A customer data platform or CDP is crucial in having a 360-degree view of your customers. It uses a single platform to make sense of both online and offline data to help make intelligent business decisions. With too many options available for CDP, this is not an excuse for you to decide in haste. Read on and we’ll list down the most important requirements to choose the right platform.
- Ease of Use
Using a CDP can be complicated, especially for the first time. To encourage users to make the most out of it, it should be user-friendly, which is exactly what you can expect with Lytics. It must provide an easy way to consolidate data about your customers. In the same way, it should be a snap to integrate the data into your marketing initiatives. It is good if the platform offers a free trial or demo, which will be an opportunity to test out its features before you finally decide to use it in your organization.
- Robust Reporting
Evaluation of marketing performance is important to know where it stands and what needs to be done for its improvement. A good CDP makes this possible through providing robust reports. Reporting and analysis make it easier for the management to have a snapshot of the performance of their marketing campaigns. It helps as well to provide a better understanding of customer behaviors and patterns that can affect the marketing strategies of the business. In the absence of built-in reporting functions, the platform is useless.
- Inclusiveness
The best option for a CDP is one that is inclusive, which means that it must effectively include all information that will be vital in having a 360-degree view of your customers, including those that you retrieve from both online and offline channels. Whether it is from online interactions or in-store experiences, the platform must include information about the customer journey that helps to improve marketing campaigns.
- Customization
It is important that you choose a CDP that offers customization and configurability depending on the needs of your business. Your CDP must be able to seamlessly fit your current workflow. It should also be adaptable and scalable. Every business has a different approach in using customer information, so it is good if the CDP offers a high degree of customization.
- Integration
A CDP is not the only tool that you will need in your marketing campaigns. It is not the only platform that is useful in making sense of available data. This makes it important to consider its integration with other tools that are equally important for your business. You must be able to easily integrate it with other platforms to create a unified customer view.
A CDP is a valuable tool in understanding your customers. Nonetheless, it is beneficial only if you choose the right platform with the necessary features to make sense of available information about your customers. Consider our suggestions above to make the right pick.