23/06/2023

How to personalise Customer Experience with a connected CDP

Author: Philip Jan Kluewer

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An essential determinant of a company's success lies in delivering customer value, as it plays a significant role in shaping the company's overall worth. In this regard, a Customer Data Platform (CDP) can prove instrumental in effectively engaging customers with relevant content, precisely when they need it, and through the most suitable channels. It's worth considering that the required data might already be at hand, yet it may have remained untapped until now. However, these valuable insights could hold the key to unlocking an extraordinary customer experience.

Customers today have high expectations for intuitive and personalised experiences, and in light of the widespread availability of reviews and ratings, businesses must find new ways to thrive. Leveraging existing data is an effective means to optimise the customer experience at every touchpoint, enabling companies to navigate the fierce competition for reputation and public attention. While there are numerous established tools for identifying customer needs, a customer-centric strategy is indispensable for successfully highlighting both the product and the brand. By putting customers at the forefront, businesses can position themselves for success and establish a strong presence in the market.

What exactly is a CDP?

A CDP collects, stores, and delivers data-driven insights in a central location. It takes customer-centricity a step further by focusing on providing seamless and efficient customer service. Implementing a powerful CDP empowers businesses to gain a deeper understanding of their customers, foster customer loyalty, and unlock long-term benefits. A CDP offers engaging digital experiences, detailed customer insights, and more effective reputation management for both the brand and the product. Moreover, it fosters a culture of continuous improvement within the company and eliminates barriers in decision-making. By focusing on facts and placing customer value at the core of their digital experiences, the company can swiftly adapt and thrive.

These 7 steps will help to implement a connected CDP and elevate your customer experiences:

1. Get to know your customers

By gathering, analysing, and effectively using customer data, your company can gain a deeper understanding of customer needs, preferences, and behaviours. This can enable you to personalise the customer experience, anticipate customer needs, and identify areas for improvement in your products or services. Marketing strategists often only focus on driving click-through rates or increasing average basket sizes. This one-sided approach focuses on business value and ignores the value for customers.

Identify the added value and make sure to include diverse perspectives from different customer-facing touchpoints. Surveys and interviews are only a few tools for gaining first-hand insights about your customer groups.

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2. Analyse data

Understanding your data sets can help identify high-value segments of your customer base and enable more narrow targeting in your marketing campaigns. Personalised messaging increases customer engagement, happiness, loyalty, and of course revenue and reputation of your brand or product.

3. Review and renew Personas, Empathy Maps, and Customer Journeys

Growing as a business includes reviewing and renewing existing strategies and Personas. Empathy Maps and Customer Journeys are common tools for getting customer insights. However, when new insights are gained by data-driven analysis, these tools need to be adjusted. Think about how added value can be offered at every single step of the way, and define them as individual cases. Especially when starting to talk to stakeholders, like technology vendors and implementation partners, this roadmap will be useful. This process lets you prioritise use cases based on value.

4. Invest in an excellent team

A powerful Customer Data team includes marketers that are keen to experiment with the new set of tools at their disposal, Composable Architecture experts, Data Engineers who can properly create connections between your different sets of customer data, and Data Governance and Compliance experts to make sure that customer data is used in compliance with your locally applicable data protection standards such as GDPR or CCPA. It is also important to consider involving top-level management early on. Make a convincing argument that includes a Business Potential Estimation, which shows the monetary value of getting your data-driven Customer Experience right.

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5. Set realistic expectations

Especially when presenting the Business Potential Estimation, make sure to set realistic expectations. The value of the project is not only monetary. By implementing a CDP, your business is ready to take advantage of a digital future. Data-driven processes will lead to more efficiency and monetary outcomes in the long run.

6. Include a guiding coalition

To eliminate silos, which can set back success significantly, a guiding coalition that includes management support really brings a data-driven business together. They can connect different teams and departments who operate independently of each other with little cross-functional collaboration by implementing a more integrated and collaborative approach and a clear data strategy. A coalition can effectively manage and uses customer data to make informed decisions and drive growth.

7. Continuously review performance

SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-based) help keep project progress and outcomes in view by defining Key Performance Indicators and making success visible, so your team can celebrate small victories along the way. Being transparent and talking about the ups and downs keeps people involved in the process. Discussing successes and challenges helps build a sense of accountability and ownership among team members, and they are more likely to feel invested in the project when they are aware of its progress and any issues as they arise.

In conclusion, companies that prioritise their customers’ needs and effectively leverage their data can gain a distinct competitive advantage. By incorporating intuitive design, personalised experiences, and continuous feedback, companies can enhance the customer experience at every touchpoint and establish a strong presence in an increasingly competitive market.

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