WEB-STIL

In June 2023, Reddit faced what seemed like a manageable challenge: implementing API pricing changes.

Instead, it spiraled into a massive platform-wide protest with over 8,000 subreddits going dark.

As a Reddit user, I saw this unfold in real-time as several subreddits I belong to joined the blackout. What started as a technical policy change quickly became a lesson in poor crisis communication.

Why? Poor crisis communication.

Rather than engaging transparently with moderators, Reddit‘s CEO Steve Huffman dismissed concerns, made contradictory statements, and failed to address the community’s core issues.

The result? A PR nightmare that could have been mitigated with proper crisis planning.

The lesson, I think, is that crises come when they’re least expected — which is why every company must have a crisis communication plan.

In this guide, I’ll show you how to create a communication framework that protects your reputation, maintains stakeholder trust, and confidently navigates any crisis that comes your way.

Table of Contents

• What is crisis communication?
• What is a crisis management plan?
• Crisis Communication Plan Examples
• Why is a crisis management plan important?
• Crisis Management Strategies
• How to Write a Crisis Communication Plan
• What to Include in a Crisis Management Plan
• The Crisis Management and Communication Plan Template

“Crisis management is always first and foremost about people,” says John Bailey, senior VP at GoCrisis.

“Focus on the harm done and calibrate your response to that — whether it’s a customer who bought a product that went wrong, or somebody who lost a loved one.”

Whether you actively manage it or not, your company’s reputation is already established in the minds of those familiar with your brand.

While researching corporate responses to crises, I realized that taking control of crisis communication allows you to shape the narrative rather than letting others define it for you.

By communicating openly during challenging times, you safeguard your reputation and foster deeper customer trust through transparency.

Now, you might be wondering, “What constitutes a crisis?” Let’s dive into some examples below.

Crisis Scenario Examples

Just about any scenario could manifest as a business crisis that warrants communication from your organization.

“You can almost guarantee that the day the bell rings and something really significant happens, it will be the one thing you never considered,” says Bailey, citing how a volcanic eruption in Iceland disrupted operations at Singapore’s Changi Airport — a scenario that scored so low on their risk register that it had never been considered.

Some of the most common types of crises include:

• Financial. Financial loss such as announcing a bankruptcy or store closures.
• Personnel. Staff changes that may affect operations or reputation such as employee furloughs, layoffs, or controversial behavior.
• Organizational. Misconduct or wrongdoing as a result of organizational practices.
• Technological. Technological failure that results in outages causing reduced functionality or functionality loss.
• Natural. Natural crisis that necessitates an announcement or change of procedure. For example, defining safety precautions amid a health crisis.
• Confrontation. Discontent individuals confront an organization as a result of unmet needs or demands.
• Workplace violence. Violence is committed by a current or former employee against other employees.
• Crisis of malevolence. A business uses criminal or illegal means to destabilize, harm, extort, or destroy a competitor.

In addition, anything else you can think of that could stall or halt business continuity is a good example of a crisis that warrants communication with customers and/or the public.

While crisis communication can be fairly reactive, it helps to have a crisis communication plan in place before you need to use it to make the process easier for your team members.

While reviewing different crisis management plans, I’ve discovered that the best ones do more than just list procedures – they serve as a structured framework to minimize the impact of crises, safeguard stakeholders, and ensure operational continuity.

Most importantly, a crisis management plan helps guarantee a quick release of information and a consistent message on all company platforms during a crisis. That message depends largely on what the crisis involves and how all parties are affected by it.

Why is a crisis management plan important?

At this point, you might be thinking: “A crisis management plan? That sounds like a lot of work for something we might never use. What’s the point?”

In reality, how you prepare for and respond to a crisis plays a major part in whether your organization survives it. According to Capterra’s 2023 Crisis Communications Survey, fewer than half (49%) of U.S. businesses have a formal documented plan.

Specifically, having a solid crisis management plan helps you:

Act swiftly when minutes matter.

During a crisis, your team might have to make dozens of critical decisions simultaneously. It could be facing cyberattacks, technology failures, or workplace violence — and that’s just the beginning.

Having to figure out your response in the moment is like attempting to build a lifeboat during the storm.

That’s why Carmel O’Toole, a seasoned journalist and award-winning PR practitioner, advises that “a holding statement should be issued within the first few moments. It doesn‘t need to say a lot, but it’s about establishing your organization as a central point of authoritative communication.”

Protect your reputation.

The first 24 hours often determine how your organization’s response will be remembered.

A crisis management plan ensures quick, consistent, and transparent communication, which explains why 84% of leaders who’ve experienced a crisis say they would increase practice sessions afterward.

“Resources are finite,” O’Toole advises, “so focus on the most likely scenarios. Do a risk assessment — look at both likelihood and potential impact to prioritize your crisis planning.”

Keep your team aligned.

A crisis management plan ensures everyone knows their exact role and responsibilities. As O’Toole emphasizes, “Who handles media communications? Who manages operational continuity? Who coordinates with emergency services?”

These aren’t questions you want to be asking in the middle of a crisis.

Your team members are also your most important ambassadors. “Staff should not be last in line to hear about what’s going on,” she notes.

While it‘s important to have media policies in place, this shouldn’t be treated as a gag order — it’s about ensuring inquiries are directed to the proper channels and that everyone can respond confidently and consistently.

When these roles and responsibilities are clearly defined, your organization can respond as a unified front rather than scattered individuals.

This coordinated approach makes all the difference when time is of the essence and every decision counts.

Crisis Management Strategies

1. Spokesperson Response

In my analysis of corporate apologies during crises, I’ve found that humanizing the response — whether through a CEO statement or designated spokesperson — consistently leads to better outcomes than technical or legal-focused responses.

“Ignore the noise and focus on what you own as a responsibility,” advises Bailey, drawing from his experience leading Malaysia Airlines’ communications during the MH370 incident. “The first currency that you have in a crisis is information,” he adds.

Choosing a good communicator is important, as their actions will influence how your key stakeholders react to the situation. If they can make your company look human and your mistakes appear manageable, that will play a major role in maintaining stakeholder support.

2. Proactive Damage Control

When examining cases where companies have successfully avoided potential crises, I’ve noticed that systematic preparation is the key factor differentiating containment from catastrophe.

In my research on cybersecurity incidents, companies that invested in preventive measures consistently achieved better crisis outcomes than those that were forced into reactive responses.

Proactive damage control is what you do to reduce or prevent the effects of a crisis before it occurs. For example, adding security software that records and backs up company data will help you avoid a malware crisis. Additionally, you can train your employees to watch out for suspicious or harmful emails that might reach their inboxes.

At HubSpot, our security team sends out routine training videos to educate employees about different security protocols. The videos are short and the multiple-choice quizzes are so light-hearted that they act as additional learning tools in case you didn’t pay close attention to the video.

This makes training easy to consume and, more importantly, effective in teaching employees how to protect company data.

3. Case Escalation

Sometimes, crises can be resolved on the individual level before they reach a viral tipping point. For these cases, it helps to create an escalation system within your customer service team that can diffuse the issue before it gets out of hand.

At HubSpot, we have specialists who work on complex or time-sensitive cases. When customers have needs that require additional attention, our experts intervene to assist. This helps the service rep manage a tricky situation and ensures a more delightful experience for our customers.

4. Social Media Response

In analyzing how companies respond to crises on social media‌, I’ve observed an interesting pattern: the speed of information sharing on social platforms can transform a minor incident into a major crisis before a company can react.

What makes social media particularly challenging for crisis management is its dual nature: while it’s a powerful marketing tool that allows companies to reach audiences across the globe, this reach works both ways.

Customers can share stories, post pictures, and upload videos for the world to see. One viral video painting your company in the wrong light can lead to millions of people developing a negative perception of your brand.

Crises are battled both in-person and online. So, your company needs a social media plan that can manage the digital buzz around your business.

This may include assigning more reps to monitor your social channels or updating followers with new information. But, regardless of how you use it, social media can’t be ignored when your company is working through a crisis.

5. Customer Feedback Collection and Analysis

Sometimes, a crisis occurs, but it isn‘t on the front page of the news or going viral on social media. Instead, it’s silently affecting your customers and causing churn, but you‘re unaware of it because you’re not gathering enough feedback from your customers.

Gathering feedback is an excellent way to prevent a crisis. It provides insight into how customers are feeling about your business, allowing you to spot major roadblocks before they escalate into a crisis. Customers can also share negative criticism that you can use to improve other customers’ experiences.

When faced with an unhappy or escalated customer, our success team recognizes this as a chance to collect customer feedback. They begin interactions by asking customers to review their experience and discuss any unsatisfactory elements. This helps our team create actionable steps that they can use to align themselves with the customer’s needs.

Rachel Grewe, a HubSpot Customer Success rep, explains this strategy in the quote below.

“I open with asking for the opportunity to hear their feedback on their experience, then I make sure to close with actionable next steps for myself and the customer. An escalated customer isn’t always a sign of failure but an opportunity to demonstrate our commitment to our customer’s success.”

How to Write a Crisis Communication Plan

“If something happens that brings consequences for you as a business, that thing has already happened. You can’t turn the clock back,” says Bailey.

With this consequences-first mindset, here’s how to create your crisis communication plan.

1. Identify the goals of the plan.

I recommend focusing your crisis communication plan on specific, measurable outcomes rather than just broad goals.

The goal of a crisis communication plan is to ensure rapid, transparent, and unified messaging that protects the organization’s reputation, restores trust, and maintains operational continuity.

For example, in a product recall scenario, the objective might include achieving a 90% resolution rate within 48 hours while minimizing negative sentiment by 30% on social platforms.

To measure success, establish clear metrics such as response time, stakeholder engagement levels, and recovery benchmarks that align with the organization’s strategic priorities.

2. Identify stakeholders.

Effective crisis communication begins with stakeholder identification and prioritization.

Stakeholders should be segmented into primary and secondary groups based on their level of impact and influence.

For example:

• Primary stakeholders. Customers affected by service disruptions, employees managing crisis operations, and investors requiring reassurance about the company’s stability.
• Secondary stakeholders. Media outlets monitoring the story, regulators overseeing compliance, and industry partners dependent on the company’s operations.

Use a prioritization framework to guide communication flow.

For instance, during a major outage, customers and employees need immediate updates, while media statements can follow after internal alignment. Tailor messaging to each group’s needs: investors may require data on financial impact and recovery timelines, while customers need actionable next steps to resolve their concerns.

Additionally, maintain a centralized database of stakeholder contact information and communication preferences. This ensures rapid outreach and minimizes delays during high-pressure situations.

3. Create a hierarchy for sharing information on the crisis.

Establishing a clear hierarchy for sharing information ensures timely and accurate communication during a crisis.

I think the most critical aspect here is ensuring no information gets lost between teams.

This hierarchy should adapt to the nature of the crisis and account for backup roles to avoid delays.

A typical structure might include:

1. Initial reporting. The first person to identify the crisis (e.g., a customer service agent noticing a social media backlash) escalates it to their direct manager.
2. Leadership notification. Department heads evaluate the situation and notify the Crisis Response Lead (e.g., COO or Head of Communications) with all available details.
3. Cross-functional coordination. The Crisis Response Lead convenes a task force, which may include the CEO, General Counsel, and department heads, depending on the crisis type.
4. External experts. For high-stakes situations, legal advisors, PR consultants, or cybersecurity firms are brought in to provide expertise.

For example, in a cybersecurity breach, the IT team identifies the issue and escalates it to the CTO. The CTO notifies the Crisis Response Lead, who activates the plan, including contacting legal counsel for regulatory reporting requirements and the PR team for stakeholder communication.

Ensure all roles in the hierarchy are well-documented, with designated backups to handle absences. Clearly outline decision points, such as “Media statements require CEO sign-off within one hour of draft completion,” to maintain alignment.

4. Assign people to create fact sheets.

Assigning the right team to create fact sheets is critical for maintaining accurate and consistent messaging. Fact sheets should outline key details, such as the nature of the crisis, its impact, and immediate next steps, tailored to the intended audience.

In my view, fact sheets work best when they anticipate stakeholder questions rather than just stating company positions.

To streamline this process, focus on:

• Roles and responsibilities. Assign a content lead to draft the document, a subject matter expert to ensure accuracy, and an approval lead to finalize it. For example, in a data breach scenario, the IT team provides technical details while the PR team adapts them into an accessible language for customers.
• Templates and tools. Use pre-designed templates or crisis management software to ensure clarity and speed. Fact sheets for media might include a concise incident summary and approved quotes, while enterprise clients may require a detailed timeline and resolution roadmap.
• Timeline management. Set deadlines based on crisis urgency. For instance, during a service outage, prepare a fact sheet within 30 minutes for internal use, with a customer-facing version ready within 2 hours.
• Real-time updates. Fact sheets should be living documents that evolve as new information becomes available. Proactively update stakeholders to prevent misinformation and build trust.

For example, during a service disruption, the initial fact sheet might confirm the outage and estimated resolution time. As the investigation progresses, updates can include the root cause, recovery actions, and steps to prevent recurrence.

5. Identify and assess example crisis scenarios.

Identifying and assessing potential crisis scenarios allows your organization to prepare for high-impact events proactively.

Start by creating a list of likely scenarios relevant to your business and assessing them using a likelihood-impact matrix. This approach prioritizes your response plans based on the probability of occurrence and the potential damage to your organization. Below are some potential scenarios.

• Cybersecurity breach: A hacker gains access to customer data, triggering regulatory reporting requirements and public concerns about data privacy.
• PR scandal: An executive’s controversial comment goes viral, leading to calls for accountability on social media and demands for a public apology.
• Operational failure: A major service outage disrupts customer operations during peak business hours, resulting in financial losses and reputational damage.

For each scenario, outline potential impacts (e.g., regulatory penalties, customer churn) and craft tailored mitigation strategies.

For instance, in a cybersecurity breach, your response plan should include immediate containment steps, regulatory disclosures, and customer communication templates.

Collaborate across teams to build robust scenario assessments. Legal teams can provide insights into regulatory risks, IT teams on operational vulnerabilities, and PR teams on reputational threats. Regularly revisit and update these scenarios based on changes in your business or industry trends.

6. Identify and answer common questions.

During any crisis — no matter how big or small — people are going to ask questions. Whether they are customer advocates or reporters, the public will want to uncover the truth. After all, in most cases, companies are seen as guilty until proven innocent.

Crisis communication plans can help you identify and answer questions that you can expect to be asked during your crisis scenarios.

Pro tip: I suggest building your Q&A document based on actual stakeholder concerns rather than assumptions. Use the potential scenarios you identified to structure this doc.

You can also collaborate across teams to build robust scenario assessments. Legal teams can provide insights into regulatory risks, IT teams on operational vulnerabilities, and PR teams on reputational threats.

Regularly revisit and update these scenario responses based on changes in your business or industry trends.

7. Identify potential risks.

Identifying potential risks is essential to prepare for the challenges your crisis communication plan may face. Based on my analysis, effective risk identification requires thinking beyond immediate operational concerns.

Start by categorizing risks into key areas such as:

• Operational risks. Delayed responses or misinformation spreading internally.
• Reputational risks. Loss of customer trust due to inadequate communication or slow action.
• Legal and regulatory risks. Non-compliance with disclosure requirements or breaches of contractual obligations.
• Financial risks. Increased costs due to service recovery or customer churn.

Use a risk probability-impact grid to assess and prioritize risks. For example, a cybersecurity breach might have a low likelihood but high impact, requiring proactive contingency plans.

Develop pre-approved mitigation frameworks for high-risk scenarios. For instance, in a PR crisis, your framework might include immediate coordination with legal counsel to vet public statements or pre-drafted customer communication templates.

Understand cascading risks, where one issue triggers others. A data breach, for instance, may lead to legal fines, customer dissatisfaction, and a drop in stock value. Addressing the root cause swiftly can prevent secondary risks from escalating.

Finally, perform a post-crisis analysis to identify gaps in your risk management strategy and incorporate lessons learned into your plan. This continuous improvement process ensures your organization is better prepared for future crises.

8. Create guidelines specific to social media.

Social media is often the front line in crisis communication, requiring swift, transparent, and platform-specific responses. I’ve found that social media requires its own distinct crisis response framework due to its real-time nature.

Here’s what I recommend to manage a crisis effectively.

• Tailor your messaging for each platform. For example:

• Use concise, real-time updates for X, focusing on key facts and reassurances.
• Maintain a professional tone on LinkedIn for updates aimed at investors and partners.
• Adopt a customer-centric and empathetic approach for Instagram or Facebook audiences.

• Deploy tools like Hootsuite or Sprout Social for continuous monitoring of mentions, hashtags, and keywords related to the crisis. Use AI-driven sentiment analysis to detect trends and adjust your messaging accordingly.
• Leverage relationships with trusted influencers or brand advocates to share accurate information and counter misinformation.
• Establish a rapid response team dedicated to identifying and addressing false narratives before they gain traction. For example, correcting viral misinformation with pinned posts or official replies.
• Ensure messaging across platforms is empathetic and transparent while reflecting the brand’s voice. Avoid overly formal responses on customer-focused platforms and overly casual tones on professional networks.
• Provide consistent updates at predictable intervals (e.g., every hour for fast-evolving crises). Avoid overwhelming your audience with excessive posts while ensuring you remain visible and accessible.

Pro tip: During a service outage, post real-time updates on X every 30 minutes, while using LinkedIn for a professional incident summary and estimated resolution timeline. Proactively address customer inquiries on Instagram and Facebook with pre-approved FAQs tailored to the crisis.

What to Include in a Crisis Management Plan

If the idea of crafting a crisis management plan feels overwhelming, take a deep breath — it’s more manageable than it sounds. And the payoff? A roadmap that helps you navigate stormy seas with confidence.

A strong plan ensures your team can act decisively, communicate effectively, and stay aligned when it matters most. Here’s what to include.

1. Crisis Response Team

Think of this as your organization’s emergency task force. Who’s taking the lead? Who’s the backup? And who’s handling media inquiries? These roles should be crystal clear.

“Your spokesperson should embody the Five C’s: Clarity, control, concern, confidence, and competence,” O’Toole advises.

