How an Agile CMS Simplifies Marketing

Table of contents

• This Is How an Agile CMS Works
  • What Does Agility Mean in Content Management
  • Agile CMS vs. Conventional CMS
  • Agile CMS vs. Headless CMS
  • Use Cases of Agile CMS
• The Benefits of an Agile CMS
• Transform WordPress to an Agile CMS
• The Power of Agile Content Management

Flexibility and speed have never been more in demand. That’s why companies are increasingly looking for agile CMS solutions. Agile methodologies have changed everything, and content management systems are no exception. 

Agile methodology has broken down process and content silos, enabling faster content delivery, better interdepartmental connectivity, and better business outcomes. From a CMS perspective, following an agile methodology and (more importantly) using an agile CMS simplifies enterprise content and asset management. It also enables global brands to communicate with customers in different countries and across multiple platforms.

This Is How an Agile CMS Works

An agile CMS enables content creators and website developers to launch digital experiences quickly. According to research firm Forrester, with an agile CMS, companies can: 

• reuse content across channels
• create content faster
• improve team dynamics 

All to create a better customer experience. This is achieved through a combination of publishing, workflow, and collaboration tools built on a content management platform. That platform is designed to be flexible and extensible to meet rapidly changing business needs and priorities. The key features of an agile CMS are: 

• Content hubs: centralize all content in one place.
• Customizable workflows: Allow teams to implement their own working style.
• API integrations: Facilitate connections with other systems and platforms.

Key to this are rapidly changing customer expectations and the need for internal tools that promote and support successful collaboration.

What Does Agility Mean in Content Management

Agility refers to how well a company can adapt to change. 

The concept of agile became known as a software development method that focuses on cross-functional teams and close collaboration. Another key component of agile development is iteration and listening to feedback.

Agile content management represents incremental development in multiple phases. The collaborative movement fostered by agile enables marketing teams to create campaigns, measure their impact, and then incrementally improve them.

Agility in content distribution helps companies turn digital storytelling into revenue growth and better customer experiences. It enables them to create amazing customer solutions that connect the online and offline worlds. 

Agile CMS vs. Conventional CMS

Here are the main differences between an agile and a traditional CMS:

Criteria	Conventional CMS	Agile CMS
Architecture	Integrated backend and frontend	Separation of backend and frontend
Flexibility	Low	High
Cross-channel content	Limited	Omnichannel-capable
Adaptability	Limited	High
API integration	Often limited and difficult to customize	Strong API integration and easy connection with third-party providers
Scalability	Can be limited by the coupled architecture	High scalability due to independent components
Content management	Closely linked to the presentation layer	Content is independent of the presentation layer
Use cases	Good for simple websites and blogs	Ideal for complex, cross-channel applications

A traditional content management system tightly couples the back-end repository, where content is stored, to the front-end, which presents the content on a website or other digital channels. 

An example of a traditional CMS is WordPress, which is great as a blogging platform and for building websites.

The traditional CMS architecture is ideal for delivering content to a channel. The easy-to-use interface works well for marketers and developers when the end goal is just a website. 

However, for organizations with more demanding content requirements, a traditional content management system may be insufficient.

Problems arise when marketing teams want to plan and personalize content more precisely or deliver content to multiple channels. 

An agile CMS, or headless CMS, can fill the omnichannel delivery gap by removing the presentation on the front end of the CMS and retaining only the content database on the back end. 

Instead, connections can be made via APIs to different front ends, giving developers the freedom to tailor the experience to their liking.

This is where CMS agility comes into play. The approach many headless content management systems take allows content to be created once and then published anywhere. 

