To turn first-party data into a strategic business asset, more and more companies are embracing customer data platforms (CDPs) for their data unification and activation needs. But economic uncertainty is making buyers more cautious and discerning in all of their technology investments – including CDPs.
Amid this uncertainty, companies are prioritizing solutions that deliver a tangible return on investment (ROI) through both performance improvements and efficiency gains. It’s also influencing the way companies create a request for proposal (RFP) when seeking solutions like a CDP.
Our latest ebook provides 8 strategies for crafting a winning CDP RFP, so you can embark on your RFP journey with confidence. Here’s a glimpse at what you’ll find inside.
1. Assess Your Need for a CDP: Understand the differences between a CDP and other, seemingly similar marketing technologies, such as marketing automation platforms and CRM systems. To determine if a CDP is the right solution for your business, consider factors like the ability to collect, unify, analyze, and activate customer data all in one place.
> See how CDPs differ from other technologies
2. Assess Your Readiness for a CDP: The right starting point for your CDP implementation depends on the current state of your data. Understanding your organization's data confidence, data access, data availability, data minimization, data utility, and team alignment can help you right-size the approach to your implementation and beyond.
> Take our CDP Readiness Assessment
3. Clarify Your Use Cases: Understanding and articulating your use cases helps you evaluate potential CDP vendors effectively and ensure that your investment aligns with your organization's long-term goals. When defining your use cases, consider factors such as your current and potential data sources, real-time data needs, first-party data goals
, and existing analytics capabilities.
> Learn how to craft an effective use case
4. Evaluate Data Privacy Capabilities: The growing emphasis on consumer data privacy has moved consent management capabilities to the forefront. When building out your RFP, assess the CDP's ability to collect and use customer data based on specific objectives, how it can augment the capabilities in a consent management platform, and whether it supports the privacy zones that are relevant to your business.
> Discover how to embrace a proactive approach to consumer data privacy
5. Assess Support for Multi-Brand/Multi-Region Rollouts: Different brands and markets often have their own distinct tech stacks, resulting in a complex web of integrations. In this context, flexibility becomes crucial. Assess whether the CDP enables you to lay a solid foundation that can accommodate future changes in tech requirements across different brands and regions, as well as its ability to support rapid rollouts across multiple markets.
> See how VF Corp is driving customer centricity across all of its brands
6. Evaluate the Flexibility of a CDP: The choice between marketing cloud, composable, and pure-play CDPs often depends on your organization's existing tech stack and architectural preferences. Consider whether you want to be locked into a suite solution or if you want the freedom to compose your tech stack. Evaluating your use cases, data volume, variety, and velocity is essential. Real-time use cases, in particular, may influence your decision between marketing cloud, composable, and pure-play solutions.
> Find out what your prospective CDP vendor may not be telling you
7. Take a Collaborative Approach: Successful CDP implementation requires a collaborative approach involving multiple departments, including marketing, IT, security, data, and more. It's essential to recognize that the CDP isn't exclusively an IT or marketing initiative; it's a strategic investment that affects the entire organization.
> Get CDP change management strategies
8. Estimate ROI: Understanding how a CDP can impact your bottom line and deliver value is essential for making an informed decision. To gauge ROI of a CDP, consider its ability to provide a holistic customer view, create targeted audiences, generate cost-savings, improve operational efficiency, and provide real-time updates.
> Check out the Total Economic Impact™ of BlueConic
By carefully crafting an RFP based on the aforementioned factors, you can make an informed choice that meets your current needs while laying the groundwork for long-term success. To help you get started, download our RFP template today:
