To connect data sources to a CDP, you typically need to follow these general steps:
- Identify Data Sources: Determine the various data sources you want to connect to your CDP. These can include internal systems such as your customer relationship management (CRM) system, transactional databases, email marketing platforms, mobile apps, website analytics, and external sources like social media platforms or third-party data providers. Refer to Table 5.1 to find out where you can potentially find the different types of data.
| Type of Data | Where It Can be Found |
| Contact data | CRM systems |
| Engagement data | Email Service provider, e-commerce systems, or marketing cloud |
| Purchase data | Point-of-sale system (POS) |
| Preferential data | Marketing or CRM systems |
| Service interaction data | Customer service management systems |
| Behavioral data | e-commerce, marketing, web and mobile apps, CRM systems |
Table 5.1: Different types of data and where they can be found
- Understand Data Structure and Format: Gain a thorough understanding of the data structure and format of each data source. This includes identifying the types of data available, data fields, data formats (for example, CSV, JSON, database tables), and any unique identifiers that can be used to match or merge data across sources.
- Assess Integration Options: Research the integration options provided by your CDP. Many CDPs offer pre-built connectors or Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) that facilitate data ingestion from various sources. Explore the documentation or resources provided by your CDP to understand the available integration methods.
- Preprocess and Transform Data: Depending on the format and structure of your data sources, you may need to preprocess and transform the data to ensure compatibility with your CDP. This can involve cleaning data, restructuring or mapping fields, and standardizing data formats.
- Set Up Data Integrations: Use the integration options provided by your CDP to establish connections with each data source. This typically involves configuring the integration settings, specifying the data source credentials or access tokens, and defining the frequency or schedule for data synchronization.
- Data Ingestion: Initiate the data ingestion process by starting the integration or synchronization between the CDP and the data sources. The CDP will begin pulling or receiving data from the connected sources based on the configured settings.
- Data Mapping and Unification: As data flows into the CDP, you may need to map or unify fields across different data sources. This step ensures that data is correctly associated and consolidated within the CDP, allowing a unified view of customer profiles and behavior.
- Data Quality Assurance: Implement data quality checks and validation processes to ensure the accuracy, consistency, and integrity of the ingested data. This can involve data cleansing, deduplication, and error handling to maintain data quality standards.
- Test and Monitor: Validate the data integration by testing and verifying that the desired data is successfully flowing into the CDP. Monitor the data integration process to detect any issues or discrepancies and promptly address them.