Survey Shows CRM, Search and Web Analytics Key Elements in Web Content Management

Web Content Management Investments Still Critical Despite Overall Marketing Budget Constraints

San Francisco, January 19, 2010 – Developers, marketers, interactive agencies and IT professionals cite Search and Web analytics as key applications of an overall Web Content Management System (CMS) strategy, a recent survey conducted by Sitecore, has revealed.

In the survey of more than 100 decision makers, Sitecore found the number of organizations implementing Web analytics rose to nearly 90 percent. Organizations are looking for a more integrated understanding of site traffic and Web campaigns, therefore unifying Web Content Management, analytics and marketing automation has become a top priority to yield faster conversions. In addition, respondents noted that integrating Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems and Web CMS software is a top priority.

“These survey results highlight the importance of an integrated approach to Web content management and customer engagement,” said Michael Seifert, CEO, Sitecore. “We are no longer seeing sales and marketing tools and Web CMS platforms in silos. Our customers see the need for not only presenting the right content and offering advanced Search and social media features, but the critical element of tracking website data to manage their sales pipeline with a much sharper radar to yield faster online conversions.”

Key Findings:

* Top drivers for implementing a Web CMS solution include: improving productivity (19 percent), improving customer service (11 percent) increasing sales leads (10 percent) and building global brand awareness (10 percent)
* 73 percent of survey responses indicated online Search as the top third-party application with Portal (33 percent) and CRM (20 percent) following behind
* More than 33 percent of respondents plan to integrate online video management as part of their 2010 WCM initiatives
* More than two-thirds of respondents use LinkedIn the most for professional use with Facebook and Twitter closely behind
* A majority of the respondents (52 percent) stated that Web Forms are key components of building an interactive website

Source: Sitecore