Data & identity · also called Customer data platform
CDP (customer data platform)
A CDP (customer data platform) is software that collects a company's first-party customer data from many sources, unifies it into individual profiles and makes those profiles available to marketing tools.
Companies store customer information in many places: website analytics, apps, e-commerce systems, email tools, call centres, point-of-sale systems. A CDP pulls it together, resolves which records belong to the same person, and builds a unified profile that updates over time.
Marketers use CDPs to create segments ("customers who bought twice but not in 90 days"), personalise emails, sites and apps, and send audiences to advertising platforms, often via hashed identifiers or conversions APIs. Many CDPs also manage consent flags so data is used only as users agreed.
A CDP differs from a DMP. DMPs were built around anonymous cookie IDs and third-party data for ad targeting; CDPs focus on known customers and first-party data, and persist that data over the long term. CDPs are distinct from CRMs too, which manage sales and service interactions. Many vendors now blur these lines, and some companies build "composable" CDPs directly on their data warehouses.
Think of it like this
A CDP is like a single, tidy file for each customer, assembled from sticky notes scattered around the whole company.
An example
A fashion retailer in Mexico unifies web, app and store purchases in a CDP, discovering that 30% of "new" online customers already shop in stores, and stops targeting them with first-purchase discounts.
Related terms
DMP (data management platform)
A DMP (data management platform) is software that collects and organises mostly anonymous, cookie-based audience data from first and third parties into segments for targeting programmatic ads.
First-party data
First-party data is information a company collects directly from its own customers or audience, such as purchases, sign-ups, app use and site behaviour, through its own channels.
Audience segment
An audience segment is a group of people or devices defined by shared characteristics, such as demographics, interests, purchase behaviour or intent, used to target or measure advertising.
Identity graph
An identity graph is a database that links the many identifiers belonging to the same person or household, such as emails, device IDs, cookies and IP addresses, into one profile.
Zero-party data
Zero-party data is information a customer intentionally and proactively gives a brand, such as preferences, intentions or quiz answers, rather than data inferred from their behaviour.
Sources: GDPR Article 5: principles, California Attorney General: CCPA