Make sure contact details are up-to-date so there’s no scrambling when minutes count.

2. Communication Protocols

When a crisis hits, everyone — from employees to customers — needs clear, consistent information. Outline who communicates what and how, from pre-approved templates to specific messaging channels.

“Transparency is key,” O’Toole explains. “Pre-planning helps maintain trust while avoiding missteps in the heat of the moment.”

3. Emergency Response Procedures

No one wants to figure out evacuation plans or safety protocols on the fly. Document these steps ahead of time, and keep holding statements ready to issue within minutes. Preparation now saves precious time later.

4. Business Continuity Measures

Crises can disrupt operations — but they don’t have to derail them. Detail how your organization will keep critical functions running, from backup systems to recovery procedures.

“Think beyond the basics,” O’Toole suggests. “What happens if your primary systems fail? Do you have backup tools to keep critical systems up and running?”

5. Stakeholder Management

Your employees, customers, vendors, and investors are counting on you. A crisis management plan should address their needs with care and precision.

“Employees are often overlooked,” O’Toole notes, “but keeping them informed is critical. They’re your most important ambassadors.”

6. Training and Testing

A plan is only as good as your ability to execute it. Regular simulations and scenario planning help uncover weaknesses before a real crisis occurs.

Simulations are invaluable because they highlight vulnerabilities so you can address them proactively.

7. Resource Inventory

List everything your team might need, from backup communication tools to emergency supplies. Being prepared means you won’t have to scramble for essentials in a moment of chaos.

8. Legal and Compliance Considerations

Addressing legal and regulatory obligations is non-negotiable.

While some legal teams might advise silence, O’Toole cautions against shutting down communication entirely: “Maintaining public trust often requires open, honest dialogue.”

9. Plan Maintenance

A crisis management plan is not a “set it and forget it” document. To ensure its effectiveness, schedule quarterly reviews and revisit lessons learned after each crisis.

Challenging situations offer invaluable insights. Use these insights to refine your plan and strengthen your organization’s resilience.

The Crisis Management and Communication Plan Template

It can be difficult to get your crisis communication plan started from scratch. Use HubSpot‘s Crisis Communication Plan Template to build out your company’s plan. Included are charts, sections, and prompts to help you document your company’s strategy when a crisis hits.

1. Create an incident response team.

First up? Create a core incident response team and broadly define their responsibilities when a communications crisis occurs. Create a list of everyone on this team along with their email and phone number in addition to a group email or chat that can be used to activate the entire team at once. Then, build a greater response team to help support the core group. This may include departments such as customer support, legal, social media, C-suite executives, and security.

Regularly reevaluate these lists to keep them current and ready to go at a moment’s notice.

2. Identify roles and responsibilities.

Next, identify the roles and responsibilities of each team member in the core group and those in greater departmental response teams. For example, you might assign one member of your core team the job of managing social media communications, while another may be tasked with drafting a public statement.

Departments such as social media, meanwhile, should each have their own crisis contact with their own set of responsibilities — such as creating a larger-scale campaign to minimize public fallout.

3. Implement an escalation framework.

Crisis response comes with substantive stress: Companies must act quickly to resolve issues without making things worse. As a result, it’s worth implementing an escalation framework to help guide your response:

Step 1: Alert

Ensure that all relevant team members are notified ASAP. Define specific communication channels for this process.

Step 2: Assess

Assess the severity of the incident and your potential response. Key questions to ask include: What happened? Where and when? Who was affected and involved? How much do we know?

Step 3: Activate

With the initial assessment complete, activate the relevant team members and their department contacts to help begin the crisis management process. The first steps might include calling an all-hands meeting, responding to immediate media inquiries, and drafting communications to customers and other affected stakeholders.

Step 4: Administer

Crisis communication persists over a few weeks or months. As a result, it‘s critical to continually monitor what’s happening and what’s changing to ensure communication is administered effectively.

Step 5: Adjourn

When the worst of the crisis has passed, regroup your team to debrief how the crisis was handled, what outcomes occurred, and what changes could be made to improve overall response. It’s also worth having at least one staff member regularly monitor the situation in case another response is required.

1. University of Washington

In a university crisis communication plan, it’s essential to focus on crises that may affect normal school and administrative functions.

For instance, my college always emails students if a dangerous incident occurs on or near campus and gives us a list of tips to remain safe. Universities also plan for crises such as marches or protests, injuries or deaths of community members, and bad press relating to the school.

Source

The University of Washington has an extensive crisis communication plan geared toward preserving the safety and security of community members.

As a university, the main audiences for communication include students, faculty, staff, parents, and alumni, as well as visitors, temporary residents, the general public, and the media.

What I like: The attention to detail in all the varied organizations included in the team of representatives shows an added layer of consideration during a crisis. Having a list of reps at hand guarantees a proper and timely response.

2. Southwest Airlines

Southwest has consistently been one of the safest airlines in the world. However, that doesn‘t mean the company doesn’t experience accidents.

On Flight 1380, an engine malfunction resulted in the death of a passenger and was recorded as the company‘s first in-flight fatality. The company’s CEO, Gary Kelly, immediately responded to the situation by offering a sincere, heartfelt apology to the victim’s family. He then pulled all advertising from their social media channels and made personal phone calls to passengers offering support and counseling resources.

Why this was effective: Although crises like these are hard to imagine, they do occur and have a significant impact on businesses. Despite Southwest‘s lack of prior experience with such an accident, the CEO exhibited readiness for the situation and displayed genuine regret through his statements and the company’s actions.

3. Boeing

Boeing experienced a major crisis when two of its 737 Max airplanes fatally crashed in Indonesia and Ethiopia just five months apart in 2018 and 2019. The crashes killed a combined 346 people and the manufacturer is still suffering the fallout from the events.

At first, Boeing blamed pilot error for the crashes until information surfaced later that it was a flight control software issue. In response, the FAA and other global regulators grounded all Boeing 737 Max planes for 20 months until they could figure out what software glitch was causing the fatal crashes.

As a result, Boeing’s stock price plummeted, and it was forced to halt production of the Boeing 737 Max, costing the company billions in losses. Once the pandemic hit in 2020 and air travel slowed, Boeing faced another crisis as orders for the model were canceled, leading to more financial losses.

To make matters worse, when the 737 Max planes were finally cleared to fly in November 2020, they were grounded again in early 2021 after electrical issues were discovered. In 2021, Boeing was ordered to pay $2.5 billion to settle charges that the company hid issues with the plane from safety officials.

At first, Boeing deflected blame for the crashes to “inexperienced pilots,” but an investigation later showed that Boeing’s flight control software was the main contributor to the crash. Moreover, the US Justice Department found that Boeing knew about the software issue and tried to conceal the faulty software from investigators.

“Boeing’s employees chose the path of profit over candor by concealing material information from the FAA concerning the operation of its 737 Max airplane and engaging in an effort to cover up their deception,” stated a DOJ press release regarding Boeing’s fraud charges.

While nothing would have made up for the loss of life, Boeing would have been better off coming clean about the existing software glitch. Its efforts to conceal the issue meant that pilot training manuals lacked information about the faulty system, which forced planes to nosedive after it overrode pilot commands.

What could’ve been better: Had Boeing been transparent about its automated flight control system, including it in its manual and informing customers of the aircraft software, tragedy could have been prevented.

4. Virginia Department of Education

Similar to universities, schools need to deal with crises efficiently, especially if they impact the normal class schedule. Since schools deal with children, parents and guardians must be made aware of any situations that could affect their children’s education, safety, or health.

Source

The Virginia Department of Education has created a lengthy management plan, including crisis communications. The plan highlights various crises that would require communication with parents — such as a school bus accident —and gives letter templates that can be quickly sent out.

What I like: This crisis communication plan lists several different types of symptoms that parents or guardians are instructed to watch out for. This is vital because it isn’t always clear how students are affected, and it is important for their care to know what to look out for.

5. KFC

In 2018, restaurant chain KFC got into an awkward situation when it ran out of chicken to serve its customers. Having built its brand on its 11-spice fried chicken recipe, this was a crisis that the company probably didn’t plan for.

But, KFC‘s marketing team quickly got to work and was able to put a positive spin on the situation. They released videos and tweets like the one below that light-heartedly apologized for the shortage and showed off the brand’s humility.

Source

This is why a crisis communication plan is essential for restaurants. Some scenarios you’ll want to plan for are the spread of foodborne illness, unsanitary working conditions, and, of course, delivery issues affecting food supply.

What I like: While the brand typically doesn’t take itself too seriously (like its humorous social media marketing campaigns), it presented customers with the facts and explained what it was going to do to better serve them.

6. Amazon

Amazon faced criticism in December 2021 after a tornado ravaged one of its warehouses in Edwardsville, Illinois. Six people died in the warehouse collapse in Illinois as a series of tornadoes ripped through parts of Tennessee, Kentucky, and Arkansas.

Once reports surfaced of Amazon warehouse workers allegedly being forced to continue working through tornado warnings, the company’s health and safety guidelines quickly came under scrutiny.

Amazon’s first misstep was a delayed public response. CEO Jeff Bezos took nearly 24 hours to respond to the warehouse collapse.

“The news from Edwardsville is tragic. We’re heartbroken over the loss of our teammates there, and our thoughts and prayers are with their families and loved ones”, Bezos tweeted. “All of Edwardsville should know that the Amazon team is committed to supporting them and will be by their side through this crisis. We extend our fullest gratitude to all the incredible first responders who have worked so tirelessly at the site.”

Bezos was quickly lambasted across social media, with many suggesting that his statement was insincere.

What could’ve been better: When such a tragic loss of life happens, it‘s best to come out with a statement that expresses empathy sooner rather than later. Bezos’ reply came across as insincere in part because it was delayed. The CEO had been steadily tweeting and posting about the landing of Blue Origin throughout the day, so by the time he commented on the tornado tragedy, it seemed like an afterthought.

7. Burger King

In the fall of 2019, a man who follows a vegan lifestyle filed a lawsuit against popular fast food chain Burger King on the basis that the company misled other vegan customers regarding the newly introduced Impossible Burger. Upon realizing the meatless patties were prepared on the same grill as the 100% beef burgers, the plaintiff alleged that the ads weren’t clear that the burger was not completely meat-free.

Other popular fast-food chains like Subway and Wendy’s have experienced similar crises in the past regarding issues with food preparation. Although both were unfounded claims, they caused a significant crisis for both brands. It’s not a surprise that Burger King experienced similar, unfounded claims.

Although Burger King had a strong rebuttal against the lawsuit, the company awaited the decision of the judge who dismissed the case a year later due to a lack of evidence from the plaintiffs.

Why this was effective: Burger King was successful in this crisis communication because it allowed the crisis to run its course without intervening more than necessary. At the announcement of the case dismissal, Burger King responded, “This claim has no basis.”

8. United Airlines

No list of crisis communication examples would be complete without mentioning United Airlines. Already under pressure for less-than-stellar customer service, the 2017 video of Dr. David Dao being dragged out of his seat when the airline overbooked put United into a tailspin.

Their first response? Not great. United’s CEO tried to blame Dao, calling him “belligerent” and “disruptive.”

Not surprisingly, this didn’t sit well with the public, and #boycottUnited hashtags began trending. The company then did an about-face, took full responsibility, and pointed to changes being made.

What could’ve been better: Businesses should lead with empathy in situations where emotions run high. While United’s image did stabilize over time, the changed tactics strategy is a good example of what not to do when a crisis comes up.

9. Hollywood Foreign Press Association

In 2021, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association was under fire for its lack of diversity and inclusion. Over 100 PR firms — and their celebrity clients — threatened to boycott the Golden Globes unless the HFPA committed to “transformational change” within the organization.

“We call on the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. to swiftly manifest profound and lasting change to eradicate the longstanding exclusionary ethos and pervasive practice of discriminatory behavior, unprofessionalism, ethical impropriety, and alleged financial corruption endemic to the HFPA, funded by Dick Clark Productions, MRC, NBCUniversal and Comcast,” the publicists said in a statement.

“To reflect how urgent and necessary we feel this work is, we cannot advocate for our clients to participate in HFPA events or interviews as we await your explicit plans and timeline for transformational change.”

In response to the outcry, the HFPA pledged to increase its membership to a minimum of 100 people and to require at least 13% of its members to be Black journalists.

While the HFPA has since implemented several changes, including increasing membership to 105 members, the organization still has a lot of work to do in order to regain the trust of the entertainment industry. Not only was the Golden Globes ceremony telecast canceled in 2022, but many publicists maintained their position on having their clients boycott the organization.

What could’ve been better: Had the HFPA listened to concerns and implemented change sooner, it might have been met with less scrutiny.

10. Cracker Barrel

In 2017, a man named Bradley Reid asked a question on Cracker Barrel’s corporate website: He wanted to know why his wife had been let go from her 11-year manager position at one of the company’s Indiana locations.

The social media firestorm came quickly, with #JusticeForBradsWife trending and other brands posting signs that they would be happy to hire Brad’s wife.

Source

Cracker Barrel‘s response? Silence. The public never learned the circumstances of Brad’s wife’s job loss, and after a few months the crisis blew over.

In this case, weathering the storm worked for Cracker Barrel, in part because the issue revolved around a single person and their specific circumstances.

Speaking up — even if the job loss was benign — could have resulted in questions about personal privacy and also put the company on the defensive. Instead, they chose to wait out the storm.

Putting It All Together: Making Theory Work in Practice

After months of researching and analyzing crisis communication strategies, one truth stands out: no company is immune to a crisis, but every company can be prepared.

After reading dozens of case studies and expert interviews, I’ve discovered that the difference between a crisis that strengthens a brand and one that damages it often comes down to preparation and humanity.

What struck me most was how the best crisis communicators emphasize that crisis management is fundamentally about people.

Whether analyzing KFC‘s chicken shortage or Boeing’s 737 Max crisis, I found that the companies that handled crises best weren‘t those with the biggest PR teams – they were the ones that had clear plans, spoke with authentic voices, and weren’t afraid to admit mistakes.

The most powerful insight I gained? A crisis, when handled well, can actually strengthen stakeholder trust.

Through this research, I‘m convinced that crisis communication isn’t just about damage control – it‘s about demonstrating your company’s values when they matter most. I hope this guide helps you build a crisis communication plan that reflects your organization’s best self, even in its most challenging moments.

Editor’s note: This article was originally published in May 2019 and has since been updated for comprehensiveness.

When I think about the businesses I stay loyal to — from my go-to software provider to my favorite airline to my local yoga studio — it’s not because they’re the cheapest or even the most innovative. It’s because they make my experience as a customer easy, personal, and genuinely enjoyable.

Most customers today are like me; they have more options than ever and gravitate to products that offer genuine value. This is where customer experience automation can be incredibly helpful. And it’s more than just using a basic AI chatbot — AI is helping teams automate tedious tasks, uncover customer insights and expectations, and provide a personalized experience, all while ensuring a human touch when it matters most.

Table of Contents

• What is customer experience automation?
• Benefits of Customer Experience Automation
• How to Automate Customer Experience
• 5 Tips for Automating the Customer Experience

According to our State of Customer Service Report, the majority of service teams are already implementing some form of automation in their process.

• 77% of service teams are using AI.
• 79% of service pros using AI find it effective.

Paulius Milišauskas, vice president of customer operations at Omnisend, explains how CX automation plays a role in his team: “Our primary goal is not efficiency itself, but customer satisfaction through service efficiency. We automate all processes that can simplify our clients’ experience.”

Why Customer Experience Matters More Than Ever

It’s important not to miss the big picture when talking about automation. Delivering a great customer experience deserves your attention, time, and investment because it makes customers more likely to be loyal, increase their spending, and even advocate for your brand.

• Loyalty reduces churn. And 20% of companies in our State of Service survey identified preventing churn and boosting retention as a challenge when creating a great customer experience.
• Better CX boosts CLV (Customer Lifetime Value).
• Good CX turns customers into advocates.

And looking at the top challenges service leaders face when trying to deliver a great customer experience, AI can help immensely.

How I Apply Customer Experience to My Business

Even though I’m not running a large customer service team, CX plays a huge role in how I run my freelance writing business. My ideal clients — usually marketing teams — have access to hundreds of talented writers with similar skills. So why would they choose me?

The answer often lies in the experience I provide.

A great client experience makes long-term relationships easier to build. I make sure to go beyond delivering solid writing: I’m responsive, proactive, and focused on making the process smooth and enjoyable. That effort pays off:

1. Clients come back for future projects.
2. They often increase the value of their work with me, asking for additional services or larger scopes of work.
3. They recommend me to others, which brings in new opportunities.

And while I don’t use automation as extensively as an enterprise team might, there are plenty of ways I could bring it into my business to enhance my CX. For example:

• I can use data to understand my clients better. AI could help me analyze past projects to spot trends in terms of contract value and length, as well as what types of projects clients are most satisfied with or where delays tend to happen.
• I can automate feedback requests by sending automated follow-ups after projects to gather feedback that can help me improve and add more value. (This also means one less email I have to manually send!)
• I can streamline testimonials and referrals. An automated system can ask clients to share more about their experience and refer me to others in their network.

Benefits of Customer Experience Automation

Hopefully I’ve already made it clear how valuable automation can be to deliver a great customer experience — but don’t just take it from me. I spoke to a few CX experts to learn more about the key benefits of CX automation and how they’re seeing it play out in their business.

Improved Response Times and Availability

Today’s customers aren’t patient. (I know. I’m working on it, too.)

According to our survey, 82% of consumers expect issues to be resolved immediately. Automation helps you meet these expectations by streamlining tasks like ticket routing, providing instant answers through chatbots, and offering 24/7 availability.

According to Omnisend’s data, while human specialists typically respond within five minutes, AI systems provide instant responses. This immediate availability ensures customers get help whenever they need it, regardless of time zones or business hours.

When customers feel heard and their issues are resolved quickly, they’re far more likely to stick around.

Lauren Parker, founder of LMR Digital Marketing, explains how she helped a client automate lead follow-up and saw impressive results: “When partnering with Blissful Minds, a telehealth weight loss service, we implemented an email workflow that drastically cut response times. This approach helped them generate over 1,500 new patient leads and efficiently scale their services.”

