45% of Marketers Say Customer Data Platforms are ‘Exceeding’ Expectations

As marketers collect more data than ever before about their target audiences, new research indicates that they are finally seeing success with their customer data platforms (CDPs).

Merkle recently published its “Customer Engagement Report,” and statistics showed that 45% of marketers claim their CDP is “exceeding” their expectations. Fifty-two percent claimed that it is at least “meeting” the expectations they had set.

Most marketers (59%) say that they primarily use their CDP for data consolidation, while 24% utilize it to collect data, in general. Approximately 11% use it for data enrichment, while 4% leverage it for data activation.

“Organizations that are finding success with CDPs have not just implemented the technology but have also thoughtfully integrated the platform into their broader technology ecosystems,” wrote the researchers behind the report.

The Pitfalls of Marketing Data

Although many marketers have access to large amounts of data, previous research suggests that they are still struggling with its quality.

Salesforce conducted the seventh edition of its “State of Marketing” report, and statistics indicated that only 58% of underperforming marketers have a CDP they can leverage, and 78% of high-performing marketers said the same. Furthermore, just 42% of respondents said that they were fully satisfied with their data’s quality/hygiene, and 40% said they were satisfied with its completeness.

On average, B2B marketers are expected to have up to 15 sources of data they can tap into by 2022. However, this research highlights the gaps that still need to be addressed.