Customer Data Platform (CDP)
Customer Data Platforms (CDPs) unify customer data from multiple sources into single coherent customer profiles — enabling consistent customer experiences across marketing, sales, and customer success touchpoints.
Why This Matters
CDP capabilities: data ingestion from multiple sources (CRM, marketing automation, product analytics, support, e-commerce), identity resolution (matching same customer across systems), unified customer profile (single record per customer with all attributes and behaviors), audience segmentation, and activation (sending data to operational tools). Major CDPs: Segment (Twilio), mParticle, Tealium, Treasure Data, customer-built. CDP value: eliminates customer experience inconsistency from siloed data, enables sophisticated segmentation, and supports cross-channel personalization.
Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How is CDP different from CRM?
CRM stores customer interactions and relationships (sales-oriented). CDP unifies all customer data sources into comprehensive profiles (marketing/CX-oriented). Different focus: CRM optimizes sales workflows; CDP optimizes customer understanding.
Should companies build or buy CDPs?
Most companies should buy. CDP construction requires substantial engineering investment; commercial CDPs offer faster deployment and ongoing innovation. Building only justified for very specific requirements not served by commercial options.