10-Point Checklist for Choosing a Real-Time CDP

A real-time customer data platform (CDP) is a system that collects and unifies customer data from various sources in real-time, creating up-to-date profiles that show each customer's interactions and behaviors across all touchpoints. This allows businesses to offer personalized and relevant experiences by reacting quickly to customer actions and preferences.

When choosing a real-time CDP, consider these key points:

Data Collection: Ensure it can gather data from websites, mobile apps, CRM systems, marketing tools, and more, capturing behavioral, transactional, and demographic data.
Real-Time Processing: Verify that it processes data instantly, updating profiles, segmenting data, and triggering personalized experiences in real-time.
Identity Resolution: Evaluate its ability to create unified customer profiles by matching data from different sources across multiple devices and channels.
Segmentation and Targeting: Look for tools to create dynamic customer segments based on real-time data and target personalized experiences across channels.
Integrations: Check if it can integrate with your existing marketing, sales, and customer service tools, allowing for easy data sharing and activation of customer profiles.
Analytics and Insights: Assess its analytics capabilities, including predictive modeling and AI-driven insights, to improve customer experiences.
Data Privacy and Compliance: Ensure it complies with data privacy regulations like GDPR and CCPA, offering features for consent management and secure data handling.
Scalability and Performance: Verify that it can handle growing data volumes and customer interactions while maintaining performance and speed.
User-Friendly Interface: Check if the interface is intuitive and easy to use, reducing the need for extensive training or technical expertise.
Support and Training: Evaluate the customer support options and resources available for documentation, training, and technical assistance.

By carefully considering these factors, you can choose a real-time CDP that integrates with your existing systems, delivers unified customer profiles, processes data in real-time, provides strong analytics and insights, ensures data privacy and compliance, scales with your business, offers a user-friendly experience, and provides solid support and training.

The 10-Point Checklist

When choosing a real-time customer data platform (CDP), consider these key points to ensure it meets your business needs:

1. Data Collection

Can it gather data from websites, mobile apps, CRM systems, and marketing tools?
Does it capture behavioral, transactional, and demographic data?

2. Real-Time Processing

Does it process data instantly?
Can it update profiles, segment data, and trigger personalized experiences in real-time?

3. Identity Resolution

Can it create unified customer profiles by matching data from different sources?
Does it work across multiple devices and channels?

4. Segmentation and Targeting

Does it offer tools to create dynamic customer segments based on real-time data?
Can it target and personalize across channels?

5. Integrations

Can it integrate with your existing marketing, sales, and customer service tools?
Does it allow for easy data sharing and activation of customer profiles?

6. Analytics and Insights

Does it provide strong analytics, including predictive modeling and AI-driven insights?
Can it offer actionable recommendations to improve customer experiences?

7. Data Privacy and Compliance

Does it comply with data privacy regulations like GDPR and CCPA?
Does it offer features for consent management and secure data handling?

8. Scalability and Performance

Can it handle growing data volumes and customer interactions?
Does it maintain performance and speed as your business grows?

9. User-Friendly Interface

Is the interface intuitive and easy to use?
Does it reduce the need for extensive training or technical expertise?

10. Support and Training

What customer support options are available?
Are there resources for documentation, training, and technical assistance?

1. Data Collection and Unification

A real-time CDP should gather data from various sources to create a complete view of each customer. This helps in delivering personalized experiences across all touchpoints.

Multiple Data Sources

Check if the CDP can connect to and collect data from:

Source Type	Data Examples
Web and Mobile Apps	Page views, clicks, purchases, in-app activity
Marketing Tools	Email, social media, advertising, campaign data
CRM and Sales Systems	Customer profiles, purchase history, interactions
Customer Service	Support tickets, chat logs, feedback
IoT Devices	Sensor data from connected products and services
Offline Sources	Point-of-sale, call center, in-store data

The more sources a CDP can connect to, the richer the customer view will be.

Unified Customer Profiles

A key feature is the ability to combine data from different sources into unified customer profiles. Look for CDPs that can:

Match Identities Across Sources: Link customer data using identifiers like email, phone, and device IDs.
Deduplicate and Merge Profiles: Combine fragmented profiles into a single record per customer.
Update Profiles in Real-Time: Continuously add new data as customer interactions occur.
Enrich Profiles with Third-Party Data: Add extra demographic, interest, and behavioral insights.

With unified profiles, you can analyze the entire customer journey and deliver relevant, consistent experiences.

2. Real-Time Data Processing

To offer personalized and timely experiences, a real-time CDP must process customer data instantly as it streams in from various sources. This capability is key for understanding customer behavior and interactions as they happen.

