Key Features B2B Marketers Should Prioritize in a Customer Data Platform

The B2B marketing landscape is constantly evolving, driven by advancements in technology, changing consumer behavior, and shifting market dynamics. As B2B marketers, we know how challenging it can be to stay ahead of the curve.

For example, the rise of ecommerce has transformed consumer shopping habits, leading B2B buyers to expect similar online experiences. As a result, B2B marketers must adapt and deliver personalized, ecommerce-like interactions throughout the buyer journey. Additionally, the rise of generative AI has opened opportunities to automate manual tasks, experiment with AI-generated content, and deliver the kind of personalized experiences B2B buyers demand at scale.

However, with tightening budgets and a softening macro-economic environment, B2B marketers are facing increased scrutiny from procurement teams. This creates a dilemma: how can we create a superior buyer experience while optimizing the technologies and resources we already have?

In our view, achieving bottom-line success hinges on delivering an exceptional buying journey, which requires systems capable of adding value at every stage of the sales cycle. B2B marketers need access to unified, actionable first-party data to fuel their buyer engagement strategies and maximize their investment in marketing technology and for this many turn to a customer data platform.

BlueConic’s CDP helps you get more out of your current martech stack while reducing both internal and external dependencies, supporting faster, high-quality decision making, and minimizing the time it takes to move from insights to action. While many CDPs share core functions like data unification, analytics, and buyer profiling, their ability to deliver value varies. If you’re considering a CDP, here are six factors to ensure long-term ROI:

1. Data Integration: Most B2B organizations manage multiple data sources, including CRM systems, marketing automation platforms, and transactional databases. Given the complexities of data integration, ensure the CDP can seamlessly connect with your current systems, handle various data formats and APIs, and navigate potential migration challenges.
2. Data Privacy and Compliance: B2B marketers, like their B2C counterparts, must stay ahead of evolving consumer data privacy regulations without incurring heavy costs. Look for CDPs with robust privacy and consent management features that allow you to collect, manage, and federate consent across platforms, and quickly respond to privacy requests.
3. Account-Based Marketing (ABM) Support: Since ABM is central to most B2B strategies, your CDP should support account-level data aggregation, segmentation, and personalized marketing efforts. ABM capabilities will help you better align sales and marketing, nurture target accounts, and drive revenue growth.
4. Ease of Use: B2B marketers need quick access to actionable insights and real-time personalization capabilities. Evaluate how a CDP enables non-technical users to handle tasks like advanced segmentation, lifecycle orchestration, and predictive modeling without relying heavily on IT or analytics teams.
5. Scalability and Future Growth: Consider the flexibility of the CDP to scale with new data sources, formats, and channels, as well as its ability to handle increasing data volumes. Ensure the platform supports your long-term growth goals and expanding data needs.
6. Vendor Expertise and Support: It’s essential to evaluate a vendor’s expertise and support offerings. Look for vendors with strong domain knowledge, a history of successful implementations, and robust support services to ensure smooth adoption and continued success with the CDP.

CDPs can be a powerful tool in executing B2B marketing and customer engagement strategies, but it’s important to thoroughly evaluate your options. By considering these key features, you can make an informed decision and select a CDP that aligns with your long-term goals.