Customer Data Platform (CDP) Integration
A Customer Data Platform (CDP) is a centralised system that collects customer data from all sources — website, app, CRM, email, advertising, support — and creates unified customer profiles. Integrating your systems with a CDP gives every tool in your stack access to a complete, consistent customer data record.
What CDPs Solve
Without a CDP, customer data is siloed: your email tool knows about email engagement, your analytics platform knows about web behaviour, your CRM knows about sales interactions — but none of them have the full picture. The CDP unifies these into a single customer profile, enabling sophisticated segmentation, personalisation, and analysis that requires a holistic customer view.
CDP Integration Pattern
- Data in: Every customer touchpoint sends events to the CDP — page views, product interactions, purchases, support tickets, email opens. The CDP's JavaScript snippet handles client-side events; server-side events use the CDP's Track API.
- Identity resolution: The CDP links anonymous browser sessions to identified customer records — matching visitors before and after login, across devices
- Data out: CDP syncs unified profiles and audiences to all destination tools — email, advertising, analytics, CRM
Major CDP Platforms
- Segment (Twilio): Market leader — excellent API, 400+ destination connectors, good developer experience
- Rudderstack: Open-source CDP alternative — can be self-hosted, lower cost, good integration coverage
- mParticle: Enterprise CDP with strong mobile focus
- Bloomreach: CDP with built-in marketing automation — strong in e-commerce