The importance of this full customer data view comes out in a new thought leadership paper written by Forrester Consulting titled "Getting Customer Data Management Right." Forrester surveyed 337 marketing and advertising professionals in North America and Europe who are responsible for customer data, marketing analytics, and marketing/advertising technology.

Key Findings

Most firms have a version of a customer data platform (CDP) but don't use it to its fullest capabilities.
Marketers have an opportunity to improve their organizations customer data practices.
Firms with better unified customer profiles experience better business results.