Enhanced Efficiency

Automation lightens the load for your customer service team by handling repetitive or time-intensive tasks, like data entry or answering FAQs. This means your team can focus their time and energy on more complex issues that require a human touch.

For example, Salesforge increased onboarding engagement by 23% within 30 days by automating client check-ins and delivering timely, personalized resources, founder V. Frank Sondors told me.

Better Data-Driven Decision-Making

By automating data collection and analysis, you can uncover insights about your customers’ needs, preferences, and pain points. This makes it easier to make informed decisions and proactively improve the customer experience.

According to Sidharth Ramsinghaney, director of strategy at Twilio, organizations implementing AI-driven personalization are seeing powerful results: “45% report improved customer satisfaction scores, while 41% are achieving better data-driven decision making and market segmentation.”

Increased Revenue Through Personalization

Customers want to feel valued, and automation helps you deliver personalized experiences at scale. Whether it’s recommending products, tailoring email content, or preemptively addressing potential issues, AI-driven personalization increases customer satisfaction and drives repeat purchases.

Twilio’s research shows that “55% of consumers are willing to spend more for personalized experiences, with customers spending an average of 36% more with brands that personalize engagement.”

How to Automate Customer Experience

Automation can feel cold if done poorly, but the key is to make it feel personal and relevant. This lets teams deliver human-centric experiences while freeing up time for high-value interactions.

Here’s how I’d recommend tackling the process.

1. Start with a thorough understanding of your customer touchpoints.

The first step: Map out your customer’s journey — and include every point where they interact with your brand. (P.S. I’ve previously written how you can use AI when customer journey mapping if you want to learn more.)

Here’s an example of a customer journey template you can use:

When I’ve done this in my own business, I’ve been surprised at how many small touchpoints there are, from the first email inquiry to the follow-up after a project wraps up.

Using a customer journey map, identify where customers are thriving and where they’re running into roadblocks. For example:

• Are there delays in responding to inquiries?
• Are there common questions or complaints that come up repeatedly?
• Are there points where customers seem to drop off entirely?

In an ecommerce company, for example, maybe your customer pain points are around product delivery and communications. Patricia Pavia, a customer experience manager for biom, says that the most helpful thing they’ve automated is an order confirmation and tracking system.

“Once a customer places an order, they receive an instant confirmation email with their order details and estimated delivery time. This not only provides them with immediate clarity but also reduces the need for follow-up emails and questions about shipping status,” she said.

2. Understand your customers’ current experience.

Once you know the touchpoints, the next step is to learn how your customers feel at each stage. Personally, I like to gather feedback whenever I can — whether it’s through surveys, one-on-one conversations, or even just paying attention to what clients mention during our projects.

For a larger team, you might use AI tools to automate this feedback collection, like sending out NPS surveys after key milestones or analyzing the trends in your support tickets.

Here’s what our latest data shows about the effectiveness of certain customer service channels:

Lasandra Barksdale, founder of Kompass Customer Solutions, approaches this through what she calls “experience blueprints” — a sophisticated blend of journey mapping and service blueprinting that reveals how back-office processes affect front-line interactions.

“This approach starts with discovery: uncovering pain points, mapping out friction, and pinpointing where automation can enhance experiences,” she said.

“By working from the outside in, we identify unmet needs from a customer’s perspective, and then go inside out, analyzing internal processes to address those gaps.”

When Barksdale worked with a financial services client, for example, they discovered that while the company wanted to reduce call volume by redirecting customers to their website, the site didn’t actually address the top 10 reasons customers were calling in the first place.

“By helping them identify self-service functionalities and adding a status-tracker feature for more complex requests, we reduced the need for calls and gave customers transparency on their requests’ status. This shift led to happier customers and empowered staff, ultimately showing that call reduction is a customer-centered strategy, not just a cost-cutting measure,” she added.

3. Identify tasks that can be automated.

Not every task needs to be automated, but many repetitive processes are perfect candidates. Here are some examples I’ve seen work well:

• Support ticket routing.
• Answering FAQs.
• Follow-ups and reminders.

In my own business, I’ve thought about automating parts of my onboarding process. For example, sending out a welcome email that includes FAQs, project timelines, or next steps that could save me time while giving clients a consistent experience.

Philippe Mesritz’s team at Community Brands built customer journeys that adapted based on customer actions and CRM data. They created digital engagement points that would trigger specific responses, from sending relevant blog posts to scheduling training videos, all timed to provide maximum value to the customer.

“Through a combination of automated journey orchestration and manual intervention, we were able to engage with thousands of customers that would then gain benefit from the microlearnings,” he said.

4. Leverage AI for personalization at scale.

AI can be really helpful here — and this is especially valuable given that personalization is a top customer expectation in 2025.

AI tools can analyze customer behavior and preferences to deliver hyper-personalized recommendations and experiences. This includes things like:

• Suggesting products or services based on past interactions.
• Sending tailored email content based on what customers have browsed.
• Anticipating needs, like reminding customers of a subscription renewal or suggesting resources to help them get the most out of your product.

5 Tips for Automating the Customer Experience

As you begin to automate your customer experience, you should do it in a way that feels personal, helpful, and true to your brand. The key is to keep the human element at the heart of everything you do.

Here are some practical tips to help you get started and make the most of automation:

1. Keep automation connected to human support.

While AI can handle routine inquiries, there should always be a clear path for customers to escalate issues to a real person when needed. As a customer, this is my biggest frustration with some of the software tools I use.

A chatbot can answer basic questions, but if a customer needs more in-depth support, the chatbot should seamlessly transfer them to a live agent who has all the context from previous interactions.

Pro tip: Try using a tool like HubSpot’s Customer Service Software to see this in action. With Service Hub, you deliver support at scale with AI-powered service, an omni-channel help desk, and 24/7 availability.

2. Make automation feel personal, not robotic.

Nobody likes feeling like they’re talking to a machine. Personalize automated communications by tailoring them to customer data and behavior. Use names, recommend relevant products, and make messages sound natural.

I really loved this email I received from a pizza restaurant in London called Sweet Thursday. It started off with a tailored introduction and a personalized mention about me revisiting the restaurant. It also includes a few select discounts that might interest me. Overall, it feels friendly and helpful — and not like I’m just another email in their CRM system (even if I am!).

3. Let data guide your automation strategy.

Automation thrives on data. By analyzing customer interactions, you can spot patterns, preferences, and pain points to refine your processes.

For example, you could use data to identify which questions come up most frequently in support tickets and build a comprehensive, automated FAQ or chatbot response for those. Or you might track which customers are engaging with your emails and which aren’t, so you can tweak your messaging accordingly.

Pro tip: HubSpot’s CRM software can track customer behavior and segment audiences. This way, you can create more targeted, effective automation strategies that speak to different groups based on their unique needs.

4. Build proactive systems that prevent problems.

The best customer service should aim to prevent issues before they arise. Automation can help you be proactive by sending reminders, tips, and solutions before problems crop up.

For example, if a customer hasn’t logged into your product in a while, you could set up an automated email to check in and offer helpful resources or guides to get them back on track.

I recently signed up to trial Zoho Projects as a project management software for my business. I loved their approach to automating the onboarding process, and it gave me a really positive impression as a customer.

Take a look at the email below — it’s clear they are balancing some level of automation by reaching out and providing resources, but they are also connecting me to a human account manager. I feel like I have a direct line to the product.

Pro tip: Think about where you can automate follow-ups that prevent frustration. If a customer is having a technical issue, an automated troubleshooting guide can provide instant help, reducing their need to reach out.

5. Continue to monitor efficiency and customer satisfaction.

Automation can’t improve customer experience on its own — it needs regular monitoring and refinement.

You should consistently track metrics like response times, ticket resolution rates, and customer satisfaction scores (CSAT) to ensure that your automation efforts are working. At the same time, look at the quality of the customer experience — is your automation actually improving satisfaction, or is it creating frustration?

Pro tip: HubSpot’s Service Hub can be incredibly helpful here, too. For example, you can track your customer health scores, which show areas where you can improve customer retention.

A Better Customer Experience = Happier Customers

CX automation isn’t just for big businesses. Even as a freelancer, I’ve used it to improve efficiency and enhance client relationships. Whether it’s gathering feedback, automating follow-ups, or offering personalized recommendations, automation helps me focus on delivering great work.

With tools like HubSpot, it’s easier than ever to connect everything — from customer data to communications — so I can offer a more personalized experience without getting bogged down in manual tasks.

No matter the size of your business, automating key touchpoints can free up your time, boost your efficiency, and ultimately lead to happier, more loyal customers.

And that’s the kind of growth that really moves your business forward.

You know that feeling when you’re shopping online, and a brand treats you like a stranger, even though you’ve been buying from them for years? As a content marketer diving into the world of customer data integration, I’ve learned this frustrating experience often comes down to one thing: disconnected customer data.

After speaking with industry experts and diving into the research, I’ve discovered just how crucial customer data integration is becoming. Just look at the numbers: The global customer data platform (CDP) market is projected to grow from $7.4 billion in 2024 to $28.2 billion by 2028. Businesses are waking up to the fact that they need better ways to understand their customers.

And it makes sense why. Twilio’s 2023 State of Personalization Report found that when companies get their customer data right and create personalized experiences, consumers spend an average of 38% more. That’s a game-changer for any business.

In this guide, I’ll share what I’ve learned from industry experts about how organizations are successfully implementing CDI, along with data-driven evidence of what works.

Table of Contents

• What is customer data integration?
• Types of Customer Data Integration
• The Customer Data Integration Process
• Customer Data Integration Examples

What is customer data integration?

Customer data integration (CDI) involves consolidating information from different parts of a company into one complete view. As Taylor Brown, COO and Co-founder of Fivetran, a leading data integration platform company, explains:

“When done well, it gives an organization access to reliable, well-organized data that can be used easily for analysis. This helps break down data silos, where information is stuck in separate systems, and ensures the company can get a full picture of its operations and customer interactions.”

When I first started learning about CDI, the idea of breaking down silos resonated with me. I’ve worked on projects where scattered data led to incomplete insights and frustrated teams. CDI essentially takes all the ways customers interact with your business — browsing your website, calling customer service, or making a purchase — and connects the dots to create a clear, actionable picture.

I can’t overstate the importance of having real-time customer data, evidenced by the fact that 78% of data leaders now consider real-time data access a “must-have” for their operations. That stat hit home for me as I realized how vital CDI is — not just for better analytics but for creating the kind of seamless, personalized experiences that customers expect today.

→ Download Now: The Ultimate Guide to Customer Data Platforms [Free Guide]

Types of Customer Data Integration

When I started asking experts about different approaches to customer data integration, I assumed organizations would need to choose just one strategy. But Josh Wolf, Senior Director of Solutions Consulting at Tealium, a leading customer data platform company, helped me realize I was missing the bigger picture.

“When organizations think about managing their customer data, they often wonder if they need to pick just one approach,” Wolf explained. “But here’s the thing: It’s actually much more powerful to use all three major strategies together since they each solve different pieces of the puzzle.”

That insight clicked for me. Instead of viewing these strategies as competing options, I saw how they could work in harmony to create a comprehensive data solution. Let me break them down.

1. Data Consolidation: The “All-In-One-Place” Approach

This approach focuses on centralizing customer data in a single location, enabling organizations to unify their information and act on it more efficiently. Wolf likened it to creating a well-organized library. “Think of it as creating one central ‘home’ for all your customer information,” he says. “This makes it so much easier to run analytics and generate reports since all your data is in one spot. Plus, everyone in the organization can work from the same set of facts, which breaks down data silos.”

The importance of consolidation is evident – especially as businesses prioritize first-party data. According to Tealium, 78% of organizations view first-party data as their most valuable customer information. Companies can provide better customer experiences and streamline operations with a single source of truth.

2. Data Propagation: The “Right-Time, Right-Place” Method

While consolidation focuses on centralization, propagation ensures data gets where it needs to be, exactly when it’s needed. This approach supports real-time data movement, making it invaluable for scenarios requiring high performance, like global operations or customer service.

Wolf highlighted its operational importance: “Propagation involves copying and distributing data to create redundancy, which can be particularly useful in scenarios that require high performance and availability.”

I found this especially compelling when applied to customer service. Imagine a scenario where customer agents have instant access to the latest updates — dramatically improving the quality of support. It’s no wonder nearly 70% of businesses are investing in real-time data capabilities, according to Salesforce’s 2024 State of Marketing report.

3. Data Federation: The “Connect-the-Dots” Solution

Finally, federation allows organizations to query and analyze data stored across multiple systems without moving it. Wolf described it as “being able to search across multiple libraries at once.” This approach is particularly valuable for large organizations managing data in many different systems.

I hadn’t realized how common this need was until I saw Gartner’s 2024 Magic Quadrant for Customer Data Platforms, which found organizations now manage data from an average of 15 systems. Federation shines when you need broad queries without the complexity of full data migration, making it an essential tool for modern enterprises.

Which approach is right for your organization?

So, how do you choose between these approaches? Taylor Brown from Fivetran told me, “The choice between these integration types depends on the specific needs and scale of an organization’s data strategy, whether it’s analytical use, operational efficiency, or exploratory analysis.”

But to maximize impact, you don’t need to pick just one. “To reap the most benefits, it is critical to use all three approaches together,” Wolf told me. “Think of it like this: you might use federation through your data lakehouse tools for broad queries while bringing in specific chunks of legacy data into tools like Tealium when you need them. It’s about being strategic and using each approach where it makes the most sense.”

That advice reframed my understanding of CDI entirely. Instead of viewing these strategies as isolated tools, I now see them as parts of a unified framework that can adapt to the unique needs of any organization.

The Customer Data Integration Process

When I started exploring CDI, it felt like untangling a giant knot. Each thread — whether it was mapping data sources or enabling real-time access — seemed overwhelming on its own, let alone as part of a larger system. But after speaking with experts, I learned that a successful CDI doesn’t have to be daunting. It’s all about approaching the process systematically, balancing technical precision with strategic vision.

Let’s break it down into eight essential steps to help you move from chaos to clarity when managing customer data.

1. Define your strategic goals.

The first question to ask is why you’re building a CDI framework. Josh Wolf from Tealium emphasizes this: “Your main focus should be on improving customer experience, engagement, and conversion rates.” In my experience, when teams align around these goals early, the implementation process runs more smoothly. Wolf recommends:

• Building out strategic audiences.
• Defining clear use cases.
• Creating an implementation roadmap that balances quick wins with long-term value.

Pro tip: ​​Collaborate across teams to prioritize use cases. Wolf suggests ranking them based on value or importance and the time required for implementation — short-term, medium-term, and long-term. This balance ensures progress while keeping the end goal in focus.

2. Map your data sources.

Next comes identifying where your customer data lives. Wolf advises, “Work closely with your implementation teams to nail down exactly what data you need to build customer profiles.”

This involves:

• Pinpointing data sources (e.g., website analytics, CRM, customer support platforms, or social media).
• Determining how the data can be collected.
• Identifying the attributes needed for customer profiles.

Pro tip: I spoke with Arunkumar Thirunagalingam, Senior Manager of Data and Technical Operations at McKesson — a company that manages pharmaceutical distribution and healthcare technology for thousands of hospitals and pharmacies nationwide. Thirunagalingam emphasized the importance of staging and transforming data within a centralized framework to ensure consistency across sources, especially when dealing with external systems that may have varied standards.

3. Design your data architecture.

One lesson I’ve learned from talking to experts is how critical it is to get your architecture right. As Thirunagalingam explains, this step includes:

• Creating a centralized framework for data transformation.
• Establishing Master Data Management processes.
• Building flexibility into your data model.
• Setting up robust data quality checks.

Pro tip: Start implementing advanced deduplication techniques and governance frameworks early to unify disparate records effectively. Thirunagalingam emphasized that small steps here save massive headaches later.

4. Extract and transform data.

Taylor Brown from Fivetran made me realize how much automation can simplify this stage. He advises, “Look for automated data pipeline solutions that provide extract, load, transform (ELT) capabilities, a wide range of connectors, high reliability, and strong performance.”

This ensures:

• Consistent data extraction from various sources.
• Standardized data transformation processes.
• Efficient handling of different data formats.

Pro tip: Brown suggests familiarizing yourself with the logs or APIs of each data source before developing your extraction software. This preparation prevents costly errors during the automation process.

5. Load and integrate.

This step involves ensuring that your data flows seamlessly across all systems. Wolf recommends focusing on:

• Defining and building out your event data layer.
• Setting up connections to marketing and analytics vendors.
• Ensuring proper data flow to all systems for both reporting and action-taking.

Pro tip: Don’t overlook the needs of your vendors. Wolf stresses the importance of ensuring they have everything required to support both reporting and actionable insights.

6. Validate data quality.

No matter how robust your CDI system is, data integrity is critical. Thirunagalingam advises maintaining quality through:

• Comprehensive data quality checks.
• Early detection of inaccuracies.
• Correction of duplicates and inconsistencies.

Pro tip: Thirunagalingam recommends establishing a Master Data Management process to identify a single “master” record for each customer, which helps maintain data integrity across the organization.

7. Enable real-time access.

Real-time data access was a game-changer for me in understanding CDI’s potential. Wolf explained, “Real-time event collection is key — it lets you act on data as it happens.”

This involves:

• Setting up real-time data access for stakeholders.
• Enabling immediate data utilization.
• Creating value through smart audience definitions, even with unknown visitors.

Pro tip: According to Wolf, real-time data capabilities are essential for understanding and responding to customer needs, whether during service interactions or through marketing communications.

8. Maintain and optimize.

Finally, success isn’t just about implementation — it’s about maintenance and iteration.

This ongoing process involves:

• Regular system monitoring.
• Performance optimization.
• Continuous updates to meet evolving business needs.

As Wolf puts it, the key is to “think of it as building the engine while also planning the journey.” Success comes from balancing immediate technical needs with long-term strategic goals.

