Top DXP Platforms

In this era of digital transformation, digital platforms are the foundational structures that drive active customer engagement and conversion for many businesses. The use of digital platforms, helps companies optimize their processes, interact effectively with customers, integrate both internal and external standard business operations, and enable them to oversee the use of brand resources. All of this enhances the efficiency and transparency of workflows.

The benefits of digital platforms are constantly being harnessed by a wide range of companies across various niches such as e-commerce, content creation, business collaboration, learning, social media, customer relationship management (CRM), Product Information Management (PIM), Digital Asset Management (DAM), messaging, and more. The majority of these companies are software as a service (SaaS) based and are hosted in the cloud.

Opting for a third-party online digital platform over a custom-built solution offers numerous advantages in today’s digital climate, one of which is its cost-saving benefits. While most online digital platforms operate on an annual subscription, the overall expense is far lower than developing and maintaining a tailored solution for your business. Additionally, SaaS platforms consistently enhance their functionalities through regular updates, ranging from a few releases annually to bi-weekly releases. Another advantage is its swift speed-to-market, making the implementation and launch of an existing third-party solution much quicker compared to the time-consuming process of building a custom solution.

What Are DXP Platforms?

A DXP is an online digital platform that unifies tools and content for creating, managing, and delivering seamless personalized digital experiences. The personalized digital experiences can then be delivered across multiple channels and touchpoints. DXP technologies are tailored to optimize content management, customer relationship management, and e-commerce functionalities to enhance overall user engagement. So, what does DXP mean? Let's dive in.

What Does DXP Stand for?

The DXP meaning is a Digital Experience Platform. As a software solution, it enables brands to create and manage a wide range of digital experiences, such as websites, landing pages, microsites, and digital product guides, across the entire customer journey. DXP platforms play a crucial role in providing a unified and seamless digital experience for users interacting with a brand or organization online, enabling businesses to streamline their digital presence, improve customer engagement, and adapt to the evolving landscape of digital interactions.

What Does a DXP Do?

Most DXP companies create solutions that enable the creation of the front-end design of digital experiences only, while some, like Lumavate, allow the development of the entire digital experience, front end and back end, without requiring coding. Top DXP platforms also encompass content management capabilities, facilitating the effortless manipulation and reuse of content such as images, documents, videos, and text. While some DXPs focus solely on Content Management System (CMS) functionality, others, like Lumavate, provide an added comprehensive Digital Asset Management (DAM) solution.

Key DXP Platform Functionalities

In managing customer digital experiences across a wide variety of digital touchpoints, here are the essential functionalities of DXP platforms:

Allow business users to build and iterate on digital experiences without using code.
Incorporate a built-in Content Management System (CMS) or Digital Asset Management (DAM) functionality.
Integrates analytics capabilities, allowing users to monitor and adjust digital experiences based on data insights.
Offer personalization options within digital experiences, ranging from customizing specific content elements to dynamically altering the entire digital experience based on a customer's position in the journey with the brand.
Include a version of a customer data platform (CDP) to collect and manage customer data. The CDP functionality within DXP solutions can vary a great deal.
Some DXP solutions may include eCommerce features, integrated PIM solutions, text messaging, form builders, integrations, and more.

How Is a DXP Different From a CMS?

A Content Management System, or simply CMS, is a basic tool that enables business owners to upload content and modify website information in a simplified way. A typical CMS includes capabilities like content creation, editing, publishing, archiving, user management, workflow management, and version control. Additional features may include:

Templates and themes to customize a website’s appearance
SEO tools for optimizing content for search engines
E-commerce functionality for online product or service sales
Analytics and reporting tools to monitor website performance
Integration with external tools and services.

DXP vs CMS

As good as CMS may be, its limitations are glaring. Notably, it neglects the aspect of the user’s digital experience and falls short of meeting the contemporary need for personalized yet consistent content across various online touchpoints. This is why many businesses no longer view it as the central technology to drive their digital experience.

In contrast, a digital experience platform (DXP) has a built-in content management system or Digital Asset Management to enable the effective management of content and digital assets while going beyond to help brands provide smooth, customized, and captivating digital experiences for their customers across various channels such as websites, apps, portals, IoT devices and so on.

