Best customer data platforms

Introduction

A CDP is a packaged software that creates a persistent, unified customer database accessible to other systems. It collects and aggregates data from multiple sources to create a comprehensive 360-degree view of each customer. This unified data can then be used to enhance customer management and create highly targeted, personalized marketing campaigns across various channels.

When comparing CDPs, it's important to consider their key features and capabilities:

1. Data collection and unification
2. Customer profile creation
3. Segmentation and analytics
4. Integration with other marketing tools
5. Data privacy and compliance features
6. User-friendly interface for marketers

By implementing a CDP, businesses can solve common problems such as lack of a single customer view, customer churn, unreliable data, and attribution in ad platforms. The right CDP can empower marketers to take control of their customer data, leading to more effective and efficient marketing strategies.

In this comparison made by our digital marketing experts, we'll examine some of the top Customer Data Platforms available, highlighting their strengths, weaknesses, and unique features to help you find the best solution for your organization's needs.

Able CDP

Able Customer Data Platform is designed to provide a complete view of customer interactions across various touchpoints. It integrates with marketing tools, allowing businesses to track customer behavior and attribute events throughout the sales funnel. This integration aids in enhancing marketing strategies by providing actionable data from customer interactions without requiring complex configuration or coding.

One of the key features of Able CDP is support of the server-side conversion tracking and ad platform attribution, ensuring that the first-party customer data collected in back-office systems such as e-commerce platforms and payment systems are attributed to the click identifiers before being sent to the ad platforms' conversion APIs.

Additionally, Able CDP assists businesses in managing and analyzing customer data. It allows for advanced segmentation capabilities, enabling marketers to identify and target high-value audiences. This feature is particularly useful for companies looking to engage customers in funnels with long sales cycles or recurring payments.

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PostHog

PostHog is a platform designed for developers, offering a suite of tools for product analytics, feature flags, session replays, A/B testing, and surveys. Unlike traditional analytics tools, PostHog aims to replace multiple tools in the data stack, providing a single platform for these functionalities. This approach simplifies data integration and analysis, allowing developers to focus on building their products rather than managing various tools.

One of the main advantages of PostHog is its flexibility and customization. The platform supports a range of SDKs and APIs, enabling developers to access and manipulate data in various ways. This includes features like HogQL, a SQL-like query language that allows for detailed data analysis and filtering. Additionally, PostHog offers control over customer data, including privacy options, hosting location choices, and access to the source code, making it a secure and transparent solution for data management.

PostHog integrates well with other tools and platforms, including customer data platforms. While it can function as a CDP itself, it also allows for sending data to third-party CDPs for additional destinations. This flexibility enables companies to decide on the best solution for their needs, whether using PostHog as a standalone CDP or integrating it with another platform for a wider range of features and destinations.

RudderStack

RudderStack is an open-source customer data platform that helps businesses collect and manage customer data. It operates with a warehouse-first approach, focusing on building a customer data lake within a user's data warehouse. According to the company, this offers improved data control and flexibility, often at a lower cost compared to proprietary CDPs like Segment. RudderStack's open-source nature allows users to view how data processes are executed, reducing dependence on vendor black boxes.

The platform supports various data integration and transformation capabilities, making it suitable for technical users who need a dependable data infrastructure. One of the key benefits of RudderStack is its flexibility. It allows businesses to define and manage customer data according to their specific needs, ensuring all relevant data is unified and accessible. This adaptability is particularly valuable for companies with complex data architectures and multiple data sources. Additionally, RudderStack's warehouse-native approach enhances data privacy and governance by storing data in well-defined repositories and implementing strict access policies.

However, RudderStack also has limitations. For instance, its audience management feature is restricted to a single table in the data warehouse, which can make it challenging to leverage related models or events. This limitation may require significant engineering work to derive value from the audience builder. Furthermore, while RudderStack supports real-time event forwarding and activation APIs, its real-time capabilities are somewhat limited compared to other CDPs. Despite these drawbacks, RudderStack remains an option for businesses seeking a cost-effective and adaptable customer data infrastructure.

Segment

Segment is a traditional Customer Data Platform that is more than a decade old. It is known for its event collection framework, which allows businesses to gather and manage customer data from various sources. Segment's platform aims to unify customer data into a single, centralized database, enabling marketers to create personalized marketing campaigns and gain insights into their audience. However, Segment has faced challenges in addressing demands for additional marketing-related features, which has affected its ability to adapt to specific data and business use cases. Despite these limitations, Segment remains a popular choice among businesses due to its established reputation and foundation in event collection and data management.

SegMetrics

SegMetrics is a customer journey tracking tool that automatically logs lead data, including purchases, page visits, and clicked emails. This feature allows users to visualize their customer interactions, providing a clear view of how customers progress through the marketing funnel. Unlike traditional web analytics tools, SegMetrics focuses on the entire customer journey, not just website interactions, giving businesses a better understanding of customer behavior. By integrating with various data sources, SegMetrics ensures that customer profiles are always current, supporting real-time personalization and targeted marketing campaigns.

One of the benefits of SegMetrics is its ability to track customer interactions across multiple channels. This capability enables businesses to create cohesive customer experiences by ensuring that all interactions rely on the same data. Additionally, SegMetrics supports dynamic segmentation, allowing marketers to create and modify customer segments based on real-time data, keeping marketing campaigns relevant. The tool also offers strong analytics capabilities, enabling businesses to analyze customer behavior and preferences and derive actionable insights to improve marketing strategies.

However, SegMetrics may not be suitable for all businesses. For instance, companies that require advanced predictive analytics or complex data governance features might find SegMetrics insufficient. Additionally, while SegMetrics provides a unified view of customer interactions, it may not offer the same level of data unification and integration as other customer data platforms, which can handle a broader range of data sources and provide more extensive data management options.

About the authors

This comprehensive guide on the best customer data platforms was compiled by a team of experienced digital marketing experts at Able CDP. Our team combines years of hands-on experience in digital marketing, data analytics, and technology solutions to provide you with insightful, accurate, and practical information.

Methodology

When preparing the comparison of the best customer data platforms providers, our experts follow cutting edge qualitative research methodology (for an overview, see, for example, Research Methods for Business Students, (Saunders et al, 2019)). The source data analyzed during the preparation of this comparison includes:

1. facts and statements published on the reviewed providers' websites at the time when they're accessed;
2. interviews with digital marketers having first-hand experience of using the aforementioned software;
3. published secondary sources.

While we strive to keep the page up-to-date, it is possible that the changes to the services listed above may occur that are not reflected immediately. If you notice any inaccuracies or outdated information, please contact us.