From first-party data to AI and CDPs — Stripo.email

Personalization used to mean adding a first name to a subject line or sending a cart reminder. That’s no longer enough.

Today’s customers expect more: relevance, respect, and messages that actually make sense in the moment. And marketers have the tools to deliver — from CDPs and AI to smarter segmentation and automated content.

But having the tech doesn’t mean we’re using it well.

In this article, we explore why omnichannel orchestration matters, what CDPs are truly capable of, and why we still have work to do to fully realize their potential.

1. Making personalization work across every channel

You’ve likely heard the classic 3R formula: the right message, to the right person, at the right time. But today, personalization also requires the right channel.

It’s no longer enough to tailor the message alone. To really connect, brands need to deliver it in the place it’s most likely to be seen at a given moment. That’s the essence of omnichannel orchestration.

Sometimes that means email. Other times, it’s SMS or push notifications. For example, if a system knows a customer usually opens emails during the day but is more active on their phone in the evening, it might switch to SMS to increase visibility at night.

The idea is to choose the most suitable channel at a given time, not to use them all at once.

Let me share an example from one of our clients: roughly 10% of the audience had opted into two channels. That’s why it’s critical to tailor each message for each channel and avoid sameness. A unified approach — yes, but not identical messaging.

Chad S White,

Head of Research at Oracle and author of Email marketing rules.

Each channel also carries its own tone, purpose, and customer expectations. A message that feels helpful in an email could come across as abrupt in a push notification or invasive via SMS. 

And while omnichannel orchestration sounds simple in theory, it’s not always easy in practice.

We often see inconsistent content or design across channels, not because teams don’t care, but because the tools aren’t fully adopted or the teams aren’t aligned.

Anna Levitin,

CRM & Lifecycle Marketing Lead at DoorLoop.

Common roadblocks include:

• different teams managing different channels without coordination;
• shared platforms being used by siloed teams with no unified approach.

These issues can turn orchestration into noise instead of clarity. Which is why, beyond tech or timing, the real success factor is teamwork.

The omnichannel approach isn’t always easy. But it pays off:

• 73% of customers use more than one channel during their buying journey;
• those customers have a 30% higher lifetime value compared to single-channel users;
• campaigns using three or more channels see 287% higher purchase rates than single-channel campaigns.

Of course, tailoring content for each channel is only possible when you have a clear, unified view of the customer. That’s where customer data and CDPs step in.

2. CDPs: What they unlock — and why we’re not there yet

Coordinating content across multiple channels sounds great until you try to make it happen. That’s where Customer Data Platforms (CDPs) come in.

CDPs are the engine behind true personalization at scale.

When used fully, they unlock powerful capabilities:

• they collect and unify customer data: From websites, emails, CRM systems, support chats, and more — CDPs build a single view of each customer;
• they make omnichannel orchestration possible: CDPs can send signals across email, SMS, and push notifications, enabling real-time, behavior-based messaging on the most relevant channel;
• they provide advanced analytics: Marketers can finally move beyond campaign-level metrics and analyze things like customer lifetime value, churn risk, and retention patterns;
• they help personalize and optimize content: From generating tailored product offers to assisting with subject lines, copy, and even dynamic email blocks, AI tools can speed up production and boost performance without starting from scratch every time;
• they enable predictive segmentation: AI models within CDPs can identify high-intent customers, segment audiences based on behavioral trends, and even surface new micro-segments marketers might miss manually.

But here’s the reality: most companies still struggle to tap into that potential.

Why aren’t we using CDPs to the fullest yet?

• we lack guidance: Marketers are often handed a powerful tool, but without clear direction or training. Without real examples or guidance, CDPs sit underused;
• CDPs are customer-centric, but teams aren’t (yet): Most marketing departments are still structured around campaigns, not customer journeys. CDPs support customer-centric marketing, but companies are still learning how to shift toward it;
• access is still a hurdle: Many marketers depend on data teams for everything — queries, segments, reports. Without easy access, opportunities get delayed or missed.

I want to run a simple query without having to ask the data team. CDPs should help us move faster.

So while the technology promises a lot, unlocking its full value depends on more than software. It takes structure, clarity, and cross-functional collaboration to move from data collection to meaningful action.

Wrapping up

Personalization isn’t about having more data or fancier tools — it’s about using what you already have with more intention. CDPs and omnichannel platforms give us everything we need to scale relevance. But to make it work, teams need alignment, access, and a shift from campaign thinking to customer thinking.

It’s not about doing more. It’s about doing it smarter and together.