uestions for the demo from customer data platform vendors
Demos can help you to fully understand the capabilities of a vendor when it comes to purchasing or upgrading a customer information platform (CDP).
What CDP vendors should you consider?
You must first find the right vendors. Here are some tips to help you do this:
- Make sure you inventory all of your databases and martech apps and get all stakeholders to weigh in on which data or system integrations are most important. To make integration easier and faster, CDPs provide many out-of-the box connectors and APIs. It is easier to identify vendors that have native connections by prioritizing which applications you wish to integrate first.
- Talk to your marketing peers and find out which CDP vendors are being used by whom. Many vendors offer whitepapers and interactive tools to help.
- Once you have identified the vendors that meet your criteria, you can send them the capabilities list and set a time frame for them to respond.
- Decide whether you are required to participate in an RFI/RFP process. This decision is up to you. To facilitate comparison, make sure you give each vendor the same list.
Next, you need to set up demos.
Why should I schedule a CDP demonstration?
Demos offer the opportunity to evaluate both the systems as well as the companies that make them. This second component is just as important as the previous. It is important to determine who responds well to pressure and who has a set way of doing things, and who can adapt to your needs.
To make it easier to compare demos, schedule them all fairly close together. Make sure that all stakeholders and potential users are present at the demo call. These questions should be asked of everyone:
- How simple is it to use the platform?
- Is the vendor able to explain our business and our marketing requirements?
- Are they showing us the “must-haves”?
Questions for CDP vendors
Here are some questions that you can ask each vendor to help you navigate the demo.
- How does the platform offer identity resolution. How does it link data points?
- What is the best way to handle structured and unstructured data?
- What is the best way to ingest and manage offline information?
- How does it monitor integration success or failures and report on data anomalies and variances?
- What is the process for integrating connectors with other martech systems and integrating them?
- Are you able to integrate your “must-have” items?
- How does the CDP integrate with your specific martech systems? A connector doesn’t necessarily mean that it will work for you and your company.
- What allows users to create customer segments based upon preferences and behaviors?
- How can machine learning be used to analyze data, such as forecasting customer trends and patterns?
- How can we send targeted and personalized messaging to the CDP?
- How can the CDP be used to track and coordinate multi-step marketing campaigns
- What data security regulations must the platform adhere to?
- What data security certifications does this platform have?
- Is it possible to pay monthly for the software license? Is an annual contract necessary? Are there any short-term contracts or “out” clauses in case things don’t go according to plan?
- If so, what will the price hike be? Is the vendor willing to limit increases over a number of years?
- What additional fees are there? (i.e., set-up costs, add-on features, API, quotas)?
- What is the average time it takes to onboard? Is there a designated resource? Who will be our daily contact?
- What level of support is included in the price? What additional support is there?
- Who is responsible if your team/system makes an error?
- Our support team will work with us to evaluate and test new features.
The Customer Information Platforms: A Marketer’s Guide is now available for download.
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Customer data platforms: A snapshot
What are they? Customer data platforms (or CDPs) have become more common than ever. These platforms allow marketers to identify key data points that customers have shared across multiple platforms. This can be used to create cohesive experiences. These are particularly popular right now, as marketers face increased pressure to deliver a consistent experience across multiple channels.
Understanding the need. Cisco’s Annual Internet Report revealed that internet-connected devices have experienced a 10% compound annual rate (CAGR), from 2018 to 2023. This marketing transformation has been only accelerated by COVID-19. To connect with customers in a constantly changing world, technologies are developing at an increasing rate.
These interactions have one thing in common: they are data-rich. Brands are getting valuable data from customers by asking them a few questions at each touchpoint. Consumers expect that companies will use this data to fulfill their needs.
Why we care. Marketers can find it difficult to meet customer expectations. CDPs are here to help. Brands can extract data from all touchpoints of customers — web analytics and CRMs, call analytics and email marketing platform — and use it to overcome the challenges presented by multiple data platforms.
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