Gathering, managing and tracking your customers are essentials in business, but how can you collect information on your customers? How can you keep monitoring your customers? Fortunately, you don’t have to worry because there are tools you could use. These tools are what is known as Customer Data Platforms (CDPs). Before we discuss what customer data platform is, let first look at what customer data means.
Customer data is a set of information left behind by customers to an organization or a company. Customer data could be a name, address or location, date of birthday, email address and many more.
Many organizations or individuals are looking for the best way to manage their customer’s data or information. Well, CDPs are here for you.
Here, we will give a description of CDP and the benefits of using CDPs, including the list of examples of CDP’s software.
What is Customer Data Platforms (CDPs)
Customer Data Platforms (CDPs) are software specifically designed for the collection, compilation and management of customer’s information for records and at times for business campaign, all in a single profile. It is a real-time customer data collector. It gathers information through sources such as email addresses, websites through cookies, and mobile applications.
Benefits of Customer Data Platforms (CDPs)
There are so many benefits of CDP that you will enjoy if you adopt the use of this software. This software is simple to use professionally.
- Direct data collection: CDPs are capable of collecting datums from audiences. The group is unique. The uniqueness is that CDPs gathers information from many sources, including social media like Twitter and the likes, and collect information from audiences who visit your website.
- Know your customer: If you are a marketer or have a company who would like to know your customers, CDPs are the right tools for you. It creates a profile for your customers, and through the automated collected datums, you would be able to identify who your customers are. CDPs does not only collect when a customer visits your website; it helps you gather the information on their identity, what they searched or purchases on your website and many more.
- Marketing: Knowing your customer alone is not enough. The information gathered through the CDPs software can be used by marketers, including email and online marketers for marketing campaigns.
- Data privacy: Customer’s privacy is one of the significant concerns, but you need not worry because CDPs are programmed to protect your customer’s information accurately.
- Multiple data sources: CDPs can gather information from different sources such as a website, social media and mobile apps.
Lists of rated Customer Data Platforms (CDPs)
Below is the outstanding CDPs software you can use to enhance your company/business efficiency. Although this software requires a subscription for use, I bet they would provide you with the best service expected. The subscriptions are monthly or annually.
- Exponea
- Segment
- SAP customer data cloud (Gigya)
- Tealium Audience Stream
- Salesforce marketing cloud interaction studio ( formerly Evergage + Mybuys)
- Emarsys
- Optimove
- Oracle CX marketing
- Treasure Data
- Listrak
However, the software listed above is not only the outstanding ones. There is much other software that provides the same services like the ones above.
There is a similar software to Customer Data Platforms (CDPs).
Additionally, there is some similar software to Customer Data Platforms (CDPs) such as CRM (Customer Relationship Management), which is discuss below.
CRM (Customer Relationship Management) is a software which is specially designed to manage, and interact with the customers who directly contact you through the available means provided. Customer service experts use this software to interact with customers base on their reports of any difficulties or queries. Example of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is Microsoft 365 or Dynamic 365 customer management which is available free. However, there is other software which provides the same services but requires subscriptions.
As you can see, the difference between CRM and CDP is noticeable. Although both are customer-centred, the way they collect customer’s information is different. With Customer relationship management, customers willingly contact you on purpose either through complaint or enquiry. At the same time, CDP gathers information automatically when audiences visit your website, pages on social media, through a mobile application and many more.