Pro tip: Brown emphasizes being prepared for potential changes at the source or shifts in downstream requirements that could impact your data models. Planning for flexibility ensures your CDI strategy stays resilient.

Customer Data Integration Examples

It wasn’t until I started diving into real-world examples that I truly understood how transformative customer data integration can be. These stories highlight operational improvements and the game-changing results that CDI can drive — results that impact customer experiences and business growth.

REA Group: Revolutionizing Real Estate With Real-Time Data

One of the most impressive cases I’ve come across is from REA Group, Australia’s leading property platform. Their story highlights how CDI can solve the challenges of managing a dual-sided marketplace, seamlessly serving property seekers and real estate agents.

“As a team, we always strive to make the property experience more seamless for both consumers and real estate agents,” explained Sarah Myers, GM Audience & Marketing at REA Group. “Partnering with Tealium has allowed us to turn consumer data into real-time personalized experiences at scale.”

What really stood out to me were the results:

• 23x higher click-through rates and 10x higher conversion rates from real-time triggered campaigns compared to scheduled campaigns.
• 65 million events processed daily, updating over 40 million data points.
• 7.5 million personalized recommendations delivered every day.
• An eightfold increase in visits from owned channels, generating over $10 million in earned media annually.

Their ability to break down data silos and expand personalization beyond email to omnichannel marketing resonated with me — it’s a challenge so many organizations face.

Saks: From Months to Minutes

Taylor Brown shared a fascinating example of how Saks, a luxury ecommerce retailer, revolutionized its data integration process. “Saks reduced the time to integrate new data sources from months to hours, enabling near real-time updates every five minutes,” Brown explained.

This transformation didn’t just speed things up — it fundamentally improved their operations:

• 5x increase in team productivity.
• Significant cost savings across the company’s systems.
• Real-time KPI reporting across the enterprise, allowing for faster, more informed decision-making.

What I found inspiring about Saks’s journey is how automation allowed their team to shift from firefighting data issues to focusing on strategy and insights.

National Australia Bank: Real-Time Revolution

In industries like banking, where precision and trust are paramount, CDI isn’t optional — it’s critical. National Australia Bank (NAB) faced the challenge of integrating data from traditional banking systems and modern cloud platforms to serve millions of customers better.

According to Brown, their approach focused on three key areas:

• Consolidating customer data from multiple sources.
• Implementing real-time analysis capabilities.
• Delivering more personalized banking services based on unified insights.

For NAB, this wasn’t just about data management but about transforming their customer relationships. The results included improved customer satisfaction scores and a reputation for delivering banking services tailored to individual needs.

La-Z-Boy: From Operational Efficiency to Customer Satisfaction

La-Z-Boy’s story is one I found especially compelling because it illustrates how CDI can impact both operational efficiency and the customer experience. La-Z-Boy modernized its entire data infrastructure and saw remarkable results. According to Fivetran:

• Nearly $6 million saved by aligning supply with demand.
• A 20% improvement in shipping accuracy, which enhanced customer satisfaction and reduced support inquiries.
• A reduction in data availability time from 3 hours to just 10-15 minutes.

What struck me was how La-Z-Boy used CDI to link their supply chain to customer demands. This dual focus on efficiency and experience shows the full potential of well-integrated data.

What This Means for Your Organization: Looking Ahead

Exploring customer data integration has made one thing clear: It’s not just a technical endeavor — it’s a strategic tool for transforming how businesses operate and engage with customers. The examples from REA Group, Saks, La-Z-Boy, and NAB highlight the incredible potential of CDI to deliver measurable results, from operational efficiencies to enhanced customer experiences.

As your organization considers CDI, I recommend keeping these guiding principles in mind:

• Start small, then scale. Focused initiatives can build momentum and set the stage for broader success. For example, La-Z-Boy’s early projects delivered millions in savings and improved customer satisfaction.
• Prioritize data quality. Clean, consistent data is the foundation for everything. Without it, even the most advanced tools will fall short.
• Leverage real-time capabilities. Companies like Saks and REA Group have shown how real-time data access can unlock faster decision-making and more personalized interactions.
• Stay flexible and future-focused. Design systems that can scale and adapt as your organization’s needs evolve.

Looking ahead, the future of CDI lies in balancing innovation with trust. Organizations that prioritize privacy while leveraging data to deliver personalized, scalable experiences will be best positioned to thrive in an increasingly data-driven world.

Have you ever been caught off guard by a boss asking, “Which customers are likely to buy again, and which ones are slipping away?” It’s tough to answer without the right tools. And trust me, saying, “I’m not a mind reader!” doesn’t go over well. Luckily, I found a much better answer: RFM analysis.

RFM stands for Recency, Frequency, and Monetary value — three key metrics that help businesses understand and segment their customers based on buying behavior. To understand how RFM can transform customer relationships, I spoke with several industry experts, each with unique insights that helped me see RFM analysis as more than just numbers — it’s about building lasting customer loyalty.

Analyzing these data points can give you a fuller picture of your customer base, so let’s dig into what RFM means, why it matters, and how to conduct an RFM analysis.

In this article:

• RFM
• What is RFM analysis?
• How RFM Analysis Works
• Benefits of RFM
• How to Calculate RFM
• RFM Analysis Example
• RFM Analysis for Customer Segmentation
• Real-World RFM Analysis Case Studies

• Recency. How recently did the customer make a purchase? If they made a purchase recently, they are likely to make another purchase. However, if the customer hasn’t made a purchase in a while, you may need to nurture them with new promotional offers or even reintroduce your brand.
• Frequency. How often does the customer make purchases? If they purchase frequently, you’ll know their spending habits and preferences, but if they make one purchase and never return, they could be a good candidate for a customer satisfaction survey.
• Monetary Value. How much do your customers spend per purchase? Don’t get too caught up on the number here — all purchases are valuable. However, the first two letters in the RFM acronym can be visualized more clearly by this third component. If they’ve made many recent purchases at a high price point, you’ve got a returning customer who can turn into a brand loyalist.

You can use these three factors of the RFM model to reasonably predict how likely (or unlikely) it is that a customer will re-purchase from a company.

How RFM Analysis Works

On the surface, RFM analysis might seem pretty straightforward — just apply the metrics, and you’ll get results. But like any good strategy, the magic is in the details. Executing an RFM analysis takes a deeper dive. Let’s break down each step.

Pro tip: While RFM analysis can transform your customer relationships, you need to pay close attention to data privacy. With 75% of consumers considering data privacy a human right, it’s vital to implement RFM analysis responsibly.

Step 1: Collect and prepare data.

Start by gathering and preparing the right customer data. In my research, I’ve discovered that this foundational step often makes or breaks the entire analysis. As Ani Ghazaryan, Head of Content & Marketing at Neptune.AI, a platform that helps machine learning teams manage and track their experiments more effectively, told me, “Getting clean, consistent data required significant upfront effort, especially as customer data was scattered across multiple systems.”

Successful RFM analysis starts with collecting essential data points, such as:

• Purchase dates for each customer.
• Number of purchases per customer.
• Total spend per customer.
• Customer identifiers (e.g., email, customer ID).

Cache Merrill, Chief Product Officer at Zibtek, a custom software development company that helps startups to Fortune 500 businesses build tailored software solutions, shared his technical approach:

“We combine several tools specific to the client’s data and CRM requirements. Some of the core tools include SQL-based data lounge for data management, custom scripts for threshold analysis, and visualization tools for assessing the performance of segments like Power BI or Tableau.”

Pro tip: According to Twilio’s research, only 51% of consumers trust brands with data security. Start with solid privacy practices and data governance to build that oh-so-integral trust.

Step 2: Create your scoring framework.

Before you start scoring customers, you need to set a framework that makes sense for your business model. This means defining what “recent,” “frequent,” and “high-value” mean in your context. “We determine these predominantly based on the data distribution, most often by quantile splitting each RFM parameter for upper and lower-tier clients,” Merrill explains. “For example, the top 25% in Recency would get the highest score in that category, and so on.”

Key decisions include:

• Scoring scale (typically 1-5 for each component).
• Periods for recency.
• Purchase frequency thresholds.
• Monetary value ranges.

Pro tip: Ronan Walsh, Managing Director of Digital Trawler, a B2B SaaS digital marketing agency, recommends having at least six to 12 months of customer data to establish meaningful scoring thresholds.

Step 3: Set up automation.

Modern RFM analysis isn’t a one-time manual process — it needs to be dynamic and automated. At Neptune.AI, Ghazaryan’s team found success by integrating their analysis with their existing tech stack: “We used Python for analysis and visualization, which allowed us to really dig into the patterns of customer behavior.”

Automation should handle daily score updates, segment transitions, communications triggers, and performance tracking. This ongoing process keeps RFM analysis fresh and in tune with the latest customer behavior, allowing businesses to quickly adjust to any shift that comes up.

Pro tip: According to HubSpot’s research, 76% of consumers are concerned with how companies use their personal data. Make sure your automated systems support privacy compliance.

Step 4: Develop a segmentation strategy.

In my interviews with industry experts, I’ve found that successful segmentation isn’t just about grouping numbers — it’s about understanding customer behavior patterns. With your scoring framework and automation in place, it’s time to create meaningful customer segments. Walsh’s team at Digital Trawler achieved a 15% increase in customer retention by “identifying those with a high likelihood of churning and proactively targeting them.”

Common segments include:

• VIP customers (high scores across all categories).
• At-risk customers (declining recency scores).
• Lost customers (low scores across the board).
• Potential loyalists (high recency but lower frequency).

Pro tip: Neptune.AI’s team succeeded by “recalibrating scoring to reflect both revenue and activity level so that we didn’t overlook loyal users in lower tiers.”

Step 5: Implement targeted actions.

The final step is turning your analysis into action. Making targeted moves based on your analysis can help you spend your marketing budget more wisely, use customer service resources better, create promotions that really hit home, and take full advantage of automation. It’s a good idea to regularly check in on your segmentation criteria to ensure your strategies keep up with what customers want and need.

Pro tip: Walsh achieved the best results by personalizing offers based on recent engagement data, which helped move customers to premium tiers.

Benefits of RFM

You might be thinking, “This sounds like a lot of work.” And you’re right — it is. But in my conversations with experts and analysis of real implementations, I’ve discovered that while setting up RFM takes some initial effort, the clarity and insights it provides make you wonder how you ever made marketing decisions without it. Let’s explore these benefits, backed by data and expert insights.

1. Increased Revenue and ROI

The most compelling benefit I’ve found is the direct impact on revenue. When done right, RFM analysis helps you target the right customers with the right offers at the right time. In a recent episode of the “Send It” podcast about retention marketing, Jimmy Kim, CEO of Royal Prospect and retention marketing expert, highlights a common mistake: treating all customers the same regardless of their spending patterns.

“Why am I sending the same offers to a $20 customer that I would give my $100 customer?” he asks. This targeted approach pays off. According to Twilio’s research, businesses report that customers spend 38% more on average when their experience is personalized through proper segmentation.

Merrill shared that his team boosted campaign performance by 25% in just three months by using RFM analysis to effectively target high-value customer segments.

Pro tip: I’ve learned from the experts that starting with your highest-value segments first often provides the quickest ROI.

2. Higher Customer Retention

RFM analysis is particularly effective for keeping valuable customers from slipping away. As Kim explains, building loyalty with frequent buyers by recognizing their continued purchases and rewarding them with targeted offers can significantly enhance customer relationships and boost retention.

Ghazaryan’s team at Neptune.AI saw a 15% reduction in churn by identifying and proactively engaging with at-risk customers before they left.

Pro tip: Use RFM scores as an early warning system. Declining scores often signal churn risk before other metrics show problems.

3. More Effective Marketing Campaigns

One benefit that surprised me was how much more efficient marketing becomes with RFM insights. “After segmenting based on RFM scores, our engagement rates jumped by over 20%,” Ghazaryan told me, particularly in their high-recency, high-frequency customer group.

RFM analysis enables more targeted messaging, better timing of communications, more relevant offers, and reduced marketing waste.

Pro tip: Test your RFM-based campaigns against your regular campaigns to see where to focus your efforts.

4. Enhanced Customer Experience

In today’s market, I’ve found that personalization isn’t just nice to have — it’s expected. Salesforce’s research shows that 73% of customers expect companies to understand their unique needs and expectations. RFM analysis helps deliver on this expectation.

Interestingly, 56% of consumers become repeat buyers after receiving personalized experiences. Better customer understanding leads directly to better business results.

Pro tip: Use RFM insights to adjust not just your marketing but also your customer service approach. High-value customers often warrant premium support options.

5. Better Resource Allocation

Finally, I’ve discovered that RFM analysis helps businesses make smarter decisions about where to invest their time and resources. Merrill’s team reviews the segmentation criteria every quarter to better target customers as their behavior changes, ensuring their efforts focus on the most promising opportunities.

Allocating resources more effectively means optimizing marketing spend, enhancing customer service efforts, targeting promotions more precisely, and leveraging automation where it makes the most sense. Regularly tracking segment responses to different investments allows for continuous refinement and better overall efficiency.

Pro tip: Track which segments respond best to different types of investments and continually refine your resource allocation.

How to Calculate RFM

Step 1: RFM Scoring

Start by classifying customers by a numerical ranking for each category: recency, frequency, and monetary value. The ideal customer earns the highest score in each of these categories. This scoring is crucial to determine which customers are most valuable.

For example, you might evaluate recency on a scale of 1-5, with a score of 5 meaning the customer made a purchase within the last month, while a score of 1 means their last purchase was over a year ago. RFM scoring helps businesses pinpoint and prioritize high-value customers to target.

Step 2: Run an RFM analysis.

Once each customer has been assigned a score for each category, you can calculate the combined RFM score by summing the individual values for Recency, Frequency, and Monetary. This combined score allows you to segment customers into groups based on their likelihood of making future purchases.

Step 3: Crystalize customer communications.

RFM analysis offers a snapshot of which customers have purchased most recently, most often, and spent the most money. However, it’s important not to bombard high-score customers with too many offers. Instead, use their high RFM score to learn about their preferences and fine-tune your approach.

Pro tip: High RFM scores should serve as a guide for deepening relationships — focus on learning from these customers and enhancing their experience rather than overwhelming them with sales pitches.

RFM Analysis Example

To better understand RFM, I’ll walk us through an example of how RFM analysis can be applied in practice. Let’s say I’m running an ecommerce store called Ruff Riders that sells dog supplies and accessories. Here’s how I would use RFM analysis to better understand Ruff Riders’ customers.

Step 1: Gathering Data

I’ll collect a year’s worth of customer purchase data, including customer IDs, purchase dates, order values, and the number of orders per customer. I can use a simple spreadsheet for this analysis or a more sophisticated tool like a customer data platform or CRM system. Data accuracy is critical here — any inconsistencies would directly impact the analysis results, so I need to get this step right.

Step 2: Calculating RFM Scores

Next, I’ll score each customer based on Recency, Frequency, and Monetary value, using a scale from 1 to 5:

• Recency. Customers who purchased within the last 30 days scored a 5, while those who purchased over 180 days ago scored a 1.
• Frequency. Customers who made 12 or more purchases in a year scored a 5, while those with just one purchase received a score of 1.
• Monetary Value. Customers who spent over $500 scored a 5, while those spending less than $50 scored a 1.

Assigning these scores allows me to generate an overall RFM score for each customer, which helps determine who my high-value customers are and who needs more attention.

Step 3: Identifying Key Segments

With the RFM scores calculated, I can segment customers into different groups:

• Champions (555). These are the most engaged, highest-spending customers. I can focus on nurturing their loyalty through exclusive offers and early access to new products.
• Loyal Customers (4xx, 5xx). These customers buy frequently but don’t spend as much as champions. To keep them engaged, I developed loyalty programs and offered referral incentives.
• At-Risk Customers (3×1, 3×2). These customers purchased frequently in the past but haven’t made any recent purchases. I can create win-back campaigns to re-engage them with personalized offers.

Step 4: Implementing Targeted Strategies

For each segment, I’ll tailor specific strategies to drive engagement:

• Champions. I can offer early access to new products, personalized thank-you messages, and VIP customer service.
• Loyal Customers. I can launch a loyalty rewards program with discounts and special referral incentives.
• At-Risk Customers. I can send reactivation campaigns, including exclusive discounts and product promotions aligned with their previous purchases.

This hands-on RFM analysis shows the value of segmenting customers based on their buying behavior, which allowed me to focus on building stronger relationships and driving growth effectively.

Pro tip: Start simple. Initially, I tried to create too many segments, making it difficult to manage. Focusing on a few key groups that align with your capabilities is much more effective.

RFM Analysis for Customer Segmentation

Once you’ve calculated RFM scores for your customers, the fun part begins! Use these insights to create customer segments to help you tailor your marketing and customer service strategies to each group’s specific needs and behaviors.

1. Define your scoring criteria.

Start by defining your RFM scoring system based on your business model. This helps you identify the most important criteria for each customer group and ensures consistency.

2. Create customer segments.

Based on RFM scores, define key customer segments, such as:

• VIP Customers. High scores in Recency, Frequency, and Monetary value. These customers are your most valuable and should receive special perks, personalized communication, and priority support.
• At-Risk Customers. High Monetary scores but declining Recency and Frequency. These customers may need re-engagement campaigns to renew their interest and loyalty.
• New Customers. High Recency scores but lower Frequency and Monetary scores. Focus on building a strong relationship and providing onboarding support.
• Loyal Customers. High Frequency scores. Offer loyalty rewards to encourage continued engagement.

Merrill highlighted how regularly reviewing segmentation criteria helps better target customers as their behavior evolves, ensuring strategies remain effective. Ghazaryan also emphasized how recalibrating scoring helped ensure they always reflected each customer’s true value.

3. Integrate customer service strategies.

Customer service plays a big role in maintaining these relationships. For example:

• Provide VIP customers with dedicated support channels or priority service to keep them happy.
• Set up alerts for your support team to proactively reach out if at-risk customers haven’t engaged lately.
• Offer additional onboarding support to help new customers get the most value from their initial purchase.

