Study: Why SEA and Greater China are the 'hottest CDP markets'

A customer data platform (CDP) is crucial in truly knowing your consumer and their flavour profiles. According to Forrester, Southeast Asia and Greater China are the "hottest CDP markets" as venders in this region generate the most revenue. Marketers in these two regions have to deal with a huge amount of customer data and the unique digital ecosystems as well as market intricacies provide a chance for CDP vendors to grow.

At the same time, CDP vendors also draw the most revenue from retail and financial services companies. The reason is marketers in these two fields have richer customer data assets and are more proficient at collecting and using first-party data. Hence, Forrester said it is not surprising that they are ready to pour their money into CDPs.

Meanwhile, B2C marketers in Asia Pacific cited the quality of customer data (28%) and the inability to act on buyer and customer data (28%) as the top two greatest challenges for their marketing organisation to achieving marketing goals over the next 12 months.

The statistics were based on Forrester's Marketing Survey 2022 with 340 B2C marketers in the region. Multiple responses were accepted and out of the 340, 20% also cited the accessibility of customer data as one of the greatest challenge also.

Although Google has delayed the deprecation of third-party cookies to the second half of 2024, marketers are still doubling down on first-party data. In fact, 66% of those surveyed said they have invested in more first-party data collection compared to 60% last year. In 2021, Forrester surveyed 122 B2C marketing decision-makers.

Aside from obtaining a single view of the customer and segmentation, APAC marketers use CDPs for data orchestration of campaigns, reporting and dashboards, and data management. CDPs are no doubt an important investment and can amount to a few hundred thousand dollars annually. Hence, it is crucial for marketers to do their homework before investing in one.

Here are four things marketers should take note of:

1. Gain the right CDP skills and knowledge

The scope and functionality of a CDP can vary greatly. Hence, it is crucial for marketers to be extremely clear about the type of CDP their business needs; the specific use cases they expect the CDP to support; and the type of internal data, tech, and business experts that are required to manage it.

2. Start small and validate

The key is also not to do too much too soon. Marketers are advised not to start with too many use cases simultaneously but instead, begin with test programmes and build business cases to illustrate business value.

3. Set specific business objectives and measure outcomes

Those who are successful in leveraging CDPs are able to clearly link use cases with business objectives. Citing AIA Singapore as an example, Forrester said the company defined 30 CDP use cases, each of which had specific business objectives such as increased lead generation, app installation, and customer engagement.

4. Build a cross-functional CDP team

Marketers need to build a team with a wide range of skill sets and involve multiple roles and teams. This includes the martech team, digital developers, data scientists, and campaign managers.