CDP vs. no CDP

Got asked about the importance of having a CDP vs not having one during our multi-CDP Webinar.

The question was posed from an angle of:

When everyone is getting one, would the businesses be better off to just deploy a CDP, instead of spending time choosing between vendors.

It's worth exploring the topic, especially given the lengthy selection process.

I can see where the question is coming from as ultimately this boils down to having a competitive advantage (or perhaps simply keeping up with the competition) vs. potentially missing an opportunity.

And at the same time, if we believe a CDP will enable you to deliver a superior customer experience, this could also equate to improving your ability to harness increased revenues through improved customer satisfaction – just to name one example.

?If we stick to this level – then yes, advancing your ability to better understated and then serve your customer will almost always be better than standing still.

?However, the devil’s in the detail.

?Why Selecting The Right One Matters

?The fundamental principle of a CDP is that on its’ own, it’s doesn’t accomplish that much:

• It needs data to power it – and the state & locations of your data, as well as the ability to deliver it will severely impact which CDP you need.
• You will derive value from the CDP investment by activating that data – and the way you intend to do it needs to be supported by your CDP of choice.
• I.e. it your strategy relies on a real-time customer experience personalisation (the case for approx. 80% CDP adopters ) - and your CDP is not real time, you will either have to re-deploy the CDP or worse – curb your ambition.

?Approx. 80% of CDP adopters deem real-time data to be a critical factor

Your CDP Time To Value

Upon seeing these 5 words, anyone, who ran a CDP RFP & then went on to launch their first use-cases, would have experienced an uncomfortable flashback.?

This is mainly due to the famously long CDP selection, deployment & embedding timelines in large organisations.?

Whereas we can debate what duration is optimal, it's worth acknowledging this is typically the case.?

The process is complex due to:

• the number of business stakeholders involved,
• the potential impact it can have,
• the amount of preparation & the number of integrations required,
• the very fact that it needs data activations to show value,
• and it relies on measuring that value delivery to showcase ROI.

And whereas a POC can be established quickly, the actual CDP implementation will likely require a significant investment in time & resource. Here's why:

• Budget – CDP deployment & license costs can run into hundreds of thousands, if not millions – this typically requires a comprehensive business case & even a Board approval.
• Budget 2.0 – the investment required will typically also mandate a Procurement involvement & could have lengthy price comparison exercise due to a high variance of CDP commercial models.
• PII – CDPs are designed to handle customer data – meaning Legal, Compliance and Infosec reviews for approval will need to be thorough.
• Use-case Planning – to know what to integrate and what data to ingest, your use-cases will need to be planned in advance.
• Data preparation & modelling – once you have your use-cases, you will need to find the data & expose it to the CDP so you can act on it.
• Integrations – a comprehensive deployment will require a potentially extensive connections with your existing platforms – some of which might be custom API builds.
• Training – lastly, you will need to ensure people utilise the platform, so it can deliver value – this will require change management, new skills' development and potentially even recruitment.

This list is not exhaustive - nor does it truly convey the complexities one could encounter.

Furthermore, I have intentionally mixed the order of importance, placing the budget first - this is less likely to be the biggest hurdle in real life.?

Budget is less likely to be a top challenge in real life when deploying a CDP.

And that's by design: that list alone will likely be more than enough to warrant a careful deliberation on:?

• whether this is the right direction,
• whether the tool you're about to deploy will fit & deliver all those months (years) later.?

Why Taking Your Time Might Be The Best Decision You Make

You can also be much further ahead thank you think. Therefore, if you have:

• Clarity in use-cases & business requirements
• High degree of data readiness
• Clear integration plans
• Confidence in CDP deployment roadmap
• Required resources and skills
• Comprehensive, validated understanding of your CDP functionalities

?…you can not only proceed with the CDP deployment with confidence, but also likely accelerate your business value delivery, positive customer impact and the coveted ROI.

High degree of readiness will not only accelerate your CDP deployment, but also shorten your time to value.

Key Outtakes

?In summary, I fundamentally believe that each company where business, data & activation complexity meet certain criteria, does require a CDP Capability.

?That is not to say that every business needs to buy one.

?However, if your goal is to unify customer data to better understand your customer and act on those insights, then one would argue you are striving for a CDP, in whichever form it comes.

?To that extent, it is better to have one than not.

?And if you are indeed planning to build or buy one, spending time to select the right approach and platform will be the 2nd best decision you make.

?The 1st one being to embark on a transformation that will deliver a superior customer experience and value from your data.?