4. Develop targeted actions.

Once segments are created, develop targeted strategies for each group. For VIP customers, consider providing exclusive offers and personalized messages to reinforce their value to your business. For at-risk customers, implement re-engagement campaigns that specifically address their needs and encourage them to reconnect with your brand.

Using these tailored approaches allows you to craft marketing and customer service strategies that resonate with each audience. This way, your efforts are more effective, leading to better retention and stronger customer relationships.

Real-World RFM Analysis Case Studies

To demonstrate the power of RFM analysis, let’s explore how four different companies transformed their customer engagement and business performance using this approach. Each story highlights unique challenges and the strategic insights that drove their success.

A SaaS company increases retention by 15%.

Ronan Walsh from Digital Trawler shared the story of a mid-sized B2B SaaS provider with around 2,000 active customers. Like many companies, they faced a pressing challenge: improving customer retention and maximizing lifetime value. Over six months, they implemented an RFM analysis strategy to tackle these goals.

The turning point was personalizing offers based on customers’ recent engagement data. By doing so, they were able to encourage customers to upgrade to premium subscription tiers, driving up their average order value (AOV) without inflating acquisition costs.

“By personalizing offers based on recent engagement data, we encouraged users to move up to premium subscription tiers, driving higher AOV,” explained Walsh. This focused strategy resulted in a 15% increase in retention and a 10% boost in AOV, illustrating how precise, data-driven actions can make a difference.

Ecommerce fashion retailer revitalizes engagement.

A fashion ecommerce brand with significant repeat purchase potential set out to deepen its connection with high-value customers and drive repeat purchases. They adopted RFM analysis for a three-month campaign designed to target their most valuable buyers.

By focusing on those who had made recent purchases, they crafted campaigns that resonated with this high-value segment. According to Cache Merrill from Zibtek, “We concentrated on high-value buyers who had made a purchase very recently. Customized RFM cutoffs helped us target segments with high revenue potential while identifying at-risk customers.”

This strategic focus led to a 25% boost in campaign performance, with noticeable gains starting within just 6-8 weeks and major successes by the end of the quarter.

Neptune.AI boosts user engagement.

Neptune.AI, a SaaS company providing tools for machine learning teams, was facing a challenge in keeping users engaged. To tackle this, they combined RFM analysis with their CRM to focus on improving user engagement.

Their success really came from creating targeted educational content and webinars for users in the “high-recency, high-frequency” group. Ani Ghazaryan mentioned that this approach allowed them to boost user engagement and cut down on churn. As a result, engagement rates shot up by 20%, churn dropped by 15%, and customer lifetime value increased by 10%.

The company also rolled out targeted reactivation campaigns to reconnect with users in the “low-recency, high-value” segment, showcasing the latest features of their platform.

Retail re-engagement campaign revives inactive customers.

A retail business was dealing with a typical issue: A bunch of customers had gone quiet and hadn’t engaged in six to 12 months. Wanting to win their customers back, the company kicked off a four-month re-engagement campaign using RFM analysis. It pinpointed 1,500 dormant customers and reached out with personalized incentives and content to spark their interest again.

The outcome was pretty impressive — 22% of those customers returned, making a tangible difference in their quarterly revenue. This scenario really highlights how important it is to get to know your customer segments well and create offers that really resonate with them.

Pro tip: While these case studies show impressive results, remember that each business requires different scoring criteria and segmentation strategies. Adapting RFM analysis to your specific business model and customer behavior patterns is key.

An RFM Analysis to Grow Your Customer Base

When I first started diving into RFM analysis, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. But it quickly became apparent that it’s more than just a bunch of numbers. Conducting an RFM analysis is all about figuring out how much of your revenue comes from loyal, repeat customers versus new ones and finding ways to keep those loyal customers happy. It’s about seeing where things might be falling short and how to better meet customer needs so that they keep returning for more.

Hearing from the experts showed me just how adaptable RFM analysis is — whether it’s used to drive engagement in a tech company or boost retention in retail, the principles work everywhere.

What really stood out to me is that while RFM analysis might look like a data exercise, it’s really about building relationships. It’s about turning those customer scores into personalized actions that make people feel valued and understood. The more you understand your customers, the better you can serve them. The magic of RFM lies in combining data-driven insights with a genuine human touch. It’s that mix of personalization and proactive engagement that turns customers into loyal fans.

Editor’s note: This article was originally published in October 2018 and has since been updated for comprehensiveness.

Making sense of customer data in today’s digital landscape often feels like piecing together evidence in a crime scene. In fact, when our team started exploring composable CDPs as a solution, I found myself at a whiteboard drawing circles and lines between all our different data sources and looking suspiciously like something from an episode of Law & Order.

Traditional customer data platforms (CDPs) promised to help make sense of it all, but these legacy solutions often fall short as they try to do everything at once. Sometimes, you need a solution that lets you pick and choose exactly what you need, which is where composable CDPs come in. It’s like upgrading from a Swiss Army knife to a fully customizable tool belt.

Whether your customer data is scattered across a dozen systems or you’re just starting to think about better ways to manage it, this guide will help you understand if a composable CDP might be the solution you’re looking for.

Table of Contents

• What is a Composable CDP?
• Advantages of a Composable CDP
• How Legacy CDPs Work
• Composable CDP vs. Traditional CDP
• Composable CDP Use Cases
• CDP Implementation Examples

After my whiteboard revelation about our scattered data sources, I learned that a composable CDP takes a fundamentally different approach to managing customer data.

The name “composable” comes from its ability to let you “compose,” or build, exactly the customer data platform solution you need. As Arvind Rongala, CEO at Edstellar, an AI-powered skills management platform, puts it: “Composable CDPs give organizations the most freedom because they can add only the parts they need, like data storage, identity resolution, analytics, and involvement, based on their own needs.”

Source

I think of it like building with LEGO blocks rather than buying a pre-built toy. I can choose which pieces to use and how to put them together.

Robin Grochol, vice president of product management at Twilio Segment, explains the core purpose: “Businesses need a clean and consistent view of each customer across every function, from marketing to ecommerce to customer support and more.”

A composable CDP includes several key elements:

• Direct integration with your existing data warehouse.
• Modular components you can mix and match based on your needs.
• Flexible data modeling capabilities.
• Tools for activating your data across marketing channels.

Source

How Legacy CDPs Work

Traditional customer data platforms, or legacy CDPs, have been around for years, acting as the go-to solution for companies trying to wrangle their customer data. If a composable CDP is like building with LEGOs, a traditional CDP is more like buying a pre-built playhouse — it comes with everything included, whether you need it or not.

Every legacy CDP vendor offers several bundled features, including:

• Data Collection. CDPs provide proprietary code you can run on your website/app to capture behavioral data or user events like page views, purchases, or signups.
• Storage and Modeling. Built-in identity resolution features help you connect data from various sources to create single customer profiles.
• Data Activation. You can define and build custom audiences using your behavioral data for downstream marketing use cases.

Because CDPs integrate with various SaaS applications and databases, you can sync your customer data and audiences to these downstream systems.

As Brendan Fortune, director of product at Customer.io, points out, “Traditional CDPs provide an all-in-one suite. They aim not only to ingest your data but also to clean, govern, and analyze it.”

The fundamental problem that CDPs solve — helping you manage and activate your data at scale from a single source of truth — isn’t going away anytime soon. In fact, CDP demand continues to increase.

However, with the rapid adoption of modern cloud data warehouses like Snowflake, Redshift, BigQuery, and Databricks, many organizations now realize it no longer makes sense to maintain an architecture that creates two conflicting sources of truth: one in the CDP and one in the data warehouse.

Source

With data and marketing teams working off two independent sources of truth for customer data, several problems are introduced. These include inconsistent data between BI and operational tools, inflated storage costs, security concerns, and an inability to activate all available customer data.

That’s why organizations like Warner Music Group and Chime are choosing to implement an architecture that enables them to activate data directly from a single source of truth: the cloud data warehouse. This shift has given rise to what we now know as the composable CDP.

To understand which approach might work best for your organization, I talked to experts from leading CDP providers and companies that have made the switch. Here’s what I learned about how these two approaches compare.

Composable CDP vs. Traditional CDP

When I started asking industry experts about the key differences between these two approaches, I discovered it’s not just about features but fundamentally different philosophies in handling customer data.

Alex Schlee, founder and CEO of Anamap, broke it down clearly for me. “The key difference between traditional CDPs and composable CDPs is the ability for companies to define their own data structure and use their own data warehouse as the resting place for the data,” Schlee explains. “Traditional CDPs have a separate database with a specific format that needs to be accommodated to correctly store events.”

Here’s what each approach brings to the table.

Traditional CDP

• Lives separate from your data warehouse.
• Requires duplicate data storage.
• Fixed data models and schemas.
• Longer implementation time (6-12 months).
• Higher total cost of ownership.

Composable CDP

• Integrates with your existing infrastructure.
• No duplicate data storage.
• Flexible data modeling.
• Faster implementation (typically 2-3 months).
• Pay only for what you need.

Must-Have Features When Evaluating Any CDP

Twilio Segment’s Robin Grochol sees CDPs as more than just data tools — they’re enterprise-wide solutions. As she explains, “Instead of each business function operating in its own silo, with a unique set of tools and an incomplete view of the customer’s experience, a CDP can act like an enterprise service, creating customer profiles, journeys, and predictions that drive use cases across the business.”

With this enterprise-wide impact in mind, Grochol outlines the critical features to look for in any CDP solution:

• Data Collection. Can the CDP collect data from anywhere, including all the tools in the data stack?
• Data Governance. Can the CDP ensure data is clean, consistent, and compliant so it is trusted across the business?
• Data Unification. Can the CDP create unified customer profiles at scale that provide a complete view of the customer?
• AI Capabilities. Can the CDP predict, recommend, and generate journeys, audiences, and other customer insights with AI?
• Data Activation. Can the CDP activate customer data anywhere, not only for marketing teams but for any part of the business?

Pro Tips for CDP Evaluation

When evaluating CDPs, I gathered some crucial advice from industry experts. Brendan Fortune from Customer.io suggests starting with a simple audit.

“Identify in what departments your customer data lives today. If there are more than three departments with data sets you intend to unify, CDPs are a must. As is a full-time Project or Program Manager!” Fortune shared.

He also recommends asking vendors about their best customers and why. You should be able to see your company fitting that profile.

Sebastian Gierlinger, vice president of engineering at Storyblok, emphasizes two additional critical areas:

• Map your integration landscape first. “Map out exactly what tools you would like to connect to estimate what can be covered by pre-built integrations and what needs to be part of an implementation project.”
• Prioritize security and scalability. “Definitely always ask about security and scalability. There is nothing more problematic than a vendor who is struggling with these two topics.”

So when should you choose one over the other? Gierlinger strongly advocates for composable solutions when building modern tech stacks.

“If you are building a modern stack and you are not bound to any obligations already, I would always opt for using the composable solution no matter if it is CDP, ecommerce, CMS, or any other component of your infrastructure,” he explains. “Composable systems allow you to already be prepared for future developments like new distribution channels, new frontend technologies, or additional requirements.”

However, Customer.io’s Brendan Fortune offers an important counterpoint: “If you don’t have a team dedicated to consolidating, cleaning, governing, and analyzing your company’s data, you’re better off with a traditional CDP.”

Pro tip: Before making your decision, ask yourself these key questions:

• Do you already have a modern data warehouse?
• Does your team have data engineering resources?
• How quickly do you need to implement your CDP?
• What’s your budget for both implementation and ongoing costs?

Before You Consider a Composable CDP

Sebastian Gierlinger from Storyblok emphasizes the importance of having essential elements in place first: “Make sure that you have systems in place that produce relevant data. The best CDP cannot fix a broken process or an unreliable product. Once the basics (web, product, CRM) are working, a CDP can be the boost your business needs.”

After learning about both approaches, I was curious about what makes organizations choose a composable CDP over a traditional one. The answers from industry experts revealed several compelling benefits backed by real results.

As mentioned above, Twilio Segment’s Grochol emphasizes that a composable CDP breaks data silos by creating customer profiles, journeys, and predictions that can be used across all departments.

Compared to a legacy CDP, there are many benefits to this approach. Here are the key advantages that stood out in my research.

Flexibility

Legacy CDPs have very rigid modeling capabilities, locking you into a strict user and account-based model. Composable CDPs break free from these limitations by supporting multiple entity types and related models.

“When companies are choosing between standard and composable CDPs, they should think about how flexible they need to be,” notes Arvind Rongala of Edstellar. “A composable CDP is the best choice if you expect to have complicated data ecosystems or a lot of component updates.”

Data Availability

Legacy CDPs only focus on event-level clickstream data, creating a fragmented view of your customer. Composable CDPs have access to any and all of the data living in your data warehouse — not just clickstream events (e.g., data science models).

Improved Data Accessibility

Since composable CDPs can integrate with a wide variety of existing systems, they improve data accessibility across departments.

“Data can be directly accessible in a data warehouse or BI tool, which makes it easier for data and business analysts to derive insights from it,” explains Sebastian Gierlinger from Storyblok. “A traditional CDP is often accessed through a single interface and would not allow such flexibility.”

The shift toward composable architecture brings up another important consideration. “The single biggest benefit to composable CDPs is avoiding vendor lock-in,” Alex Schlee of Anamap points out. “When the same data structure can be used across any composable CDP vendor, it makes your company data more portable.”

Enhanced Privacy Compliance

Gierlinger also highlights a crucial advantage, “Composable CDPs allow businesses to keep sensitive data in localized storage systems, which can be critical for complying with data residency requirements.” This flexibility ensures companies can meet specific compliance needs and adjust quickly as requirements change.

Cost

With a legacy CDP, you pay twice to store and process the data that you already have within your own warehouse. With a composable CDP, you can use your existing data investments rather than purchasing another off-the-shelf tool.

Implementation Agility

Composable CDPs enable an iterative approach rather than one massive project. As Gierlinger notes, “Instead of executing one big project that will show results once everything is up and running, you will have multiple smaller projects that show partial results immediately.”

Time-to-Value

Legacy CDPs can take over a year to implement, and that’s not even accounting for the onboarding time it takes for your teams to learn how to use the tool. The modularity of a composable CDP allows you to start activating your data immediately with the tools your teams are already familiar with.

Security

Legacy CDPs force you to store data outside of your own cloud infrastructure, giving you little control over what happens to it. With a composable CDP, your data is never stored outside of your existing data infrastructure, giving you full governance and control over how it’s managed.

Composable CDP Use Cases

Here are a few ways composable CDPs help businesses create hyper-personalized omnichannel campaigns and workflows that drive better results.

Profile Enrichment

Using a composable CDP, you can access any and all of the custom data models living in your warehouse — such as lifetime value, last login date, active users, active tickets, features enabled, lead score, likelihood to purchase, etc.

You can then sync that data directly to objects and fields that you can leverage in your CRM for personalization and segmentation.

Audiences

Let’s say your marketing team wants to target a list of shopping cart abandoners with a special coupon to encourage them to check out. Or maybe your product team wants to send an email to inform inactive users of a new feature.

In either case, a composable CDP can easily deliver the data from your data warehouse to your CRM.

Workflows and Sequences

It’s easier for your teams to build more comprehensive workflows and sequences using the audiences that your data team defined in your warehouse.

For example, you can automatically enroll users into marketing campaigns based on their audience type or the attributes that you’ve outlined in your CRM. You can also use these attributes to create different branches of the workflows based on user activity, engagement, or attributes.

This has huge implications from a sales standpoint because you can use workflows to route new leads to individual sales reps so they can take action faster.

CDP Implementation Examples

When researching composable CDPs, I found it helpful to look at how different organizations are actually using them in the real world. Here are some of the most interesting examples I discovered.

Streamlining Marketing Operations

LegalZoom offers an excellent example of combining modern data warehouse infrastructure with CDP capabilities. As Twilio Segment’s Robin Grochol shares:

“LegalZoom centralized their data in Snowflake to gain a unified view of business operations and customer behavior. With Segment integrated on top of Snowflake, marketing teams can self-serve, creating audience segments and personalized customer journeys without needing technical assistance.”

Check out this video to learn more.

Boosting Sales Performance

Sebastian Gierlinger from Storyblok describes how a composable CDP transformed its sales operations.

“We introduced a composable CDP with a custom presentation layer for the sales team, which led to a huge increase in upsell since the team was able to identify active customers that are operating close to the next plan level.”

Real-Time Customer Engagement

A fascinating example comes from Brendan Fortune at Customer.io, who shares how CDP architecture choices impact user experience. When a large design software company wanted to send personalized messages to users trying new features, they had to weigh their options carefully.

While a traditional CDP could trigger messages within seconds through direct API streams, a composable CDP pulling from their data warehouse would take a few minutes — an important consideration for real-time engagement scenarios.

HubSpot + Hightouch: A Closer Look at Composable CDP Integration

Let me walk you through a detailed example of how a composable CDP works with your CRM. HubSpot’s CRM platform offers a great illustration of these capabilities in action.

As a platform that helps businesses manage customer interactions, automate marketing workflows, and optimize sales funnels, HubSpot becomes even more powerful when integrated with a composable CDP like Hightouch.

This tool allows data and marketing teams to sync the valuable insights from their data warehouse to a CRM.

Source

Pro tip: Want to streamline your customer data management? Start with a solid foundation using HubSpot’s CRM platform.

The Bottom Line: The Future of CDPs

Through my research and conversations with industry experts, I’ve learned that CDPs are evolving far beyond their original role as data collection tools.

As Robin Grochol explains, the CDP landscape used to be only about collecting and moving data. “Now it’s about data activation,” she said. “CDPs today build customer profiles, create audiences and journeys, and recommend the next best product or action using AI.”

Looking ahead, Brendan Fortune predicts an even bigger transformation. “I expect to see CDPs evolve into customer experience suites,” Fortune said. “Rather than just moving data around, they will act on that data in ways that customers see, whether that’s an email, an in-app message, or part of your software’s user experience.”

Fortune believes that CDPs who don’t evolve will become true commodities. “In that scenario, the CDP industry as we know it today will become far less valuable,” said Fortune. “Transforming data from one source to multiple destinations will become a table-stakes capability competing only on price.”

