CDP: a reliable tool for collecting customer data

In order to attract as many target audiences as possible to the official business representative, many companies try to connect all possible channels of interaction. So, along with the direct website, various social networks, instant messengers, and message boards have also become widely used. And this technique really works well in practice, attracting new potential customers to the business, allowing you to reveal the specifics and advantages of the product in detail, ensuring the most prompt interaction, literally answering user questions in real time.

But at the same time, the volume of data that needs to be processed, and as quickly and correctly as possible, also increases significantly. And all this against the background of the fact that modern customers are already looking for a personalized experience in almost every interaction with a brand. And this means that business representatives should think about how to meet such expectations. Here a completely natural question arises: how to ensure flexible and effective management of large volumes of data?

In principle, there are already solutions on the modern market designed to solve this problem. And today's review will be devoted to one of them, in particular, the CDP customer data platform. This solution allows you to collect, structure all information about customers, and also use it when such a need arises. It is convenient that all these tasks will be solved within the framework of one system, which significantly simplifies the work associated with personalization, guarantees high performance indicators of launched advertising campaigns. The practical convenience of such systems has become the basis for their active growth. According to experts, the average annual growth rate of CDP in the period from 2024 to 2028 will be about 40%.

This means that everyone who would like to ensure the most flexible and effective business management should think about implementing such solutions in their work. And our material today will provide significant assistance in this. In particular, we will dwell in more detail on what a CDP system is, who should use it in practice and what tasks can be solved with its help. We will tell you in detail how the work is carried out here and provide the closest analogues. We will tell you why CDP will be better. We will provide a number of recommendations, following which you can choose the best system for your work and launch it into use as correctly as possible. We will also pay attention to the nuances of service, knowing which you will be able to most effectively use CDP in your future work.

The information presented will be useful for marketers and other specialists who deal with client databases in their daily work. You will be able to learn about the existing types of systems, their functionality, which will ultimately help you navigate the available market offers and choose the option that will be most convenient in practice for your business.

What is a CDP system?

Stable and effective business development is the result of an integrated approach, the use of advanced high-tech solutions. And here one of the most difficult tasks to solve will be to understand which users are target customers, what activities have already taken place on their part when interacting with the business. This is the problem that modern Customer Data Platforms, that is, CDPs, are designed to solve. This program is capable of collecting information about customers from any sources into a single database.

It is noteworthy that in this case these can be both online and offline platforms. Moreover, CDPs are capable of analyzing demographic and behavioral data about potential customers and tracking their transactional activities. Thanks to this, it is possible to create an individual portrait of each buyer, which will ultimately become the basis for the formation of personalized offers, both marketing and advertising.

That is, we can rightfully classify the CDP system as an automated solution that simplifies the implementation of a wide range of business tasks in the field of marketing. Here you can process both structured and unstructured data, including information about website traffic, entered search queries, purchases made, actions in social networks.

CDP is able to systematize data and create a card for a single client, add a personal profile to it, which can then be used even by any other programs and applications. These can be mailing tools, analytics services, CRM systems. So, today the most popular CDPs include such options as Mindbox, CXDP, CleverData Join, CMOcean, RightWay. And any of these options is capable of building truly effective and personalized communication with both an individual buyer and a segmented market.

If you bet on this system, you will receive at your disposal a tool that can ensure effective and continuous communication with potential buyers, as well as the ability to reproduce a unique experience of interaction with each individual person based on what stage of the sales funnel they are at a given moment. All the information that will be contained in the CDP will help identify “sleeping” customers and promptly remind them of yourself with the help of interesting promotions and loyalty programs. Also, having the most detailed information about a particular client, you can easily set up targeted or contextual advertising.

We would also like to draw your attention to the fact that the information that will be permanently located inside the Customer Data Platform will be invaluable when creating models for machine learning, making adjustments to launched marketing strategies and customer service, and subsequent predictive analysis of behavioral factors. All this allows us to confidently say that CDP is an excellent option for many modern business representatives.

