Customer data management
Customer data management includes monitoring data integrity, privacy and security for CRM platforms and, for some organizations, separate customer data platforms while maintaining updated, compliance customer records across sales, marketing service and e-commerce operations.
Top Stories
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News
03 Feb 2023
Salesforce upheaval likely as Elliott Management moves in
As the CRM and CX giant's financial fortunes have sagged in recent years, activist investor funds have targeted the vendor for cuts that could slow technology R&D and investment. Continue Reading
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Feature
23 Jan 2023
Compare the top 13 CDP software products in 2023
CDPs, which vendors may sell as standalone products or as subsets of CRM systems, help organizations build detailed customer profiles. Top CDPs include Emarsys and Oracle Unity CDP. Continue Reading
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News
18 Jan 2023
Microsoft and Salesforce step up smart store retail tech
The tech giants are quickly evolving their technologies aimed at the brick and mortar commerce market, with new software for smart store analytics, CX and retail associates. Continue Reading
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News
04 Jan 2023
Telus completes WillowTree acquisition in $1.2B CX deal
Telus acquired the developer of customer experience products, including mobile apps and unified web interfaces, and strengthened its position in the custom CX and UI market. Continue Reading
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Tip
27 Dec 2022
4 types of customer data platforms
Data consolidation CDPs simply collect and unify customer data. Other CDP types, such as automated analytics and automated actions CDPs, go a step further and analyze data. Continue Reading
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Feature
14 Dec 2022
4 benefits of a customer data platform
CDPs organize customer data to support personalized CX strategies and compliance. Benefits of CDPs include unified customer profiles and enhanced marketing efforts. Continue Reading
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News
13 Dec 2022
MuleSoft CEO Brent Hayward on Salesforce integrations, APIs
In four-plus years since its acquisition, MuleSoft has emerged as vital connective tissue inside and outside the Salesforce platform. Interview with CEO Brent Hayward. Continue Reading
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News
19 Oct 2022
Oracle pushes forward with CX tech amid layoff cycle
Rumors of the demise of Oracle marketing, CRM and customer service turn out to be unfounded, as the company forges ahead with vertical-specific CX offerings. Continue Reading
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News
21 Sep 2022
Salesforce customers react as details about Genie emerge
Salesforce grows up by connecting all its clouds to one data platform. The hard part will be demonstrating value behind the investments it will require. Continue Reading
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News
20 Sep 2022
Salesforce Genie integrates automation, CDP, AI features
Salesforce Genie delivers a suite of automation, analytics and customer data tools the company claims is one of its biggest innovations over its 20-plus year history. Continue Reading
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News
14 Sep 2022
Salesforce adds automation features across Customer 360
Salesforce's upcoming Customer 360 features include automation tied together with CDP data for sales, marketing, service and e-commerce. Continue Reading
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News
12 Aug 2022
Third-party cookies remain as Google advertising in DOJ's sights
If Google gets sued by U.S. antitrust authorities on the grounds its advertising network is a monopoly, marketers need to plan for how it may affect their operations. Continue Reading
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Tip
11 Aug 2022
Top 10 customer data privacy best practices
To ensure customer data remains secure and inaccessible to bad actors, organizations should implement best practices such as frequent data audits and employee trainings. Continue Reading
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Answer
12 Jul 2022
How do companies protect customer data?
