Majority of marketers dissatisfied with current CMS tools

New research from content management system (CMS) provider Storyblok has revealed widespread dissatisfaction among marketers and developers with their current CMS solutions.

The study surveyed 300 IT and marketing leaders from global businesses, comprising a third of companies with revenues exceeding $100 million. The results indicated that 93% of respondents felt their current CMS fell short in terms of integration capabilities with other tech stack services and tools. Furthermore, 38% of these leaders expressed a constant requirement for an enhanced integration experience, while a quarter described current integration processes as "difficult."

Dominik Angerer, CEO of Storyblok, commented on the findings, "This survey shows that many companies are hitting the limits of their current CMS. They are dreaming of a CMS that's keeping all their systems in sync without constant workarounds."

The research also highlighted issues related to outdated content, with most respondents indicating that 20-30% of their CMS content was no longer relevant. Only 29% of the participants updated content monthly or less, and 37% admitted to not having an effective content audit or update process in place.

The survey revealed significant challenges in collaboration between marketing and development teams, with 40% of respondents describing their collaboration as ineffective or nonexistent.

Storyblok's Angerer noted how complex content changes in monolithic CMSs exacerbate collaboration issues, stating, "When a marketer wants to update a post or make quick edits across multiple pages, they may need to request developer support each time, since content changes in a monolithic CMS are often complex and can impact the entire site. This back-and-forth creates bottlenecks and delays, that when combined frequently, add months to a project. A headless CMS can eliminate these holdups. These flexible, integration-friendly systems meet the needs of both marketers and developers."

Looking ahead, businesses are expected to prioritise integration as a dominant trend in marketing technology (martech) in 2025. The rapid growth of new technologies heightens the need to manage data across multiple systems efficiently. This urgency is underscored by concerns that the failure to prioritise integration could waste resources, hinder scalability, and impair cross-team collaboration. Angerer cautioned against overlooking integration's importance, linking it to the broader utilitarian goals of martech tools.

Despite investments averaging $453,126 annually on marketing technology, nearly half of all businesses reported feeling embarrassed by their websites. Angerer referenced a prior Storyblok study estimating losses from poor website user experience at around $72,000 in annual sales. These figures illustrate the financial ramifications of not addressing integration and other CMS-related challenges promptly.