Who should use CDP in practice?

If you look at the modern market and highlight the companies that most often use CDP in practice, then these are mostly businesses with a fairly impressive customer base, including those that require high-quality segmentation. But this system is also quite actively used in the automation and personalization of a huge number of customer interaction scenarios, providing managers with a set of ready-to-use solutions.

If we talk specifically about the areas where the Customer Data Platform is most often used today, these are:

• online schools and other educational institutions;
• financial organizations, including banks;
• online stores, which also have regular retail outlets;
• delivery services for food and prepared meals;
• chain restaurants, cafes, etc.

It is in such conditions that modern CDPs are able to solve a huge number of everyday tasks facing businesses. In particular, such systems will help to combine data coming from different sources, including online and offline sales, segment the target audience, and provide a personal approach to customers. Having such structured and maximally voluminous information will help to better understand the requests and wishes of customers, take them into account, thereby increasing the level of satisfaction with interaction with the business. It will also be possible to set up retargeting based on available user data, select personalized product recommendations, optimize conversions.

CDP will provide significant assistance in A/B testing, provide simple and flexible automation of the scenario in omnichannel marketing, email newsletters, and help increase the value and duration of the customer life cycle. That is, we are talking about a truly functional and advanced solution that can significantly simplify the work of any business that has a fairly impressive customer base.

But before moving on to the direct use of CDP, it is important to get acquainted with the features and specifics of its work in as much detail as possible. This will help you assess your own capabilities and simplify the subsequent use of this solution in practice.

How does the Customer Data Platform work

Let us repeat that the main task that each CDP will face is collecting information about all customers in a single space, as well as structuring and segmenting the received data. The entire process of this network can be divided into the following key stages:

1. Data collection.
2. Combining information and standardizing it.
3. Analysis of the received data.
4. Practical application of customer information.

We will now consider each of these options in more detail.

Collecting data in CDP

We have already mentioned that any CDP is capable of collecting information about user behavioral factors, their actions with certain business representatives, completed transactions, demographic indicators, and contact information. The main sources for obtaining such data are mostly:

• history of visiting the official website of the business, search queries;
• the actions that a person performed on the company's website;
• the behavior of a potential buyer in social networks, his activity in leaving likes, comments, subscriptions, watched videos on video hosting sites;
• data obtained from other programs and services that your business uses in practice, be it an analytics system, a database, an internal CRM system;
• actions that were performed in mobile applications;
• information about transactions and the outlets where they were performed;
• activities in loyalty programs, including promo codes used, purchases on promotions, etc.

As you can see, the scope of information here is quite extensive and can take into account many aspects of work business.

Combining and standardizing information

In order for subsequent work with information to be as convenient as possible, it must be systematized and brought to a single appearance. Solving this problem is the second stage of the CDP. As a result, customer cards are formed in accordance with the standardized form. In any case, it will take into account the features and specifics of your business and will mostly contain information such as customer characteristics, their preferences, behavioral factors, and the general history of interaction with the company.

Analysis of the received data

The third stage of the Customer Data Platform is the analysis of the information received. Here, the system uses machine learning algorithms or artificial intelligence to study the behavioral factors of business clients. In particular, attention is paid to the features of their interaction with the company, the level of involvement. As a result, the target audience is segmented.

Practical application of customer information

How the collected user data will be used subsequently directly depends on the type of Customer Data Platform that you use in practice. In particular, there are 2 main types of CDP on the modern market:

1. Autonomous. Such systems have fairly limited functionality. In particular, they are only capable of collecting data, and then transferring it to third-party applications, systems for subsequent processing. Most often, the segmented customer base is sent to an email newsletter service, an internal CRM system, etc.
2. Customer Data and Experience Platform, that is, CDXP. This is a more comprehensive option, equipped with fairly large-scale marketing tools. This includes loyalty programs, personalization systems, mailings.

