Not all marketers are familiar with this new technology, yet it is gaining acclaim (and a lot of investment) very quickly …
Modern marketing models are based on data collection . And on this, as they say, it does not rain. But the peculiarity of one Customer Data Platform (CDP) is in the promise of aggregating all the data of a customer, ie those available on multiple platforms .
Think of the possibility to create a detailed image of the client , able to implement a personalized (and therefore effective) communication through all your channels. But let’s analyze details and differences with other existing platforms.
What is a Customer Data Platform?
The first step that can be useful is to circumscribe a good definition what a Customer Data Platform is. Among the many, we offer the following:
A CDP is a marketing system that unifies the data of a company’s customers from marketing and other channels.
While David Raab , founder of the CDP Institute , already in 2013, spoke about it in these terms:
A CDP is a system managed by the marketer that creates a persistent and unified database of customers accessible to other systems.
(David Raab)
Starting from these two definitions we now try to visualize an explanatory model . In essence, we will understand that without the overall data and without their complete management, the marketing campaign planning machine can not work , or at least not as it should.
The CDP model formulated by emailvendorselection.com
If in the left part of the image above we have a series of sources from which the data of a company (personal / deographic, behavior within a site, engagement, transitional and mobile / device) come from, on the other we find our most common communication channels .
As we can see, between the Data and the Communication Channels, we find the operational core of this technology. The latter is expressed through the automation of campaigns , the segmentation of data , the personalization of messages and advertising solutions .
Differences between CDP, CRM and DMP
Many of you have already advanced the hypothesis of the deep similarity between a CDP and a CRM ( Customer Relationship Management ); or between a CDP and a Data Management Platform ( DMP ). On the one hand, the answer is yes, the three technologies are similar because it is always about collecting and managing data . But what is the distinction that allows us to distinguish them? The easiest way is to focus our attention on the type of data “treated” by the three platforms .
The following scheme can be more explanatory than a thousand words:
the scheme proposed by econsultancy.com
- Data and functionality of a DMP
- use third-party data;
- their focus is on advertising;
- aim to improve ad targeting (display and video);
In summary, a DMP is prepared for a) population of the database with data which may concern customers, b) identification of an audience (understood as a subset of the main database); c) processing of uploaded data [ a) ] and segmented data [ b) ].
- Data and functionality of a CRM
- (generally) do not manage multiple types of data;
- they use first-hand data;
- (almost always) they are managed by the same suppliers of a CRM service;
source gartner.com
As you can see, the operations performed by a CRM are much more similar to a Customer Data Platform compared to the Data Management Platform (DMP) system, but the CRM they manage less data sources and require a quasi-dependence on service providers.
III. Data and functionality of a CDP
- their main focus concerns marketing actions;
- they use both first and second-hand data;
- their actions focus on conversion and customer loyalty;
- the unification of data (which may come from third parties) is a surplus but also a distinctive feature (as we saw above);
- collect all user data in a single place accessible from multiple sources and aimed at multiple communication channels;
CDP exploits their full potential in creating a single customer vision but above all, make it possible to acquire all the knowledge necessary to do so.
Discover White Rabbit: an integrated CDP!
White Rabbit is a CDP that needs no configuration and no additional external cost. This is not a “layer” or “bus” of data to add to your current web ecosystem, or your set of digital platforms (sites, social, mail etc.) but it’s a Integrated Customer Data Platform . In other words, with our suite you will get the customer data view automatically, without any addition of costs or configuration.
Using White Rabbit all application data is summarized automatically in the Customer Experience and in the vision of CDP.
What questions does a CDP answer as White Rabbit?
Moreover, as we have already anticipated, despite being a market-centric system, a Customer Data Platform can import all types of data sources and give free access to other systems. Here, for example, a series of questions to which a CDP such as White Rabbit can answer:
- What is the product that your customer bought before the customer?
- Which segments / target-group do you belong to?
- is it likely that this customer is close to abandoning you?
- for what has shown a certain interest lately?
- what are your buying intentions?
- what is the current (and future) value of this customer?
- in which contexts do you prefer to interact?
- what are your preferences and what is your customer journey?
As you may have noticed, the CDPs they have all the potential to create a single customer vision . It is a technology that can easily implement segments , user journeys , messages , communication channels and the best moments to contact your customers and potential customers.
White Rabbit is a CDP that does not need any configuration . It’s an all-in-one suite that you do not have to add to your current ecosystem, or your set of digital platforms (sites, social, mail, etc.): but it’s a CDP integrated into the product.
In other words, with White Rabbit you will have at your disposal the vision of customer data automatically, without any addition of costs or configuration. All application data are summarized automatically in the Customer Experience and in the CDP vision.
Are you looking for answers to questions like these? Find out more!
