Scale up your CDP efforts

In this guide, we provide recommendations on how to plan for the implementation of use cases in your CDP. This includes a step-by-step method, avoiding the MVP trap, how to identify and develop use cases, and setting up a team structure.

Strategy for Implementing Customer Dialogues in Your CDP

Stored data in a CDP offers no value, so it's important to always consider new use cases. You also want to implement use cases quickly to create business value. To manage this, start with MVP versions of use cases that can be implemented right away while working towards more visionary use cases. § What should your strategy look like? § After implementing a CDP, you must plan for the implementation of your use cases.

You have now procured a CDP according to insights from our first part of this series "How to Procure the Best Customer Data Platform for Your Company". Additionally, you've successfully implemented the CDP platform using our tips from "Key Insights for Achieving a Successful CDP Implementation". That's fantastic, and we're thrilled you've taken significant steps into the CDP universe.

But all good things come to an end, as does this series. Before we conclude, we want to give you some insights and recommendations on scaling your CDP efforts. In many ways, a CDP can be seen as a refinery for oil, where the CDP refines raw data (our equivalent to crude oil) into various customer interactions.

§ Strategy for Developing Use Cases in Your CDP § Once you have procured and implemented a CDP, it's time to ensure you get business benefits from your investment. There are several ways to embark on this journey. You need a clear strategy for it. One way is to use the Double Diamond method.

Step-by-Step Method

Besides acting on use cases that can provide immediate value, you also need to come up with future use cases. These future use cases, often called vision use-cases, are based on having a clear vision and goals. An example could be having a flow for abandoned carts - to secure conversions. The vision is to use the most cost-effective channels for your respective users, combined with discount codes for high-value customers. Achieving this type of vision requires various data types in place, ranging from customer data, campaign and channel preference data, products, web data, coupons, and integrations with many channels.

Waiting for all data and procedures to be in place can take if not years, then at least many months. A crucial part of scaling up the CDP is creating MVP versions (minimum viable product) of vision use cases and iterating towards the full vision.

To illustrate how these different iterations and versions can look, let's return to the vision's use case with a flow for all carts. Here's how different versions can develop as you gather new data:

• First version - minimum effort.Areminder/nudge on the website if the user returns.

• Second version - Add another channel. Abandoned cart email without products.

• Third version - Add products. Abandoned cart - email with products.

• Fourth version - Add coupon codes. Abandoned cart - email with products and discount code. Coupon code in the reminder/nudge on the website if the user returns.

• Fifth version - Add Google Ads as a channel for the abandoned cart use case.

Of course, there can be many more iterations and versions than 5 as you always strive to optimize your work and value. In our example, it might involve continuously optimizing the channels you use.

Watch Out for the MVP Trap

As mentioned, it can sometimes be difficult to quickly reach use cases and goals that you have as a vision when gradually scaling your work and initiatives. That’s why we emphasized the importance of aiming for MVPs. However, from experience, we often see companies referring to working with MVP solutions without having any idea of what the final product will be. It can almost seem as if people refer to MVP solutions as an excuse for not having a clear vision or idea of the end goal. An MVP always originates from the idea of what a product is, even if the final product may differ from the original idea. Without a clear idea or vision, it’s likely you won’t fully harness your data’s potential.

Identify and Create New Use Cases

Continuously finding new use cases for your customer data and prioritizing them can often be a challenge, especially considering the many new features a CDP offers. We often see investments in the CDP platform stall because of a lack of initiatives related to the use of the system or tool, not related to the implementation itself. To overcome this situation and prevent the investment from stopping, we at Remotion encourage using simple methods and tools for design thinking to create use cases, with frameworks like the double diamond and a priority matrix.

In short, the double diamond is a two-step process, where the first step focuses on defining the problem. Meanwhile, the second step focuses on solving the problem. Each step has an exploratory/divergent and a validating/convergent phase. If this is new to you as a user, we recommend reading more about it here.

