CDPs are the marketers’ solution to managing customer data. Unlike CRM systems which help marketers manage the relationship with a customer, a CDP allows the management of customer data to then be used in any customer touchpoint. Similar to a DMP, but which deal with mainly unknown customers represented by digital IDs, CDPs deal with known customers from both online and offline sources.

So, do you need a CDP? If you are asking that question, maybe it isn’t the right question. If you need a CDP, you would have clearly identified a need to have a central repository of customer data, governed and analysed centrally, which can then interface with your different customer touchpoints to be activated. This should be evident because having to activate your customer data should be a chore; it should mean downloading lots of files and then uploading them elsewhere so that you can do what you want to do. The question you would be asking is: what CDP do I need?

But if things are more or less working, and you just want it to be a bit easier, then perhaps it’s not a CDP you need. Maybe just putting your data into a central repository, fed by your different customer data systems, unified and then utilised by other systems, is all you need. 

It’s not always the case that you need entirely new technology in your stack, to do maybe just that 10% extra, to make things work the way you want. Bringing your data together isn’t about finding a new platform, but finding a solution that technology can help solve. 

If, however, you can’t determine how a CDP solves those challenges you have, or you’re not quite sure where a CDP fits into the equation, then it’s worth getting some advice from data professionals who understand the data ecosystem and how different technologies serve different business needs. 

At Be Data Solutions, we cover the entire data spectrum, from helping you formulate your data strategy to determining the right data architecture. Our data engineering expertise helps you build out your data infrastructure, whilst our data analytics and data science specialisms help you utilise your data. 

 If you are still asking yourself if you need a CDP, then give us a buzz at hello@bedatasolutions.com