XbK to consolidate your content management, data, and marketing once and for all? Takeaways from Kentico Partner Day(s)

Always a pleasure to be part of Kentico events such as the recent Partner Days series. Mostly due to the remarkable openness to partner feedback within this community, particularly amidst the ongoing dynamic introduction of updates. Right before our eyes, Xperience by Kentico is shaping up to be a truly innovative platform designed for you to rule the content across multiple channels like a king but without a heavy head.

So many enterprise-level CMSs feel like an old, cluttered apartment. Daily, you only use a few functions, like a few drawers and a light switch, and you want to avoid messing around with the rest, scared of risking something getting lost or breaking down. In stark contrast, Xperience by Kentico exudes the sleekness of new software that beckons exploration with every click. It's almost like unwrapping a new computer on Christmas morning. 

While we might come off as suspiciously too enthusiastic, the clean interface and seamless speed showcased in Kentico's demos convey precisely what the product vouches to do: to end digital marketers' pain. 

The pain of the tedious task of copying and pasting content, checking it, correcting it, and updating it. 

The pain of jumping between different tools and comparing data. 

The pain of finding a mistake in your running campaign. 

The pain of being unable to implement your ideas while they are still relevant.

Let's see what are the remedies Kentico promises. 

 

DYNAMIC CHANNELS IN XPERIENCE BY KENTICO

"We don't focus on websites anymore," - said Dave Komarek, Lead Product Manager, during one of the commercial sessions. We are talking about digital experiences because almost every brand today uses a multitude of digital channels to engage consumers in diverse ways. Many marketers aren't even fully aware of the sheer number of channels their brand utilizes at any given moment, mainly due to the extensive fragmentation of supporting tools. 

The leading sites, microsites, and apps are the obvious ones, all manageable from one dashboard thanks to Xperience by Kentico. But let's not stop there. Consider landing pages on partner websites, product pages, gateways, and interactive banners on third-party websites unrelated to Kentico. 

Imagine you're a financial institution collaborating with several dozen online stores, offering installment sales. You need to update information about interest rates regularly. By connecting all channels within and - via APIs - outside Kentico structures through a single Content Hub, you manage this information in a few clicks, avoiding the multiplication of content.

 

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE RECOMMENDATION ASSISTANCE INTEGRATIONS

While leading us through the product roadmap and subsequent demos, Petr Klouda, Sean Wright, and Ben Franklin from Kentico also highlighted the multilingual functions, making it easier to create language versions across all supported marketing channels, not limited to just the website. They emphasized an improved workflow facilitating a smoother transition through pre-publication verification or reusable schemas, significantly enhancing taxonomy management.

However, reflecting current trends, AI integrations continue to garner the most attention. Alongside the AI writing assistant for rich text editors, now a common extension in many digital tools, Artificial Intelligence Recommendation Assistance (AIRA) is being integrated into other product functions as part of near-term development plans. With Kentico documentation absorbed and a grasp of the system's operation, this assistant aims to empower content managers and marketers to navigate the entire platform autonomously, including tasks such as constructing trickier subpages, new forms, microsites, and email campaigns without developer intervention.

 

SO, WHO IS XPERIENCE BY KENTICO FOR (RIGHT NOW)

"What we believe is the best approach is the hybrid headless, which allows developers to push headless content across any channel while allowing marketers to still use templates and drag-and-drop for the things they really want to use." This is one of the sentences that was said during the meetings, and it sums up the general direction of product development quite well.

We're well aware of the dynamic development of the product, consistently incorporating partner and customer feedback with each monthly update, paving the way for a promising future. Yet, amidst the robust position of Kentico 13, there's a lingering question: Who is Xperience by Kentico meant for now? This query often arises as partners craft their own roadmaps for clients. 

As Kentico representatives have noted, it's tailored for companies with ambitious plans but not an immediate need for all features. It boasts extensive functionality and even greater potential, all while maintaining a swift and lightweight construction. It's meticulously crafted to cater to the specific needs of diverse users actively engaged with the system. Let's delve for a moment into the marketing personas curated by Kentico.

You are a CMO

Xperience by Kentico lets your team react quickly to market changes. 
Consider the earlier example of updating interest rates for banking institutions across all marketing channels. It's a straightforward illustration - but with XbK, launching new sites no longer requires months of effort. With transparent subscription models and the consolidation of multiple tools into one platform, planning your digital marketing budget becomes significantly more manageable.
 

You are a Content Editor

You edit content exclusively in one place: your Content Hub. It's as simple as that. However, this doesn't imply that content must appear identical across every channel. You retain complete freedom to tailor the content to each channel's unique requirements - whether it's adjusting text length, modifying display methods, or swapping out images and videos. Essentially, the entire process is far more convenient because you no longer need to copy, duplicate, and repeatedly verify correctness across multiple platforms.
 

You are a Developer

You will spend less time on deployments and upgrades, and the marketing team will not bang on your door demanding changes because they will be able to handle content updates themselves. 


Centralized Content Governance stands out as a key highlight of the new platform, but it's not the only perk. There are numerous benefits from a data collection perspective as well. With cross-site tracking, you can gather data from various channels, not just those under Kentico's control but also external sites managed by different technologies. Simply deploy a cross-site tracking script on those sites—a mere tag—and you're set to track engagement on those external sites and seamlessly integrate it with XbK.

Sean Wright adeptly showcased its marketing potential during one of his presentations. In just a few minutes, he demonstrated how to create a contact group of users who interacted with a specific offer on a microsite, then proceeded to tailor a personalized version of the main website for them. This personalized touch on the main page effectively encourages users to capitalize on the offer, thereby driving higher conversions.

Whether you're a fellow Kentico Partner seeking insights into the development of our beloved platform, a user eager to learn about upgrade strategies, or a CMO searching for ways to optimize your company's digital marketing with the right system, let's connect and discuss the future. Simply choose a date and schedule a call.


 

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