Whether you choose a traditional or composable CDP ultimately depends on your organization’s specific needs, technical resources, and long-term data strategy. But one thing is clear: In an era where customer data drives business success, having the right CDP architecture isn’t just a technical decision — it’s a strategic must-have.

Editor’s note: This post was originally published in May 2023 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

If you want to create a better workplace environment for your employees, it pays to spend time brainstorming DEI survey questions to evaluate your company’s ability to create a welcoming, inclusive workplace.

As a former classroom teacher, I saw firsthand the importance of creating an equitable and inclusive classroom for all of my learners. An inclusive classroom meant my students could thrive in an environment tailored to meet their individual needs.

Just like in the classroom, a commitment to creating an inclusive workplace and diverse workforce ensures your employees can better flourish in their roles in a way that works best for them. When your employees are set up for success and are given equal opportunities in the workplace, you’re working to reach your business’s full potential, too.

It’s clear that creating a diverse and inclusive workplace is critical to your brand’s success, but how do you measure the success of your commitments?

Recently, I chatted with Jim Coughlin, founder of Remotived, to gain his perspectives about DEI, creating a workplace diversity questionnaire, and fostering inclusivity in the workplace. In this post, I’m sharing what I’ve learned from talking with Jim and giving you a list of questions you can use in your own surveys.

In this article:

• What is diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)?
• How to Create a DEI Survey
• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Survey Questions

I find it helpful to break down the terms further:

• Diversity means that there is widespread representation of people with different backgrounds (race, age, gender, etc.) within an organization.
• Equity means fair and impartial treatment for everyone. At work, employees have access to the same opportunities and are held to the same standards.
• Inclusion means creating a welcoming environment at work where employees are empowered to participate equally.

The concept of DEI continues to evolve, and many organizations have also started recognizing “belonging” as part of their DEI(B) efforts.

When you think about it, belonging is the outcome of diversity, equity, and inclusion. It’s the feeling of comfort, connection, and acceptance.

The Impact of DEI

While I haven’t managed employees, I have managed a classroom. From my classroom experiences, I’ve found the quality of your DEI initiatives can set the tone for your work environment — whether that’s a classroom or an office.

When I asked Coughlin about the impact DEI initiatives have in his workplace, he told me that creating an environment where collaboration and innovation happen is important — and not just for underrepresented groups.

He said, “We’ve found that without intentional inclusion efforts, employees from underrepresented groups can feel isolated or disconnected from growth opportunities, regardless of workplace model. The amazing thing is that the positive impact on culture is not limited to diverse employees themselves. Everyone at the company reports a higher feeling of psychological safety, engagement, and well-being when companies implement authentic DEI programs.”

For the workplace, DEI can be the difference between retaining and acquiring highly qualified employees or losing them. Research shows that 53% of U.S. employees consider diversity at work an important factor when evaluating companies and job offers.

A Greater Competitive Advantage

DEI also gives you a competitive advantage, too. A 2023 McKinsey & Company study revealed that gender-diverse companies are more likely to outperform their competitors who lack diversity.

I asked Coughlin what he thought about this statistic, and he didn’t seem very surprised. “It’s a pretty simple case to be made that if you‘re hiring the best people from lots of different backgrounds with great ideas and you know you’re going to achieve better results,” he said.

This is likely to do with the fact that more diverse opinions are represented in the decision-making process. When everyone has an equal opportunity to contribute, your team is more likely to find creative, innovative solutions.

Organizations should make an ongoing investment in DEI to attract top talent. This is good for business.

(Pssst! Looking for help to create a presentation on your company culture and its values? Check out the free Company Culture Code template.)

When developing your DEI survey, be sure to keep the general best practices for creating a survey in mind.

That said, I asked Coughlin if he could share any tips or best practices for creating effective DEI survey questions for a workplace diversity questionnaire. Here’s what he told me.

1. Map it back to your organization’s DEI objectives.

Your survey should be a direct reflection of your overarching DEI goals. And not only that, but Coughlin suggests that you focus less on labels. He said, “We really try to help people approach it from the perspective of assessing the experience rather than labeling.”

For example, one of your goals may be to increase inclusivity and equity for neurodiverse people. However, if you simply ask, “Are you neurodivergent?” you just get a count of your neurodivergent employees, which isn’t a true indicator of inclusivity and equity.

Make sure there‘s a clear way to use your survey results to measure progress against what you’re trying to achieve.

2. Ask the right questions.

Coughlin told me it’s best to consider the design of your questions. He said, “We recommend focusing questions on three key areas: belonging, access, and voice. Do employees feel valued for who they are? Do all employees have equal opportunities for growth? And are diverse perspectives actively sought out and incorporated?”

Pay close attention to the wording and format of your questions. Also, consider how your audience may perceive them.

For example, asking employees, “Is our company diverse?” as a yes or no question forces participants into an answer. Plus, it doesn’t really give them a chance to voice their opinions.

You could rework your questions to include a rating scale (e.g., On a scale of 1-5, how would you rate diversity at our company?) and follow up with an open-ended question that asks why that rating was selected.

3. Keep your survey optional and anonymous.

I cannot stress enough how important it is to keep your surveys optional and anonymous. From personal experience, I’ve found that when people feel unsafe to share their thoughts, they won’t.

The same goes for your employees. They are more likely to share their honest thoughts and opinions if they feel they can do so without repercussions. Coughlin said keeping your survey anonymous is critical, but it might require finding a new tool to ensure privacy.

He told me, “It’s really important to take steps to make these surveys anonymous. Most survey tools don’t do this and it makes employees nervous to answer honestly. Leaders should be very transparent about how these answers are displayed and that no one in the organization will be able to reverse engineer who is who.”

He even mentioned that some surveys allow the administrators to watch employees answer questions in real-time. This defeats the purpose of anonymous surveys and can lead to serious repercussions.

Remember, your survey shouldn‘t focus on who is saying what, and people shouldn’t feel forced to take it. You’ll get more genuine responses if people feel like they can answer honestly while keeping their identity private.

4. Be an active listener with a plan.

At the end of our chat, I asked Coughlin if he had any more tips to share about DEI surveys. He made a point to tell me that workplace surveys are great, but you can’t just file the results in a folder and leave them there. There’s meaningful work to do once the results are in, especially if you want your employees to feel valued and heard.

He said, “It goes beyond listening and measuring. It’s actually going to be acted on. Because companies sometimes feel like listening just means listening. But that doesn‘t make people feel heard. You have to make a commitment to do something useful with that information. And when you’re giving something a value like that, then you’ll get that valuable data from people. People will be honest. They will feel compelled to take the survey rather than ignore it.”

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Survey Questions

I think it’s important to point out that workplace diversity questionnaires are different from employee satisfaction surveys. While employee satisfaction surveys are helpful to understanding how your employees feel about their work, they don’t always indicate the inclusivity of your workplace — which is why you need DEI survey questions in your questionnaire.

I’ve compiled a list of 24 diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging survey questions for employees. Feel free to use these or tweak them for your organization.

You can review the questions in order below or jump around:

• Diversity Survey Questions
• Equity Survey Questions
• Inclusion Survey Questions
• Belonging Survey Questions

Diversity Survey Questions

1. On a scale of 1-5, how would you rate diversity at our company?

Why I think this works: This is a great starter question that allows participants to quantify how successful your diversity efforts are as a whole.

2. Do you feel our company encourages diverse perspectives and ideas?

Why I think this works: If the answer is no, this tells you exactly where you need to focus your efforts (e.g., creating a forum for new ideas, additional DEI training for team leads, etc.).

3. To what extent do you feel you can relate to members of the executive team?

Why I think this works: This helps you understand if your employees can see themselves as part of leadership one day. Huge implications for retention and growth.

4. Rate on a scale of strongly agree to strongly disagree: Our organization hires people from all backgrounds.

Why I think this works: Even if your organization is setting diversity hiring goals, you’ll be able to see whether or not your employees actually see this reflected within their teams.

5. How comfortable are you discussing your social or cultural beliefs in the workplace?

Why I think this works: A big part of diversity is authenticity. If people aren’t comfortable talking about their backgrounds, this is an indicator that something needs to change.

6. What steps can we take to create a more diverse culture at our company?

Why I think this works: This question is actionable and gives participants the opportunity to tell you what they really want to see out of your DEI work.

Equity Survey Questions

1. Do you feel you have the same opportunities for advancement as your colleagues?

Why I think this works: Equity means that growth opportunities are available for everyone. This question tells you how employees feel compared to their peers in this area.

2. Rate on a scale of strongly agree to strongly disagree: Our company treats all employees fairly.

Why I think this works: Fair and just treatment is another key element of workplace equity. If employees disagree with this question, this is an easy red flag.

3. Have you ever noticed favoritism in the workplace? If so, please explain.

Why I think this works: Favoritism is the antithesis of equity. If this is happening at your company, this will allow you to capture real examples for further investigation.

4. Rank these equity initiatives based on how important they are to you.

Why I think this works: Employee rankings will give you direct feedback on your equity processes and program, and help you prioritize your efforts.

5. Does your supervisor show a commitment to workplace equity?

Why I think this works: The supervisor/direct report relationship is crucial. This can help you determine whether your people managers need additional equity training or support.

6. What else can we do to promote equity across the company?

Why I think this work: This is another actionable question that gives employees space to make suggestions based on their experiences with equity at work.

Inclusion Survey Questions

1. To what extent are you able to bring your full self to work each day?

Why I think this works: Inclusion means being comfortable showing your authentic self at work. If the responses indicate that this isn‘t the case, it’s clear you have some work to do.

2. Have you ever felt left out or excluded from certain activities in the workplace?

Why I think this works: If people feel excluded, they’re less likely to engage. The results of this question can help you proactively re-engage employees before they churn.

3. Rate on a scale of strongly agree to strongly disagree: I feel included in the decisions that impact the business.

Why I think this works: Feeling like you bring value to the business at large is another form of inclusion. This question tells you if employees feel like their day-to-day work matters.

4. How comfortable are you with voicing your opinions and concerns at work?

Why I think this works: This will help you gauge how confident employees are about sharing feedback and identifying problems in the workplace.

5. On a scale of 1-5, how strongly do you think our company values inclusivity?

Why I think this works: If your company values inclusivity, it‘s important to practice what you preach. This will let you know if your employees think you’re doing a good job.

6. Would you recommend this company as an inclusive place to work?

Why I think this works: If your employees answer yes to this question, this speaks volumes. Why? Because they would be willing to encourage their peers to join your work environment.

Belonging Survey Questions

1. To what extent do your personal values align with the values of our organization?

Why I think this works: If employees don‘t feel like your values align, this could be an indicator that your DEI efforts aren’t creating the outcome you anticipated.

2. Do you feel a sense of ownership over your work?

Why I think this works: If employees feel like they own the work they do, they’ll be more empowered to make decisions and bring creative ideas to the table.

3. Rate on a scale of strongly agree to strongly disagree: I can depend on my coworkers.

Why I think this works: A good sense of belonging gives employees the confidence to build relationships. And dependability means they’re comfortable confiding in their peers.

4. Do you feel like you belong at this company?

Why I think this works: This question is straightforward and to the point. It essentially tells you whether your employees feel like they should be working for you.

5. Rate on a scale of strongly agree to strongly disagree: Our company’s mission inspires me to do my best work.

Why I think this works: Similar to value alignment, this question gives you insight into how connected employees feel to what you’re trying to accomplish as an organization.

6. Can you see yourself working for this company in the next two years?

Why I think this works: A good indicator of belonging is that your employees want to stick around long term. If most participants say yes, that’s a win.

Get the Most Out of Your Next DEI Survey

From my conversation with Jim Coughlin, it’s clear DEI initiatives are critical for the success of any business, and the need for these initiatives will only continue to grow. Your employees invest their time and energy in making your business a success. So, you should go out of your way to create an environment where they feel safe, seen, and heard.

How? It’s easier said than done, but asking them for feedback is the perfect place to start. Take some time to think through your DEI survey questions to ensure you gain perspectives and not just a blanket, surface-level response.

Editor’s note: This post was originally published in April 2023 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Creating a successful cross-channel marketing campaign requires great effort. If I had it my way, I would always know how and when to reach our customers. I could have a single channel for interacting with them, converting them, and continuing to delight them. All of my marketing, sales, and service efforts could be easily tracked and enhanced as we created the ideal customer experience within this single channel.

Sounds perfect, right? Unfortunately, ideal situations seldom apply to businesses. As anyone who has ever tried to meet a quota of leads or customers can attest, if you only market in a single channel, you’re going to miss out on a large portion of your target audience. In fact, focusing on a single channel can even make for a poor customer experience and prevent you from successfully nurturing your leads.

Recently, I spoke with Nathaniel Miller, head of marketing at HarvestIQ, and Ruslan Halilov, chief marketing officer at BlueDotHQ, to learn more about how to nail cross-channel marketing effectively. Below, I’ll share their insights.

Table of Contents

• What is cross-channel marketing?
• Why use cross-channel marketing?
• Why Cross-Channel Marketing Can Be Challenging
• Cross-Channel Marketing Examples
• How to Get Started with Cross-Channel Marketing

I asked Ruslan Halilov and Nathaniel Miller to give me a quick definition of cross-channel marketing. Halilov told me, “Cross-channel marketing simply means incorporating multiple channels into your marketing strategy.”

Multiple channels means incorporating your social media accounts, websites, and email campaigns to reach customers where they are and offer them different but relevant experiences through the customer journey.

Miller suggested that cross-channel marketing only works well if you create a smooth experience across your entire brand. He said, “Whether it’s seeing an ad on Facebook, opening an email, or landing on your website, everything should feel connected. The idea is to keep your message consistent and relevant as people jump from one platform to another.”

If you’re in marketing or sales, you might be thinking, “What is the difference between cross-channel and omnichannel marketing? Isn’t that the same thing?”

Although these two tactics are closely related, they’re different. I asked Miller and Halilov to help me understand the differences between these strategies.

The Difference Between Cross-Channel & Omnichannel Marketing

It’s important not to confuse cross-channel marketing with omnichannel marketing. Both strategies depend on:

• Multiple marketing channels.
• Monitoring metrics.
• Customer interactions.

However, according to Miller, there is one key difference.

He told me, “Cross-channel is about getting all your platforms to play nice together — like linking your email campaign with social ads so your audience gets a cohesive experience. Omnichannel takes it up a notch by putting the customer at the very center. It’s less about channels and more about creating one ongoing, unified experience that feels totally personalized.”

I know it might sound like bringing all of your channels together is a challenge. Cross-channel marketing is somewhat simpler than omnichannel marketing.

With cross-channel marketing, you’re bringing each of your platforms into unison with each other so that they build off each other and amplify their impact. You’re creating content around the same message, but in a way that fits the platform. This might mean tweaking your copy for social media, creating video content, or sending emails.

For example, if a prospect reads one of your blog posts looking for a solution to their pain points, they might receive a related email later mentioning the same topic. Then, when they scroll through social media, they might see an ad with a catchy headline about how your product solves the problem.

Each platform functions differently, and your content supports those roles.

Why use cross-channel marketing?

Regardless of your industry, understanding your target persona is key to an effective marketing strategy. I have found that you can‘t market effectively if you don’t have a thorough understanding of who you’re marketing to. Otherwise, it’s like blowing on a dandelion — you’re just scattering marketing efforts into the wind and hoping that something lands correctly.

So, instead of scattering your efforts in various directions, take my advice: You need to understand your target persona and how they interact with brands and make buying decisions. This means plugging into the channels where your customers get the information to make these decisions and looking hard into how they want to receive information.

There are a ton of benefits to doing this, too.

Cross-Channel Marketing Benefits

When I asked Nathaniel about the benefits of cross-channel marketing, he told me, “Cross-channel marketing keeps your message consistent across platforms, creating a seamless experience for your audience. It means better engagement, higher conversions, and a more cohesive brand presence.”

Let’s take a closer look at the benefits of deploying a cross-channel business marketing strategy.

1. Increased Engagement

With the sheer volume of ads consumers see in a day, many have gone (me included) what I like to call “ad-blind.” In other words, your customers scroll past your PPC ads, boosted posts, and marketing emails without giving them a thought.

However, if I’ve been working on figuring out a complex issue for my team and have already come across a brand that I view as an authority on that issue, receiving a marketing email or seeing an ad about that topic is more likely to catch my attention and not get deleted in my daily inbox cleaning efforts.

Consumers respond positively to personalized content. For example, calls to action that contain customized content perform 202% better than generic CTAs.

2. Proven ROI

As Miller told me, cross-channel marketing leads to higher conversions. Combining your efforts with a cross-channel marketing approach can:

• Break down silos that decontextualize metrics.
• Clarify the touch points to see how a viewer became a lead and customer.
• Help you refine your marketing approach.

For example, if you consider your marketing efforts from a single-channel or multi-channel approach, your email marketing team may be focused on getting opens or CTA impressions. Meanwhile, your social media team may be focused on getting impressions or likes. Finally, your content team may be looking at blog views.

To me, separating these channels to an individual level is somewhat chaotic and can lead to false numbers. So, not only does cross-channel marketing create a clearer roadmap for refining your marketing efforts, but it also helps to avoid falling into the traps of vanity metrics.

3. Greater Brand Presence

Creating a marketing campaign across your available channels will increase your brand presence. By doing this, your leads will be saying, “I’ve seen that brand everywhere!”

The more you promote your brand, the more potential leads will see it. It reminds me of the saying, “Curiosity killed the cat.” With appropriate and consistent messaging across all platforms, your leads will be curious enough to check out your brand, especially if you promise to solve their problems.

4. Greater Customer Loyalty

Solving your customers’ problems leads to an improved brand experience for consumers, which increases a buyer’s sense of delight.

I’m pretty sure this is Marketing 101, but, a delighted customer is a loyal customer, and combining loyalty with delight is the recipe for creating your most powerful marketing tool: a brand ambassador.

Consumers generally want a reason to keep coming back. It’s easier to know that you have a go-to resource for a given issue or need than to go back to the drawing board and research, compare, and test solutions.

