I would love to work with you on a customer data platform (CDP), but only if you really need one. You might not.
The first rule of evaluating a CDP – or any marketing technology – is to start with your use cases. What do you want to accomplish, and what kind of results do you expect? If you can’t answer that, you’re not ready to talk about a CDP.
This may sound counter-intuitive, because I’m in the business of working with publishers on CDPs, but when I talk with a potential new client about CDPs, I start with the assumption that they don’t need one. I want to draw out of them some compelling need that the CDP will address. It can’t just be curiosity, or an itch, or shiny new object syndrome. There has to be some pain somewhere – some lost opportunity.
Here are the top three reasons I’ve seen why people might not need a CDP.
1. You already have tech that can fulfill your use cases
Your ESP, your CRM, or your internal database might have all the functionality you need. There are a lot of technologies out there that aren’t quite CDPs, but that do a lot of CDP-like functions. That might be enough for you.
For example, let’s say you want to know what content your e-newsletter subscribers view after they click through to your website. A CDP can do that, but your ESP might have a script to manage that as well.
2. The expected return is less than the cost
Let’s say you follow my advice and come up with your list of use cases, then you make some projections of what costs you would save or revenue you could earn from those use cases. Add them all up, and they don’t cover the cost of the CDP, plus the staff time to manage it.
It’s time to stop and think again.
3. You can build or buy some simple tech to do what you need
With any technology you buy, you’re paying for 100 percent of the platform, but you’re only using a portion of it. What would it take to build or buy just the part that you need?
Generally speaking I caution against building your own. When you do that, you put yourself in the technology business. Now you have to worry about security, performance, and updates and all kinds of things that aren’t necessarily in your wheelhouse. So be cautious before you do that.
On the other hand, a clever javascript programmer might be able to make the hooks and connections you need and save you the cost of a new technology platform.
Look before you leap. Think it through carefully. Write out your use cases. Make projections on what you expect to gain or save. And if you have any trouble with that process, give me a call.
