Jorge Baron, Vice President, Keyrus Latin America, explains the concept of the Customer Data Platform (CDP), which aims to enhance the customer experience.
One of the newest concepts in Customer Experience (CX) is Customer Data Platform (CDP).
Usually, when a new concept appears in the sector, there are several definitions of what it is and what it is for, in general, and most with a technological focus on how to define what a CDP should cover.
These are valid and interesting discussions in more theoretical spheres and, in most cases, come down to how to solve a business problem from different starting points. The important thing is not to lose sight of the business challenge we want to solve.
What is the business challenge for CDP?
As digitization advances and organizations get closer to their consumers or customers, it becomes increasingly important to identify and find them in the channel the consumer chooses to use at the moment he or she uses it.
This simple definition, which we have been hearing about for a long time, has several implications that are not so easy to resolve, thus generating the need for a CDP.
The first concept highlighted is that consumers interact across all channels, depending on when and what they want to do. It is already clear that those who buy online today can buy in-store tomorrow and vice versa. We cannot treat online customers and in-store differently.
A customer wants to be treated and recognized at all times, regardless of the channel they choose to use. Therefore, we must have customer information across all channels always available for use. It is the concept of omnichannel in the extreme.
The second concept is that companies increasingly want to know their end consumers and not only want to understand the customer who buys from them, but they want to get to know the customer who consumes their products and generate a direct relationship with them.
For this, it is necessary to implement identification techniques, give them something in return, and create a bond that lasts. It is very similar to the first concept, but from the manufacturers’ point of view, not the sellers.
The third concept is that we want to know more about consumers to understand what and why they buy, what they like, what they do not like, and, above all, to learn how we can satisfy their demands to develop a bond with them.
The fourth concept is that we want to improve information over time, so we can improve our understanding and relationship with consumers by giving them the experience they are looking for besides generating a sense of belonging so that we have an even better relationship. Then we can measure it over time, grow and learn from them.
To achieve it all, it is essential to have the information available, but not only that. It is also crucial to have strategies that allow us to collect this information, and for this, a flexible and fast enabling solution such as CDP is essential.
What does a CDP do?
CDP serves to identify a customer, get their data in a unified way and enrich it over time. It allows you to have your email, phone, credit card, social media, and all relevant information in one place.
It is necessary to obtain consent to get this information at the moment and over time because we need to save the interactions, we have with consumers to understand what they like, their preferred channels, and other preferences. For this, it is essential to have a repository to store this information.
The key is to understand how we can use this information. For example, what is the return on investment in marketing on digital versus traditional channels? How many consumers decide to shop on the e-commerce site and then make a purchase at the store? How many consumers decide to buy from the e-commerce site and subsequently make an in-store purchase?
These are simple questions that are very difficult to answer these days.
CDP helps answer all these questions, and this is the business purpose it has and is what it helps solve beyond its technical definitions.
We need to store information, consent and learn over time, but it also helps us answer questions that are highly relevant to the business: which marketing channel should I invest in? What is the return on this investment? How do I maximize it?
The biggest challenge is to solve the business problem, and we have to help our customers to solve this challenge.
It is not just a matter of tools, but it is a matter of which tool solves the real business problem.
We start by identifying customers on the channel they choose, and when customers want us to, we ask for their consent to store their information.
Then we establish strategies to identify them in the rest of the channels so that they want to continue sharing information with us and we provide a better experience.
All this takes place while measuring investment and ROI.
There are many technologies out there, but the most important thing is to use them correctly and get the benefit we want. It is crucial to keep it simple and focused on the business challenge, not the technology challenge.