For many buyers, it‘s simply more convenient to upgrade or purchase additional services from a provider they already know and trust — even if it’s slightly more costly — than to find someone brand new who can do the same thing. When a customer trusts you and genuinely wants to help them succeed and your unified marketing and customer service efforts demonstrate that, you remain front of mind as an authority.

Why Cross-Channel Marketing Can Be Challenging

Although Halilov mentioned that cross-channel marketing is slightly easier to implement than omnichannel marketing, it’s still not without its challenges. I asked both him and Miller to guide me through some of its pitfalls so I could learn (and share!) how to avoid them.

Here’s what they told me.

1. Staying consistent is challenging.

Halilov mentioned to me that the biggest challenge he finds with cross-channel communication is staying consistent. He said, “In my opinion, the key challenge here is to keep your messaging consistent on every platform while also balancing that with customizing your campaign for every platform.”

Think about it: You need to align multiple channels and ensure each content on your various platforms is relevant. As I’ve learned, the more cohesive your strategy is, the better it will be.

Is this impossible? No. But is it challenging? It can be.

2. Messaging can become repetitive.

Consistency is key to cross-channel campaigns. However, sometimes, remaining consistent can become boring. Miller warned me about this. He said, “One of the biggest challenges is keeping your messaging unified without being boring or repetitive.”

This means you’ll need to work with a copywriter and your marketing team to create relevant but different copy for your marketing campaigns. So, while it can be challenging, there’s also a viable solution.

3. Tracking metrics can be difficult.

After learning about the various channels that must be combined for cross-channel marketing to work, I wasn’t surprised to learn that both Nathanial and Ruslan thought tracking metrics could be a bit of a challenge. Ruslan told me, “Another challenge is tracking the performance of your campaigns. It’s simple: the more channels you use, the more data you get, and the more effort it takes to analyze it.”

However, Ruslan did mention several analytical tools you can use. With the right tools, tracking your metrics is less of a problem.

Cross-Channel Marketing Examples

Let’s take a look at a couple of cross-channel marketing examples to get a better idea of how they work. It’s important to understand that cross-channel marketing isn’t just about sales. Instead, it’s about creating a more unified customer experience.

The first example of a cross-channel campaign comes straight from my Facebook notifications.

1. VistaPrint

I’ve been thinking quite a bit about printing new marketing materials for my business recently. With Facebook’s recent addition of ads in users’ notifications, I saw an ad that said, “Get seen with bold signs.” This ad caught my eye because VistaPrint is a company I have used to print mailers and other marketing materials.

VistaPrint doesn’t just use Facebook to target their customers, though. If I had just seen their ad in my notifications, I likely would have skipped right over it. Instead, they also run YouTube ads and television commercials. Check out this commercial, for example:

Notice that the intent of the commercial is similar to the Facebook notification. The commercial’s intent is to prove that you can get seen by your customers when you use VistaPrint for your printing. The Facebook notification says the same thing, just with less copy.

Instead of focusing on making a sale, the ad and the YouTube commercial speak directly to my pain points and provide a solution: get more business with marketing materials that stand out. The more I see VistaPrint in my notifications, newsfeeds, and television, the more I’m reminded that I need to order new business cards and signs.

2. Shopify

Shopify cross-channel communications is another great example of this marketing strategy at work. They are pros at using various marketing channels — channels I wouldn’t think of right off the bat. Here’s an example of a Shopify Facebook ad that is straight from their ad library.

Looking at the details of this ad, I can see they’re running it across the Meta platform, both on Facebook and Instagram. So, based on their target audience, they might see the Shopify ad in their Facebook feeds and then again on Instagram as they scroll through the app. Choosing to run this ad on both platforms ensures Shopify catches all of its audience members multiple times.

Shopify doesn’t stop there with its marketing. Instead, they’ve found a creative place to put their ads. Nearly all of the podcasts I listen to feature a Shopify ad. Typically, the Shopify ad is in the middle of the show, meaning that users will hear it because they’re invested in the content. Shopify also partners with content creators and gets them to read their ads. This helps create trust with the listeners.

If I sold physical products on my website or in a storefront, I would consider using Shopify — just because I hear about it so much.

3. Canva

Canva also uses cross-channel marketing to bring in new leads. As a former teacher, I used Canva quite often to create presentations. However, when I left the classroom, the way I used Canva changed.

Here’s how they draw me as a customer with their emails now:

Instead of using teacher language, they use business lingo (strategy sessions, anyone?). Using the right wording in your ads and emails can capture the right audience that you want to focus on. For example, if this email mentioned something like, “Use this whiteboard to teach a virtual lesson,” I would have ignored it. I’m no longer in the classroom so that no longer appeals to me.

Imagine seeing this email in your inbox, and then you see this YouTube ad before a video:

Chances are you’ll remember Canva’s functionality and be interested enough to check it out the next time you need to create something for your job.

How to Get Started with Cross-Channel Marketing

When starting with cross-channel marketing, it‘s important to remember that you’ll likely need to tweak your approach and make ongoing optimizations as you get better at it. The more data you collect, the better you‘ll understand your customers’ cross-channel buying experience, giving you insights into improvements you can make across each channel.

Here’s how to launch a cross-channel marketing campaign of your own:

1. Create your customer persona.

If you haven’t clearly defined your customer persona, do so before diving into cross-channel marketing. Defining your customer persona is the first step and the backbone of any successful cross-channel strategy. This helps you have unified data within a customer data platform (CDP).

Your business’s customer relationship management (CRM) platform will often be able to manage this data, so you can likely get started by building on your existing tools. For example, if you use HubSpot’s customer platform, you can create customer persona markers, which will help you organize your data better.

2. Set up your analytical tools across your CDP.

Speaking of CRMs and CDPs, Miller made a point about how important it is to integrate your tech. He suggested, “Use tools like HubSpot to manage campaigns across channels and connect your CRM for better tracking so nothing falls through the cracks.”

Regardless of the specific CDP you choose, you‘ll want to ensure you have the analytics data available to capture each of your leads’ touchpoints. Remember, Halilov told me that tracking data can be a challenge, but there are analytics tools to help.

Typically, this will involve tracking URLs or browser cookies to associate online actions with an individual lead‘s contact profile. You’ll want to be able to see which emails they‘ve been sent and have interacted with, which social media campaigns have made an impression on them, the blog posts that they’ve read, PPC campaigns they’ve clicked on, and conversations that your sales or service team have had with that customer. Whatever channels you have used for marketing — or will use — need to be reflected within your CDP.

3. Clarify your customer segments.

What I find neat about leads and customers is that while they’re similar, they’re not all the same. You can segment customers together based on their interactions with your brand. Based on the collected data, you can determine which customer belongs to which segment.

Ideally, your CDP will be able to create meaningful reports across customers that help you visualize and understand this data. But, even if you have to do some number-crunching by hand, your third step to getting started with cross-channel marketing is to understand the varying segments within your customer persona.

It’s easy to think your customer persona encompasses a single customer profile. However, the longer I’ve been in marketing, the more I realize that customers’ interactions with your brand can vary from one lead to the next. These interactions can distinguish between a successful cross-channel campaign and a failure.

4. Analyze your customer data to uncover trends.

Once you’ve collected enough data, you’ll need to analyze it to identify trends and patterns. Miller told me this can “help you understand different paths your customers take and make sure each touchpoint feels seamless.”

For example, you’ll likely notice that most of your leads who have already converted into customers have something in common. Those commonalities could be the minimum number of interactions before converting, the average time spent interacting with your marketing efforts before converting, or even specific campaigns with high conversion rates.

By analyzing your customer data and creating a clear mental picture of the segments within your contact database, you can determine which channels to prioritize and the type of content that performs best for your business across each channel.

Pro tip: I find it important to document and contextualize each interaction so that you can successfully cater your content to your customers.

5. Use smart content to unify your interactions.

If your CDP is integrated with your content management system (CMS), I have good news! This step will likely be easier than if they‘re operating independently of each other. Even if they aren’t integrated, you can still be successful with cross-channel marketing; it may just require more hands-on work to personalize your content.

With your customers analyzed and segmented based on their interactions, your next step is to begin the process of customizing your content so that it matches each viewer’s needs.

The most direct way of accomplishing this is to utilize smart content. Smart content is dynamic content determined by a certain set of criteria. To put it simply, smart content says, “If a viewer has done this, show them that.” This is why it‘s necessary to have all of your customer interaction data unified within your CDP. You’ll be able to identify who has done what clearly, so your subsequent interactions will be built upon established touchpoints.

If your CMS is able to utilize smart content, create content — or at least sections of content — based upon the segmented lists you’ve broken your contacts into.

I find giving an example helpful to explain how smart content works. Let‘s say you’re publishing a blog post about one of your core services. You can customize this blog post for various segments. It might look like this:

• Based on past interactions, the warmest leads will see a CTA to contact sales to get started.
• If another customer has already viewed your pricing page, this CTA may show an offer for them to claim 10% off.
• For contacts who haven’t had many interactions or for whom this is their first interaction, this section may be replaced with recommended content about the same topic.

Regardless of where these readers are in the buyer‘s journey, you’re showing them the most relevant content to their situation. If your CMS isn‘t integrated with your CDP or CRM, you’ll want to leverage other means of communication to tailor your content to your viewers’ individual needs manually.

For example, if you’ve identified three distinct variations of one of your personas, put that information to good use. I suggest creating three variations of your next newsletter so that each segment gets the most relevant content. Additionally, you can use this knowledge to create custom audiences for targeted advertising on social media.

6. Optimize and repeat.

In my opinion, one of the biggest advantages of cross-channel marketing is that you can report on and analyze the ways in which your marketing strategies in one channel affect another. Simply having this data gives you valuable insights into your ROI.

However, if you want your cross-channel marketing to be even more productive, you can also analyze this information to find ways to optimize your approach continuously.

Use this data to your advantage and run experiments like:

• A/B testing in your emails.
• Adjusting the traits of your target audience for Facebook ads.
• Tweaking placement of your calls-to-action to continue unearthing new and valuable insights into your customers.

As you prepare to implement additional cross-channel marketing campaigns, you can enrich each step with the data you’ve already gathered.

7. Maintain consistency.

Halilov advised me that a cross-channel marketing strategy only works if you maintain consistency across your platforms. This doesn’t mean creating one post and blasting it across your channels. Instead, I find cross-channel marketing works better when you tailor your content to each channel.

Nathaniel agreed that this is the way to go, too. He told me, “Your brand voice should be recognizable everywhere, but don’t forget to adjust the content to match the vibe of each platform.”

It’s also important to tap into the type and format your customers consume most. For the fourth year in a row, our Marketing Trends Report found that videos, especially short-form videos, are the most popular with marketers and audiences — 30% of marketers who do not currently use video in their strategy plan to start in 2025.

But keep in mind that creating videos for TikTok and cross-posting doesn’t always work. An example of this is the emergence of Threads. According to a Buffer experiment, cross-posting on Threads doesn’t work as well as on other platforms. This is because Threads is very niche-specific and has its vibe, which brings me to another nugget of advice from Halilov. He told me, “Research all the platforms you use to understand what works best for them.”

It may take some trial and error to nail down the copy for each of your channels, but trust me, it’s worth it. You can maintain consistency across your channels by creating cohesive content focused on each channel’s vibe.

How Will You Grow with Cross-Channel Marketing?

By leveraging cross-channel marketing, your team will be able to execute powerful marketing strategies, and by unifying your data within a customer data platform, you‘ll also have more meaningful insights into your customer’s behavior. That knowledge means that you‘ll have greater opportunities to cater your sales, marketing, and customer service interactions to each and every one of your contacts. When you can access that information, you’re on track to delight your customers at every turn. From there, you can grow wherever you want to.

Editor’s note: This article was originally published in December 2018 and has since been updated for comprehensiveness.

Customer data: can’t understand it, can’t afford NOT to understand it. That’s how I used to feel about data, and I thought throwing AI into the mix would make the confusion even worse. I’m happy to report just how wrong I was.

Artificial intelligence (AI) makes collecting, interpreting, and acting on customer data far easier than traditional data tools. There are also countless products on the market to help make this process as effective and fast as possible.

Customer data platforms have been a resource for companies of all sizes for a long time, and AI has added a level of operational ease that will assist even the most numbers-adverse individual (raises hand) in confidently making data-backed decisions. Let’s look at what unique opportunities AI brings to the customer data conversation, and which platforms are the most popular (and why).

Table of Contents

• What Is an AI Customer Data Platform?
• How Does an AI Customer Data Platform Work?
• Benefits of an AI Customer Data Platform
• Pitfalls to Avoid
• Examples of Some AI CDPs I Recommend
• Detangling Your Data

What Is an AI Customer Data Platform?

An AI customer data platform (CDP) is software that gathers, organizes, unifies, and interprets customer data using artificial intelligence. It offers an unparalleled understanding of your customers’ first-party data, aiding in decision-making in every department.

Data collection must be done ethically to remain lawful and have adequate privacy compliance, and the data infrastructure must be secure to avoid breaches and outages.

How Does an AI Customer Data Platform Work?

The first step in using an AI CDP is setting it up to collect data. Your chosen platform will automatically sync with your website, email, CRM, etc., to unify diverse data sources into a single source of truth.

Then, a variety of AI functions, such as natural language processing (NLP), machine learning, and predictive analytics, will process your data.

Once your data is processed, you’re provided with actionable recommendations that advance your sales, marketing, and advertising efforts.

Benefits of an AI Customer Data Platform

While you can choose a CDP that doesn’t have an AI focus, I think there are endless applications of artificial intelligence worth considering. Here are the specific benefits you can expect when using an AI CDP.

Future-Facing Data Process

The data landscape is changing — rapidly. Cookies are dead. Regulations are changing. AI is being thrown around like confetti (and not always responsibly).

Many data platforms are working AI into their infrastructure, but not every platform is monitoring the changes on a larger scale. This can lead to important details being missed, for example not adhering to new regulations like the EU Artificial Intelligence Act.

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What if you’re not keeping up with the times? Your platform could still be relying on cookies, which have gone stale.

Statistic: When Google announced its phase-out of website cookies, 41% of marketers said their biggest challenge would be their inability to track the right data.

Data platforms that aren’t aggressively surveying and responding to changing regulations won’t be keeping up with the times for long. Small business owners aren’t data scientists; they can’t be expected to run their businesses, monitor the data landscape, and react accordingly.

This is why I think it’s beneficial to use CDPs that are leaders in the AI space, who will monitor AI’s evolution and adapt.

Get predictive insights.

AI can provide deeper predictive analytics than traditional data software. This predictive modeling turns a pile of numbers into actionable insights that can offer more personalized customer experiences.

Example: AI CDP platform Blueshift generates a rating for each customer based on their likelihood of converting, which updates automatically as more data is collected. This creates predictive segments, making highly targeted campaigns easy to develop and employ.

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Improve customer experience.

Data isn’t only used by sales and marketing to help woo new customers — existing customers benefit greatly from it as well.

Customers’ information being gathered and processed by AI helps your customer service team deliver faster, more relevant support. Customer profiles contain more information than just purchase history and first-party data. AI platforms gather communication across channels and provide unique and actionable insights for service reps.

I know this can make some users nervous, but I welcome this because I’ve seen firsthand how AI is improving customer service for platforms that I use. And I’m not the only one.

AI in the wild: The next time you’re engaging with customer services, look critically at the conversation and see if you can notice past communications being accounted for.

Leverage machine learning.

Machine learning is a very powerful function of AI that enables software to read your data, learn from it, and make predictive insights. While similar results can come from data analysis tools, machine learning does this automatically without needing to be programmed. In marketing and sales, it enables data-driven decision making.

Pro tip: I suggest you start using machine learning with a focused scope to improve accuracy. The vast amounts of data will naturally lead to a lot of unnecessary data, and starting with a wide focus won’t get the same results.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBqFqcWVjCo&list=PLlw9qxNtFom2JqbUWKTALkvQ8TYl2Z5F0

Personalize customer experiences.

Recommender system algorithms changed the online experience radically — these algorithms took millions of social media posts and identified which ones you would like most. It offered a tailored experience to each user, which can now be taken to even further heights with AI-powered insights into customer interests. This can advance your sales, customer service, and marketing efforts.

Statistic: A study by Accenture discovered that 91% of consumers reported being more likely to shop with brands that remember, recognize, and provide relevant recommendations and offers.

For example, your data platform can leverage behavioral data to identify customers at a specific stage of the customer journey. Then, run targeted ads to that unique group. You can further the financial impact of personalization by only targeting high-value customers with a high customer lifetime value.

Pitfalls to Avoid

We don’t need to dwell too long on the downsides of using an AI CDP, but I think it’s worth touching on briefly. You’re not ready for an AI CDP if the following statements describe you:

• Lack of a plan. Gathering data without knowing how to use it is like setting sail without a destination.
• No team training. It’s a miscalculation to assume that your team understands AI and how it’s working to help them (not replace them).
• Lackadaisical approach to AI ethics. Ignoring AI ethics puts you on the fast track to losing customer trust and sinking below industry standards.

Pro tip: Understanding your KPIs is essential for leveraging customer data efficiently. Use our free customer service metrics calculator to help.

With the benefits and pitfalls understood, let’s get up close and personal with some of the most-recommended platforms on the market.

Examples of Some AI CDPs I Recommend

I’ve reviewed five of the most popular AI CDPs out there. Here’s a summary of their key features, stand-out qualities, and a summary of what online reviewers have to say.

1. Twilio Segment

Twilio Segment (previously just Segment) has a heavy emphasis on using data and improving customer satisfaction and experience. I like the focus on activating customer data using pre-built tools in your dashboard. Key features include a unified view of customer data, predictive insights, and 400+ advanced integrations.

A powerful element is the Protocols feature, which tackles data cleansing. You can also explore features that are specific to individual departments, like data, marketing, and products. When you set up your account, you can select which department you work in. Then, you get a specific guided onboarding process. I thought this was a great touch that helped reduce overwhelm.

Price: Free trial followed by company-specific pricing.

Reviews: Online reviewers like the robust integration library and real-time data processing but complain about the price.

