CDP Institute

Need funding to speed up your Web site? Download this: Unbounce found that 85% of sample of mobile Web pages took more than five seconds to load, while the majority of users will leave after waiting for three seconds. Extra style points if you present this to your boss by pausing…five…seconds…between…each…word.

Does customer service need more attention? Digital asset management vendor Bynder found that excellent service was rated as the most effective brand differentiator by 29% of decision makers, far ahead of marketing campaigns (15%) or product (13%). The same survey found that 23% of marketers are struggling to find the right personalization technology, which has nothing to do with customer service but might still come in handy. You’re welcome.

All-in-one marketing software vendor Infusionsoft has changed its name to Keap and launched client management product fewer functions than its previous flagship system, which will also remain available. A some-in-one product, as it were. The vast majority of small businesses couldn’t make effective use of the original system.

Speaking of simplicity, retail consultants BRP found that 55% of consumers said they are more likely to buy at a store with self-checkout while just 32% are more likely to shop at a store offering an augmented reality experience. It’s another reminder that consumers have a highly pragmatic approach to tech, preferring systems that make shopping easier over systems that are merely cool. The report gives much more information consumer attitudes and retailer investment intentions.

Advanced tech does have its uses, of course. Asking people about their interests lets marketers avoid wasted spend on future ads – potentially reducing campaign costs by half, according to tests conducted by digital video ad platform ViralGains, MAGNA and IPG Media Lab. In the test, consumers who viewed an ad were then asked if they were interested in the ad content, and then later served different ads based on their answer. The researchers estimate it is possible avoid 59% of media costs with such programs.

We have some actual CDP news today. AgilOne announced a strategic partnership with Snowflake Computing, which provides a cloud-based database noted for high speed SQL queries and scalability. Users will gain better access to data stored in AgilOne.

Meanwhile, mParticle has launched Data Master, which gives users new tools to catalog data gathered by the system. The key benefit is a central repository that collects information about inputs in one place.

Finally, Segment has launched a new partner program. It provides training, certification, technical and marketing support for companies that help sell and support Segment (channel partners) and companies whose products integrate with Segment (technology partners). Segment has recently taken to calling itself a Customer Data Infrastructure rather than a CDP.

Data privacy (56%) is now the top priority of online advertisers, beating consistent measurement (47%), ad fraud (43%), brand safety (37%) and fake news (31%), according to a survey from adtech vendor Integral Ad Science. A cynic might question advertisers’ commitment to privacy: when brands ranked threats to budgets, inability to measure ROI ranked first (75%), followed by transparency (60%), fraud (53%), brand-safe placements (47%), and non-viewable impressions (42%). Other interesting stats here too.

Turns out you’re not paranoid: that smart lightbulb really is spying on you.

Customer-centric customer service may seem redundant, but it’s emerging as a theme. Gladly builds a unified lifetime view of customers and shares it across all channels. They contrast this against a case-centric view that treats each problem separately. They’ve just raised $50 million, bringing their total to $118 million.

Digital behavior analysis vendor Contentsquare has raised a $60 million Series C, bringing its total funding to $120 mllion. Contentsquare captures Web and mobile app behaviors, provides journey analytics, heatmaps, and other reporting, and uses artificial intelligence to alert marketers to interesting situations. Founded in 2012, the Paris-based firm now has more than 300 employees worldwide.