing, and delivering content.
Personalization: Tailoring experiences to individual users.
Customer data: Understanding customer context and preferences.
Digital channels: Delivering across web, mobile, and other channels.
Analytics: Understanding experience effectiveness.
Integration: Connecting to commerce, CRM, and other systems.
DXP Evolution
CMS era: Content management focused on publishing web content.
WEM era: Web experience management added personalization and analytics.
DXP era: Unified platform for all digital experience capabilities.
The DXP Landscape
Suite DXPs: Comprehensive platforms from major vendors (Adobe Experience Cloud, Salesforce Experience Cloud, Sitecore).
Composable DXPs: Best-of-breed components assembled (headless CMS + personalization + CDP).
Hybrid approaches: Core platform with complementary components.
DXP Strategy Framework
Element 1: Experience Vision
Defining the target experience:
Customer journey: How customers experience your digital presence.
Channel strategy: Which channels and how they connect.
Personalization ambition: How personalized experiences will be.
Content strategy: What content and how it's managed.
Element 2: Capability Requirements
What the platform must do:
Content capabilities:
- Content creation and authoring
- Asset management
- Content modeling
- Multi-channel delivery
- Workflow and governance
Personalization capabilities:
- Segmentation
- Rules-based personalization
- AI-driven personalization
- A/B testing and optimization
Channel capabilities:
- Web delivery
- Mobile delivery
- Headless/API delivery
- Email and other channels
Data capabilities:
- Customer data management
- Analytics and insight
- Journey tracking
- Integration with CDP
Element 3: Architecture Decisions
How the platform will be structured:
Monolithic vs. composable:
- Suite platform for unified capability
- Best-of-breed for flexibility
- Trade-offs in each approach
Headless vs. traditional:
- Traditional: Platform controls presentation
- Headless: Content via API to any frontend
- Hybrid approaches
Cloud deployment:
- SaaS platforms
- Cloud-hosted self-managed
- Multi-cloud considerations
Element 4: Vendor Selection
Choosing the right platform:
Selection criteria:
- Functional fit
- Technical architecture
- Total cost of ownership
- Vendor trajectory
- Ecosystem and integration
- Implementation complexity
Major platforms:
- Adobe Experience Manager and Experience Cloud
- Salesforce Experience Cloud
- Sitecore
- Optimizely
- Contentful, Contentstack (headless leaders)
Implementation Approach
Assessment Phase
Understanding current state:
Current platform assessment: What exists and how well it works.
Gap analysis: What capabilities are missing.
Content audit: What content exists and its condition.
Integration mapping: What systems must connect.
Design Phase
Designing the DXP solution:
Information architecture: Structure of content and experiences.
Content model: How content is structured.
Personalization design: How personalization will work.
Integration architecture: How systems connect.
Implementation Phase
Building DXP capability:
Platform implementation: Installing and configuring platform.
Experience development: Building sites and experiences.
Content migration: Moving content to new platform.
Integration development: Connecting to other systems.
Optimization Phase
Improving after launch:
Performance optimization: Speed and experience quality.
Personalization refinement: Improving personalization effectiveness.
Content optimization: Improving content based on performance.
Capability expansion: Adding features and channels.
Organizational Considerations
Operating Model
How DXP is managed:
Content operations: Managing content creation and governance.
Platform operations: Technical platform management.
Experience optimization: Continuous improvement.
Cross-functional coordination: Marketing, IT, digital collaboration.
Skills and Capability
DXP requires specialized skills:
Content skills: Authors, strategists, designers.
Technical skills: Platform developers, integrators.
Analytics skills: Understanding performance and optimization.
Experience design: Designing effective experiences.
Key Takeaways
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Experience vision first: Technology should follow experience strategy, not lead.
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Architecture decisions matter: Monolithic vs. composable affects flexibility and complexity.
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Content is core: DXP value depends on content quality and strategy.
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Integration is essential: DXP must connect to other systems for full value.
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Ongoing optimization required: DXP is ongoing capability, not project.
Frequently Asked Questions
Suite or composable DXP? Suite for integrated capability and simpler architecture; composable for flexibility and best-of-breed. Consider organizational capability to manage complexity.
What about headless CMS? Headless offers flexibility for multi-channel and modern frontend development. Consider if your use case requires it; traditional may be simpler for web-focused.
How do we choose between major platforms? Requirements-based evaluation, demos, references, TCO analysis. Consider existing ecosystem (Adobe shops may favor AEM, Salesforce shops may favor Experience Cloud).
What's the role of CDP in DXP? Customer data platform provides unified customer data for personalization. May be included in DXP suite or separate component.
How long does DXP implementation take? Depends on scope. Basic website: 3-6 months. Full DXP with personalization and integration: 12-18+ months.
How do we measure DXP success? Customer experience metrics, engagement metrics, conversion, content performance, and operational efficiency.