Key insights for a successful CDP implementation

In this article, we present a step-by-step roadmap for implementing a CDP. Gain valuable insights based on our experience and expertise at Remotion, making your implementation smoother.

CDP Implementation Guide

We'll provide a step-by-step guide for implementing a CDP. Learn valuable insights based on our experience and expertise at Remotion that will make your implementation smoother.

Background

In a previous article, we outlined the steps for acquiring a customer data platform. Before exploring a CDP's features, you must complete its implementation.

Solution

Follow these five steps for a successful and efficient CDP implementation. Understanding the technology should always be the first step when implementing for the first time or bringing new people onto the project.

1. Understand the Technology

CDPs are built on core technology and IT design methods, so answering several technical questions is crucial to effectively using your CDP:

• Is it a Data Warehouse-like or Data Lake-like environment?

• Is the data structure relationship-based?

• Does it support real-time data input or is it batch-oriented?

• Is it event-driven?

Consider your system's setup: it might have different pipelines and technology for different parts of the tool. And while channel data may be supported in real-time and event-driven, other data might come from batch-oriented flows.

Ensuring all project members understand how the system works and how the technology is designed will improve coordination and save time during implementation.

Understanding how the technology works should always be the first step when implementing for the first time or introducing new people to the project.

2. Harmonize Customer Definitions

The power of a CDP often lies in its ability to link data logged on different identities to the same customer ID. Knowing your customer data structure and traceable information based on IDs makes implementation much easier.

Typically, there are three types of customer IDs:

• Customer ID Number: An internally arbitrary ID, often linked to a login. This is the key ID that should never change as it usually references all core customer data, such as transactions, profile data...

• Identifiers: Email, phone number, name, social security number, or other internal identifiers used in other systems.

• Non-Stable Identifiers: Cookie ID, device IDs, IP addresses...

The main differences lie in how stable they are, how often they change, and how many a user typically has. For example, a user may have one customer ID, two email accounts, and even use 15 browsers, meaning 15 cookies a company could potentially log information on.

A CDP’s strength is in continuously linking the non-stable and stable identifiers to the same customer ID. A CDP lets the non-stable IDs change linkage when, for example, multiple users share the same browser and log in and out of different accounts.

Fun fact: In the early days of digital business, a customer ID was often the same as the account username.

One of our colleagues at Remotion once wanted to change their old and embarrassing username on a music streaming platform before sharing their playlist (to avoid being called MrCool1223 for the rest of their career). It wasn’t possible because the username was also the customer ID. Instead, they had to create a new account and copy all playlists with the help of customer support.

We hope you’ll remember their story to avoid this mistake: if you want your customers to be able to change their account names, don’t use them as customer IDs!

3. Establish Instances

An instance is basically a part of a system where your data is placed. While the number of instances you run might seem straightforward, it's important to consider it carefully since changing it later could be troublesome.

Running two instances means you have two configurations of the same functions, but data isn't shared between them. Running multiple instances can thus become quite complex.

Ask yourself these questions when deciding on the number of instances:

• Are you operating in multiple markets with different languages?

• Do you have several separate brands in the same market?

• Is campaign management primarily local?

• Does the offering differ significantly between markets and brands?

• Does customer behavior vary between markets and brands?

• Do you have requirements linked to a specific brand or market?

• Is it illegal to share data between different markets or brands?

If you've answered yes to any of these questions, consider running multiple instances. However, if you operate with many markets, remember that each added instance increases the cost.

4. Don't Forget Product Data

It's easy to focus solely on customer data when working with CDPs. After all, the C in CDP stands for Customer. But to truly understand your customers, you must know what products they buy and are interested in. And it's not enough to just know the product name the customer purchased.

Additional information like price range, quality, material, whether it’s a new product or bought on sale can tell you more about the customer's interests and tastes.

Now you see why product data is crucial for understanding your customers. Isn't that the main point of a CDP?

5. Anchor the Roadmap with Stakeholders

Finally, all relevant stakeholders should be on board with the roadmap and all its components.

We've discussed the importance of sourcing the right resources as an integral part of successful CDP work in the latest article.
It's important to have the right stakeholders to facilitate the process of understanding technology, harmonizing customer definitions, and creating instances. Assembling the right resources often means building cross-functional teams with stakeholders from departments like UX, paid media, digital marketing, BI, IT, etc.

Brands that use cross-functional teams of stakeholders involved in customer data in various ways use CDPs most successfully. A successful CDP implementation will also ensure marketing departments don’t always need BI or IT to access customer data. Instead, the CDP helps to locate customer data so it's easily accessible to different stakeholders.

CDPs also help break down information silos created when different departments don’t work cross-functionally and share information and knowledge. When the whole team is aligned, the roadmap must be anchored so everyone knows their role and task in the implementation project.

Getting some form of 'buy-in' from all different stakeholders is essential for the project's success. If all stakeholders are on the same page, the implementation will go more smoothly and efficiently, yielding the best possible results.

Understanding the technical and functional aspects of a CDP is key to successful implementation and avoiding setbacks. At Remotion, we know from our knowledge and experience that a well-anchored roadmap and coordinated stakeholders, with the right technical design and customer data, will facilitate the best possible CDP implementation. However, working with CDP implementation is by no means linear. After laying the foundation and establishing proper procedures, you must scale up your CDP.