Companies can protect customer data through various technical tools and strategies, like authentication and encryption. But some types of data need more protection than others. Continue Reading
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Tip
24 Jun 2022
How to fit customer experience security into your strategy
Most organizations overlook security in their CX strategies. However, with collaboration, personalization, CIAM controls and more, organizations can offer a secure and positive CX. Continue Reading
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News
14 Jun 2022
Adobe adds CDP functionality for B2B use cases
Adobe catches up with the competition with the release of new customer data platform features for marketers, including a 'data clean room' and tools for B2B users. Continue Reading
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News
24 May 2022
Pegasystems acquires process mining tech, partners with CDP
Pegasystems partners with Celebrus CDP and Google Cloud to expand the reach of its CX tools and acquires Everflow, a process mining tech company. Continue Reading
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News
20 May 2022
Oracle plugs customer data platform into customer service
Oracle Service adds Unity CDP integration to afford contact center agents a historical view of customer interactions and new features. Continue Reading
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Tip
19 May 2022
The future of DMPs in a post-cookies world
DMPs are still important in marketers' jobs, but the move away from third-party cookies threatens the DMP's future. Here's what marketers and DMP providers need to know. Continue Reading
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News
30 Mar 2022
New Google Cloud retail tool targets search abandonment
The new tool is aimed at providing better results for online shoppers. It understands user intent and context, provides results for broad inquiries, and includes semantic search. Continue Reading
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Tip
22 Mar 2022
Will Google kill third-party cookies?
The end of third-party cookies has been on the horizon for years. For marketers, this termination means finding new strategies and alternatives to third-party data. Continue Reading
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Tip
03 Mar 2022
First-party vs. third-party cookies: What's the difference?
First-party cookies track user engagement, while third-party cookies are central to many marketing and sales strategies. Yet the two types are more similar than one might think. Continue Reading
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News
09 Feb 2022
Adobe Journey Optimizer adds mobile marketing capabilities
Adobe adds marketing personalization and messaging orchestration capabilities to Experience Cloud for B2B and B2C users whose customers favor smartphones. Continue Reading
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News
25 Jan 2022
Google debuts Topics, its latest third-party cookie replacement
Topics, a replacement for browser tracking cookies, is Google's latest idea to preserve browser privacy while preserving the value of its digital ad platform. Continue Reading
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News
12 Jan 2022
Customer data platform market heats up again
As companies plan for the post-pandemic reality, customer data platforms are expected to be a bigger part of marketing workflows and other emerging use cases. Continue Reading
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News
16 Dec 2021
Biden targets federal CX improvements with executive order
President Biden issues a detailed executive order that lays out agency-by-agency federal digital experience improvement mandates -- and builds accountability into the process. Continue Reading
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News
16 Sep 2021
Salesforce automation tools for 2022: RPA, document ingestion
Salesforce Einstein Automate tools to come next year include RPA, document intake and drag-and-drop process automation. Continue Reading
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Answer
13 Aug 2021
CRM vs. CDP vs. DMP: What's the difference?
Sales and marketing terms are like alphabet soup, and the different acronyms can get confusing. Find out the difference between three major platforms: CRM, CDP and DMP. Continue Reading
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Tip
02 Aug 2021
10 voice of the customer tools to consider
A voice of the customer tool is invaluable for creating an action plan to improve the customer experience. Continue Reading
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News
27 Jul 2021
OpenText releases customer data platform
OpenText customers get a natively integrated runtime CDP to drive marketing personalization and other customer interactions; AI content security features debut. Continue Reading
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News
20 Jul 2021
Redpoint Global moves into data quality as a service
Redpoint Global users get tools to manage first-party partner, product and customer data quality, identity and governance with In Situ feature bundle. Continue Reading
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News
01 Jul 2021
Google gives third-party cookies a stay of execution
Experts -- and Google -- tell us why 'The Cookiepocalypse' for which advertisers are braced is delayed until at least 2023, and what it means for internet advertising. Continue Reading