As you can see, it's quite an extensive and demanding task to go from discovery to delivery, and for some, it can feel overwhelming. To counteract this, we often see companies starting right in the middle, which can actually be counterproductive. Since we've worked with this process for many years, we've also compiled some tips and insights on how you can work with it effectively. Here are our best tips for conducting a more effective double diamond process:

Work on the "Problem Space" (left side of the double diamond)

• Often, user research-related material already exists; if a customer journey analysis has been done for a purpose, it's likely you can find some interesting points there. Otherwise, ask some customers - usually, you don't need to speak with more than 4-5 to get a completely different understanding of the issue.

• Often companies have a lot of strategy documents (also known as paper products) that describe the discovery of a problem and understanding it. (To be fair, sometimes the author of this has created some of these documents.)
  
  

• Sometimes the problem is already discovered, but it's not properly defined. Gathering some customers from different departments and conducting a workshop can often directly lead to a definition.

Working on the "Solution Space" (right side of the double diamond)

• Steal with pride - don't reinvent the wheel.

• Look at other verticals, they might have similar problems.

• Look at other verticals, they might have similar issues.

• Use services you like - how have they tackled a similar problem?

• Use a simple prioritization matrix: Defining effort and user value for something can be quite difficult, but often it’s just about placing the first item in the matrix. What matters is how it relates to the next point. So just start by placing that first item. The rest will solve itself. Learn more about the priority matrix and the reasoning behind it here.
  

• For marketing, stealing ideas from best practices or templates provided by the CDP provider in the delivery phase can be very useful for the first iteration of a use case.

• Use the MVP method as described above (but remember to be aware of the MVP trap)

• When CDP providers have ready-made templates or best practice use cases that can be applied in the delivery phase, use them for the first iteration.

As you can understand, finding and prioritizing use cases is both complex yet extremely important for your CDP initiative. As we mentioned, the double diamond method, in the first instance, might seem overwhelming but is an important tool for crafting use cases and ultimately deriving value from your CDP.

Working with the "Problem Space" (left side of the double diamond)

• Oftentimes, user research-related material is available beforehand; if a customer journey map has been done for one purpose, you can likely find an interesting point there. Otherwise, asking a few customers – you usually don't need to talk to more than 4-5 to gain a completely different understanding of the issue at hand.

• Often, many companies have a wealth of strategy documents (also known as paper products) describing the discovery of the problem and its scope. If in doubt, ask a few customers – usually, speaking to no more than 4-5 customers will give you a brand new perspective.

• In some cases, the problem is already known, but it isn't explicitly defined. Gathering executives from various departments for a workshop can often lead directly to a definition.

Working on the "Solution Space" (right side of the double diamond)

• Steal with pride - don't reinvent the wheel.

• Look at other verticals, as they may have similar problems.

• Observe services you enjoy - how have they solved similar problems?

• Use a simple prioritization matrix: Determining effort and user value can be really difficult, but often it's about just placing the first item in the matrix. The interesting part is how it relates to the next point. So just start by placing the first item. The rest will fall into place. Learn more about it here..

• For marketing, there are often pre-existing best-practice templates or use cases from the CDP provider. Utilize them for the first iteration in the delivery phase.

• Make use of the MVP method as discussed above (but remain cautious of the MVP trap).

• If using CDP providers' ready-made templates or best practice use cases for the delivery phase - use them for the first iteration.

• When working on refining customer journeys, ensure that you are flexible and learn from each process phase without resetting to the start. Analyze, learn, and remember that mistakes teach us a lot.

• It's essential to ensure that different departments work together to transform raw data into valuable customer insights. This close cooperation prevents delays and applies whether delivering value from a CDP or refining crude oil. For CDP, it's all about extracting valuable results from unstructured raw data and leveraging them effectively across departments and functions.

A Well-Run "Oil Refinery"

It's time to conclude this series, where we've had the pleasure of sharing some of our knowledge and experience from procuring, implementing, and working with customer data platforms. The demand for accurate and up-to-date data is ever-increasing, and CDPs will continue to play a central role in digital marketing. In many ways, customer data is the new "oil" as we've mentioned before – because raw data isn't necessarily valuable on its own. The real value comes when data is efficiently collected, accurately and holistically connected, and integrated with other relevant data points. At that point, your CDP work will transform into a well-run "oil refinery," and you'll successfully leverage customer data.