What is a CDP? | Simon AI

What is a CDP?

Author

Lauren Saalmuller

Content Marketing Lead

Data is a company’s most valuable resource

Customer Data Platforms (CDPs) — and the AI that powers them — can now identify marketing personalization opportunities within your customer data by uncovering audiences you didn’t know you had, creating targeted high-value segments, and helping you deliver the right message to the right customer at the right time — at scale.

What is a Customer Data Platform (CDP)?

A customer data platform (CDP) is martech software that creates a unified view of your customer data across various systems in a single place. This unification makes data accessible throughout the entire organization.

Customer data collection and management

Data management is collecting and storing data in a secure location. This collection helps companies optimize data usage while still keeping the data protected.

Data ingestion is the ability to gather, standardize, and validate data from online and offline sources. Next, this data is stored in a centralized location to be accessed, used, and analyzed. Moreover, this information is also available for every team to view.

First-party data unification

Once the data has been collected and stored in one place, the CDP cleans it and consolidates it into a unified customer profile. In other words, no matter where your data is coming from, a CDP can receive and translate it into a single customer view.

Customer data activation

As any marketer knows, having access to your data is the first step in understanding your customer. Now imagine having access to data insights while gaining the ability to control and play with this data on demand. This opens the door to activating your data with tactics like better segmentation.

Why customer data is important

A CDP delivers segmented marketing tests within a single framework and workflow. The resulting insights measure the success of marketing campaigns and inform new ones.

What data is used in a CDP?

There are different types of data that make up the single customer view. Those types of data are identity, psychographic, quantitative, and qualitative. With these, you can create a 360-degree view of the customer and personalize customers just for them.

Identity data

Identity data is the collection of data about an individual person, such as their name, address, bank account number, health records, and other highly sensitive information.

Psychographic data

Psychographic data is information on a person’s attitudes, interests, personality, values, opinions, and lifestyle.

Quantitative data

Quantitative data refers to information that can be represented as numbers.

Qualitative data

Quantitative data is another type of data that is less easily gathered.

CDP vs. CRM vs. DMP

We’ve covered the differing and overlapping capabilities of CRMs and DMPs vs. CDPs.

Types of CDPs

There are 10 main types of CDP, though many CDPs can serve as multiple types, and no CDP is perfectly bucketed into just one of these categories. Here’s a snapshot of these categories:

1. Data collection CDPs

These CDPs focus on aggregating customer data from multiple sources (websites, mobile apps, CRM systems, and third-party tools) to create a unified customer profile.

2. Data cleansing CDPs

Ensuring data accuracy is the priority of these platforms.

3. Analytical CDPs

Designed for businesses that prioritize insights.

4. Campaign CDPs

Campaign CDPs help you manage and automate marketing campaigns across multiple channels.

5. Segmentation CDPs

Ideal for targeted marketing.

6. Content CDPs

Content CDPs bridge the gap between data and content.

7. Retail CDPs

As you might assume, some CDPs are tailored to retailers.

8. B2B CDPs

Unlike consumer-focused CDPs, B2B CDPs are designed to manage complex sales cycles.

9. Customer service CDPs

Customer service-oriented CDPs streamline interaction history across channels.

10. Real-time CDPs

Real-time CDPs process and act on customer data instantly.

How to choose a CDP

Not only will you have to balance the different types of CDP, but you’ll also need to consider potential solutions provided by each.

How companies use CDPs: Real-life examples

RCI generated $13MM in revenue through website personalization

Timeshare exchange and leisure travel company Resort Condominium International (RCI) was looking for a solution that enables website personalization.

What a CDP isn’t — and why CDPs alone aren’t enough

CDPs sound like they can do anything — but they can’t.

The future of customer marketing is here. Are you ready to embrace it?