The functionality of each of the platforms presented on the modern market may differ. Alternatively, if the system provides integration with advertising accounts, then you can be sure that you will also be provided with recommendations for optimizing the launched campaign. There is also a CDP, which provides fairly advanced capabilities for forecasting demand and customer behavior. You can also choose a solution that has tools for analyzing user interfaces, conducting A /B-testing.

Functionality of CDP

Modern customer data platforms are the tools with which a business can significantly improve its own marketing strategy. This is ensured by the highest possible indicators in understanding the target audience, its interests, preferences. Based on all this data, the most effective work is built, current and competitive prices for goods or services are set, interaction with potential buyers is improved. That is, the practical use of CDP guarantees the following opportunities for modern business:

• Creating a portrait of the target audience. Let us repeat that any Customer Data Platform will collect all the information about potential buyers in one place, as well as create a personal profile for each individual. Due to the fact that you will have the most complete information at your disposal, you will be able to better understand the interests and pain points of your customers, build a complete picture of how interaction with the business is carried out.
• Personalization of content both on the official website and in any other applications, platforms. We are talking about advertisements, discounts, promotions, selections with product recommendations. This is all that will be displayed to an individual client depending on his behavioral factors, preferences, interests.
• Forecasting behavioral factors and demand for certain goods, services of the brand. CDP is able to build the most accurate and visual model of user audience behavior, based on the collected data. As a result, you can estimate the probability of placing an order, opening a letter from a newsletter, clicking on a link in an advertisement.
• Simple and convenient choice of communication channels. Surely you have already encountered the fact that for some clients it is more preferable to communicate in messengers, others respond more actively to e-mail newsletters, and others - perform conversion actions after live communication with managers. Thus, CDP will help you choose the communication channel that will be optimal for a specific person or segment of potential customers. In addition, you will be able to manage absolutely all notifications through one system, which greatly simplifies the work.
• Optimization of running advertising campaigns. You will be able to easily connect your customer data platform to advertising accounts, including on Google Ads, Yandex.Direct services. After the system has conducted a comprehensive analysis and provided a set of recommendations aimed at increasing the effectiveness of the advertising campaign, you will only have to make the appropriate changes and see how much the conversion rates have improved.
• UX analysis. This is done in order to obtain an interface that will be most preferable for potential customers. Alternatively, this can be found out during the same A/B testing based on the results of the collected CDP.
• Ensuring sufficiently high security and protection of confidential data. The fact is that the current Law "On Personal Data" quite strictly regulates what information about the user audience a business can legally collect, process and store. Customer Data Platform systematizes all this information and collects it in a single space. This means that you will see any discrepancies and will be able to remove them without causing dissatisfaction on the part of consumers.
• Improving customer experience. Thanks to CDP, a business can literally anticipate the desires and needs of its customers, offer people personalized discounts or other bonuses. This is something that will definitely have a positive impact on the level of customer satisfaction and will contribute to increasing their loyalty to the business.

We repeat once again that the use of Customer Data Platform in practice will be useful to absolutely all companies that need to collect large volumes of data about their customers. This is a truly large-scale and complex system, working with which requires a deep understanding of the principles of data analytics, CRM marketing, a certain competence in the field of information technology, because it will be necessary to configure the CDP and provide its subsequent technical support. That is why for small companies and those who are just starting to work in the market, the implementation of such a system turns out to be unprofitable and ineffective.

CDP analogues and key differences

Along with the Customer Data Platform, the modern information technology market also offers other similar systems aimed at collecting and systematizing information about users from different channels. The most common and in-demand options on the market will also be the following:

1. Data Management Platform, that is, DMP. This is a platform that can collect and systematize information about the target audience from various open sources. In terms of its operating principle, the service is quite similar to CDP, but the key difference here is that in this case we are talking about collecting a personal profile exclusively from the company's clients. That is, the Customer Data Platform focuses on those people who have already shown some activity within your business. But DMP collects information about anonymous potential buyers. Its actions are aimed at selecting product recommendations, launching more accurate targeted advertising.
2. Business Intelligence, that is, BI systems. The functionality of such tools is also aimed at collecting information from different sources in one application. The received information is processed and presented in the most visual form. These can be graphs, maps, diagrams. Here, work is carried out not only with business clients, but also with a number of other business metrics, such as the same average purchase receipt, the total revenue that a business receives from one and the same client, conversion actions. The main difference in these methods is that BI helps to make the most balanced and appropriate decisions about launching certain work processes within the company, and CDP is intended for working with clients.
3. CRM systems. We have already mentioned such platforms several times today, as there is a fairly noticeable similarity here. Both systems are designed to collect data about customers and form a separate profile based on it. But the fundamental difference is that work here is carried out exclusively with internal information. In addition, if the same person makes a purchase in your online store, once indicating a contact phone number, and the second time - an email address, then as a result, the CRM will form 2 cards of the same client, which can ultimately lead to some confusion. At the same time, CDP is able to identify users on external platforms, including various applications, social networks, which eliminates the occurrence of such problems in the future. This is why, within the framework of a sufficiently large and developed business, it is recommended to combine CDP and CRM, which will significantly increase the efficiency of work with the company's customers.

As you can see, all the systems that we have described here have their main purpose and area of application. They cannot be used as a replacement for CDP. These are additional tools that can increase the efficiency and functionality of the work of marketers and company managers.

The main advantages of CDP over analogues

If we talk directly about the advantages of Customer Data Platform over its closest analogues, then it is definitely worth highlighting the following points:

• Creating the most complete image of the client. Let us repeat that CDP collects user information from all possible sources that your company uses in its work. This allows you to create the most complete client profile, including for subsequent use in other systems. It is convenient that all the information in the client card will be updated literally in real time after each interaction between a person and your business, changes that have occurred, including in the client's life.
• High data availability. It is convenient that both the business manager and absolutely any staff can access such information, regardless of which department the request comes from. This ensures contact with clients at any point.
• Increased flexibility in communication. You can easily integrate CDP with a set of additional tools, which will allow you to use a range of technologies that will be most effective in your case. This system easily adapts to new trends, consumer behavioral factors, and various innovations.
• High results when performing diverse work, from marketing to service. Thanks to CDP, you can establish the most effective interaction with clients regardless of the channels they come from, ensure the highest service rates, and provide comprehensive and professional support.
• Formation of centralized communication management. Surely many of you have already encountered in practice how difficult it is to collect data from different sources, tools, combine them and use them when interacting with a client literally in real time. Any modern CDP can solve such a problem. You will no longer have to turn to DMP for advertising information, and to CRM - for demographic data. That is, here you will get a full set of information you need and will be able to use it in direct communication with clients.

We hope that these arguments clearly demonstrated the advantages of Customer Data Platform over its closest analogues.

Choosing Customer Data Platform Correctly

We would like to draw your attention to the fact that integrating Customer Data Platform into your company's work processes is a rather complex issue from a technical point of view. Most of these tasks are undertaken directly by platform representatives, but they can also be full-time technical specialists or third-party employees with the relevant knowledge and skills in this area. The integration process will involve setting up the process of exchanging information between the platform and your company's external systems, be it a website, social media presence, cash register and related applications. Depending on the size of your company, as well as the upcoming work tasks, technical base, the entire implementation process can take from 2 months to six months.

Now that you understand how useful and convenient a solution CDP will be in the work of your business, it is important to choose the most suitable system for yourself. And here it is important to pay attention to the following key indicators:

