Customer data platform (CDP)
MarTech is your source for customer data platform (CDP) content. You’ll find a variety of up-to-date and authoritative resources, including the latest news, tactic-rich tutorials, the latest data to help you work smarter and make better decisions as well as our CDP buyer’s guide.
What you read here is written by our experienced in-house team of editors and research professionals, and subject matter experts from leading brands and agencies.
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How to balance data control and real-time personalization
Warehouse native CDPs promise cleaner data, but marketers need new strategies to deliver fast, relevant experiences.
Martech 2026: AI drives a major industry reset
Flat growth masks a deeper shift as AI moves to the center of value creation and forces a rethink of how martech stacks are built.
Warehouse-native CDPs vs standalone platforms explained
Choosing between your data warehouse and a packaged CDP depends on control, speed and operational complexity.
Hightouch streamlines the ad ecosystem with data partnerships
Hightouch wants to cut out the middlemen and simplify the digital ad ecosystem by integrating data onboarding with the CDP.
The new must-haves in B2B ecommerce tech stacks go beyond CRM and CMS
As B2B buyers expect more B2C-like experiences, ecommerce marketers need tools that go far beyond the basics.
How to tell if your CDP is really real-time
Every vendor says they do real-time updates; here's a real-world method to distinguish between platforms.
The CDP fantasy is over
Tejas Manohar, co-CEO of Hightouch, dismantles the CDP playbook and discusses the shift toward composable data architectures and AI-driven decisioning.
Five truths you need to know about martech, and what to do about them
A candid roundtable with martech leaders revealed five uncomfortable truths holding brands back — and the practical steps needed to finally move past them.
Hightouch enters the fray for agentic AI for marketers
Hightouch unveils AI agents trained in real marketing workflows, hoping to make it easier for marketers to work smarter and faster.
5 ways a B2B CDP transforms your marketing and sales alignment
B2B CDPs unify fragmented data, reveal buying group behavior and turn sales and marketing into one revenue engine. Here’s what makes them indispensable.
How to unify customer data using tools you already have
Even without a CDP, marketers can start delivering personalized experiences by using existing CRM and BI tools to unify customer data.
Marketing artificial intelligence (AI)
Bandits have taken over marketing decisioning, and that’s a good thing
Marketing decisioning has shifted from rules to AI — fueled by data warehouses and advanced models like reinforcement learning.
Why chasing shiny CDP features leaves marketers feeling like imposters
Marketers often feel left behind in the CDP race, but the real success lies in mastering the fundamentals that keep data reliable and campaigns durable.
GrowthLoop wants to help retailers capture more retail media dollars
Retail media networks are booming, but legacy tech holds them back. GrowthLoop aims to power modern, AI-driven ad sales.
The martech refresh cycle is a myth
Vendors push unneeded upgrades, forcing marketing leaders into cycles of constant, costly replacements that solve nothing.
Content management systems (CMS)
As data and content proliferate, context is poised to become the new king
Today’s users expect hyper-relevant experiences. That means real-time data, AI and a whole lot of context.
Zero-party data in action: How top brands turn product discovery into conversions
Learn how leading brands use interactive experiences to capture buyer intent, drive conversions, and build loyalty.
The fatal flaw killing your customer data initiatives
Customer data alone won’t drive results. A shift to customer analytics is what turns information into action.
Supermetrics acquires real-time CDP Relay42
Another standalone CDP is off the market, as consolidation continues to hit the space.
Turn real-time data into smarter customer journeys
Connect the dots between real-time data and real-world results.
Nobody knows what a CDP is anymore — and that’s the problem
CDPs promised clarity and control. Now they deliver complexity and confusion. Here's how the smartest brands are responding.
Twilio unveils new features for customer data platform
Improvements include better data orchestration, a fully redesigned customer journey function, an AI agent creator and enhanced compliance tools.
Why does composability get so much attention in the CDP space?
Composability is a big part of the story as the CDP space evolves.
Customer relationship management (CRM)
5 drivers of full-funnel growth with CRM and CDP data
Master full-funnel marketing with tactics that connect acquisition data to lifetime value, driving smarter decisions and higher profits.
More consolidation among data tools, as Fivetran acquires Census
Vendors touching customer data keep pairing up as data becomes more essential in the AI era.
6 challenges businesses face when deploying CDPs
Like many ambitious software deployments, CDPs present a number of deployment challenges. Here's how to overcome them.
Why independent CDPs are disappearing (and what comes next)
With the consolidation of leading independent CDPs, the industry is at a turning point. Here’s what brands need to know.
5 underrated tools to boost your B2B PPC performance
These will help you track smarter, outsmart competitors, and make sense of multichannel chaos in 2025
Adobe looks to navigate privacy and advertising with Adobe Real-Time CDP Collaboration
Adobe’s new data clean room helps advertisers and publishers protect privacy while monetizing audiences.
Did Meta just launch a CDP with Signals Gateway?
If it looks like a CDP and quacks like a CDP, it might just be a CDP. And it’s an interesting time to enter that market for sure.
CDP consolidation continues, as Rokt scoops up mParticle
Is this officially a wave of consolidation crashing over the CDP space? It certainly looks that way.
5 principles for a smoother, more successful CDP deployment
A successful CDP deployment improves business outcomes. These five principles will help you get there.
Digital experience platform (DXP)
Contentstack acquires CDP Lytics
Another independent CDP is absorbed by a digital experience platform.
Marketing artificial intelligence (AI)
AI transformation: 2025 predictions
Experts predict that AI will spur transformation around data, content optimization, decisioning and hiring chief AI officers in the year ahead.
The hidden reasons your CDP project is failing
There are things that go wrong with any big project and there are things that go wrong with CDPs. Let's plan to avoid those pitfalls.
12 ways to use a customer data platform
Sure, your CDP can sit at the center of your martech stack and be a centralized hub for data and reporting. But it can also do so much more.
Composability has arrived, says MessageGears
Let's take a close look at the claim that composable CDPs are here to stay.
The age of personalization: How to prepare when nobody’s prepared
Marketing personalization has never been more important, yet companies are struggling to implement the right strategies.
The service model evolving around CDPs
CDPs are adding new capabilities and finding new uses across the organization. Getting the most from them may mean looking beyond the vendor.
What to do when your vendor has a data breach
Last year, 61% of companies reported a third-party data breach — so it's only a matter of time until you will have to deal with one.