5 signs you need a new CMS, plus the benefits of an upgrade

Software developers collaborating at a table

# Why you need a new CMS. It’s out of date
# Why you need a new CMS. It’s impossible to use
# Why you need a new CMS. It’s a chore for other teams
# Why you need a new CMS. It’s frustrating for your customers
# Why you need a new CMS. It’s not delivering

When you hear things like "Our website's look and feel is off," or "Why is our product not on the site yet?" you might be tempted to call in IT for troubleshooting. After all, when you can't make changes easily or integrate video quickly, the easy answer is: "Let them fix it!" Instead of constantly applying small fixes to help your legacy CMS limp along, it may be time for you to make a significant change—to try a new CMS. In this post, we explore the telltale signs that should point you in that direction, as well as some of the benefits a modern CMS can provide.

Why you need a new CMS. It’s out of date

You may have been using your current CMS for just a few years, but in tech-world terms, that’s equivalent to decades. Functionality that was innovative and exciting in 2019 might seem musty and dated in 2022. Being able to easily update your site and add in current content modalities like videos and well-designed CTAs will make your work easier and enable your business to boom.

Why you need a new CMS. It’s impossible to use

If your team has ever sidelined new content because your CMS is “too difficult,” you’re due for an upgrade, one that allows you to easily change messaging and levels of interactivity. Not only will this make your content better, but it also wastes less of your content managers’ time and creativity. You can’t afford to have CMS troubles be the thing they spend their time on each day.

Why you need a new CMS. It’s a chore for other teams

In an ideal scenario, your CMS works well first for your content creators and managers, and then for other divisions when they need to pull messaging and content for their purposes. When you need a new CMS, you’ll hear that "There’s no multichannel support" and "Why isn’t this new campaign live?" An updated CMS can help you create better-integrated process flows.

Why you need a new CMS. It’s frustrating for your customers

We’ve all said it, and many of us have heard it: "That site is terrible." When a customer can’t get to the information she wants, your business loses—full stop. Accustomed as they are to slick, fast content delivery, customers will move on quickly when they have to wade through too many layers of interface to reach your message and/or products.

Why you need a new CMS. It’s not delivering

Your customers are accessing your digital content in many ways now, not simply on their computers. It’s no longer enough to have a seamless experience on a laptop screen; everyone needs to access content at different times of the day via different channels. If your CMS sends odd-looking or unreadable content to a tablet, smartphone or other device, you’re losing opportunities.

If any or all of the above scenarios apply to you right now, there’s good news: An updated CMS can help solve your current platform problems and publishing frustrations.

Benefits a new CMS provides

It makes IT happy

An updated CMS means fewer tickets for your IT team, not to mention fewer manual tasks—and that means lower costs overall. If you’ve included IT in the decision-making process, you’ll also ensure that your business gets an updated CMS that meets its technical needs and isn’t just a package full of bells and whistles that will never be used.

It minimizes project-management time

When you involve major stakeholders in the decision to update your business’s CMS, you’re able to educate everyone during the process and streamline systems that previously might have encountered speed bumps. It can improve the back end, front end and other aspects of your digital strategy, leaving more time for creativity in content creation and delivery.

It has a great return on investment

No question: You need great ROI to move any sort of change or update forward. The simple equation is Increasing Revenue + Decreasing Cost = ROI. What that means for an updated CMS is also simple: You’ll spend less money on troubleshooting and make more money with updated messaging. Consider this, too: When you purchase an updated CMS, you can stop purchasing add-ons that may be more expensive than they’re worth.

It increases personalization

Fixed customer journeys are so 2015. If you want to keep your audience coming back, you need to be able to give them unique experiences. Your customers expect to have personalized content, and your previous CMS probably doesn’t give you many options to create it. If you want to keep customers engaged in this fast-changing digital age, you’ve got to keep current with what grabs them, be that a social media prompt, a quiz or behavior-triggered emails.

It gives measurable results

Having access to reliable metrics is key to making informed decisions and propelling your business forward. While you might use a number of tools to measure them right now, why not upgrade to a CMS that has those metrics capabilities built-in and also integrates seamlessly with your favorite analytics services? When you know what you can measure, you can create a plan that includes success metrics, making “what works” transparent to all members of your team.

5 signs you need a new CMS—and 5 ways you’ll benefit from an upgrade