Make Informed Decisions by Leveraging Customer Data Platforms

The top benefits of a Customer Data Platform (CDP) are a unified customer view (88%) and enhanced analytics (54%), as highlighted by the CDP Institute. In today’s rapidly changing, data-driven world, people want insights such as customer behavior, insights, contacts, and other data gathered from call centers, marketing teams, sales teams, or any relevant tools.

However, in the age of data privacy, customers are increasingly prioritizing the protection of their personal data. As a result, businesses face considerable challenges and obstacles in customer data utilization since access to personal data is often restricted. Yet, while access to certain personal information might be restricted, CDPs empower you to extract actionable insights from consolidated customer data.

What is a Customer Data Platform (CDP)?

A CDP is a centralized hub that seamlessly collects and manages customer data from across your business touchpoints. This comprehensive approach facilitates the creation of unified customer profiles, offering a holistic understanding of individual behavior, preferences, interactions, and much more. By unlocking these granular insights, CDPs empower data-driven decision-making and help you tailor experiences and interactions that resonate with each customer's unique needs. 

The data typically captured by CDPs includes:

• Name 
• Contacts (e-mail, phone number, address)
• Social media profiles

• Age
• Gender
• Occupation
• Location

• Website activity
• Product preferences
• Purchase history
• Marketing email engagement
• Social media interactions

• Purchase history
• Purchase detail
• Registration detail

• Interactions with the customer support team
• Support detail
• Suggestions and reviews

• Campaign participation
• Click-through rates on advertisements
• Communication channel preferences and opt-in/out status

• Device utilization
• Channels used (such as websites, mobile applications, or social media)

• Location of the device being used (for mobile applications)

• Communication channel preferences
• Consent for data access for marketing activities                                                                                                                       

CDP, DMP, and CRM - What are they and which suits your business? 

Customer data platforms (CDP), data management platforms (DMP), and customer relationship management (CRM) are created to serve different business purposes. 

To better understand the differences (and similarities) between the three, we can compare them based on objectives, data utilization, and target audience.

1. Customer Data Platform (CDP)

CDPs are designed to consolidate customer data from various sources into a single customer profile. They allow businesses to store, merge, and manage this data, providing an overview of each customer. Marketers primarily implement CDPs to enhance customer experiences, personalize marketing campaigns, and gain insights from customer behaviors, thereby improving products and services.

2. Data Management Platform (DMP)

DMPs focus on managing and organizing data from anonymous sources, such as IP addresses or a large amount of cookies. DMPs analyze online user behavioral data to create a target audience for advertising. Advertisers and marketing experts typically use DMPs to refine their advertising strategies and reach specific audience segments effectively.

3. Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

CRMs are designed to manage interactions and relationships with existing and prospective customers. CRMs store and track your customers’ data, contacts, communication history, and sales opportunities. Sales, marketing, and customer support teams primarily use CRMs to enhance customer communication, identify sales opportunities, and improve overall customer relationships over time.

10 benefits of using a CDP for your business

CDPs offer a range of advantages, empowering businesses to navigate the complexities of modern data ecosystems and leverage valuable data in unprecedented ways. 

Here are ten key benefits that businesses can expect from implementing a CDP:

1. A 360-degree customer view

A CDP aggregates customer data from diverse sources, providing businesses with a holistic understanding of each customer. This enables businesses to analyze customer behavior, preferences, and engagement across channels without bias.

2. Greater personalization

Armed with detailed customer profiles, businesses can create personalized marketing campaigns designed specifically for their target audience. This personalized approach ensures that messages, offers, and content resonate with customers, elevating their experience.

3. Increased customer engagement

Personal messages and quick responses delivered by a CDP foster greater customer engagement. By sending the right messages at the right time, businesses can impress customers and get greater engagement.

4. Improved ROI for each campaign

Companies can run better campaigns with personalized marketing that’s tailored to the target audience and powered by data insights from a CDP. This optimization allows for more efficient resource management and a higher return on investment.

5. Seamless cross-channel marketing

A CDP facilitates the integration of marketing channels, ensuring consistent messaging and a cohesive brand identity across platforms. This allows customers to have a seamless experience across websites, mobile apps, emails, social media, and other touchpoints.

6. Faster responses with real-time data

Some CDP platforms provide access to real-time data, enabling businesses to respond quickly to customer engagement. Real-time insights allow for prompt adjustments to marketing strategies, ensuring campaigns stay relevant and continue to meet customer needs.

7. Higher customer retention and brand loyalty

By understanding customer needs and expectations, businesses can deliver personalized experiences that build deeper relationships with their customers and enhance brand loyalty, ensuring sustainable brand growth.

8. Data governance that stays compliant with regulations 

CDPs typically offer features for data governance and regulatory compliance, ensuring businesses adhere to data privacy laws. This compliance gives customers peace of mind and protects businesses from potential legal issues.

9. A more agile way of working

Centralizing customer data on a single platform increases agility in marketing teams' work processes. With access to all data in one place, teams can work more effectively, reducing time and effort spent on data management while enabling analysis from anywhere.

10. Scalability for future growth

CDPs are designed to be scalable, accommodating your growing data needs. This scalability provides businesses with a flexible solution to maximize the use of customer data as they develop their products and accelerate their growth.

Best practices for using a CDP in your business

For those seeking to leverage the full potential of a Customer Data Platform (CDP) in their business operations, implementing the following best practices can prove highly effective:

Centralize data storage

Begin by consolidating data from both internal and external sources. Develop a robust data onboarding process to seamlessly integrate data from various touchpoints into the CDP. Conduct compatibility tests, and filter and verify incoming data. Establish standard templates using APIs and connectors to integrate with existing systems such as CRM, marketing automation, and data storage.

Create comprehensive customer profiles

Focus on creating detailed customer profiles within the CDP. This allows for precise editing of customers' personal information, removal of duplicated data, and continuous real-time updates to ensure data accuracy. Invest in tools that allow you to edit personal data to link customer data across different channels and devices. Regularly verify and correct customer profiles to maintain data quality. Additionally, enrich customer profiles with related data to gain a deeper understanding of each customer.

Implement customer segmentation and set strategic goals

Utilize effective segmentation strategies and set strategic goals to optimize customer engagement. Leverage insights from the CDP to create target audiences based on customer behaviors, preferences, and demographics. 

Employ a real-time personalization strategy

The last step is applying real-time personalization based on insights from the CDP to enhance customer experiences throughout the campaign lifecycle. Access customer data from various touchpoints to configure personalized content on websites, mobile apps, and other marketing channels. Track and optimize your personalization strategy based on customer engagement and feedback.

Drive all business decisions with 360-degree customer data

A CDP is a very useful platform for businesses that need 360-degree insights to decide on improving services, optimizing marketing campaigns, or solving issues their customers are facing. If you are looking for experts in data analytics, Seven Peaks is partnered with Mixpanel, a leading data analytics platform. We are happy to help you reveal the treasure hidden in your sea of data. Contact us now!