Customer Dates Platforms are entering a new phase. The online consumer, who is a distinctive digital experience eist van de Ecommerce-industrie, trekt daarbij aan de touwtjes. De trend van customer data naar engagement data voltrekt zich nu. Customer Data Platforms die onvoldoende sturing geven aan customer loyalty hebben hun beste tijd gehad.
Customers have extremely high expectations for their Ecommerce channels. The corona pandemic is putting those expectations on edge. And with that also the need to have optimal insight into the behavior of your customers. Growth and success depend on the extent to which you are able to apply that knowledge - in the form of concrete data - in your marketing efforts.
All sales channels you use are relevant. Furthermore, customer data will not only support and guide real-time search behavior, but will increasingly contribute to customer loyalty. We are evolving from customer data to engagement data. The Customer Data Platform (CDP) of the future is the platform that facilitates both.
'Customer Data Platform technology is first and foremost marketing technology'
A CDP is more than a central platform that collects, manages and makes customer data accessible. That is, if it is used in the right way. And that is to say: as a goldmine for the data-driven marketer. After all, 360⁰ insight into your customers is not a goal in itself, but the only way to the ultimate digital experience. A CDP should by definition be a marketing platform, intended to build a relationship that is as real as it is close to your customers.
The so-called holistic marketing approach is a determining factor in this regard. In short, that means showing clear coherence and consistency in all aspects of your marketing strategy, aimed at the ever-growing number of channels and customer segments. With the main components:
- relationship marketing, aimed at sustainable relationships with customers, suppliers and stakeholders;
- value creation, aimed at brand experience and reputation;
- employee engagement, aimed at knowing that satisfied employees who go the extra mile produce satisfied customers;
- social involvement, tailored to the values and experience of your customers.
'Shifting emphasis from Customer Data to Engagement Data'
In order to give substance to this, the permanent collection, central storage, processing and analysis of customer data is crucial. In addition, it is important that you can link the insights that your customer data yields in a smart way to those marketing tools that are important for your customers, market segments and omnichannel strategy. The importance of such an integrated, holistic approach is very urgent, as it is the only way to stand out in the increasingly crowded Ecommerce international landscape. The transition from customer data to engagement data is a prerequisite for growth or even survival.
Suppliers of CDPs are well aware of this. That explains why the concept of Customer Engagement Data Platform is on the rise. That is a platform that does not focus so much on anonymous third party data, but on collecting, analyzing and making available customer information first-hand, from all channels and technologies, and more focused on customer loyalty and the entire customer lifecycle than on attracting new customers and on one-off transactions.
5 minimum requirements that you must set for a CDP
Serious Customer Data Platforms provide the technology and connectivity for the desired integrated, customer loyalty-oriented approach. The Customer Data Platform Institute lists five criteria to indicate what a serious or 'real' CDP database should be able to do:
- import data from all possible sources;
- analyze the collected data down to the smallest details;
- retaining data for the time permitted by privacy legislation;
- create integrated profiles of individual customers;
- share data with all conceivable and relevant (marketing) systems.
It is a practical list to use when viewing and comparing it wide range of more than 230 CDP suppliers represented on this platform. Together they are representative of the current range. In addition to the criteria mentioned, you naturally add your own starting points to make a selection that seamlessly matches the nature of your Ecommerce business and the need to place more emphasis on the shift from customer data to engagement data.
'CDP new style is crucial to meet high customer expectations'
Making an appropriate selection and investing in a CDP solution that grows with your business requires time and attention. After all, the offer continues to increase and the technology is becoming more advanced and more powerful. Various suppliers herald a new era for Customer Data Platforms. This is prompted by the higher expectations of the online consumer, the ever-growing number of channels in the Customer Journey and the need to continue to bind customers to your brand with a holistic marketing approach.
The vast majority of the leading international Ecommerce players say that a 'CDP new style' is crucial to continue to meet customer expectations. The first generation of Customer Data Platforms has had its day. The second generation changes the game and shifts the strategy from Customer Data to Engagement Data.
