CDP: A Car or a Suit?

Introduction

If you’ve been looking for ways to have a 360 digital marketing strategy, I bet you’ve always come across a similar answer: you need a CDP.?

A Customer Data Platform, or a CDP, is the latest boom in the MarTech industry. It integrates data into a single unified customer profile, which helps marketers create more personalized and effective campaigns. It gathers basic demographic data about customers, but it also goes further than just name and email. Interaction data, like website visits or open email rate, is collected, and so is behavioral data, which includes information of previous purchases and free trial sign-ups, among others. You can even find attitudinal data referring to customers' satisfaction, preferences, and desirability.?

A CDP might be the obvious answer for marketing improvement; however, at Strata Analytics, we know that the CDP concept is a bit more complex than it seems. Business managers that dived into this world without a guide tell us they ended up lost in their data, without any results, and having wasted a lot of time.?

We have helped many companies navigate their way into using a CDP, and the results are unbelievable.?

A few weeks ago, a Telco customer using Google CDP increased virtual wallet market penetration by 12% and the ability to cross-sell other products and services.?

In this article, I will explain how a CDP can help your business by exploring its characteristics, the best ways to implement it, and how we have helped our clients take advantage of it.

Difference between a tool and a set of solutions

First, it is crucial to understand the difference between the two technological advances you can find on the market. We’ll use two “technologies” to understand the difference: a Car and a Suit.?

Cars

Cars, at least most of them, are made based on predefined models. You can find a variety of models out there in the market, each with specific customized characteristics that make them appealing to different audiences. When buying a car, you search the options based on your needs and choose the one that fits them the best.

Technological tools are like cars. You can find all types of devices for all needs, but their predefined nature means you’re limited to what the tool can do for you. If your business requires some particular ability or a specific adaptation, you’ll have to find another tool.?

Suits

How we buy suits has changed over time, but we all know a genuinely high-quality suit requires some tailoring. So let’s review the process. You visit a store with a purpose: getting a suit for a meeting, a ceremony, or some other important event. No clothing will do: you need one that fits your body perfectly. A tailor takes your measurements, helps you pick up the fabric, and starts assembling it. The result is a suit made only for you!

Technological sets of solutions resemble suits more than cars. They have predefined features, but these are implemented in a way that works specifically for a customer’s needs, taking the shape of the business and its customers. This type of technology requires assistance, that is, a tailor.?

CDP as a suit

A CDP, more than a car, works like a suit. It consists of a set of solutions that need to be tailored to each business customer's characteristics and needs. Strata Analytics works as the tailor behind the whole CDP implementation. To understand our role in the process, it is essential to comprehend what composes a CDP.

Where does it start and where does it end?

As we have discussed before, a Customer Data Platform consists of a set of technological solutions that integrate data, analyze it and, through an orchestrating process, activate marketing campaigns.

However, having the tools is not enough. Acquiring a CDP means you have the fabric and the sewing machine, but you need an expert to take the measurements of your company and make these tools fit your business.?

What does the tailor do?

Strata Analytics helps its customers identify the company’s needs and create the business logic that sets a path for the CDP. In this case, tailoring the suit means polishing the databases, developing decision algorithms for the program to execute and implementing the whole process.?

With the help of a tailor, what can you do?

Let’s explore more practical ways a CDP can benefit any marketing business.?

Surprise your customers with perfect recommendations!

CDPs gather and organize information about your customer’s past purchases, browsing history and even their feedback on your products.?

All this data is incorporated into the unified customer profile, nurturing the intel your company has about their needs and interests. Now, based on business decisions you craft with your tailor, these needs and interests can be matched with new products or services.?

CDPs give you the power to make the perfect recommendation to your customer, suggesting personalized alternatives that increase the chances of them buying again.

Craft the best customer journeys?

Customers go through multiple steps in their buying process, including using a variety of communication channels. A CDP constantly collects and analyzes the data from each touchpoint, that is, from each interaction. This data is leveraged with the proper orchestration process to automatize, analyze and personalize the customer journeys.?

For instance,? let's say a customer searches for the availability of a product in a specific physical store. Your CDP registers this, and allows you to adapt your website for this specific user by automatically offering them information about the physical store the next time they visit your site.?

Boost your customer experience!

A CDP contains all types of data that can help you determine how much your customers enjoy your brand. Attitudinal data capture customers’ direct opinion of a company or a product, while information like conversion rates, number of purchases or subscription details point to customer engagement.

With all this information, you can gain insights of customer satisfaction, loyalty retention and even lifetime value! A CDP becomes the best ally into analyzing what is making your customers engage with your business and strengthening it, while also pinpointing your weak spots and optimizing these sections of your campaign strategy.

Survive a world without cookies!

Digital marketing experts are going crazy with the end of the use of cookies. Online browsers are now asking for explicit consent from their users to activate cookies, and most of these users deny it to protect their information. Other data management solutions, like DMPs, need these third-party data, rendering them useless.

However, CDPs seem to be the answer to this crisis. This technological solution feeds its profiles with first-party data, or data you collect directly from your audiences. Smart marketing strategies will allow you to convince your customers to share information about themselves, while other types of data, like behavioral and interaction data will complement your insights on what is important for your customers. Getting the right assessment and aid in implementing a CDP is more important now than ever!

Takeaway

Something is clear: a CDP can take your marketing to a whole new level, just like using an elegant, inviting suit when meeting someone new. You’ll be able to engage with customers in a more personalized way, to optimize their customer journey and experience, and even to continue your digital marketing efforts when cookies are long gone.?

However, choosing the right tailor is critical to be able to leverage all the technological solutions a CDP offers. Strata Analytics is an expert in building the best strategies and algorithms to optimize our customer's business.

Contact us and start your CDP journey with the perfect guide!?