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News
22 Jun 2021
Retail tech propels stores past the pandemic
At NRF Converge, speakers discuss technologies to propel recovery from the recession of 2020, and how social media becomes a minefield for companies that don't have a strategy. Continue Reading
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Tip
08 Apr 2021
10 sentiment analysis tools to consider
Sentiment analysis is a vital component in customer relations and customer experience. Several versatile sentiment analysis software tools are available to fill this growing need. Continue Reading
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News
26 Mar 2021
Twilio Segment CEO Peter Reinhardt on the future of CDPs
In a wide-ranging Q&A, Twilio Segment CEO Peter Reinhardt discusses Twilio's $3.2 billion acquisition of the company he co-founded, and the future of CDPs. Continue Reading
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News
24 Mar 2021
Acquia digital experience platform adds CX-friendly tools
After two years of transition, Acquia users get a first glance at how all of its recent acquisitions and product introductions align to build digital experiences. Continue Reading
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News
23 Mar 2021
Optimizely shores up DX platform with Zaius CDP acquisition
CMS and A/B testing vendor Optimizely, formerly Episerver, acquires the Zaius customer data platform to extend digital experience and personalization capabilities. Continue Reading
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News
03 Mar 2021
Upland Software acquires BlueVenn marketing automation CDP
Upland Software buys BlueVenn customer data platform for $54.3 million in cash, adding to Upland's growing cloud platform of marketing and analytics apps. Continue Reading
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News
18 Feb 2021
Amazon bolsters e-commerce for small business with Selz buy
Australian e-commerce platform Selz may have caught Amazon's attention because it employs Liquid, Shopify's template language, which will simplify migrations. Continue Reading
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Guest Post
19 Jan 2021
What the loss of third-party cookies means for IT departments
Due to browsers and companies making it all but impossible to use third-party cookies, companies should consider a strong foundation of customer data to stay relevant. Continue Reading
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News
19 Jan 2021
Data privacy law is coming, big tech privacy officers say
At the digital CES 2021 event, privacy leaders at Google, Twitter and Amazon said the time is right for a data privacy law. Continue Reading
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Feature
23 Dec 2020
Customer data platforms dominate CX technology headlines
As the tech titans release their CDPs, it raises a question: Can this technology save itself from becoming another data silo in the marketing stack? Continue Reading
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News
16 Dec 2020
Social media data practices land in FTC crosshairs
The Federal Trade Commission is seeking information on how social networking giants like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube collect and use consumer data. Continue Reading
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Feature
10 Dec 2020
Standalone customer data platforms weather big competition
Standalone CDP vendors got a years-long head start on Microsoft, Oracle, Salesforce, SAP and Adobe. They stand firm in a year when online channels stayed open during the pandemic. Continue Reading
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News
24 Nov 2020
Adobe CDP adds B2B-friendly features
Adobe CDP customers will get new features in 2021 that create workflows for marketing teams and connect to popular B2B marketing platforms -- starting with its own Marketo Engage. Continue Reading
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News
05 Nov 2020
SAP CX application stack grows with addition of Emarsys
SAP scoops up a marketing automation platform with CDP capabilities, as well as personalization and the ability to reach customers across digital channels. Continue Reading
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News
02 Nov 2020
Twilio's Segment acquisition recasts UCaaS vendor as CX
Twilio, a contact-center-friendly UCaaS vendor, has completed the purchase of the Segment CDP for $3.2 billion in stock. Together, experts said, they could challenge Microsoft, Salesforce and Oracle. Continue Reading
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News
22 Oct 2020
CEOs discuss Twilio's Segment customer data platform buy
Twilio plans to acquire Segment's customer data platform for $3.2 billion. The CEOs for both companies discuss the deal and 'the great digital acceleration' caused by COVID-19. Continue Reading
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News
01 Oct 2020
Microsoft CDP adds cross-channel analytics
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Insights CDP adds integrations with other CX systems that perform analytics, customer data governance and sentiment analysis. Continue Reading
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Answer
29 Sep 2020
CDP vs. marketing automation: What's the difference?
