The customer data platform, or CDP, has received a lot of positive press in recent years. In 2019, Gartner chose the CDP as one of the four emerging trends predicted to transform technology ecosystems.[1]
Since then, major industry players like Adobe and Salesforce have introduced CDP solutions and adoption has skyrocketed.[2] The technology has definitely made its way into mainstream, but marketers are often becoming disillusioned.
Traditional Customer Data Platforms can vary from one provider to the next, these platforms can be good at helping companies improve data processing. However, they often don’t make it easy to transform customer relationships. CDPs can be great data tools, but not so great marketing tools. To figure out why, you have to look at what a CDP is designed to do and, most importantly, what it was not meant to do.
They Won’t Fix Your Data
CDPs can solve siloed data problems if used correctly. You can use a CDP to upload your own information quickly, gaining back some of the time that companies lose when IT departments have to manually move data.
The problem is that CDPs aren’t built to easily power marketing, so they don’t always make data useful to marketing departments. Most often, they don’t improve the cleanliness, accuracy, or health of the data needed to power marketing decisions. They can’t fix data mistakes or eliminate duplicates, and that limitation can hurt your customer relationships.
For example, if you have one customer who’s listed as Elizabeth in one data set and Liz in another, a CDP can’t merge the two records and create a unified picture of that buyer. What you end up with is a customer that says “Please, call me Liz,” then calls customer service the next day and hears “Hi, Elizabeth.”
That may not seem like a big deal, but it encourages the kind of inconsistency that keeps you from creating a personalized customer experience across all channels.
Inte Q Will Take You Beyond a CDP
Inte Q goes beyond the functionality of the CDP. We start with what you want to do and focus on the data and insights that will get you there. Instead of presenting you with piles of data you don’t need, we take care of the math and provide you with the best possible next steps. We’re an extension of your marketing team, there to help you enhance the skills that you have in-house.
Contact us today, and let us show you how to make the most of your data.
What You Need
If you need help cleaning and organizing your data, you need people power. In some cases, you can ask your CDP for help, but there will usually be an extra charge involved and the CDP may need to bring in a partner.
It’s easier and you retain more control if you reach out to a customer engagement agency like Inte Q in the first place. Inte Q will look at your data and customer relationship goals and help you use your data in the best way possible. We’ll create a 360º customer view that powers intelligent marketing decisions, and we’ll help you use the information you have to make those decisions.
Download the Full Article to Learn More CDP Secrets:
1. https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2019-08-29-gartner-identifies-four-emerging-trends-that-will-tra
2. https://www.forbes.com/sites/danielnewman/2020/12/01/customer-data-platform-growth-continues-to-boom/?sh=6366252c5fea