Navigating martech: CDP (customer data platform)

A Customer Data Platform (CDP) persistently unifies customer data that is accessible to other systems, as a single customer profile.

CDPs are designed specifically as the central location for customer data, housing everything from profiles, personal identifiers, website visits, mobile app sessions, email responses, chat transcripts, audio recordings, social media comments, and more.

CDPs are specifically intended for marketers – and all data is consistently available as an integrated view – no internal or external sources are missed.

This article is Part 2 of Navigating Martech: The Complete Guide.

This series and downloadable report unpack key aspects of the Martech ecosystem and in this article, we take a look at the role and capability of a typical CDP.

Want the full report? Download it now.

So what is a CDP?

A CDP centralizes the data from all sources – and creates known customer profiles, so the data can be used for marketing campaigns for better audience targeting, customer service and all customer experience initiatives.

There are no restrictions on the type of data you can collect, and the segmentation is real-time, and channel-agnostic – a CDP will give you a seamless flow of data.

A CDP will provide the foundation your company needs in the years ahead to meet customer expectations for exceptional personalized experiences.
- David Raab, The Customer Data Platform Institute

The CDP provides a single view.

This single view is like any tool in that it’s only as comprehensive as the data that is put into it. So, the number of data sources are incredibly important (more is more!), and the data needs to be used so that you can truly see its value.

CDP is currently a US$300m industry and projected to reach $1b by 2019.
- ZDNet

A CDP will give your organization a sustainable competitive advantage.

The 5 factors that matter

There are 5 key things you need to know when considering a new piece of tech. Read a full breakdown of these factors over here.

1. Human data

CDPs capture data that is always unified to a person – it’s identifiable information and gives a holistic view of an individual.
A vital aspect is their ability to turn messy, complex data into simplified attributes that non-technical people can easily understand and use.

2. Data lifetime

CDPs store the data infinitely.

3. Analytical capability

CDPs provide information and insight – the sophistication of the software enables advanced analysis for deep insight.

4. Speed to activate

The speed to access is what makes a CDP unique. It’s real-time. Users can easily query customers and audiences in real-time.

5. Orchestration

CDP data is available in real-time, enabling delivery systems, like Email or Advertising to personalize based on the latest data you have on any customer.

CDPs enhance DMPs, DSPs and more

Like many of these complementary solutions, marketers are seeing CDPs and DMPs as a powerful duo. This combination provides organizations with real-time data and connectivity of that data across all marketing channels – and when you combine these with a DCO and DSP you can achieve mass personalization.

In a recent article “Why marketers should start using a CDP in 2018”, Adtech industry expert Volker Ballueder says that

“Data is the new oil” is what I’ve been hearing for a few years now, but despite us talking about programmatic and using data for so many years, it’s now becoming real.

Ballueder believes what’s changing things now, is the “sophistication of applying the technology to the data already out there,” so the scalability and artificial intelligence that sits on top allow for greater analysis of more data sets than ever before.

And let’s not forget the value of a CDP and a CRM together.

What now?

When it comes to Marketing Technology, there’s a lot to consider to ensure you are truly making the most of the Martech options available.

Each Martech platform plays a key role, integrates with other systems and has limitations.

The Lexer Customer Data Platform integrates with many aspects of the ecosystem – so we’ve unpacked the role, integrations and limitations of the 7 key platforms to help you navigate the space.

This is Part 2 of Navigating Martech: The Complete Guide, continue reading Part 3: Data Onboarders.

If you’re hungry for more or want to share this information with people across your organization, download the full guide.

Interested in learning more about how Lexer can help you improve customer engagement and maximize results? Book a demo with one of our retail experts today.