1. Functional capabilities. The fact is that the work of autonomous CDPs involves only collecting and systematizing data. If you are looking for broader functionality, then you should opt for integrated solutions that are equipped with broader marketing tools. That is, initially determine what tasks your system will face on a daily basis and then select the most suitable functionality.
2. Compatibility with the services used. If you already use certain automation systems in practice, then think about which of them you would like to combine in the future and connect to the CDP. Alternatively, you can ensure integration with your email newsletter service, CRM system, etc.
3. Flexibility indicators. The fact is that almost every company has its own specific business processes. This means that standard solutions may not always be optimal. That is, you need to study the possibility of whether it will be possible to adjust the work of the selected CDP specifically to your specific features.
4. Scalability. Surely many of you have already noticed that as your business operates, it gradually accumulates an increasingly large customer base. This means that it is important to choose a system that can easily adapt to a higher load. If you do not provide for this, then after a certain period of time you will have to choose another option for yourself and re-do all the necessary settings.
5. The most simple, convenient and thought-out interface. This is what will significantly simplify the marketer's work in the future and help establish effective interaction. That is, it is important to choose an option that can be used by people who do not have specific knowledge in the field of IT. That is, it is important that your CDP is intuitively understandable. This will significantly simplify the process of training marketers, managers and their subsequent work.
6. Availability of comprehensive technical support. It is also important to pay attention to whether the supplier has the appropriate specialists. And you need an option where the technical support service will work around the clock and respond as quickly as possible to user requests, troubleshoot problems, and provide additional recommendations. Maintaining the functionality of the CDP will be especially important during sales, seasonal discounts and other offers accompanied by an increased influx of customers to your company's representative offices and mass order placement.
7. Cost. This is the parameter that will be of interest to absolutely any business representative. It is important for you to initially determine at least approximately how much it will cost you to purchase and implement the system, what costs will fall on you during its maintenance. You also need to assess what material benefit you will receive after implementing the CDP. However, you will be able to fully assess the effectiveness and profitability of this tool only after its implementation.

The last point that we would like to draw your attention to is the compliance of the Customer Data Platform you have chosen with legal norms and requirements. The fact is that the platform in any case must ensure the storage and protection of user data.

Practical recommendations for implementing CDP

Implementing CDP into work processes is something that will require from the business quite comprehensive and professional preparation, high-quality implementation. The following practical recommendations will help minimize errors at this stage:

• define what systems and client data you will need in your subsequent work;
• draw up a technical task, describe step by step all the actions that need to be implemented, including indicating all the resources for future integration;
• to eliminate the problem in the subsequent use of the service, you need to provide for an additional proxy server connection, which will allow you to change the IP address when sending mass messages, thereby eliminating the likelihood of being blocked;
• transfer all your email templates, and with them message chains, subscriber base to the new system, set up interaction chain scenarios and automate these events;
• do not expect instant results: practice shows that in most cases it can take you up to several months to launch a CDP.

If you are not sure that you can implement upcoming work as correctly as possible on your own, it would be a good idea to contact the supplier's technical support service or professional integrators.

Features of Customer Data Platform maintenance

We have already mentioned in the review that any CDP will require timely and competent maintenance. And here each of the specialists will have their own role:

1. Developer. He takes on the implementation of the system into operation, its configuration and direct training of marketers. His responsibilities will also include maintaining a high level of cybersecurity, as well as technical support.
2. Marketer. This is a person who is well acquainted with the specifics of the market and the work of the company, understands which solutions require automation of processes. Based on his knowledge, it will be possible to develop the most effective strategies for using CDP within a specific business.
3. Analyst. Such a specialist is well aware of all the specifics of working with big data, understands which metrics require tracking, knows how to analyze the results obtained during A/B testing. That is, he will be able to highlight those parameters that will help the marketer in subsequent decision-making.

We would like to draw attention to the fact that all these works can be performed by both individual specialists and one universal employee with deep professional knowledge and skills.

Let's summarize

CDP is a system that can collect all the necessary information about business clients from various online and offline sources, and form a personal portrait of each buyer. Based on the information received, it will be much easier for marketers to study their audience, segment it by individual criteria, predict customer behavior and provide each with personalized offers that can significantly increase the number of conversion actions. But here it is very important to approach the choice of a suitable platform as comprehensively and professionally as possible, as well as to ensure the availability of all the necessary accompanying tools.

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