Why Effective Marketing Requires a Foundation of Unified Customer Intelligence 

You can’t build exceptional customer experiences with bad data: duplicative, mislabeled, outdated, or corrupt information resulting from multiple, siloed data sources. When that so-called “dirty” data feeds into other systems, more data chaos ensues due to inaccurate or skewed findings. As the old saying goes, “Garbage in, garbage out.”

That’s why marketers prioritize unified or “clean” data that ensures brands deliver relevant, personalized cross-channel engagement to customers and prospects. In fact, almost 92% of organizations in 2023 saw measurable value from their data and analytics investments, while companies that incorporated personalization into their marketing strategy saw a 40% rise in revenue. In short, good data makes for good business. 

But too many organizations lack the data solutions that’ll earn them that kind of ROI from personalization initiatives. They may be locked into pricey contracts with vendors who offer proprietary systems or legacy marketing automation platforms that have been repackaged as customer data platforms (CDPs). Or they’re enticed by pure play vendors who sell CDP-like or CDP-lite products that lack the game-changing capabilities that define true CDPs.

A true CDP is simply the best tool today for marketers who want to design productive customer journeys informed by reliable, insightful, and actionable customer intelligence. A CDP supports that data-first mindset by providing a central hub for all customer data and by producing insights that unlock new levels of efficiency and impact. Customer data platforms are also essential in the cookieless world we find ourselves in today. 

Let’s look more closely at the results that unified data from a true CDP offers organizations.

1. A single customer view founded on trusted, quality data

A CDP with built-in identity resolution cleans dirty data from online and offline sources to produce a trustworthy and complete profile of each customer in real time. This functionality translates into higher conversion and retention rates due to improved personalization — content and offers can be optimized based on behavioral and other data, for example. When brands know their audiences, they can deliver optimal customer and digital experiences.

2. Better customer segmentation, greater engagement

More accurate individual profiles also mean more robust datasets for CDPs that incorporate machine learning (ML) technologies. ML-powered clustering and segmentation can be leveraged to uncover outlier groups, as well as to ensure more potent targeting and retargeting that lowers media spend while attracting new customers. High value segments can also be identified and incentivized to catalyze customer loyalty; some CDPs even integrate with point-based loyalty solutions.

3. Democratized access leading to higher productivity

By providing a central location for customer data, as well as a 360° view of each customer, a CDP empowers teams throughout an organization, be they in marketing, customer service, finance, sales, or business development. Emboldened by this democratized access, teams can move beyond traditional departmental silos and rapidly launch high-impact campaigns that accelerate time to market and boost business KPIs.

4. Data privacy de-risked

Data privacy regulations continue to proliferate, with new ones seemingly arising overnight. Such legislation contains a host of mandates; deleting personally identifiable information (PII) when requested by a consumer, for instance. Honoring that request is difficult without a unified customer record that helps organizations identify where the PII lives — either in upstream sources like order management platforms or downstream systems like email providers. A CDP won’t scrub data from those sources — that responsibility lies with the organization — but its ability to ID them saves businesses time.

And for global enterprises with footprints in various territories with differing levels of data regulations, CDPs with multi-tenant architectures can isolate the data of each region, subbrand, or affiliate from other tenants while maintaining consistency across databases and customer profiles. This capability preserves data sovereignty because it locates the tenant within the right region and gathers data into the tenant only where permitted.

Ensuring effective marketing through unified customer intelligence

Productive customer journeys — ones that are personalized, inclusive, and connected across channels — are only as effective as the data and content foundation upon which they’re built. That’s why, in addition to CDPs and their ability to gather, store, and cleanse customer information to yield complete, accurate, and unified customer profiles, organizations require top-tier content management, digital asset management, and personalization solutions. A robust digital experience platform (DXP) with these capabilities allows marketers to create captivating, user-friendly, personalized experiences that serve customers relevant content and product information that delights and informs. And when supported by artificial intelligence, marketers can realize greater efficiency and efficacy.

Want to learn how Acquia DXP can make your marketing more effective? Request, watch, or click through a demo today!