97% of Marketing Executives Report AI and Automation as Top Priorities to Enhance Digital Strategies

San Francisco, January 30, 2025 – Sitecore®, a global leader in digital experience software, today announced the release of “Websites 2025 report: How marketers are adapting to changing digital trends,” which analyzes trends, priorities, and barriers shaping the next generation of website technology from 200 marketing leaders across the US, Canada, UK, and Australia in various industries including financial services, manufacturing, technology, and retail. The report highlights the growing importance of personalization, AI, and advanced analytics as pivotal components for future-proofing digital marketing strategies.

Key findings from the report include:

• Personalization, automation, and AI are top priorities - 92% of marketers emphasize personalization as important in driving impactful business outcomes. 97% of executives prioritize AI and automation for future website success.
• Severe limitations with CMS platforms - Only 32% of marketers believe their CMS platforms currently support effective personalization. While 65% of marketers recognize the importance of strong integrations and scalability, only 13% are very confident that their current CMS can scale and integrate with new technologies like AI.
• Lack of investment - 76% of marketers cite budget constraints as the biggest barrier to advancing website capabilities, with 31% investing less than 5% of their marketing budget in web experience. Only 16% of marketing executives feel their websites effectively support their primary revenue-driving objectives, weakening their ability to capitalize on personalized, omnichannel experiences that drive organic business growth.

The report's findings suggest that more marketers may seek to optimize CMS investments and embrace AI to increase personalization and drive differentiation in the coming years.

Sitecore pioneered the CMS market more than 20 years ago and leads today with a composable, fully SaaS DXP. Its headless CMS, XM Cloud, is the company’s fastest-growing solution, and offers built-in personalization, optimization, and the unlimited ability to scale content management across sites, apps, and experiences.

“Marketing organizations have an immediate opportunity to better serve their customers by embracing AI, personalization, and other key capabilities into their website strategies,” said Kathie Johnson, CMO of Sitecore. “At a time when they’re being asked to increase business results with fewer resources, the right CMS can help them flex to meet customer expectations for engaging, connected digital experiences.”

Sitecore has been on a fast track of innovation with the launch of Stream – embedded, brand-aware AI capabilities for Sitecore’s DXP. The company’s AI advances help marketers meet ever-evolving customer expectations by speeding the creation and delivery of personalized digital experiences across all touchpoints.

To learn more about how marketers are navigating this rapid technological evolution, explore the Websites 2025 report: How marketers are adapting to changing digital trends.

About Sitecore

Sitecore is a global leader in digital experience software, trusted by visionary brands like L’Oréal, Microsoft, and United Airlines to power their content lifecycle from content strategy to digital experience delivery. Our composable platform gives marketers and technologists the power to build together at global scale – harnessing content, data, personalization, and AI – to manage digital assets, create engaging content, understand customer intent, and deliver standout experiences across all touchpoints. Discover more at  sitecore.com.

Sitecore is a registered trademark of Sitecore Corporation A/S in the USA and other countries. All other brand names, product names or trademarks belong to their respective holders.

Media Contact :

Jessica Rampen
press@sitecore.com