Data Rockstar Moe Kiss talks CDP benefits

As part of our ongoing Data Rockstar series, I recently sat down for a cuppa with the uber-talented Data Analyst Moe Kiss to chat about the benefits she’s experienced using a customer data platform. Moe is the Head of Analytics & Digital at Wine Gallery, a personalized wine subscription service. Previously, she was the Analytics Manager at The Iconic, a leading Australian eCommerce retailer where Moe was our client.

We discussed the benefits of a customer data platform and the impact a CDP can have on a business, such as:

• Faster decision making
• The ability to query complex data
• Less reliance on analysts

… as well as the role that analysts play in extracting the maximum value from data.

With six years of analytics experience, Moe’s focus is on understanding customer behavior through data & analytics. Moe is an active organizer in the analytics community serving as President of the Digital Analytics Association Inc. where she helps run Web Analytics Wednesday, a monthly meet-up, and MeasureCamp, a yearly free unconference. As if that wasn’t enough, Moe also co-anchors The Digital Analytics Power Hour.

Basically, she’s a true Data Rockstar and we love her!

And, I am Rachael Amesbury, Lexer’s Senior Content Manager, with a keen interest in uncovering and showcasing success in the CDP space.

Moe, now that you’ve had hands-on experience with a CDP whilst at THE ICONIC, how would you say a CDP has changed the way you approach analytics?

Typically, my approach is to always go to the raw data and query it, but using Lexer helped me realize, when implemented correctly, it may be worth having a tool in between for many businesses.

A customer data platform benefits businesses because it allows more people to answer complex questions who do not have programming skills – which ultimately is great for me! More time for deeper analysis.

That’s so awesome! What kinds of decisions are you able to make faster now?

For me, it meant I could share information with marketers faster to allow them to make decisions. For example, a query that might be hundreds of SQL code, I could easily create drag and drop segments and then allow our marketers to push that directly to the channels they manage.

We hear brands love the ability to segment in CDP – how were you able to segment or target differently than before?

There is a big value add in being able to supplement data you already have with third-party information and even more easily categorize groups.

For example, breaking customers into low-, mid-and high-price point shoppers or information about how affluent an area is.

Note: THE ICONIC license Experian through Lexer, which allowed them to segment customers using available household information, all while staying in the Lexer platform.

Click here to learn more about enhancing your customer data with Experian.

Was the CDP easier to implement than you expected?

Our implementation went incredibly well, and that is very much a testament to having a data rockstar in our team who worked very closely with the Lexer team: Steve Maikim.

That would be the biggest advice I would give anyone implementing Lexer. Often, the marketers are the ones making the tooling decision, but they need to ensure they pull in help from the data and analytics teams to allow for seamless implementation. On the Lexer side, they also had technical staff who liaised with us and commented that (thankfully) our data structure was well-prepped, making the implementation easier.

You mentioned on your recent podcast that you can see everyone in the building (at THE ICONIC) using the CDP. How do you see this playing out?

Lexer gives people with no programming skills the ability to easily segment and group users based on specific attributes.

Anyone can learn to use Lexer to help answer questions about our customers which will help them to better execute on their job. The best way to get there is to get one team onboard, build advocates and train them, then move to another area of the business.

What do you think is the biggest area of business to profit from implementing a CDP?

My view is that a CDP brings different strengths to different areas of the business — I’m not sure one area receives more customer data platform benefits than others.

It is also a big mindset piece; those who are open to it will get the most value.

We’d agree with the change of mindset. Do you think CDPs will engulf the MarTech stack as we know it today?

There are many vendors in the market now. All companies want to move to a single view of their customers and CDPs are one way to achieve this “dream” state.

Ultimately, it depends on the business — CDPs work well in some businesses but may fail in others. Suffice to say, CDPs will have a big role but not necessarily engulf the stack.

There’s plenty of room for other MarTech vendors for sure, and the great thing is that CDPs integrate with many of these other vendors like CRM, ESP, DSP, and Tag Managers.

What are you most looking forward to seeing in terms of customer data platform benefits?

More people being able to answer tricky questions quickly and leave analysts for more complex analysis.

If you were looking into a crystal ball, what would be your predictions for customer data in 2019?

That the industry will shift back from “let’s track everything we can” to “let’s only collect what we need, which we have consent for” in line with privacy movements around the world, like GDPR in EU.

Yes, we can thank GDPR for helping many businesses re-evaluate the type, and quantity of data points that they collect. And finally, Moe, before we let you get back to your day, what skills do you think gives a person the data rockstar edge?

A willingness to keep learning and an open mind to try new techniques, tactics and tools.

Catch Moe on The Data Analytics Power Hour Podcast chatting all things CDP with Todd Belcher of The CDP Resource, with co-hosts Michael Helbling, and Tim Wilson. If you’d like to chat to Moe about her experience with Lexer’s CDP, or on any other data matter you can reach out to her on LinkedIn.

Contact us to learn how Lexer can help super-charge your in-house data capabilities.