Difference Between Personalization Engines Versus Customer Data Platforms (CDP)

For every business to be successful they must connect with their customers on more than just a superficial level. Reaching out to customers and giving them the best possible satisfaction that maximizes their satisfaction is the goal of every business organization. The saying “the customer is king” did not come into being just like that. Connecting with as many customers as possible is not an easy task and requires a lot of effort and creative thinking.

Marketing professionals are the string that tethers the customers to the business firm building loyalty and a strong consumer base.

Marketing is perhaps the most important task in the execution of the good or service. Without it, imagining success and profits is just out of the question. Today, as we ride the wave of digitalization, we are provided with loads of strategies and ways to attract customers and keep them satisfied by way of marketing.

 Thus, the marketing landscape no longer shares a single thread of commonality with the strategies of the past- going door to door, handing out flyers only for them to go waste. Two innovations have revolutionized the way marketing is being done at the moment. They are:

• Personalization Engines
• Customer Data Platforms

While some may not be able to differentiate between the two easily, there is nothing to worry about. Go on reading the points below to find about how ‘personalization engines’ are different from ‘customer data platforms.’

1.  Personalization Engines Versus Customer Data Platforms (CDP)

What Is Personalization Engine?

Personalization engines are an effective marketing tool aimed at giving the customer a personalized experience by attuning, tailoring shopping experiences and messages or any other means of communication to the customer based on their past shopping experiences. It is mainly used to facilitate the following three areas:

• Digital commerce
• Marketing
• Customer experience

They are intended to improve the customer’s experience by customizing it to his/her tastes and preferences. The data provided by the customer is leveraged by the learning software to create a user base in real life where the personalization engines make frequent adjustments and entries as the customer shops, keeping a track of their purchases, their wants, etc. The information is used to put into effect marketing strategies like delivering content and/or offers at the right time and right place. It builds an association of the customer with the brand and therefore, helps in finding the target audience. They are an effective means to improve revenue, sales, and brand loyalty.

What is Customer Data Platforms?

Customer Data Platform is an amazing tool that has been a great help to marketing professionals. It refers to software that gathers data from multiple sources and organizes it making it accessible for use by marketing professionals on other software and systems.

Customer Data Platform essentially frees marketing professionals from having to depend on technical specialists to deliver results.

The best part about customer data platforms is that when data enters the platform, fake and copied user profiles can be eliminated. This helps in easing the load of marketing professionals when analyzing data and enabling them to put into play an audience-oriented marketing strategy.

Further, it can be used holistically by all members of the business organization across all channels to take an accurate and recent description of the customers for purposes of loyalty, brand building, and customer support, etc.

2. What Do They Do?

What Does a Customer Data Platform Do?

Earlier, data had to be accessed through multiple sources which often were not liable to share their data. Many attempts had been done to resolve this issue and thereby build unified customer profiles. Using enterprising data warehouses and data lakes are some of them. While they have been able to collect data, they fail at organizing it effectively.

This is where the customer data platform enters. It has managed to arrange and attune the data to the whims of the marketing professional. Data profiles can be built as a result and used effectively to find target audiences for business organizations. It gives a wholesome view and understanding of the data which is not rendered as just data but is transformed into fruit-bearing output.

What Does a Personalization Engine Do?

Personalization engines have oracle like abilities. Yes, they can see the future! Don’t believe me?

Let’s explain this.

They collect data, analyze and process it using machine learning software. The machine learning software goes through the data which usually involves information about the customer’s profile, demographics, their purchasing history, their needs, their tastes, their purchasing activity in stores, on devices, on apps, etc. The data is used to make predictions about the wants, needs of the target audience, what should be produced and what should not be.

It becomes more effective than customer data platform in giving wholesome user-profiles and thus, advanced personalization engines are a hit among business firms and organizations.

What Kind of Data is Collected?

What Kind of Data is Collected by Customer Data Platforms?

The data collected by customer data platforms are eclectic and wide-ranging. Interactions with the customers in the form of messages, comments, blog posts, etc. are gathered by customer data platforms to furnish usable data to marketing professionals. The data is of many types. They are as follows:

• Identity data: Basic details and particulars
• Quantitative data: Purchasing history, customer service, returns, online activity, left in cart items, etc.
• Descriptive data: Gives a greater insight into the customer
• Qualitative data: Data collected by way of surveys, opinion polls, etc.

What Kind of Data is Collected by Personalization Engines?

They provide a more holistic glance at the customer. The data collected includes the following:

• The customer’s details and attributes
• The customer’s past purchases, buying activity, interaction with customer support.
• The customer’s current activity in real-time in the store, on apps on multiple devices.
• The customer’s current social milieu and context like festivals, important occasions.

To conclude, while there is an overlap between the two, the two are distinct in their ways. As the name suggests, personalization engines provide a more personalized connection with the customers. The CDP, on the other hand, eliminates fakes and copies. The marketing innovation which will suit you will ultimately depend on the needs and goal of your firm.

About the Author: Simona Rich

Simona is a guest writer and digital marketing expert. She frequently writes about different digital marketing methods and share her knowledge with others.

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