CDPs and marketing automation software collect customer data, automate processes and increase efficiency, but they also have features that set them apart from each other. Continue Reading
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News
29 Sep 2020
Adobe Experience Platform, Oracle CX add CDP connections
Adobe bridges its CDP with Experience Cloud apps as well as third-party apps such as Salesforce. Oracle adds privacy compliance tools to its CDP stack and deepens hooks into Eloqua. Continue Reading
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News
23 Sep 2020
Salesforce delivers CDP, DXP and sales meeting tools
Salesforce drops a customer data platform, new virtual sales meeting tools and makes the case for its own Experience Cloud to give users an Adobe alternate. Continue Reading
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Tip
14 Aug 2020
How to collect customer data to improve overall retail CX
Businesses need data to predict and adjust to customer wants and needs, but first, they need to figure out how to collect it. One option is to use a digital CX software. Continue Reading
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Feature
29 Jul 2020
Combat event fatigue with a virtual event marketing strategy
Virtual events can be a great way to generate leads and improve customer retention -- but only when done right. Here are some ways that marketers can host a successful online event. Continue Reading
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Tip
29 Jul 2020
10 types of biases that affect customer data analysis
Analytics can help businesses make data-driven decisions, but common cognitive biases can skew how organizations interpret the information and CX. Continue Reading
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News
09 Jul 2020
CCPA regulation enforcement begins; Salesforce an early target
Users of marketing, sales and e-commerce clouds -- and vendors, too -- are vulnerable to legal action under the CCPA, as enforcement begins and civil suit plaintiffs cite the data privacy law. Continue Reading
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Tip
07 Jul 2020
How to gather and evaluate customer sentiment
Businesses can harvest customer sentiment from a variety of places, including social media, surveys, likes, comment cards, contact centers and word-of-mouth. Continue Reading
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Tip
06 Jul 2020
8 CX challenges facing organizations and how to address them
There are many barriers to effective CX initiatives, but most revolve around communication on both the consumer and enterprise sides of the equation. Continue Reading
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News
02 Jul 2020
Voice biometrics for CX detects customer age, fraud
As of now, Nuance voice age-detection features are for security teams that want to prevent fraud and to route service calls. Analyst sees potential for marketing personalization. Continue Reading
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Feature
11 Jun 2020
What IT leaders need to know about customer data platforms
Customer data platforms offer a lot, but many IT decision-makers remain skeptical -- there's still plenty of confusion over what they are. Find out what companies get with them. Continue Reading
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News
14 May 2020
Adobe releases AI tools for sales, marketing and e-commerce
Adobe beefs up its AI tools for Experience Platform, including a customer intelligence tool and ones for leads, content matching, channel monitoring and customer journeys. Continue Reading
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Feature
07 May 2020
Life and business post-COVID-19 for employees and companies
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed how companies interact with both employees and customers. Karl Sharicz offers a look at what he sees from a CX perspective going forward. Continue Reading
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News
19 Feb 2020
Microsoft CDP leads 400-plus features in Dynamics 365 update
Microsoft's Dynamics 365 2020 Wave 1 release opens up the floodgates for outside data sources connecting to Customer Insights, its customer data platform. Continue Reading
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Feature
14 Jan 2020
Software CDP features don't equate to CDP branding
While many tech companies have software with customer data platform attributes, some vendors, such as Salesforce and Oracle, don't put the CDP label on them. Continue Reading
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News
09 Jan 2020
Customer experience world catches up on CCPA regulations
GDPR compliance has put many marketing, sales, e-commerce and customer service teams somewhat in line with the California Consumer Privacy Act. There are some differences, however. Continue Reading
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News
23 Dec 2019
Customer data platform tools top priority list for big vendors
CDPs, which unify marketing, sales and customer service data in real time, became a huge priority for Salesforce, Microsoft, SAP, Adobe and Oracle in 2019. Read about what's next for 2020. Continue Reading
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Tip
19 Dec 2019
How to get value from customer insights data
Gathering and acting on customer insights can make the difference between a successful and struggling business. Here's how businesses can use it to their advantage. Continue Reading
