Introducing Adobe Real-Time CDP
While the general definition of a CDP provides a useful framework, Adobe Real-Time Customer Data Platform (Real-Time CDP) is a powerful and unique application of these principles. It is not a standalone product but is built natively on Adobe Experience Platform, the foundational layer for Adobe Experience Cloud applications. This architectural choice is fundamental to its capabilities and provides a significant advantage in scale, speed, and integration.
Think of Adobe Experience Platform as the central nervous system for all your customer data. Because Real-Time CDP is built on this platform, any data it ingests and unifies is immediately available to other AEP-native applications, such as Adobe Customer Journey Analytics and Adobe Journey Optimizer. This shared foundation eliminates slow and complex data transfers between different marketing tools. Data brought in to build a customer profile is instantly ready to be analyzed for deep insights or used to orchestrate a cross-channel journey. This creates a compounding value effect, where an investment in Real-Time CDP is simultaneously an investment in a broader, seamlessly integrated experience management ecosystem.
Key Differentiators
Adobe Real-Time CDP is engineered to meet the demands of modern, enterprise-scale customer experience management. Its key differentiators include:
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Real-Time Data Processing: A core distinction is its ability to ingest and process customer data the moment it is generated. This allows you to react “in the moment”—for example, by personalizing a website offer during a live session based on the user’s most recent action. This contrasts with many traditional CDPs that rely on slower batch processing.
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Known and Anonymous Data Unification: Real-Time CDP excels at bringing together data from both authenticated (known) customers and anonymous visitors. It can start building a profile from the very first anonymous website visit and progressively enrich that profile as the customer interacts across channels and eventually identifies themselves, creating a complete and evolving picture of the entire customer journey.
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AI-Powered Insights: The platform is infused with Adobe Sensei, Adobe’s artificial intelligence and machine learning framework. This enables advanced capabilities out-of-the-box, such as propensity scoring to predict which customers are likely to convert or churn, and lookalike modeling to find new audiences that share characteristics with your best customers.
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Native Integration and Activation: As part of Adobe Experience Cloud, Real-Time CDP offers seamless, pre-built connections to applications like Adobe Target, Adobe Journey Optimizer, and Adobe Campaign. It also connects to a vast ecosystem of non-Adobe destinations, ensuring that your unified data can be activated wherever it is needed.