The martech landscape is famously vast and constantly growing. As of 2025, there are 15,384 marketing technology tools competing for attention, spanning everything from content management to personalization engines, analytics suites, automation platforms, and AI assistants.

It’s already a challenging environment for people who choose, buy, and run these tools. Recent research confirms this burden, with 54.9% of marketing technology decision-makers reporting disappointment in martech payoff despite increased investment. Enterprise companies subscribe to 10+ tools on average, yet 73% of marketers use only 5 or fewer weekly, creating overwhelming operational complexity.

Given all that, the last thing buyers and users need is more terminological sprawl, yet that’s exactly what the industry keeps producing. Nowhere is this clearer than in the rise of the “Digital Experience Platform” label.

From CMS to DXP: How We Got Here

If you rewind the clock just 10 years, most organizations looking to manage digital content were searching for a Content Management System (CMS). CMS was and still is the anchor term in most procurement processes.

Analyst firms like Forrester and Gartner began noticing that leading CMS platforms were expanding beyond their original remit. To capture this expanded vision, they needed a broader category name. Forrester established the earliest public record with their Digital Experience Platform Waves, with documented reports dating back to 2017. Gartner entered with their first Magic Quadrant for Digital Experience Platforms in 2018.

Today, Gartner defines a DXP as “an integrated set of core technologies that support the composition, management, delivery, and optimization of contextualized digital experiences.”

The Reality: Buyers Still Search for “CMS”

Despite these carefully crafted definitions, conversations with martech platform sellers reveal that many RFPs still lead with CMS terminology. Buyers often frame their needs in CMS language because that’s the concept anchored in their governance and workflows.

This buyer behavior is confirmed by search data showing that “CMS” consistently generates 20-50 times more search interest than “DXP” over the past five years, with CMS interest actually trending upward while DXP remains barely measurable.

While some digitally mature organizations do issue RFPs specifically for a “DXP,” these tend to be cases where the scope clearly includes multiple components beyond web content management.

The Proliferation of New Terms

Once the DXP label was in circulation, the lexicon splintered further:

• Composable DXP: A DXP assembled from modular, API-driven components
• Digital Experience Composition (DXC): The orchestration layer that assembles multiple services
• Packaged Business Capabilities (PBCs): Individual functional building blocks
• Headless DXP: A headless CMS-driven DXP where presentation and content are decoupled

Many concepts reflect genuine shifts in architecture. But for the average buyer, these terms layer on extra complexity before the basics are addressed.

The Problem: Complexity on Top of Complexity

The martech ecosystem is inherently complex because the number of tools is vast, product overlap is common, integration is a constant challenge, and business needs vary widely.

Adding new, loosely defined category labels makes this harder, not easier. It risks inflating scope and can lead to overbuying and under-utilization.

Why Simplicity Matters

From a buyer’s perspective, clarity in language directly supports better decision-making:

• Shared understanding: When everyone understands what a “CMS” is, discussions are faster
• Requirements alignment: Clear definitions help teams focus on needed capabilities
• Vendor evaluation: Well-defined categories make comparison easier
• Change management: Internal adoption is smoother with familiar, unambiguous terms

Less Jargon, More Clarity

The story of “DXP” is a case study in how analyst-driven terminology can shape and sometimes distort martech conversation. Yet most buyers still write CMS-driven RFPs, and the proliferation of adjacent labels risks obscuring core needs.

In a landscape of 15,300+ tools, the challenge isn’t a lack of categories it’s an overabundance. If we want to make martech purchasing more effective, we need to simplify. Use labels to clarify, not mystify. The ultimate goal isn’t to win the jargon game it’s to help buyers make better, faster, and more confident decisions in an already complex world.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How do I choose between a CMS and a DXP? A Content Management System (CMS) focuses on creating, editing, and publishing content—ideal if your main need is website or app content delivery. A Digital Experience Platform (DXP), as defined by Gartner, is “an integrated set of core technologies that support the composition, management, delivery, and optimization of contextualized digital experiences.” DXPs integrate those CMS capabilities with tools for personalization, omnichannel delivery, and customer journey orchestration. If your requirements include multiple channels, integrated analytics, and tailored user experiences, a DXP may be the better fit.
2. How much does a DXP implementation typically cost? Basic DXP implementations (minimum viable product) often range from $200K to $1M, depending on integration complexity, chosen platform, and available in-house resources. More advanced projects with personalization, automation, and multiple channel integrations can take 5–6 months and cost more according to Real Story Group analysis (dated but very relevant). Costs vary widely, so obtaining vendor-specific estimates aligned to your scope is essential.
3. What should I look for when evaluating DXP vendors? Key factors include integration flexibility, scalability, analytics capabilities, security standards, and total cost of ownership. Gartner’s criteria emphasize “ability to execute” and “completeness of vision,” but your focus should be on vendors’ proven track record for your specific use case.
4. What are the top trends in DXP adoption? Composable architectures, cloud-native platforms, and API-driven integrations are gaining traction. According to Gartner, by 2026, 70% of organizations will prioritize composable DXP technology over monolithic suites, driven by faster time-to-market, improved productivity, and flexible consumption-based pricing.

About the Author

Digital Mindshare LLC (Digital Mindshare), sponsor of How Marketing Technology Works®, is led by Gene De Libero, a Martech Healer with over three decades of experience helping organizations and leaders ‘Ride the Crest of Change.’ Digital Mindshare is a New York-based Marketing Technology Transformation® consultancy that helps clients optimize their martech investments, ensuring maximum returns and strategic alignment.