A new state-of-the-industry report reveals that customer data platforms (CDPs) have become an essential part of marketing portfolios, with demand for the technology growing because of changes to privacy laws and increased online activity fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The finding and other notable observations are contained in the 2022 State of the CDP Report by CDP provider Tealium, which surveyed more than 1,000 marketing and business leaders in the financial services, healthcare, media, retail, and technology industries across the US, Europe, and Asia Pacific to come up with the results. The report unpacks the reasons why global businesses are implementing CDPs, identifies the priorities today for customer data management, and reveals what is coming next in the age of data.

CDPs are software solutions widely recognized as the next step in marketing technology and the answer to resolving the problem of disconnected customer data systems. The platforms aggregate, classify, and structure real-time customer data across a variety of customer touchpoints, extending from marketing to sales to service, resulting in individual, centralized customer profiles. The data can then be used by other software, systems, and organizations in their marketing efforts.

A key finding of the Tealium report is thatCDPs are seen as a fundamental change agent for data-driven businesses, with 91% of respondents citing digital transformation as a primary driver of their adoption of CDPs.

With nearly all businesses adopting or planning to adopt a “digital first” business strategy, companies are depending on CDPs to connect data in real time across technologies and a variety of customer touchpoints in order to understand buyer behavior and deliver trusted, relevant experiences, Tealium said.

Businesses are also seeing measurable business impact from CDPs, with 70% of marketers reporting quick payback on their CDP investments. More than half of all marketers say a positive return on investment (ROI) was achieved within 6 months, and 96% reported a full return within 12 months. To this end, the use case for CDPs is becoming clearer, Tealium stated.

“CDPs are becoming a must-have due to massive shifts in online behavior and the increase in privacy regulations we saw last year,” noted Heidi Bullock, Tealium chief marketing officer (CMO). “The types and sources of customer data are only growing, and we see CDP adoption rapidly scaling to ensure data is collected, optimized, and activated in a secure manner.”

In the selection of a CDP, customer trust is king. Among respondents, the top criteria for selecting a CDP were customer service (cited by 61%) and compliance (57%). A full 93% of respondents said their solutions come from one vendor.

Tealium concludes by saying that given the combined impact of the pandemic, the depreciation of third-party cookies, and the increased regulation in data privacy and security, the ways in which companies engage with their customers have changed completely. As a result, the importance of quality data collection, analysis, and activation has never been greater.

“As companies are faced with completely reimagining their business plans, CDPs have surfaced as the proven solution to carry companies’ customer experiences into the future,” Tealium said in closing.

San Diego-based Tealium is known for connecting customer data across web, mobile, offline, and the Internet of Things (IoT) for businesses to align with their customers. The company says its turnkey integration ecosystem supports more than 1,300 built-in connections, and its CDP solution incorporates machine learning (ML), tag management, and data management solutions that help make customer data more privacy compliant and secure.