What a CDP does
A customer data platform (CDP) pulls your customer data out of the DMS, CRM, website, phone and service systems into one cleaned-up profile per customer. It then lets you build audiences from those profiles and send them to your marketing, your ad platforms and your team.
Dealer customer data sits in 12 or more systems that rarely agree. A CDP is meant to fix that: recognize the same customer everywhere, keep the record current and put it to work. Many automotive CDPs include a marketing automation platform (MAP) too, so they can run campaigns as well as build audiences. We call those hybrid CDP/MAPs.
The jobs it takes on
- Merge DMS, CRM, website, call and service data into one profile per customer
- Clean and update contact details and vehicle ownership
- Build audiences: service due, equity, in-market and lapsed customers
- Send audiences to email, text, ads and your team, and keep them fresh
- Show which campaigns led to sales and service visits
What the research shows
14.5%of dealer CRM data is engaged by the dealership in a given year, on average (Fullpath data)
40%of vehicle transactions in a 10-plus-year-old DMS are likely no longer owned by the customer on file
Under 40%of shoppers who start an online service scheduler complete the booking
From our CDP research report and the Automotive CDP Planning Guide. Read the research
Is it right for your store?
A good fit when
- You have years of customers in the DMS you never market to
- Your customer data sits in many systems that don’t agree
- You run campaigns but can’t tie them to sales and service visits
- You’re a group that wants one view of each customer across stores
Fix these first
- Your DMS data hasn’t been cleaned: start with data hygiene
- No one will own the data and the use cases day to day
- You haven’t chosen the first use cases you want to launch
What to compare
We check every CDP in the directory against the same 58 points, in ten areas. Here’s what each area means for your store.
- 01
Core features
9 pointsIdentity resolution, unified profiles, segmentation, real-time processing, data cleansing, privacy and consent, online and offline data, household resolution, and custom schemas and APIs.
Why it matters: This is the CDP itself. If it can’t match and clean customer records reliably, nothing built on top will work.
- Identity Resolution
- Unified Customer Profiles
- Audience Segmentation
- Real-Time Data Processing
- Data Normalization & Cleansing
- Privacy & Consent Management
- Offline + Online Data Integration
- Household Resolution
- Custom Data Schema & APIs
- 02
Activation & automation
5 pointsAudience suppression, automatic refreshes, behavioral triggers, journey orchestration and cross-channel activation.
Why it matters: A CDP earns its keep when audiences reach your channels automatically and stay current.
- Audience Suppression
- Refresh Automation
- Event Tracking & Behavioral Triggers
- Journey Orchestration
- Omnichannel / Cross-Channel Activation
- 03
Insights & optimization
4 pointsClosed-loop attribution, performance feedback, predictive scoring, and revenue and ROI measurement.
Why it matters: Without closed-loop attribution you can’t tell which campaigns sold cars or filled service bays.
- Closed-Loop Attribution
- Performance Feedback Loop
- Predictive Analytics & Scoring
- Revenue & ROI Measurement
- 04
CRM integrations
7 pointsWhich dealership CRMs it connects to.
Why it matters: Your CRM holds the conversations. The CDP needs them, and your team needs the audiences back in the CRM.
- DriveCentric
- ELEADS
- VinSolutions
- DealerSocket
- Momentum
- Tekion CRM
- Reynolds Focus
- 05
DMS integrations
8 pointsWhich dealer management systems it reads from.
Why it matters: The DMS is your richest data, and the messiest: around 40% of transactions in an older DMS are no longer owned by the customer on file.
- Auto/Mate
- Autosoft
- CDK Global
- DealerBuilt
- Dealertrack
- PBS Systems
- Reynolds & Reynolds
- Tekion
- 06
Call tracking
4 pointsWhich call tracking platforms feed it.
Why it matters: Calls are high-intent signals. They should update the customer profile.
- CarWars
- CallRevu
- Marchex
- Invoca
- 07
Data integrations
4 pointsWhich data warehouses it reads from and writes to.
Why it matters: Groups with their own data warehouse should check the CDP can work with it rather than around it.
- Snowflake
- Azure
- Redshift
- Amazon Website Services (AWS)
- 08
Marketing integrations
4 pointsWhich ad and marketing platforms it sends audiences to.
Why it matters: Audiences only matter if they reach the platforms your team or agency already uses.
- Trade Desk
- PureCars
- Apollo
- Fluency
- 09
Service schedulers
5 pointsWhich service schedulers it connects to.
Why it matters: Under 40% of shoppers who start an online service booking finish it. A CDP connected to your scheduler can send the rest to your team in real time.
- xTime
- CDK Service Scheduler
- Reynolds Scheduler
- myKaarma
- Tekion Service Scheduler
- 10
Data partnerships
8 pointsWhich third-party data providers it works with.
Why it matters: Third-party data can fill gaps in your records. Test each source before you rely on it.