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News
16 Dec 2019
Deloitte launches Adobe Experience Platform accelerator
Deloitte-Adobe global joint strategic partnership for Adobe CDP deployments adds AI tools for Deloitte clients to measure customer experience on standard metrics. Continue Reading
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News
21 Nov 2019
New Salesforce Customer 360 aims to unify data sources
In aggregate, the new Customer 360 features Salesforce added to its sales, marketing, e-commerce and service platform resemble a customer data platform. Customers, analysts and partners weigh in. Continue Reading
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News
19 Nov 2019
Salesforce Service Cloud Voice, Einstein Voice Assistant unveiled
Salesforce unveils a voice assistant and call center tools to enable real-time natural language processing for agents to connect customer data and supervisor help on a single screen. Continue Reading
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News
14 Nov 2019
Adobe Experience Platform CDP adds marketer-friendly features
Adobe adds features for non-IT marketing users to more easily deploy the Adobe Experience Platform CDP. Photoshop-like layering tools for data sets, previewed earlier this year, go live. Continue Reading
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Feature
13 Nov 2019
Microsoft CDP helps businesses unify customer data
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Insights takes data from disparate sales, service and marketing systems to bring it all into one golden record of the customer. Continue Reading
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Feature
07 Nov 2019
Small customer data platforms fend off big tech with service, features
With Microsoft, Oracle and Adobe releasing customer data platforms, to be followed by Salesforce and SAP, small CDPs defend their turf with more features, better service and pricing Continue Reading
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News
21 Oct 2019
SAP launches Qualtrics CoreXM customer research tools
SAP renames Qualtrics Research Core Qualtrics CoreXM and adds AI, enterprise analytics, dashboard tools and admin controls for data access. Continue Reading
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News
18 Oct 2019
Microsoft CDP pricing might prove attractive to midsize retailers
With entry-level pricing of $1,500 a month, the new Microsoft CDP could attract midsize retailers. Continue Reading
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News
18 Sep 2019
Salesforce search about to get smarter with Einstein AI
Salesforce will add Einstein AI to its cloud search functionality in hopes of better assessing context, personalization and reducing false hits for end-user queries. Continue Reading
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Tip
13 Sep 2019
4 customer data collection best practices to follow
Building a good customer data collection strategy can be difficult. These tips explain how to collect data and how to use it to improve customer experience. Continue Reading
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Feature
13 Aug 2019
Princess Cruises puts real-time customer experience into action
The Ocean Medallion provides real-time CX to passengers on Princess Cruises. The technology enables vacationers to automatically open stateroom doors, locate companions and more. Continue Reading
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Guide
12 Aug 2019
Customer data management tools shape personalization, boost CX
In this guide, learn about the many tools, including customer data platforms, that collect and analyze data from disparate sources and provide a single, 360-degree customer view. Continue Reading
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News
31 Jul 2019
Adobe Experience Platform adds features for data scientists
New Adobe analytics features Query Service and Data Science Workspace are generally available on the Adobe Experience Platform after being announced in beta almost a year ago. Continue Reading
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Tip
15 Jul 2019
Consumer behavior analytics makes the unpredictable predictable
With AI's arsenal of machine learning, deep learning and NLP, consumer analytics can take some of the unpredictability out of predicting buying patterns and up conversion rates. Continue Reading
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News
21 Jun 2019
Salesforce Customer 360 promises will be clearer in 2020
Salesforce expects to show off what customers are doing with Customer 360 at its next Connections conference in 2020, along with some new integrations. Continue Reading
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News
18 Jun 2019
Salesforce teases new CDP features ahead of fall release
Salesforce gives details about the makeup of its Customer 360 integration platform and features of the customer data platform that it plans to release this fall. Continue Reading
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News
17 Jun 2019
Oracle and Adobe CDP war heats up, Salesforce close behind
The customer data platform market continues to simmer as large vendors such as Oracle, Adobe, SAP and Salesforce rush to catch up to smaller, more nimble CDP competitors. Continue Reading
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News
12 Jun 2019
Nuvi's sentiment analysis engine deciphers emotion, emoji and more
