Forrester Report: Getting Customer Data Management Right

As the volume and sophistication of customer data continues to expand, marketers now face the challenge of transforming it into useful information that can:

Give you a better understanding of your customers and the business challenges they face
Optimize your marketing efforts
Deliver hyperpersonalized experiences that drive engagement, loyalty, and build trust in your brand

In August 2019, Oracle commissioned Forrester Consulting to evaluate the market maturity of customer data unification. Forrester conducted an online survey of 337 marketing and advertising professionals in North America and Europe who are responsible for customer data, marketing analytics, or marketing/advertising technology. The findings showed that many firms do have some version of a customer data platform (CDP). However, their ability to use unified customer profiles to personalize experiences, provide a consistent experience across channels, and generally improve customer lifetime value and other business outcomes varied widely from firm to firm.

Only 11% of firms with a CDP use a wide variety of data types in a unified customer profile. These firms, in turn, are 2.5 times likelier to increase customer lifetime value. Moreover, firms with better customer profiles drive increased revenue growth and profitability.

Why is this?

It is because a unified customer profile is critical to personalization, which allows for crafting a superior customer experience. A superior customer experience, of course, builds your brand, makes conversions, and drives repeat business.

Therefore, it has become crucial to invest more in customer data management. Firms that do and more effectively leverage unified customer profiles tend to:

Invest more in marketing technologies
Become more effective at gauging metrics
Focus more on driving customer centricity
Run more personalized and targeted campaigns
Prioritize omnichannel strategies

All of this put together is what garners better business results.

What steps can marketers take to improve their organizations’ customer data practices then? You can:

Leverage third-party solutions
Earn key stakeholder buy-in
Closely collaborate with data professionals

Learn how to more effectively use customer data platforms (CDPs) to create better customer experiences that result in increased revenue growth, profitability, and higher customer lifetime value.

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