Scott Brinker did it again. The 2019 edition of his Marketing Technology Supergraphic outdid the year prior with a staggering 7,040 martech companies represented:
(Don’t worry: You’re not expected to be able to make out any of the brands from this reduced-size version. Suffice to say, there are most definitely 7,000+ companies featured — including BlueConic.)
In his speech introducing the 2018 edition of this graphic at the MarTech Conference in Boston as well as the accompanying blog post on ChiefMarTec, Brinker made this astute observation:
- “We’re in a post-platform era in martech. The dream of one-suite-to-rule-them-all has been superseded by a vision of many open platform-like tools being woven together in a more dynamic fashion. Some will be big, foundational platforms; many will be small, specialized platforms. All of them will give more power to marketers to shape their craft in a digital everything world.”
Recently, I had the opportunity to visit the Vatican. I — along with thousands of other tourists — walked through a gallery of centuries-old tapestries I think are an apt reference point to what Brinker talks about when he says today’s marketing technology platforms are being “woven together.”
Data integration distinguishes the CDP from other marketing technologies
The monumental shift the explosion of martech solutions represents isn’t just the sheer volume. It’s also about the fact marketers can now build martech engines powered by their own first-party data.
We’re talking about the assembly of what are essentially completely bespoke stacks with incredible diversity, complexity, and scope. If these stacks, like the Vatican’s tapestries, are going to stand up to the rigors of time, the strength of the weaving is critical.
The customer data platform (CDP) is designed to give marketers the breadth of data integration options she needs to liberate the relevant first-party data that exists in different parts of her marketing stack and also make it usable in other places through instantaneous activation across channels.
What kind of data integration is required, however, depends on a number of factors — most noteworthy, the particular use cases the data integration in question supports.
In BlueConic’s case, there are seven different data integration options, each with out-of-the-box support, for connecting data to support the full range of marketer needs.
We put together the table below to not only explain why there’s no one-size-fits-all model for data integration, but also to point out that you don’t need to custom-build every type of data integration you’re looking for — builds that often require lots of money and time.
In short, this table shows the CDP is marketing’s gateway to benefiting from the bounty of martech riches available, while right-sizing the perfect martech stack for you and your team.
Out-of-the-box data integration methods you should expect from your CDP
| CDP Data Integration Method | Benefits | Caveats | Sample Use Case |
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Server-to-server data integration Examples: Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Google AdWords, Facebook Custom Audiences |
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Client-side data integration Examples: Universal Analytics, Krux, BlueKai, LiveRamp |
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| CSV and batch processing |
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Webhook Example: Slack |
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Data layer connection Examples: Adobe Analytics, Google Tag Manager, BlueConic Data Layer |
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Embedded connections Examples: iOS, Android |
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| DIY data integration |
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As you can see, when it comes to data integration, you’ve got plenty of options. The key is deciding which avenues to take to unify your data sets into a single, digital location.
Already know a customer data platform is the marketing hub you need? Learn how to write your CDP RFP for prospective vendors in our webinar.