Nuvi's sentiment analysis engine enables organizations to interpret the true meaning behind text, images and emoji in order to get a more complete understanding of customers' experience. Continue Reading
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News
10 Jun 2019
$15.7B Salesforce-Tableau acquisition a direct shot at Microsoft
By acquiring Tableau, Salesforce dramatically strengthened its BI and data visualization capabilities. The move boosts Salesforce's ability to compete with Microsoft. Continue Reading
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Tip
04 Jun 2019
Benefits and best approaches to B2B customer segmentation
With the increasing focus on personalization in B2B marketing, customer segmentation is a more important strategy than ever for organizations that want to know customers better. Continue Reading
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News
15 May 2019
Effective customer surveys help contact centers drive CX
As companies try to figure out who will run customer experience initiatives, contact centers make a strong case for the customer support team, using the right technology. Continue Reading
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Tip
10 May 2019
Prepare for California Consumer Privacy Act with these 5 questions
At Oracle's Modern Customer Experience conference, a privacy professional shared tips on incorporating privacy into CX systems so businesses are ready for the CCPA. Continue Reading
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News
24 Apr 2019
CDP Institute releases customer data platform certification
While waiting for Salesforce to release a customer data platform and for Adobe to perfect its newly released CDP, RealCDP certification aspires to validate CDPs available today. Continue Reading
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News
24 Apr 2019
CDP vs. DMP: Vendors battle for marketers' budgets
Customer data platforms and data management platforms have overlapping features, as vendors vie for marketers' IT budgets. It may not matter, as Adobe and Salesforce join Oracle in the game. Continue Reading
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Tip
24 Apr 2019
4 customer insights research techniques for your organization
Organizations conduct customer research in order to understand customers, create new products and increase revenue, all of which can be overwhelming without a strategy in place. Continue Reading
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Tip
17 Apr 2019
7 customer segmentation methods to help connect the dots
Customer segmentation is essential to marketing, enabling businesses to provide the right people with the right products -- and is a move away from bulk appeals. Continue Reading
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News
27 Mar 2019
Adobe Experience Platform unites Magento, Marketo, customer data
Adobe makes a play for customer experience leadership by adding Magento- and Marketo-based clouds and building it on the Adobe Experience Platform foundation to unify the data. Continue Reading
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Feature
19 Mar 2019
How Philanthropy Cloud streamlines workplace giving
Perpetual Energy used Salesforce.org's Philanthropy Cloud to create content, track charitable donations and better engage with employees during its annual United Way campaign. Continue Reading
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News
12 Mar 2019
Salesforce strategy focuses on integration, customer data
Salesforce's strategy for 2019 and beyond includes better data integration and more plans for MuleSoft, Customer 360 and Salesforce Essentials. Continue Reading
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Feature
20 Feb 2019
How Salesforce Einstein machine learning makes AI practical
As it evolves, Salesforce's Einstein AI serves the needs of a growing number of organizations and takes the guesswork out of why certain decisions are made. Continue Reading
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Feature
12 Feb 2019
CRM for nonprofits helps organization streamline work
Wolverine Human Services' adoption of the Salesforce.org Nonprofit Cloud halved foster care licensing time and improved productivity within the agency. Continue Reading
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Answer
07 Jan 2019
What was the purpose of Salesforce's MuleSoft acquisition?
Salesforce completed the acquisition of MuleSoft in May 2018, gaining large customers, such as Coca-Cola and Anheuser-Busch, and adding beneficial technology to its platform. Continue Reading
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Tip
29 Nov 2018
Salesforce Circles of Success help SMBs get up to speed
Circles of Success participants connect with other Salesforce users to swap challenges, tips and tricks for rolling out the platform in their businesses. Continue Reading
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Podcast
17 Oct 2018
Pipeline podcast ranges over Dreamforce news
Einstein Voice, Customer 360, Salesforce partners and all things Dreamforce. The Pipeline podcast takes on these developments and takes an inside look at Salesforce Tower, too. Continue Reading
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News
10 Oct 2018
Google Analytics for Salesforce helps users scour web data
Salesforce will sell Google Marketing Platform products on its own site in North America, strengthening the partnership between the two software giants. Continue Reading