- Acxiom
- Experian
- Equifax
- S&P Global
- TransUnion
- automotiveMastermind
- M1data
- JD Power
Questions to ask every vendor
Ask each vendor the same questions, in writing, and compare the answers side by side.
Which of our systems connect out of the box: DMS, CRM, website and service scheduler?
Custom integrations add cost and delay. Out-of-the-box connectors for your exact systems matter.How do you match one customer across those systems, and how is the match rate reported?
Identity resolution is the core of a CDP. Ask to see match rates on data like yours.Where can we use the audiences we build, and how often do they refresh?
Stale audiences waste spend on people who already bought or came in for service.How do you show which campaigns led to sales and service visits?
If it can’t close the loop, you’ll be judging it on opens and clicks.How do you handle consent and customers’ privacy requests?
Consent has to follow the customer across every channel and every vendor.
Seven question sets from our vendor questionnaire
- Initial data hygieneHow do you fix DMS emails, mobile numbers, addresses and vehicle ownership?
- Identity resolution and PIIDeterministic or probabilistic matching, and how do you handle website tools in iframes?
- Data integration and record updatesWhich website, call, text, DMS and CRM data update the master customer record?
- Audiences and activationHow are audiences built, suppressed and sent to email, mail, streaming TV, text and ad platforms?
- Data access and riskSecurity, encryption, breach response, consent, and any fees to access our own data.
- Pricing, contracts and cancellationHow is it priced, what are the terms, and how do we move our data if we leave?
- Implementation and supportData limits, implementation and training costs, support, and time to get running.
From the Automotive CDP Vendor Questionnaire & Integration Checklist. Get the research
How pricing works
CDP pricing varies more than most dealer software, so ask every vendor to quote the same scope.
Usually per rooftop or by group size. Check how many records, users and channels are included.
Some charge to send audiences, or bundle media management. Ask what’s in the base fee.
Data enrichment and partner data are often extra. Test a source before paying for it at scale.
Cleaning and loading your DMS history is real work. Ask who does it and what it costs.
Price the first five to ten use cases you’ll actually launch, not the full feature list.
Rolling it out
Map your tech stack
List every system that holds customer data, store by store.
Rank your use cases
By return and time to launch. Start with five to ten that can go live within six months.
Clean your DMS data first
Run a data hygiene project before anything is loaded.
Load in order
DMS, CRM, website events and phone calls first, then website tools and data partners.
Aim at real-time revenue
Unfinished service bookings and active shoppers pay back faster than general marketing.
Red flags
- They can’t show match rates on data like yours
- Audiences refresh weekly or monthly, not daily
- No closed-loop attribution to sales and service
- Third-party data sold before you’ve tested it
- Your data is used to build audiences for other dealers
- No plan for cleaning your DMS data before it’s loaded
The CDPs we’ve checked
Coverage of our checklist, as each vendor lists it and our team checks it. Not a ranking: the right choice depends on your systems, your data and your use cases.
| Vendor | Coreof 9 | Activationof 5 | Insightsof 4 | CRMof 7 | DMSof 8 | Callsof 4 | Warehousesof 4 | Marketingof 4 | Schedulersof 5 | Data partnersof 8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FullpathCox Automotive | 9 / 9 | 5 / 5 | 4 / 4 | 7 / 7 | 1 / 8 | 4 / 4 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 4 | 1 / 5 | 1 / 8 |
| Liminal CDPLiminal | 9 / 9 | 5 / 5 | 3 / 4 | 7 / 7 | 8 / 8 | 1 / 4 | 4 / 4 | 1 / 4 | 3 / 5 | 0 / 8 |
Also in the directory
Listed, with their full checklist still to come.
Questions dealers ask
What is a CDP for car dealers?
Software that combines customer data from the DMS, CRM, website, phone and service systems into one cleaned-up profile per customer, then uses those profiles to build audiences for marketing, advertising and your team.
What’s the difference between a CDP and a CRM?
A CRM is where your team works leads and conversations. A CDP brings data from the CRM and every other system together into one profile per customer, and puts it to work in audiences and campaigns. Many dealer groups use both.
What is a hybrid CDP/MAP?
A customer data platform with a marketing automation platform built in, so it can run campaigns as well as build audiences. Many automotive CDPs work this way.
Do we need to clean our data first?
Yes. Our planning guide recommends a data hygiene project on your DMS before anything is loaded: around 40% of vehicle transactions in an older DMS are likely no longer owned by the customer on file.
How long does a CDP take to set up?
It depends on your systems and your data. Dealer groups that already have their own data lake have deployed in about 90 days. Starting with a short list of use cases keeps the first phase manageable.
Is a CDP worth it for a single store?
It can be, if you have years of DMS customers you don’t market to and someone to own the use cases. In our research, the largest returns came from customer experience, like recognizing callers and following up in real time, more than from marketing alone.