A Customer Data Platform (CDP) is packaged software that creates a persistent, unified customer database that is accessible to other systems.
The Purpose
CDPs aim to solve the problem of fragmented customer data by:
- Ingesting data from multiple sources (web, mobile, email, CRM)
- Cleaning and combining it into a single profile
- Making that profile available for marketing campaigns and customer service
The Value
By creating a “Single Customer View,” CDPs enable:
- More relevant personalization
- Consistent experiences across channels
- Better understanding of the customer journey
- Reduced friction in interactions
The Caution
Like CRMs, a CDP is only as valuable as the philosophy behind its use. If used solely to maximize extraction and interruption, it becomes a more efficient engine for annoyance. If used to understand needs and deliver value, it can be a powerful enabler of the PARTNER framework.