This document discusses the benefits of upgrading from older versions of Sitecore to version 8. It notes that 41% of Sitecore installations are on versions 6.5, 6.6, or 7.2 which are becoming outdated. Sitecore 8 provides improved cross-channel experiences, personalization, search, and marketing automation capabilities. However, many organizations do not upgrade due to a lack of strategy, budgeting, or understanding of how the new features align with their goals. The document emphasizes the importance of strategic planning to map marketing plans to technology and get the most value from upgrades. It highlights several new tools in Sitecore 8 like the Experience Profile, marketing automation, and path analyzer.

1. TLT
Response to RFP, April
2017
Sitecore 8: The marketers
business case for upgrading

2. WHAT WE’LL COVER TODAY
Why
upgrade?
Importance
of strategic
planning
Latest
marketing
features
Common
pitfalls

3. ratiopartners.co.uk
Customer
experience
optimisation
Training
Technical best-
practice
& 24/7 support
Implementation
& technology
integrations
Strategic enablement
WHAT WE DO

4. ratiopartners.co.uk
41% of Sitecore’s installed
base is on a combination
of 7.2, 6.6 and 6.5
Source: Sitecore

5. ratiopartners.co.uk
CONTEXT: DIFFERENT VERSIONS
Sitecore 6 Basic web management
Sitecore 7 Moved from web-only to omnichannel
digital experiences
Sitecore 8
Builds on V7
foundations to more
truly support
marketers
Sitecore 9 Release TBC

6. ratiopartners.co.uk
THE CASE FOR UPGRADING
Consistent
user interface
Out of
support
Track
customer
interactions
Cross-channel
experience
delivery
Embedded
device
detection
Improved
email
experience

7. ratiopartners.co.uk
Cross session personalisation
Multisite content
Reusable content
Contextual personalisation
Optimisation
Improved search
Marketing automation
MAIN AREAS OF SITECORE VERSION 8 +

8. ratiopartners.co.uk
DANGERS OF NOT UPGRADINGVersions no longer
supported
Lack of access to
latest functionality
You’re already paying
for it
Sitecore product support lifecycle: https://kb.sitecore.net/articles/641167

9. ratiopartners.co.uk
WHY DON’T MORE ORGANISATIONS
UPGRADE?
No upgrade
strategy
Left too long a
gap between
upgrade paths
Don’t budget
for upgrades
Have trouble
making a
business case
Don’t see the
benefit
Have
purchased 3rd
party tools

10. ratiopartners.co.uk
THE NUMBER ONE REASON WE FIND
Not sure how to align marketing
strategy with technology to target and
engage customers

11. ITS ALL IN THE
PLANNING

12. ratiopartners.co.uk
Do you have a
plan to get to
the most out of
the marketing
platform?

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MAPPING YOUR PLANS AGAINST
TECHNOLOGY

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WHAT TO PLAN FOR
Define user journeys
Define customer segments
and personas
Map content against
segments
Define a testing and
personalisation plan
Map email marketing against
customer journeys

15. Region
Campaign
Location
Value
Persona
Stage
ID
Search
Landing Page
News sites
Testimonials WoM
Post Grad Page
Campaign Site
Email re Events
Personalised Email
Print Welcome Pack
Mobile App
Newsletter
Social Campaign
Confirmation
Support Pages
Affirmation
Call Centre
ATTRACT
AWARENESS
ENGAGE
CONVERSION
CONVERT
WORD OF MOUTH
North Oxfordshire
Support your local MP
Banbury
High
A,B C demographic, marginal, 55% Con – 45% Lab
Suburb
Email Phone
Application
pages
LinkedIn
Social Review
Webinar signup

16. Sitecore 8 marketing tools.
Plus a sneak peak at 8.3

17. ratiopartners.co.uk
EXPERIENCE PROFILE
Sitecore Experience Profile
Connect
data
Social
CRM
Marketing
automation
Collect
data
Website visits Campaigns
OutcomesGoals
Onsite actions
Channels
Profiling

18. ratiopartners.co.uk
TWO-WAY CRM INTEGRATION
Marketing use cases
 Personalise the on-site experience based on data held inside CRM
 Create hyper-targeted segments based on a combination of CRM and web
data
 Track visitor activity within CRM and personalise using campaigns from CRM

19. ratiopartners.co.uk
• Simplified Page Architecture
• Flexible layouts
• Drag and drop toolkit
• 100 Pre-built components
• Wire Frame Interface
• Export and Import visual
designs
• enabled
SITECORE
EXPERIENCE
ACCELERATOR

20. ratiopartners.co.uk
We like:
• New Email Service Provider
• Enhanced Reporting
• New Acceptance Criteria
• New Pricing
• Scalability
Be aware:
• Not currently supported in
PaaS
• Speak to Sitecore
• Scalability
EMAIL EXPERIENCE MANAGER 3.4

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PATH ANALYSER

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8.3
MARKETING AUTOMATION: UI UPDATE

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8.3
WEB FORM FOR MARKETERS

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The problem
Upgrading a licensed product is important
We know this from our every day experience
Sitecore is no different…. But it hasn’t always
been the easiest
Things to be aware of
• Customisations
• xDB data migration not currently supported
EXPRESS MIGRATION TOOL

25. TLT
Response to RFP, April
2017
Q&A