Instant Updates

Ensure the CDP can:

Ingest Data in Real-Time: Collect data from web/mobile apps, marketing tools, CRM systems, IoT devices, and more as soon as customer interactions occur.
Update Profiles Continuously: Automatically update customer profiles with new data in real-time, without any delay.
Provide Low-Latency Data: Make updated profiles and insights instantly accessible to downstream systems and applications.

Behavior Tracking

A real-time CDP should offer deep insights into customer behaviors and interactions as they unfold. Look for features that allow you to track and analyze customer journeys, engagement patterns, and preferences in the moment.

Some key capabilities to consider:

Real-Time Event Tracking: Monitor customer actions, such as page views, clicks, purchases, and app activity, as they happen.
Behavioral Analysis: Gain instant visibility into customer behaviors, interests, and intent based on their real-time interactions.
Contextual Insights: Understand the context surrounding customer actions, such as location, device, and channel, for more personalized experiences.

3. Identity Matching

Assess the CDP's ability to resolve and match customer identities across various channels and touchpoints, creating a unified customer profile.

Identity Resolution

Evaluate how the CDP matches identities from different datasets to create unified profiles. Key features to look for:

Deterministic Matching: Matches identities using unique identifiers like email addresses, phone numbers, or customer IDs.
Probabilistic Matching: Uses algorithms to match identities without explicit identifiers by analyzing attributes like names, locations, and behaviors.
Data Onboarding: Efficiently ingests online and offline data from multiple sources.
Identity Graphs: Maintains a persistent identity graph that updates as new data arrives.
Third-Party Integrations: Leverages external identity graphs or resolution services to improve matching accuracy.

Accuracy and Reliability

Check the reliability and accuracy of the identity resolution mechanism to avoid mismatches and duplicates. Inaccurate identity matching can lead to fragmented profiles and poor customer experiences.

Deduplication: Ensures the CDP can effectively deduplicate profiles and prevent multiple identities for the same customer.
Data Quality Controls: Includes data validation, cleansing, and standardization processes to improve matching precision.
Transparency and Auditability: Provides clear visibility into how identities are resolved and matched, with audit trails for troubleshooting.
Performance and Scalability: Maintains high accuracy while scaling as data volumes grow.
Privacy and Compliance: Adheres to data privacy regulations and consent management requirements.

Robust identity resolution is key to a real-time CDP's ability to deliver personalized, omnichannel experiences. Evaluate this capability to ensure you can build a trustworthy view of each customer.

4. Segmentation and Targeting

Evaluate the CDP's capabilities for dynamic segmentation based on real-time data, ensuring precise targeting and personalization for enhanced customer experiences.

Dynamic Segments

A key strength of real-time CDPs is the ability to create segments dynamically based on the latest customer data and behaviors. Look for features that allow you to:

Define segment criteria in real-time: Segment customers based on their most recent actions, preferences, and attributes without delays.
Combine multiple data points: Build sophisticated segments by layering conditions across different data sources (e.g., website behavior, transactions, demographics).
Schedule automatic updates: Ensure segments stay fresh by scheduling periodic refreshes based on new data.
Leverage AI/ML models: Use machine learning models to find hidden patterns and create predictive segments.
Manage segment hierarchies: Organize and nest segments into hierarchies for easier management and activation.

Personalized Experiences

A real-time CDP should empower you to deliver highly personalized experiences across channels by leveraging real-time customer insights. Key capabilities to assess include:

Integration with marketing tools: Connect seamlessly with marketing automation, email, mobile marketing, and advertising platforms to activate segments.
Real-time triggers and decisioning: Trigger personalized messages, offers, or next-best-actions based on up-to-the-moment customer behaviors.
Testing and optimization: Experiment with different personalization strategies and continuously optimize based on performance data.
Omnichannel orchestration: Coordinate personalized journeys across web, mobile, email, ads, and offline touchpoints using a centralized hub.
Content recommendations: Dynamically serve relevant content, product recommendations, and offers tailored to each customer's context.

5. System Integrations

Examine the CDP's integration capabilities with existing marketing, sales, and customer service tools, and verify its ability to seamlessly share customer data across the technology stack.

Tool Connectivity

A real-time CDP should connect easily with your current tools through pre-built connectors and APIs. Check for integrations with:

Tool Type	Examples
CRM Systems	Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics
Marketing Automation	Marketo, HubSpot
Email Marketing	Mailchimp, Constant Contact
Social Media Management	Hootsuite, Sprout Social
Customer Service	Zendesk, Freshdesk
Analytics and BI	Google Analytics, Tableau

Ensure the CDP offers well-documented APIs and SDKs for custom integrations if needed. This flexibility allows you to connect the CDP with proprietary systems or niche tools not covered by pre-built connectors.

