Is now the right time for you to consider a Customer Data Experience Platform?
Have you been scratching your head wondering how on earth you can connect your LinkedIn activity to your Hubspot or work out which of your contacts on your email database are following your social platforms so you can personalise your website to recognise this?
Then the time might be right to start looking at a Customer Data Experience Platform (CXDP).
As marketers, the array of data sources now available to you can be overwhelming. Connecting the dots and understanding your customers’ behaviours and interactions with your brand is becoming increasingly more difficult.
It’s precisely this problem that CDXPs were created to resolve. Through data collection, unification and analysis they can present a more holistic view of your customers and allow you to create a range of triggers and personalisations to ensure your customers get the right message at the right time.
If you delve down the CDXP rabbit hole you will come across all kinds of claims most of which only make sense to the fully initiated such as “355% increase in omnichannel ROAS with CDXP tech” If you can get past the sales pitch and the acronyms, what you should find is a simpler experience for marketers, allowing them to focus on delivering the right content to the customers that matter most, which it shouldn’t shock you to learn drives up loyalty, engagement and revenue.
Read on to understand more about how they work and what they offer.
What is a CDXP?
A CDXP is a software platform that helps businesses collect, unify, and activate customer data across all channels. CDXPs then use this data to create a unified view of each customer, which can be used to deliver personalised experiences at scale across a range of channels and mediums, driving increased engagement, loyalty, and revenue.
CDXPs typically work by following these core steps:
Data collection: CDXPs collect customer data from a variety of sources, including websites, CRM systems, email marketing platforms, and social media. This data is usually collected through APIs or integrations.
Data unification: Once the data has been collected, CDXPs unify it into a single view of each customer. This involves cleaning and normalising the data and merging data from different sources.
Data analysis: CDXPs use data analysis to generate insights from customer data. This helps businesses to understand customer behaviour, identify trends, and predict future customer behaviour.
Personalisation: CDXPs use the insights generated from data analysis to deliver personalised experiences to customers across all channels. This can be done by displaying relevant content, product recommendations, and offers.
How do they differ from Marketing Automation Platforms?
Marketing automation tools are similar to CDXPs in some ways, but there are some key differences. Marketing automation tools are primarily focused on automating marketing tasks, such as email marketing, social media marketing, and lead nurturing. CDXPs, on the other hand, are focused on collecting, unifying, and activating customer data.
What is needed to benefit from a CDXP?
For your business to harness the opportunities that a CDXP can provide, some important steps need to be taken.
Identify customer data sources. This can include CRM systems, marketing automation platforms, website analytics, social media, and third-party data providers.
Connect data sources to the CDXP. This can be done through APIs or manual data imports and usually requires technical support.
Clean and unify data. Your business will need to have a standardised data taxonomy to support consistent application. A CDXP can clean and unify the data from different sources to ensure that it is consistent and accurate, in line with the taxonomy.
Document customer journeys and touchpoints. These provide a holistic view of how customers interact with your brand at every stage of the customer lifecycle. Without the journey, it becomes very difficult to define your desired experience for customers.
Create customer segments. Your business needs to understand its core customer segments (based on demographics, interests, behaviour etc). The CDXP will refine these as customer behaviours are better understood.
Design a content strategy. Your business will likely already have a documented content strategy/approach that identifies applicable messaging for all customer segments/lifecycles.
What are the benefits of implementing a CDXP?
CDXPs allow marketers to engage far more effectively with customers.
Create unified customer views: CDXPs break down data silos and unify customer data from all sources, including online and offline interactions, CRM systems, and marketing automation platforms. This gives marketers a complete view of each customer, including their preferences, behaviour, and purchase history.
Personalise experiences at scale: CDXPs enable marketers to personalise customer experiences across all channels, including email, website, social media, and in-store. This can involve things like sending targeted product recommendations, displaying personalised content, and offering relevant promotions.
Automate marketing campaigns: CDXPs can be used to automate marketing campaigns, such as email marketing, social media marketing, and retargeting campaigns. This can save marketers a significant amount of time and effort, while also ensuring that their campaigns are more effective.
Improve omnichannel marketing: CDXPs help marketers improve their omnichannel marketing efforts by providing a single platform to manage all of their customer data and campaigns. This makes it easier to create and deliver consistent and personalised customer experiences across all channels.
Boost revenue: Studies have shown that CDXPs can help businesses to increase revenue by up to 15%. This is because CDXPs enable marketers to create more personalised and engaging customer experiences, which leads to higher conversion rates and customer loyalty.
Sector applications
Law firms use CDXPs with their case management systems to support the delivery of personalised case updates to clients on a regular basis. These updates can include information on the status of their case, upcoming deadlines, and any important documents that need to be reviewed.
For Asset Managers, CDXPs are used to power client portals, providing clients with access to account information and investment performance, personalised investment recommendations and alerts, alongside access to educational resources and market insights.
Charities use CDXPs to improve their donor relationships and fundraising efforts. CDXPs can be used to personalise donor experiences across all channels, including email, website, social media, and direct mail. Use cases also include sending targeted thank-you messages, displaying personalised content, and offering relevant volunteer opportunities. In addition, CDXPs can help charities improve donor retention by providing them with insights into donor behaviour and preferences. Charities can use this information to create more engaging donor experiences and to identify donors who are at risk of lapsing.
Things to consider when choosing a CDXP
Budget: CDXPs can range in price from tens of thousands of dollars to millions of dollars, depending on the features and functionality you need.
Data needs: Consider the types of customer data you need to collect and unify, as well as the tools you need to activate the data.
Business goals: What do you hope to achieve with a CDXP? Do you want to improve customer experience, increase sales, or boost customer loyalty?
Your team's expertise: Do you have the in-house expertise to implement and manage a CDXP? If not, you may need to hire a consultant or outsource the implementation and management of the CDXP.
Find out more
If you are interested in finding out more about how a CDXP can help your business - get in touch with us.
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