• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, March 2, 2023

Firms with customer data platforms (CDPs) spend more on email marketing than companies without them — because they can.  

Of brands without CDPs, 29% increased their email spend in 2022. In contrast, those that had a CDP for four or more years spent 46% more on email, supporting their email with the technology, according to State of the CDP, a study released Thursday by Tealium.  

Companies with a CDP for 1-3 years spent 45% more, and even firms that had one for one year were able to expend and additional 44%.

It isn’t clear if they spent this money effectively. And firms were able increase budgets for ecommerce, advertising and social media by even larger percentages.

The lowest spending increases recorded were for SEO (19%) and paid search (26%), both for organizations without CDPs.  

There are many other benefits to using CDPs, judging by this report from CDP provider Tealium.  

For instance, 47% of brands with four years substantially increased their use of identity data—i.e., device ID, username, password, age, date of birth and other data points that can be traced online back to the “real you,” the study says.  

In addition, 73% organizations with a CDP for four years or more increased  investments in their first party data strategy, as did 66% of those with 1-3 years and 62% of firms with one year. 

And, 36% of all organizations say they are say they are very prepared for third-party cookie loss, while 43% somewhat so, 16% neither prepared or unprepared, 5% somewhat unprepared, and only 1% very unprepared.  

As for data, 31% of companies with the most CDP experience use more than 10 data sources, versus 27% of entities with the least and 26% of all respondents. 

Also, 42% of large enterprises use more than 10, but only 15% of the smallest. 

The top three technology investments are: 

1. Augmented Reality 
2. Contactless Engagement 
3. Virtual Interactions

The bottom three tech investments are:

• Behavioral analytics 
• Mobilization 
• Inventory

(Note: This study was done before the enormous wave of publicity regarding ChatpGPT). 

Where do companies with CDPs stand when it comes to privacy? Of those with four years of CDP ownership, 95% are confident in their ability to support current compliance needs.  

And 93% feel they are prepared to adapt to new privacy regulations. Only 67% without CDPs say the same.  

Tealium surveyed 1,200 online marketers in the U.S., UK, France, Spain, Germany, UAE Japan, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand between October 4, 2022 and October 25, 2022. The firms had annual revemue of $100 million and above.