From data silos to customer intelligence: How to achieve a true 360° view with a CDP

Many companies have been investing in CRM systems for years – and yet still encounter limitations. The reason: important data is scattered across marketing automation, web shops, service portals, and social media. Traditional CRM systems are often unable to fully integrate this diversity. The result: fragmented customer views, duplicate data records, and missed opportunities.

 

The modern answer to this problem is called a customer data platform (CDP).

Why is CRM alone not enough? CRM systems are excellent at managing customer interactions in sales and service. But they reach their limits when it comes to:

• integrating heterogeneous data sources,
• merging anonymous and known user profiles (e.g., web tracking + customer data),
• or activating data in real time for marketing and service.

This requires a new architecture that goes beyond pure process support.

What is a CDP?

A customer data platform is a central database that brings together information from a wide variety of sources, cleanses it, and consolidates it into a holistic customer profile.

The difference to other systems:

• CRM: focuses on known customers and operational processes (sales, service).
• DMP (Data Management Platform): primarily used for anonymous advertising data, e.g., for display ads.
• CDP: integrates all relevant data—anonymous and known—into a central “golden record” view and makes it usable for different systems.

In short: CRM controls the interaction, CDP provides the intelligence behind it.

Interaction between CDP and CRM

The optimal architecture looks like this:

• CDP as a central database: It collects, harmonizes, and segments all customer data from the shop, marketing, service, social media, and IoT devices.
• CRM as an operational system: Sales and service employees access the enriched data on a daily basis and use it for specific actions.

This creates a true 360° view that not only provides historical information, but also context-related insights in real time.

Specific use cases

The added value is evident in practical applications:

• Personalized campaigns: Marketing can deliver targeted content based on behavior in the web shop, purchase history, and service contacts.
• Proactive service: A customer buys product X in the shop. The appropriate instructions or a supplementary offer are automatically sent to them.
• Intelligent lead qualification: The CDP recognizes patterns in the behavior of potential customers and only provides the sales department with contacts that are highly likely to result in a sale.

Conclusion: From data silos to customer intelligence

In a world where customer experience is becoming a decisive competitive factor, CRM alone is no longer enough. Only by combining it with a CDP can isolated data be transformed into genuine customer intelligence.

We support you in setting up these architectures – so that your data is not only collected, but also used strategically. For greater efficiency, better customer experiences, and sustainable business success.

#CDP #CRM #Customer360 #DigitalTransformation