DXPs combine the capabilities of a Content Management System (CMS) with other key features to enhance overall user engagement and satisfaction. These include:

Customization features for providing personalized user experiences
Consistent delivery across various channels through omnichannel capabilities
Sophisticated analytics and reporting tools to assess the effectiveness of digital experiences
Integration of machine learning and artificial intelligence for delivering predictive and prescriptive experience
A/B testing and experimentation features for testing and enhancing digital interactions.

What Is an Example of a DXP?

Digital Experience Platform examples include Adobe Experience Manager, Sitecore, Acqui, and Lumavate. Other DXP examples are Liferay and Optimizely. Each of these solutions offers the ability for business users to build digital experiences, but some require more technical resources to get started than others. For example, Adobe Experience Manager requires technical resources, and often, brands have to outsource experts for the initial implementation, while Lumavate’s DXP solution can be set up within minutes by anyone in the marketing team.

Also, most DXP solutions typically offer only a CMS or DAM, while Lumavate goes above and beyond. It offers substantially more functionality than most DXPs by including a built-in PIM solution, form builder, text messaging functionality, and more than 40 out-of-the-box integrations.

Is Salesforce a DXP?

Salesforce is a cloud-based platform that functions by empowering businesses to oversee customer data, sales campaigns, and marketing operations. It encompasses a range of features and tools for enhancing customer relationships, such as customer segmentation, data management, and support services. With its numerous integrations with third-party applications and services, Salesforce stands out as a robust and adaptable CRM platform. While it does this well, it is nothing more than that: Salesforce is not a DXP.

Salesforce lacks the extensive functionality found in contemporary DXP platforms. For instance, while Salesforce provides a content management system, it falls short when compared to the CMS or DAM functionalities of leading solutions built by top DXP companies. Moreover, Salesforce’s DXP features are closely linked to its core functionality, limiting flexibility for companies aiming to create digital experiences beyond the scope of Salesforce’s core capabilities, such as a company website. Businesses seeking a DXP solution may find better options like Adobe Experience Manager, Sitecore, Liferay, or Lumavate.

DXP Benefits

There are numerous benefits that a digital experience platform (DXP) provides, and these benefits can vary based on the specific platform offering. Below are the overall benefits for most DXPs:

Easy To Use

With a basic level of technical expertise, business owners or their staff members throughout the organization can easily interact with DXPs. They can utilize the specific tools they require to create and iterate on digital experiences without using any code.

Built-in Content and Asset Management

Most DXPs have a built-in Content Management System or digital asset management functionality, allowing the creation, organization, and optimization of digital content while streamlining workflows and ensuring that content and various digital assets are easily pulled into digital experiences.

Access to Analytics

In the world of data, insights are invaluable. DXPs offer a built-in analytics solution or integrations to provide businesses with a wealth of information about user behavior. This data-driven approach enables informed decision-making, allowing organizations to refine and enhance their digital strategies continually.

Personalization Capabilities

DXPs provide the ability to personalize some aspect of a digital experience, ranging from content within the experience to the entire experience based on where a customer is at in the customer journey. It’s not just about reaching customers; it’s about delivering content that resonates with them on a personal level based on parameters such as user behavior, preferences, demographics, and so on.

Multi-Channel Engagement

Meeting customers where they are is crucial. DXPs support multi-channel engagement, ensuring that businesses can reach their audience across a variety of platforms. Whether it’s a website, a mobile app, or a social media platform, a DXP enables consistent and effective communication.

Adaptability and Flexibility

Digital trends evolve rapidly, and businesses need to stay agile. A DXP offers adaptability and flexibility, allowing organizations to stay ahead of the curve. Updates and modifications to digital experiences can be implemented seamlessly to meet changing market demands.

E-commerce Excellence

For businesses involved in online transactions, a DXP often comes with integrated e-commerce functionalities. This facilitates a smooth and user-friendly online shopping experience, contributing to increased customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Workflow Harmony

Efficient workflow management is a cornerstone of a successful digital strategy. DXPs often include features that streamline content creation, approval processes, and publication workflows, enhancing overall operational efficiency.

Additional Benefits Based on Your Chosen DXP

Depending on the DXP you choose and its functionality, you may also have additional benefits. The following are additional benefits provided by using Lumavate’s DXP:

Fast to Implement

Lumavate enables marketers to rapidly create mobile apps, websites, and other digital experiences. This makes it well-suited for organizations targeting agile and prompt project timelines. It takes less than one day to fully implement Lumavate’s platform.

Expansive Functionality

Lumavate offers a DXP, DAM, Product Information Management (PIM) solution, form builder, text messaging, and more than 40 integrations with its platform. Additionally, Lumavate releases new product functionality every two weeks.

Cost-Effectiveness

Lumavate is about 75 percent more cost-effective than alternative DXP solutions.

No Technical Resources Required

There are no technical resources required to implement or maintain Lumavate. The platform is fully no-code and designed to be used by anyone in marketing.

Purpose-Built for Manufacturing

Lumavate’s platform was specifically designed to meet the needs of companies that manufacture and sell physical products to help them centralize product data, manage digital assets, and create digital product experiences.

Top DXP Companies in USA

Top Digital Experience Platform examples in the USA include Adobe DXP, Acquia DXP, Sitecore DXP, and Lumavate DXP. This list of digital platforms is not exhaustive, but it highlights some of the leading players in the DXP market, each offering unique features and capabilities to enhance businesses' digital experiences. Organizations seeking a DXP solution should carefully evaluate these options based on their specific needs, scalability, and integration capabilities to ensure a seamless and effective digital transformation journey. Let’s dive into some of the best DXP companies in USA:

Adobe DXP

Adobe’s Experience Manager has features such as forms and communication processes, web content management, and robust high-traffic handling with cloud scalability and security. This managed service brings automation and monitoring into many brands’ digital experience strategies. Regarding integration, Adobe Campaign Standard and Adobe Experience Manager seamlessly connect, enabling the use of content created in Adobe Experience Manager within Adobe Campaign emails.

However, jobs related to the Adobe Experience platform are gaining popularity due to the complexity of setting up Adobe Experience Manager. Many marketing teams opt to delegate the management of Adobe Experience Manager to external parties, finding it time-consuming and labor-intensive.

Acquia DXP

Acquia boasts the resources to construct, manage and enhance websites, applications, and various digital experiences. Their product lineup includes Acquia Cloud, Acquia Cloud Site Factory, Acquia Lightning, Acquia DAM, Acquia Lift, Acquia Commerce and Acquia Journey. Acquia Dev Desktop offers a complete Drupal-specific stack encompassing Apache, MySQL, and PHP. Notably, its integration with Acquia Cloud makes Dev Desktop the most straightforward method for publishing, developing and synchronizing local Drupal websites onto the web. However, the considerable cost could pose challenges for smaller businesses or groups. Additionally, there is room for improvement in terms of options for installing custom software on the servers.

Sitecore

Sitecore delivers a DXP technology that integrates CMS with customer data, analytics and marketing automation functions. This DXP can be hosted either in the cloud or on-premises. The Sitecore DXP comprises three key components:

Sitecore Experience Manager (XM): This serves as a CMS with advanced content production and personalization features. It enables efficient content management across multiple channels and provides robust localization capabilities to tailor content for diverse markets.
Sitecore Experience Platform (XP): This component offers customer data management features, a marketing automation toolkit, and AI-driven analytics. It provides comprehensive tools for managing customer interactions and optimizing marketing strategies.
Managed Cloud: Sitecore’s optimized cloud service is designed specifically for hosting all applications built on the Sitecore platform. It ensures efficient and secure hosting for Sitecore-based applications.

However, executing a successful website requires a proficient technical team well-versed in website development, accessibility, digital analytics, and overall Sitecore development. Despite having a development team in place, the process proves to be challenging for most brands, particularly in the intricate aspects of template updates.

Why Lumavate Stands Out

Lumavate stands out as a user-friendly alternative that doesn’t demand an intricate setup and can be efficiently handled by internal team members. This makes it an excellent choice for teams aiming to involve larger groups in digital content management and digital experience delivery. Also, Lumavate, developed by marketers for marketers, aligns closely with the requirements essential for a DXP to cater to marketers’ needs.

Lumavate distinguishes itself from other DXPs in the market for several reasons. Notably, its frequent product releases, occurring every two weeks, introduce new platform functionalities, design elements, and integrations. Another distinctive feature of Lumavate is the range of functionality available to marketers, encompassing experience creation, mobile messaging, PIM, content management, data management, and scalable architecture.

Ready to build your digital experiences using Lumavate? Create a free account or book a demo today!