CDP stands for Customer Data Platform.
A CDP is a technology solution that unifies a company’s customer data from multiple channels and sources (ES: POS, Social, Web Site) with the goal of creating accurate and up-to-date comprehensive user profiles in real-time.
Definitions of Customer Data Platform
Multiple definitions of “CDP” have been provided.
Gartner defines it as “a marketing system that unifies a company’s customer data from marketing and other channels.”
This is not a very comprehensive definition, but it does allow us to infer some important characteristics of a CDP:
- allows data to be collected from multiple sources;
- allows information to be saved and normalised at the single customer view level;
- is easily accessible and usable by multiple departments in a company.
It enables the collection of different types of data:
- biographical data;
- information on browsing behaviour also in real-time;
- data on purchasing behaviour;
- qualitative information;
- data provided by external properties.
Differences between a CDP and CRM software
Unlike a CRM system, which is more oriented toward the aggregation of a more limited number of data and all first-party, CDPs, also integrate data from second and third parties, thus offering the possibility of assessing, in real time, user behaviour with a 360-degree view, taking into account every stage of their customer journey and every possible interaction with the company.
For more information about the CDP, learn more about it on our website.
