CDPs: The Next Era of MarTech

According to the Customer Data Platform Institute, a CDP is defined as: Packaged software that creates a persistent, unified customer database that is accessible to other systems. CDPs serve as central source and repository of customer data – where internal teams can capture, structure, and unify customer data across multiple sources, including things like customer preference center data. CDPs also enable activation of this data to create personalized experiences at scale through various touchpoints, channels and devices (digital campaigns, websites, ecommerce, apps, email programs, etc.).  

CDPs have gained a lot of traction as they come with capabilities to help marketers realize individualization, omni-channel orchestration, privacy compliance and analytics for performance measurement and attribution. With these advanced capabilities, CDPs are really becoming the next stage in the evolution of the martech stack. The good news is products in the market, like Sitecore’s CDP, can help brands accelerate their transformation for modernizing their technology ecosystem. This aligns directly with the CXO’s objective of also modernizing the customer experience to be seamless and cohesive across channels and internal departments. 

Packaged software 

The CDP is a prebuilt system that is configured to meet the needs of each client. Some technical resources will be required to set up and maintain the CDP, but it does not require the level of technical skill of a typical data warehouse project. This reduces the time, cost, and risk while giving business users more control over the system – even though they may still need some technical assistance. 

Creates a persistent, unified customer database 

The CDP creates a comprehensive view of each customer by capturing data from multiple systems, linking information related to the same customer, and storing the information to track behavior over time. The CDP contains personal identifiers used to target marketing messages and track individual-level marketing results. 

Accessible to other systems 

Data stored in the CDP can be used by other systems for analysis and to manage customer interactions. 

— Customer Data Platform Institute 

“85% of marketers noted data unification across marketing systems and sources is the biggest benefit of a CDP.” 

— CDP Institute Member Survey 

Transforming data sources into connected customer experiences 

CDPs provide marketers with one source of truth for customer data and up-to-the-minute business intelligence — eliminating potential dead-ends and leading to more connected experiences for customers. Personalization capabilities provide the ability to activate the data and intel that’s stored within the CDP to craft personalized user journeys that amplify digital engagement and create more engaging conversion pathways, regardless of touchpoint or device. 

Learn more about how your organization can achieve a single view of 360-degree customer data to activate automated omnichannel experiences through our Humanizing Customer Data series. Join our roundtable discussion (Opens in a new tab) on April 7th at 11:00am for the second installment of our three-part series on this topic.