A key strength of real-time CDPs is their ability to share customer data across your entire technology stack in real-time. Assess the CDP's capabilities for:

Real-time data sharing: Verify that customer data updates are instantly sent to connected systems, enabling real-time personalization and decision-making.
Bi-directional data flow: Ensure the CDP can both receive data from various sources and push data back to those systems for complete reporting and activation.
Data transformation: Look for features that allow you to map, transform, and enrich data to fit the specific needs of each connected system.
Audience activation: Evaluate the CDP's ability to activate customer segments and audiences within your marketing, sales, and service tools for targeted campaigns and personalized experiences.

6. Analytics and Insights

Assess the CDP's analytical capabilities, including predictive analytics and machine learning, to ensure actionable insights and data-driven decision-making.

Predictive Analytics

Evaluate the CDP's ability to use AI and ML for predicting customer behavior and trends. Look for features that enable:

Propensity Modeling: Predict the likelihood of customers taking specific actions, such as making a purchase, churning, or responding to a campaign. This helps prioritize marketing efforts and personalize experiences.
Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) Prediction: Estimate the future value of customers based on their historical data and behavior patterns. This allows you to identify high-value customers and tailor retention strategies accordingly.
Churn Prediction: Identify customers at risk of churning by analyzing their behavior and engagement patterns. This enables proactive retention efforts and targeted win-back campaigns.
Product Recommendation Engines: Leverage AI to recommend relevant products or services to customers based on their preferences, purchase history, and browsing behavior, increasing cross-sell and upsell opportunities.

Assess the CDP's ability to integrate with external AI and ML platforms or services if needed, ensuring you can leverage advanced predictive capabilities beyond the out-of-the-box features.

Actionable Insights

Ensure the CDP offers tools for deriving actionable insights from customer data, enabling data-driven decision-making. Look for features such as:

Customer Analytics: Analyze customer behavior, preferences, and journeys to identify trends, pain points, and opportunities for improvement.
Audience Discovery: Uncover new customer segments based on shared attributes, behaviors, or affinities, enabling targeted marketing and personalization.
Campaign Performance Analysis: Measure the effectiveness of marketing campaigns across channels, allowing you to optimize strategies and allocate resources more effectively.
Dashboards and Reporting: Customizable dashboards and reporting capabilities that provide a comprehensive view of customer data, analytics, and insights in a visually appealing and digestible format.
Data Visualization: Tools for visualizing customer data and insights through charts, graphs, and other visual representations, making it easier to identify patterns and communicate findings.

Evaluate the CDP's ability to integrate with external business intelligence (BI) and data visualization tools if needed, ensuring you can leverage advanced analytical capabilities beyond the out-of-the-box features.

7. Data Privacy and Compliance

Evaluate the CDP's compliance with data privacy regulations (e.g., GDPR, CCPA) and its ability to manage customer consent and data governance.

Regulatory Compliance

Verify the CDP's adherence to global data privacy laws and regulations. Key considerations include:

Regulation	Key Requirements
GDPR	Data subject rights, data protection by design, data breach notification
CCPA and CPRA	Consumer rights (access, deletion, opt-out), data handling practices
Other Regional Regulations	Compliance with LGPD (Brazil), PIPEDA (Canada), etc.
Data Residency	Ability to store and process data in specific regions or countries
Certifications and Audits	Third-party certifications (ISO 27001, SOC 2), regular security audits

Check if the CDP includes features for managing customer consent and data usage permissions, such as:

Feature	Description
Consent Capture and Storage	Capture and store customer consent preferences across channels
Consent Lifecycle Management	Manage consent revocation, expiration, and re-consent processes
Consent Enforcement	Enforce customer consent preferences across data collection and processing
Consent Audit Trail	Detailed audit logs and reporting for compliance
CMP Integration	Integration with third-party consent management platforms

Evaluate the CDP's data governance capabilities, including role-based access controls, data masking, and encryption, to ensure proper handling of sensitive customer data.

8. Scalability and Performance

Scalability

A real-time CDP must handle increasing data volumes and user loads as your business grows. Evaluate the CDP's scalability by considering:

Factor	Description
Data Ingestion Capacity	Can it process large amounts of data from multiple sources in real-time without performance issues?
Profile Storage	Can it store and manage a growing number of customer profiles efficiently?
Concurrent Users	Can it support many users accessing the platform simultaneously without slowdowns?
Horizontal Scaling	Can it add more computing resources (e.g., servers, storage) to handle increased workloads without complex changes?
Automatic Scaling	Does it automatically adjust resources based on demand to ensure optimal performance and cost-efficiency?

