The Experience Economy Is Here. Are You Ready?

We’re in the thick of the experience economy. Audiences no longer engage with generic, static websites; they expect digital experiences that are tailored, contextual, and dynamic. From B2B SaaS platforms to large-scale enterprise and government sites, personalisation has gone from nice-to-have to non-negotiable.

Whether you’re a CIO planning your platform evolution, a CMO driving campaign engagement, or a Product Manager overseeing multi-brand content delivery, chances are you’ve asked this question:

“Can we personalise effectively without locking ourselves into a proprietary black box?”

Spoiler: Yes. And Drupal might just be your best-kept secret.

Drupal has been quietly (and confidently) establishing itself as a personalisation powerhouse over the past decade. While other platforms lock you into licensing models or narrow feature sets, Drupal provides an open, flexible, API-first foundation that adapts to your tech stack.  Not the other way around.

With the release of Drupal 11, personalisation has become easier, more powerful, and more intuitive than ever. It leverages decades of community-driven innovation and pairs it with modern architecture, machine learning hooks, and seamless integration capability.

Let’s explore how.

Drupal 7/8:

• Early support for segmentation and basic rule-based targeting using contributed modules.
• Required heavy lifting and developer customisation.

Drupal 9:

• Maturity of the Personalisation module
• UI improvements for marketers
• Integration with analytics and CDP platforms (Customer Data Platforms)

Drupal 10:

• Smarter content modelling
• Better context and condition logic
• More composable with Symfony improvements and Layout Builder

Drupal 11 (Now):

• Improved UX for managing audiences, segments and conditions
• AI-ready: easier to integrate ML-based personalisation engines
• Headless support: Personalise across web, mobile, app
• Stronger privacy and consent compliance tools

Pro Tip: Drupal’s open architecture means you can start simple with rule-based content targeting, then progressively enhance with AI or 3rd-party data sources as your strategy matures.

What Makes Drupal Personalisation Stand Out?

1. Total Control, No Vendor Lock-In
   • You own the logic, the content, and the execution
   • Open-source extensibility: integrate CDPs, CRMs, DMPs, and more
2. Segment-Based or Behavioural Targeting
   • Target by location, device, previous visits, referral source
   • Or trigger personalisation based on behaviour: clicks, time on page, interactions
3. Support for Authenticated and Anonymous Users
   • Serve personalised experiences even without user logins
   • Map session data and evolve user profiles over time
4. Composable UI and Content Components
   • Layout Builder and Paragraphs empower marketing teams to create variations fast
5. Easy to Integrate with Marketing Tech
   • Plug into Salesforce, HubSpot, Google Optimize, Segment, Acquia Personalisation and more

Thought Bubble: What if your CMS didn’t just publish content, but orchestrated personalised user journeys across every digital channel?

Essential Ingredients for Personalisation Success

Implementing personalisation isn’t about checking a box. It requires the right mindset, team and foundation.

Here’s what the top 1% of Drupal personalisation projects do differently:

• Start with strategy. Define audience segments, use cases, and measurable goals.
• Keep marketing in the driver’s seat. Avoid personalisation that requires developers to intervene for every update.
• Balance privacy and personalisation. GDPR/CCPA compliance, consent management, and progressive profiling are non-negotiables.
• Measure relentlessly. Use A/B tests, heatmaps, and analytics to continuously improve.

Pro Tip: Don’t try to personalise everything. Start with high-impact areas like homepage CTAs, product recommendations, or campaign landing pages.

A Proven Methodology for Building a Personalisation Plan

At Newpath, we’ve developed a robust personalisation methodology designed to align stakeholders, reduce risk, and deliver measurable outcomes. Whether you’re just getting started or scaling a mature personalisation strategy, this approach will guide you.

1. Discovery & Audit

• Review existing analytics, heatmaps, CRM/CDP data
• Interview key stakeholders (marketing, product, tech)
• Document current content types, segments, and limitations

2. Persona & Journey Mapping

• Create detailed personas: needs, behaviours, decision-making triggers
• Map key touchpoints and pain points across digital journeys
• Identify opportunities for personalised interaction

3. Use Case Identification

• Prioritise personalisation opportunities using the ICE model (Impact, Confidence, Effort)
• Define KPIs: CTR, conversion uplift, dwell time, etc.

4. Content Architecture & Component Strategy

• Align content types with targeting needs
• Build reusable components with variation support (e.g., hero banners, CTAs, content cards)
• Document editorial workflows and governance

5. Technology Design

• Select modules and tools (e.g., Personalisation module, Layout Builder, external CDP)
• Define tracking strategy: cookies, anonymous IDs, user attributes
• Design performance safeguards (caching, CDN strategy)

6. Implementation

• Build segments, rules, triggers within Drupal
• Roll out in phases (pilot > scale)
• Integrate with analytics and A/B testing tools

7. Testing & Optimisation

• Establish baseline metrics
• Run A/B tests to validate variations
• Build feedback loops into sprint cycles for continuous refinement

8. Governance & Training

• Define editorial roles and permissions
• Create training resources and playbooks
• Schedule regular audits and performance reviews

Pro Tip: A personalisation plan is not static. It should evolve alongside your users, technology, and business goals.

Common Pitfalls (and How to Avoid Them)

Personalisation Isn’t Just for E-Commerce

While eCommerce businesses were early adopters of content personalisation, the model is now paying dividends in:

• Education: Program pages tailored to student segments
• Government Services: Location-based service delivery
• B2B SaaS: Role-based dashboards and messaging
• Healthcare: Personalised resources by condition or provider type

Pro Tip: Personalisation isn’t about manipulation. It’s about relevance. Give users what they want, when they need it, in a format that makes sense.

So Why Choose Drupal for Personalisation in 2025?

Because you want:

• Open tech, not platform lock-in
• Speed and flexibility for marketers
• A path to AI-enriched experiences
• Scalable governance and security
• A future-proof content architecture

And because with the right partner, you can roll out a pilot in weeks — not months.

At Newpath, we live and breathe Drupal. Our team combines deep technical capability with strategic consulting to design personalisation solutions that are both scalable and impactful.

Let’s talk about how Drupal 11 can help your business connect more deeply with the people who matter.