According to Forrester, an agile content distribution system must meet these points above all else: 

• Have a content hub as a core
• User-friendly creation with collaboration and planning tools that provide intuitive workflows
• Provide flexible deployment options

Agile CMS vs. Headless CMS

Talking about agile CMS architecture many tend to confuse it with a headless approach. Here are the main differences between an agile and a headless CMS:

Criteria	Headless CMS	Agile CMS
Architecture	Separates backend and frontend. Content is provided via APIs	Flexible architecture that integrates both traditional and modern approaches
Flexibility	High flexibility in the design of frontend applications, as there is no predefined presentation layer	Flexibility in both content management and presentation, with support for various frameworks
API access	Strongly API-driven	often RESTful or GraphQL. Supports APIs, but also traditional ways of providing content
Integration	Often has to be individually integrated with other systems	Usually offers ready-made integrations with common tools and platforms
Multichannel publishing	Content can be easily published on different channels	Supports multi-channel publishing, but often also with inbuilt tools for different platforms
Scalability	Highly scalable thanks to the decoupling of front-end and back-end	Good scalability thanks to modular and flexible structures

The biggest difference between a headless CMS and an agile CMS lies in the architecture. A headless CMS separates the backend from the frontend and delivers content via APIs. While an agile CMS offers a flexible architecture that integrates both traditional and modern approaches to enable comprehensive content management and presentation. This makes an agile CMS more user-friendly and better integrated, while a headless CMS offers more flexibility in frontend design.

Use Cases of Agile CMS

A McKinsey report from 2020 states that an agile approach can show improvements of up to 30% concerning customer satisfaction, employee engagement, operational performance, and financial performance. That is probably why brands like Nike, Coca-Cola or Sonos successfully transformed into agile methods. 

• Nike uses Contentful to provide content on its global e-commerce platform. This allows them to create consistent and personalized shopping experiences for customers worldwide.
• The globally known company Sonos uses Sanity, which offers real-time collaboration and flexible content modeling. Sonos uses Sanity to manage content for its website and mobile apps, enabling them to respond quickly to market changes and customer feedback.
• Coca-Cola works closely with AEM, a comprehensive tool for managing marketing content and campaigns. They have been using the agile CMS to coordinate content and campaigns globally, which helps them deliver consistent brand messages across different channels and markets.

Agile CMS can be used for small businesses as well as enterprises.

The Benefits of an Agile CMS

An agile CMS can provide solutions to the problems that a traditional CMS brings. You can use it to overcome the following challenges: 

Multichannel publishing

• Delivering content for mobile devices, tablets, smartwatches and more

Delivering content that focuses on the customer experience

• Centralization of all content in a modular way
• Personalization and targeted offers based on customer data

Adaptive technology and third-party integration

• Seamless integration of the best technologies
• Network of services that communicate with each other

Transform WordPress to an Agile CMS

If you are working with WordPress and realize that you want to transform it into an agile one, you should try the Greyd.Suite. It’s flexible, collaborative, and focuses on content creators and managers instead of developers. 

Greyd is actually based on WordPress and can be used as a traditional CMS. However, there are several functions that can easily turn it into an agile CMS. With a few simple steps you can go agile: 

1. Install the Greyd.Suite either as a multisite or connect several websites with each other
2. Now you can style pages and set up your content
3. Alternatively you can import content via the API 
4. With Global Content you can now define which content is used on which pages 

There are several features within the Greyd.Suite that shift the focus from a pure content perspective to versatile use of layouts, forms and other components across different channels. Greyd’s headless API creates a flexible architecture with a structured system, similar to a digital experience platform.

For more compatibility you can combine the functions with other tools of your choice to enhance your level of flexibility and options. This ensures that all parties involved work with the same data and all tools are connected at all times. 

That simplifies the automation of several workflows. Talking about workflows, one of our newest updates will include new Global Content features that allow users to set up individual review and approval processes for global content. 

Let’s say you work in marketing and need important information from the corresponding sales team. Using Greyd, the content from customer service is automatically uploaded to the Helpcenter website. So different teams can use the same content for different purposes and on several channels. But access the same data.

The Power of Agile Content Management

Flexibility, iteration, and improved workflow are the keys to agile content management. Agility and adaptability are paramount for modern businesses striving for an omnichannel presence.

Those who upgrade to an agile CMS reduce effort, duplication, and confusion so the team can work more efficiently today and in the future. An agile CMS provides the tools necessary to navigate the multichannel digital environment that businesses face today. Do you want more? 

With Greyd, you can actively witness the continued evolution of WordPress and learn how to better use the tool to your advantage.