What I like: Twilio Segment has some catchy copywriting on its homepage: “Know each individual like they are your only customer.” This is an easy thing to say, but they followed through. I saw firsthand the personalized customer experience. On my first visit, the AI chatbot provided this message:

Then, on my second visit, it customized the chatbot based on my time already spent on their website:

This type of data usage felt natural and personal; more than anything, it got my attention.

2. Adobe Experience Platform

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The Adobe Experience Platform is a powerful AI-fueled CDP that funnels many data points into one unified profile that updates in real time, without relying on third-party cookies. It integrates seamlessly with other Adobe products as well as major platforms you may use, like Salesforce, Paypal, Amazon, etc.

Data is pulled from both internal and external data sources, creating a holistic view of your customers at a glance. Not only is your customer data gathered for your review, but you can also have a conversation about it with Adobe’s AI system, called Adobe Sensei. For example, you can ask, “What’s my top audience this quarter?” and get immediate answers pulled from your sea of company data. I think this feature is amazing!

Price: Tailored pricing for each client.

Reviews: Online reviewers like the platform for both data activation and governance but cite steep learning curves as a drawback.

What I like: The ease of creating a customer or audience segment. Customer segmentation allows you to speak directly to specific groups within your customer base. Sometimes, these groups are easy to identify, such as customers who purchased a certain product within a set timeframe. Other times, AI can help you find much more nuanced groups, such as customers who are disengaged with your content and most likely not renew their subscription.

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3. Salesforce Customer 360

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Salesforce Customer 360 is technically a customer relationship manager (CRM), but it’s a large, umbrella software that also fulfills the role of an AI CDP. Salesforce summarizes their platform capabilities this way: AI + Data + CRM + Trust. The Salesforce name is synonymous with trust. The company is a longtime pillar of the data world, and they’re now leading the way with how AI and data are integrated.

Price: Free trial followed by company-specific pricing.

Reviews: Online reviewers like the flexibility and scalability of the product, but the learning curve is cited as a common complaint.

What I like: I used Salesforce at my first salaried job out of college, and I remember how overwhelming I found it. In hindsight, I think that there’s no way for a software this enormous to feel approachable at first use. Salesforce invites you to set up a free one-on-one call with their team so they can discuss their software’s application in your business, which will help offer you a map through this massive platform.

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4. ActionIQ

ActionIQ is a more contemporary AI-fueled data platform with advanced data architecture options. It’s a much younger platform than Adobe and Salesforce — Adobe is old enough to be ActionIQ’s parent. The advantage is that it feels more modern. As a user, I also feel like there’s a focus on adoption. Instead of reading endless info on product features, you can look at specifics for your different departments: marketing, information technology teams, data teams, and advertising.

Price: Tailored pricing for each client.

Reviews: ActionIQ has fewer reviews than other platforms, but customers shared that they liked the customer support and expertise of the team. Some reviewers also mention that there are kinks still being worked out.

What I like: Combine the comfortable user experience with its customer support, and this platform is very approachable for small businesses. I felt seen (and slightly called out) when they described their platform as having a “marketer-friendly interface.” This wasn’t just a line of sales copy — looking at the user interface, I feel like it rings true.

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5. Blueshift

Blueshift describes itself as a three-piece combo: a CDP, an AI-based decision aid, and a cross-channel marketing platform. It focuses on data unification across channels, then leveraging AI decision-making to save time and improve efficiency. Customer reviews cite the ease of use and customer support as the biggest pros. Blueshift gets credit for being the only AI CDP on this list with a free plan.

Price: Free and $750+ per month.

Reviews: Online reviewers cited the automation and onboarding process as pros, while others mentioned some complexity when implementing.

What I like: The volume of data available is incomprehensible to me, so I like Blueshift’s emphasis on data activation. It feels to me like this platform was designed with the entire team in mind, which helps with software adoption and avoiding data silos. The focus on the customer journey, paired with the built-in generative AI features, paints a really exciting picture of what data can mean for your marketing efforts.

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Detangling Your Data

It shouldn’t take a data science team to use an AI CDP. Thankfully, there are enough products on the market for each business to find what suits them best. I hope these statistics, tips, and product recommendations helped demystify the process of inviting AI into your data management process.

The presence of AI everywhere makes it feel like you’re living in the future, doesn’t it? To quote Spock, “Data is the key to everything.” Boldly take your customer data where no one has gone before.

You did it — you created the perfect survey! But what’s the point if no one takes it??

I’ve found a good survey email subject line is the key to getting customers to open your survey and share their feedback.

And since customer feedback is invaluable, I’ll review the best survey titles and survey email subject lines to help guarantee that first click.

Continue reading or jump ahead:

• Survey Title Examples
• Survey Email Subject Line Best Practices
• Survey Subject Line vs Survey Title
• What Makes a Great Survey Title?
• What Makes a Great Subject Line for a Survey?
• Best Subject Lines for Surveys

Survey Subject Line vs Survey Title

A survey title is written directly on the survey landing page. Its function is both internal and external: Each survey title will be used by companies to track survey results, and it will also compel readers to begin taking the survey.

A survey subject line is displayed in customers’ email inboxes. Subject lines have one core purpose: to compel readers to open the email. There’s an enormous amount of psychology and research that goes into crafting the most successful email subject lines possible.

Get our free guide: 100+ email subject lines that work.

What Makes a Great Survey Title?

Did you know that survey pages can have very high bounce rates? You may have gotten a reader to click on the survey link, but that doesn’t mean that they’re compelled to complete it just yet.

Here are some survey title characteristics I’ve discovered that successful campaigns embody:

• Unique title every time. Your company may run the same survey every quarter or year, but it needs to be given a unique name so that you can track each campaign accurately.
• Personality. You’re asking customers to put time into your survey, so start off on the right foot by putting in some effort yourself. Avoid generic titles like “Customer Satisfaction Survey.” When I see a survey with these blank generic titles, I assume the company put very little thought into it.
• Include the customer. One of the most powerful words in copywriting is “you.” Tell us your opinion, we want your thoughts, how did you find us? Break the fourth wall and look the customer directly in the eyes.

I’m going to share a lot of examples of these principles in action as you read on.

In most cases, your survey title and your survey email subject line may go hand in hand. Let’s review some examples of survey titles based on the type of survey you’re running.

Customer Feedback Survey Titles

Here are a few customer feedback survey title ideas:

• How did you find us?
• Tell us about your last customer service experience.
• What can we do better?

Use our free customer satisfaction survey templates to gather this information quickly!

Net Promoter Score® Survey Titles

Here are a few NPS survey title ideas:

• How likely are you to recommend us to a friend or colleague?
• Rate us on a scale of 1-10.
• How do you feel about our product?

Market Research Survey Titles

Here are a few market research survey title ideas:

• What motivates you to do business with us?
• Share how you would rate our pricing for this product.
• Why did you choose our services?

What Makes a Great Subject Line for a Survey?

Your subject lines make or break your survey campaigns, in my opinion.

Statistic: 35% of customers report opening emails based on the subject line alone.

Here are some characteristics that successful email subject lines are made of:

• Clear intent. While survey emails with curious subject lines may get high open rates, they won’t necessarily yield more responses. I hate feeling tricked into opening an email with a misleading subject line — no one likes feeling like this. Clear subject lines build trust.
• Personalization. Email personalization is easy to achieve, and it helps subject lines stand out. I personally find that seeing my name at the end of the email subject line gets my attention more than any other type of personalization.
• Familiar tone. When I regularly open emails from a business, I know their tone, and it rings alarm bells when the tone suddenly changes. Ultimately, I recommend letting your normal email marketing team have the final say on the subject line copy to keep your company on brand.

Pro tip: A/B test your email subject lines to help you gain insight into how your audience reacts to your content.

To build on these principles, let’s look at the best survey email subject lines.

Best Subject Lines for Surveys

Below, I’ve compiled 21 captivating survey email subject lines to help you grab your audience’s attention and increase survey participation.

1. [Name], we want to hear from you.

Why this works: The name personalization in the subject line makes the outreach more human, and you’re letting the customer know that you’re listening.

2. How can we do better?

Why this works: You’re recognizing that your products and services aren’t perfect, but you’re also willing to take the necessary steps to improve. I think this show of humility gives customers more confidence in your brand.

3. Give us your feedback, get 30% off.

Why this works: This shows the customer that you want to create a mutually beneficial relationship, and it incentivizes them to take your survey.

4. Help us help you.

Why this works: This is another relationship-building tactic because it tells the customer that you want to work together to meet their needs.

5. Be honest — how are we doing?

Why this works: By encouraging honesty, you’re creating an environment where customers are empowered to speak freely and more likely to contribute their thoughts and ideas. In my experience, honest feedback is the most valuable feedback.

6. Your opinion matters. Let’s chat.

Why this works: You’re letting the recipient know that you care about how they feel, and you’re giving them a forum to make their thoughts heard.

Here’s an example of this subject line copy in the wild, sent by Ring.

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7. How was [product]? Tell us all about it.

Why this works: I like how the product personalization allows you to specify the type of feedback you’re requesting, and it makes the customer feel like you appreciate them as an individual.

8. More than a penny ($25) for your thoughts?

Why this works: This recognizable play on words is eye-catching, and the incentive gives customers a reason to participate in your survey.

I found an example of this subject line in the wild, sent by Tailor Brands:

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9. How do you really feel about [service]?

Why this works: This encourages customers to air out their true feelings, and the service personalization adds that human touch that customers are looking for.

10. Share your feedback. We’re all ears.

Why this works: I think the “we’re all ears” phrasing emphasizes that your company is willing to accept feedback with open arms and ready to act on it.

11. Thoughts on our customer service? 👂

Why this works: When you make customers feel valued, you win. Plus, existing customers can point out holes and shortcomings with your customer service better than your internal team can.

Statistic: 64% of customers say they’ll choose a new company to purchase from if the original company doesn’t have good customer service — no matter how enjoyable they find the product.

Need help managing your customer feedback? Use the HubSpot customer feedback tool.

12. It’s been 14 days. How’s it going?

Why it works: Automating this customer success email survey to send within a close time frame after purchase can help turn a one-time purchase into a long-term relationship. You also get incredibly powerful data from customers by asking if they’ve quickly achieved their goals with your product.

The subject line was inspired by the company Bellroy, which sent me the below email using the subject line “Day 30. What’s happened so far?”

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13. What’s NOT working with [product], [name]?

Why it works: Negative customer feedback, while unpleasant, is an enormous opportunity for companies. To quote Bill Gates, “Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.” I find it feels honest and authentic to see a company asking to hear your complaints.

Statistic: 62% of customers have reported that they share a bad experience with others. I think it’s better to hear that bad experience directly so you can address it head-on.

14. Survey closing 🚨 last day to share your thoughts

Why it works: Putting a time limit on your survey creates a sense of urgency for readers and inspires action, getting attention and improving response rates.

15. Name, how did you like [purchase]?

Why it works: While getting big-picture feedback from customers can feel like pulling teeth, it’s much easier to engage customers in specific satisfaction surveys. This is another type of customer success email survey that can help you get very specific insights into how customers are finding your product or service.

Inspired by this automated email sent by Amazon:

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16. Not your average satisfaction survey 👀 (takes 60 secs)

Why it works: Customer surveys are a dime a dozen, and customers are constantly asked to participate. Give viewers a reason to feel that yours is worth completing. Just make sure that you deliver something “un-average” in your email body!

17. Our survey is literal trash without you, [first name]

Why it works: This funny, candid subject line is less corporate-speak and more friendly text. Old, large companies rarely have the flexibility to take risks with humor (who wants to upset board members by being “unprofessional?”), so a casual tone is a superpower only wielded by the little guys.

18. Tell us what you think of [company name] in 30 seconds

Why it works: The 30-second time clock is the secret ingredient of this email’s subject line. Who doesn’t have 30 seconds to spare? Customers will appreciate the ease and give quick, candid feedback.

Here’s an example of this email survey subject line I found in the wild, sent by Thumbtack:

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19. Yes, a company survey (but NOT a waste of time) 🦄

Why it works: Pulling the viewer’s attention to the word “NOT” is eye-catching and creates intrigue. It’s slightly clickbait-y, but just make sure you follow through on your promise in the email body. The unicorn emoji is a nod to the slang definition of “unicorn,” meaning that this is rare.

20. Want your ideas reviewed by the team?

Why it works: Everyone likes to feel listened to, and this subject line plays right into that customer psychology. It also implies that readers have valuable insights that the team can benefit from, building a positive connection.

21. We’d looooooove your feedback, [name]!

Why this works: The exaggeration and candid nature of this subject line make it feel less like corporate marketing and more like a text from a friend.

This subject line was inspired by the below example from Flywheel. I love that they followed this subject lineup with a line of party emojis inside the email body copy.

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Now that we’ve reviewed some survey email subject line examples, let’s discuss best practices for writing your own.

These are my best practices I hope you consider when writing your next survey email subject line.

Align with your goal.

Your survey email subject line should support your overarching survey goal. Since there are many different types of surveys to choose from, think about the following:

• Why did you choose that particular survey method?
• What are you hoping to get out of the survey?
• How do you plan to leverage the feedback you receive?

I recommend you make it clear to customers why you’re running the survey so they understand how they can contribute. Here’s a great example from South Dakota tourism that aims to re-engage cold email subscribers by asking them to click on the tourism experience that the recipient would enjoy most.

The subject line “Let’s Reconnect ❤️” is short and sweet, which makes it no surprise that it leads to a very short survey. The results of this survey may feed the brand’s content creation plan or feed future tailored email campaigns.

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Keep it concise.

The best survey email subject lines are brief and to the point. You have the body of the email to capture the nitty-gritty details, so only include the most compelling information in the subject.

I think a good rule of thumb to follow is to keep your subject line under 10 words and to use no more than 40-50 characters.

Brevity gets the recipient’s attention and respects their time — it’s a copywriting superpower. Here’s a great example from Virgin Airlines — the subject line “Tell us all about it” says everything it needs to say in 20 brief characters.

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Make it personal.

Customers want to feel like you value them personally, so it’s important to craft a subject line that humanizes the interaction and adds a personal touch. I suggest using their name or specific details about their purchase history as part of your survey communications to show them you acknowledge them as an individual.

Warning: Using someone’s name alone isn’t effective enough to get a positive response rate. I saw an email from one company that simply used the subject line “👋 Hey [First Name]!” I imagine this got pretty good open rates… and a fair share of unsubscribes. This is a flop in my book.

It feels sneaky to use someone’s name as clickbait to trigger their curiosity. Instead, try thoughtful, personalized subject lines. Here’s an email example of a more effective personalized subject line from Golden State Warriors that used the subject line “[First Name], We Want to Hear Your Thoughts!”

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Highlight incentives.

In a crowded inbox, a gift stands out (let’s be honest, where DOESN’T a gift stand out?). If you’re giving out a reward for survey participation, let your customers know that upfront.

You can (and should) highlight discounts, freebies, and other offers directly in the subject line. In other words, tell customers what they’ll get in return for their participation. Quid pro quo. A good subject line highlights this right away to hook the reader.

Here’s an example from coffee company Grind: “Answer a five-minute survey, win a Coffee Machine.” As you’re writing these incentivized headlines, be sure not to step into the spam territory (next time).

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Avoid inbox spam filters.

Did you know that certain email subject lines can send your emails straight to the inbox graveyard — the spam folder? Large numbers, like saying “$1 million,” can get your email marked as spam. You may be surprised to hear that the word “free” is also on that list, though using one trigger word isn’t an automatic sentencing.

I should also mention you’re not just trying to avoid inbox spam detectors here; you also don’t want the recipient assuming the email is spam.

Statistic: 69% of customers report marking an email as spam based on the subject line alone.

Here’s a great subject line example from Lonely Planet: “Help Lonely Planet map our next chapter 🗺️.” There’s no exaggerated language that raises concerns with viewers — just a simple invitation.

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Center the customer.

I currently have a survey email in my inbox with the subject line “[Company] Needs Your Feedback!” and… it misses the mark. Why? Because it centers the company instead of the customer.

The best email surveys make viewers feel like the CENTER of the company’s universe. Beyond offering an incentive, email survey subject lines can also communicate to viewers that the survey is meant to improve their experience.

The below answer is from The Browser Company, and it’s not a typical survey email. The bulk of this email campaign is spent letting viewers know how customer feedback has improved the platform. I think the subject line “Arc Update | Your feedback = our new features” hooks readers, then at the bottom, with just a single paragraph, it invites more user feedback.

Most companies tell customers that their feedback matters; this email shows customers.

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Consider an ethical angle.

As helpful as a customer satisfaction survey is, customers know that this feedback helps the company ultimately improve its sales. But I think you have an opportunity here to shine a light on the mission-based part of your company’s work with your surveys and subject lines. This is powerful because users care about the values of the companies they support.

Statistic: 82% of shoppers report preferring to support a company with values that align with theirs.

Here’s an example I found from the clothing brand Eton that asks users to weigh in on their sustainability agenda. The subject line “Take part in our sustainability survey” immediately helps readers identify this as a mission-based email survey and makes them feel included in a positive initiative.

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Use emojis 🕺

Emojis — whether you think they’re fun or unprofessional, you can’t deny that they draw your eye (especially in a crowded inbox). I find emojis are a 🚀 powerful tool for improving survey response rates.

Statistic: 60% of email subject lines containing emojis perform better than those without emojis 😳

The below survey email from Best Day Brewing has the subject line “Can We Ask You One Question? 🙏,” which sticks out thanks to the candid tone and personal feel of the emoji. I also like how the company followed through on its promise of a quick survey. They caught viewers’ attention and made it easy to engage, which is a recipe for a good email survey.

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Final Thoughts

The world (okay, my inbox) would be a better place with more intentional use of email marketing. Let’s all do the secret marketer’s handshake 🤝 and agree to be brief and intentional with people’s inboxes.

It’ll save us ALL some time. And increase the likelihood of people responding to your surveys.

Even the best surveys can go unnoticed if they don’t have the support of a strong survey email subject line. Use the tips and examples in this article to get the most out of your next survey.

Editor’s note: This post was originally published in February 2023 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.