Growing familiarity with headless CMSs
Content professionals are increasingly embracing headless CMS solutions. With each passing year, the adoption rate climbs, and the advantages become more apparent.
State of the headless CMS market 2023
Step into the dynamic world of headless content management with our report crafted using insights from 1,014 content professionals based in Europe, Asia, and Northern America. Dive deep into the trends, challenges, and innovations steering the course of digital content evolution in this special edition of State of the headless CMS market 2023.
Latest headless CMS trends
With input from 1,014 content professionals, this edition of our annual report delves into the shifting landscape of content management and reveals compelling insights, including:
Satisfaction with headless CMSs
Among those who have integrated a headless CMS into their workflows, a remarkable 88% express satisfaction with their usage. The positive impact on content management is undeniable.
Emphasis on flexibility and customization
Content professionals highly value flexibility and customization in their workflows. They seek tools that allow them to tailor their martech stack to specific needs and preferences, avoiding the limitations of a one-size-fits-all solution.
Areas for improvement
While progress is evident, content professionals acknowledge that there’s room for enhancement in their organizations. Challenges include multichannel content delivery, managing content for multiple websites, updating website content, and maintaining content consistency.
Have you ever heard the term “headless CMS”?
Respondents could select only one answer.
Out of all content professionals surveyed, a remarkable 79% are familiar with the term “headless CMS,” which is the highest level of awareness to date.
The greatest familiarity with the concept of a headless CMS is evident among those working in the IT industry (90% said yes). This trend is also notable among participants from Asia (84%) and those aged between 25 and 44 years (81%).
N = content professionals
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How much do you think you know about “headless CMS”?
Respondents could select only one answer.
In total, 36% of content professionals consider themselves to be experts or fairly knowledgeable regarding the subject of headless CMSs.
In addition, the data reveals a positive correlation: as the company’s size increases, so does the expertise of its employees.
N = 802 content professionals who know the term “headless CMS”
In your opinion, what are the advantages of headless CMSs (compared to traditional CMSs)?
Respondents could select more than one answer.
According to content professionals, the most significant advantages of headless CMSs are flexibility in using any front-end framework (43%), delivering content to any channel or device (40%), and using any programming language (37%).
2023 (N = 802 content professionals who know the term “headless CMS”)
2022 (N = 501 content professionals who know the term “headless CMS”)
2021 (N = 517 content professionals who know the term “headless CMS”)
In your opinion, what are the disadvantages of headless CMSs (compared to traditional CMSs)?
Respondents could select more than one answer.
The most commonly perceived drawback of headless CMSs is the absence of marketing capabilities (34%), closely followed by reliance on web developers (33%), and lack of personalization capabilities (32%).
2023 (N = 802 content professionals who know the term “headless CMS”)
2022 (N = 501 content professionals who know the term “headless CMS”)
2021 (N = 517 content professionals who know the term “headless CMS”)
Have you ever used any headless CMS product?
Respondents could select only one answer.
There has been a substantial rise in the proportion of content professionals who have used a headless content management system. This year, the share reaches 72% of all respondents.
Headless CMS products are most often used by respondents aged 25-44 years. In addition, those from the IT and Marketing & Media sectors have higher experience with headless CMSs than respondents from other industries.
Please, select all the headless CMS products you’ve ever used
Respondents could select more than one answer.
The CMS products that the respondents are most familiar with include Dato CMS (27%), Content Hub ONE (26%), and Contentstack (25%).
N = 726 content professionals who have used a headless CMS before
Based on a description of what a headless CMS is, how would you rate headless CMSs?
Use the scale from 1 to 5; 1 means very interesting and usable, and 5 means very uninteresting and unusable.
Respondents could select only one answer.
Among respondents who have no prior experience with headless CMSs, 66% find them either very interesting (19%) or somewhat interesting (47%). The proportion of respondents with a neutral opinion has slightly grown year over year, while the percentage of those who do not find these tools interesting remains negligible.
N = content professionals who have never used a headless CMS before
Based on your previous experience, how would you rate headless CMSs?
Use the scale from 1 to 5; 1 means very interesting and usable, and 5 means very uninteresting and unusable.
Respondents could select only one answer.
The satisfaction rating for headless CMSs has shown year-over-year improvement among content professionals who have prior experience with them. Currently, 88% of respondents who have used headless CMSs before express satisfaction with their usage.
N = content professionals who have used a headless CMS
In your opinion, which features should headless CMSs offer to ease content production and collaboration for people in your organization?
Select the three most important ones.
Respondents could select three options.
Within the top three critical features that headless CMSs should provide to streamline content production and collaboration for content creators, the following priorities emerge:
- Managing multiple websites or channels, together with a customizable workflow tailored for each project
- Seamless content preview capabilities across various websites/channels, along with multiregional content management
- Full-text search to find any piece of content
N = 1,014 content professionals
As a content professional, which option would you prefer for your work?
Respondents could select only one answer.
76% percent of surveyed content professionals would rather utilize multiple tools of their own or their team’s choice for their work, as opposed to relying on a single vendor to provide a unified suite of tools.
This suggests that they value flexibility and customization in their workflows, allowing them to tailor their toolkit to specific needs and preferences, rather than being locked into a one-size-fits-all solution.
N = 1,014 content professionals
Want to keep reading?
Get your complimentary copy of the 2023 report that dives deep into insights from 1,014 content professionals based in Europe, Asia, and Northern America.
What else you will find out:
- What objects are reused in large organizations
- How the companies manage feedback and approvals on content
- What areas the organizations would like to improve
Additional resources
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