The intense work by companies and brands to deliver stellar digital experiences (DXes) has been exciting to witness. This isn’t just incremental change for most organizations; it’s transformational. (Think: Outside In, a new book by two Forrester colleagues.)

But these things don’t just happen. It’s not magic. It takes significant planning and commitment across silos: Execs establish a mandate. Digital strategists and marketing pros set direction. User experience and design pros translate the vision. The same goes for marketers and content strategists.

Application developers, meanwhile, must choose and implement the right tools and technology to support DX initiatives. It isn’t easy figuring out what to prioritize (hello, internal politics), where to source solutions (suite vs. best-of-breed?), and how to roll out new capabilities to eager users.

In my research focus area, web content management (WCM), solution vendors have tried to fill the gaps and deliver DX features by building on their own platform or partnering with third-party providers.

Where are organizations investing to support digital customer experiences? Forrester asked 170 WCM leaders earlier this year and their answers, charted below, provide a snapshot of their current status and foreshadow near-term DX investments.

Mobile delivery, video streaming, email tools, and content targeting are high on the list of capabilities or near-term focus to serve digital experience requirements, according to respondents.

In the same survey of WCM pros, Forrester also asked about their plans to integrate other enterprise applications with the web content management systems. The survey data below points to how organizations are thinking about the ecosystem around web content management and the digital channel – what needs to be included and where they will prioritize investment. 

Our takeaway from the data, especially the top graph, shows the serious commitment (time, money, people, strategic planning) enterprise organizations are making to build and deploy effective digital experiences for customers. (Heck, if the U.S. government thinks it’s a priority, why shouldn’t your business think about it too?)

We like this because great digital experiences tend to put a smile on your face when companies get them right. Comment below if you’ve experienced a great website, mobile, or other digital experience worth talking about. We’d like to hear about it.