Implementing a Customer Data Platform (CDP) is a major project for any business, but many companies underestimate the complexity, time, and resources required to make it successful. For most companies that buy and implement a CDP, the end goals are to create a unified customer view, activate data across multiple channels, create omnichannel customer journeys and eventually deliver personalized experiences. But, getting there is not without technical, organizational, and strategic challenges that confuse implementing teams on the buyer side.
In a conversation with our CCO Richard Jonkhof and our Solution Consulting Team Lead Aliina Neep, both of whom are CDP implementation experts with years of experience, we discussed the ins, outs and corners of the CDP activation process; with common pitfalls and how companies can prepare for a better onboarding experience upon purchasing their CDP, be it for the first time or more. Here’s what we learned.
A successful CDP implementation starts long before any technical setup begins. As Richard explains, “Even before speaking to a sales consultant, companies are usually aware of a problem they need to solve, and often, that is to improve their customer data management processes as a whole. This is because their customer data is scattered across many platforms or channels, and their marketing teams would like to connect that to have a more unified view of each known and anonymous customer profile.”
Richard also suggests that companies, while still in the vendor research process, should also investigate whether the solution that they are looking for to solve their customer data problems is a CDP or another solution.
An ideal CDP implementation should begin with defining clear business objectives and assessing the data landscape. Once the decision to purchase a CDP is made, the implementation follows a path like this:
The workshops typically take two to four weeks, followed by three to six months of technical implementation, depending on the organization’s size and complexity. However, as Aliina notes, “For organizations with very complex data structures, onboarding can stretch longer than this due to the number of data sources and required integrations.''
Upon implementing over 5000 use cases over 13 years at Relay42, we can confirm with confidence that there are certain pitfalls that most companies fall into that slow down the CDP activation process, and cause frustration. Let’s discover two of them, and also the ways how to avoid these pitfalls.
A common misconception is that a CDP is a plug-and-play solution. As Richard points out, “People think you just put some data in, configure a few things, and then you’re done. In reality, for the CDP activation process to go successfully, your company needs agile project management with the right people involved.”
One of the most important requirements of implementing a customer data platform is collaboration between marketing, IT, and data teams. When IT and data engineering resources are not allocated upfront, it can lead to delays. Aliina adds, “We always tell companies that they need IT and data teams involved, but they often don’t realize the need for this collaboration and IT’s input until we’re deep into implementation.”
Aliina notes that many companies fail to bridge the gap between marketers who select the CDP and the data engineers who implement it.
2. Lack of Clear Use Cases
Another pitfall that companies fall into is that marketers often set themselves broad objectives while deciding on their CDP use cases. An example to that is ‘improving personalization’ or ‘enhancing the customer experience’ without defining what that actually means. Aliina gives a simple analogy: “Saying ‘I want to paint my house’ isn’t enough, you need to specify what color, which walls, and what areas to leave untouched.”
Richard echoes this, adding, “One thing that creates confusion for your CDP vendor is when companies say they want to personalize their website, but have no clear idea of what exactly they’d like to personalize on the website. Is it images, text, navigation, or something else? If you specify this upfront, that will make your implementation consultant’s job a lot easier, and eventually, you’ll launch and see success from your use cases with more efficiency.”
Richard and Aliina recommend companies to come up with hyper-detailed expectations around their CDP use cases. Here’s a roadmap you can follow to do so:
This is Richard’s Use Case Framework to help you understand how we at Relay42 approach setting up the most impactful CDP use cases for you:
Based on the insights shared above, Richard and Aliina would recommend companies to make sure they go through a smooth CDP implementation process:
Richard emphasizes, “A CDP won’t deliver value if it’s not implemented correctly. The right mix of strategy, people, and technology is key.”
We know that CDP implementations are complex, but with the right preparation and approach, they can be highly successful. The key is to treat it as a strategic initiative rather than just another software purchase, because a CDP will eventually become the single source of truth where your customer data connects to.
If you’re considering a CDP, ask yourself: Do we have the right people involved? Do we truly understand our data landscape? And do we have a clear vision of the use cases we want to enable? If you need further customer data platform consulting, reach out to us here.