Performance

Real-time data processing and personalization require high performance. Assess the CDP's performance by evaluating:

Factor	Description
Data Processing Latency	Does it process and update customer data with minimal delay?
Query Performance	Are query execution times fast, enabling timely access to customer data?
Segment Evaluation Speed	Can it evaluate and update customer segments in real-time?
Activation Latency	Can it activate customer data and insights to downstream systems quickly?
Caching and Optimization	Does it use caching, indexing, and other techniques to improve performance and reduce latency?

Consider performance testing or reviewing benchmarks to evaluate the CDP's performance under various load conditions and use cases specific to your business needs.

9. User Experience

User Interface

A real-time CDP's user interface (UI) should be easy to use, allowing marketers, analysts, and IT professionals to navigate and interact with the platform efficiently. Key aspects to evaluate include:

Ease of Use: The UI should have a clean design with a shallow learning curve. Common tasks like data exploration, segmentation, and campaign management should be straightforward.
Customization: Look for the ability to customize the UI layout, dashboards, and reports to suit different user preferences and use cases.
Responsive Design: The UI should be responsive and optimized for various devices and screen sizes, ensuring a consistent experience across desktops, tablets, and mobile devices.

Self-Service Features

Self-service capabilities empower users to access and analyze customer data independently, without relying heavily on IT or data teams. Assess the CDP's self-service features, such as:

Data Exploration: Users should be able to easily explore and visualize customer data, segments, and insights through interactive dashboards and reports.
Ad-hoc Analysis: The ability to perform ad-hoc queries and analysis on customer data, without requiring technical expertise or coding skills.
Segment Builder: A user-friendly segment builder that allows marketers and analysts to create and modify customer segments based on various criteria and conditions.
Campaign Management: Self-service tools for designing, executing, and monitoring marketing campaigns across multiple channels, leveraging real-time customer data and insights.
Data Sharing: Features that enable users to share and collaborate on customer data, segments, and insights with relevant stakeholders, while respecting data governance and access controls.

Evaluate the CDP's self-service capabilities across different user roles and ensure they strike the right balance between empowering users and maintaining data governance and security.

10. Support and Training

Effective support and training resources are crucial for ensuring a smooth implementation and ongoing success with a real-time CDP. When evaluating potential solutions, consider the following aspects:

Customer Support

Assess the vendor's customer support offerings to ensure you receive timely assistance and guidance throughout your CDP journey:

Aspect	Details
Support Channels	Email, phone, chat, and online portals
Response Times	Guaranteed response times for different channels and issue severities
Dedicated Support	Availability of a named account manager or technical account manager
Global Support	24/7 support or coverage during your business hours across regions

Training Resources

Comprehensive training resources can empower your team to fully leverage the CDP's capabilities and drive successful adoption:

Resource	Details
Training Programs	Instructor-led sessions, self-paced e-learning courses, and certification programs
Documentation	User guides, API references, and best practice resources
Knowledge Base	Searchable knowledge base or community forums for self-service learning and troubleshooting
Professional Services	Implementation support, data migration assistance, and custom training tailored to your needs

Choosing the Right Real-Time CDP

Selecting the right real-time CDP is key for making the most of your customer data and delivering personalized, timely experiences. This 10-point checklist helps you evaluate and choose the best real-time CDP for your needs.

Key Considerations

Aspect	Details
Data Collection and Unification	Ensure the CDP gathers data from various sources and creates unified customer profiles.
Real-Time Processing	Check if the CDP processes data instantly and updates profiles in real-time.
Identity Matching	Evaluate the CDP's ability to resolve and match customer identities across channels.
Segmentation and Targeting	Look for dynamic segmentation tools based on real-time data.
System Integrations	Verify the CDP's integration capabilities with your existing tools.
Analytics and Insights	Assess the CDP's analytical capabilities, including predictive analytics.
Data Privacy and Compliance	Ensure the CDP complies with data privacy regulations and manages customer consent.
Scalability and Performance	Evaluate the CDP's ability to handle growing data volumes and maintain performance.
User Experience	Check if the CDP has an intuitive interface and self-service features.
Support and Training	Assess the vendor's customer support and training resources.

Making an Informed Decision

By carefully considering these factors, you can choose a real-time CDP that:

Integrates with your existing systems
Delivers unified customer profiles
Processes data in real-time
Provides strong analytics and insights
Ensures data privacy and compliance
Scales with your business
Offers a user-friendly experience
Provides solid support and training

Investing time in evaluating potential CDPs against this checklist will help you make a well-informed choice, leading to better customer experiences and data-driven decisions.

10-Point Checklist for Choosing a Real-Time CDP

The 10-Point Checklist