The 22% Problem

Only 22% of marketers actually use their CDP. Not “use it a little.” Use it at all.

The other 78% have a very expensive database they occasionally log into.

Technology doesn’t solve utilisation problems. Strategy does.

The data quality crisis has only intensified since this post. Recent industry benchmarks from Forrester’s 2025 Customer Data Platform Wave show that data quality issues remain the #1 barrier to CDP ROI, with duplicate records, incomplete profiles, and inconsistent identifiers plaguing even mature implementations. The 22% figure, representing marketers who fully utilize their CDP, hasn’t budged in years, despite billions in platform investments.

What’s changed is the cost of inaction. With third-party cookies deprecated and privacy regulations tightening, that unused 78% of CDP capability represents massive opportunity cost. Organizations can’t afford to treat their CDP as just another data warehouse. The winners are those treating data quality as a continuous operational discipline, not a one-time migration project, implementing automated data validation, establishing clear data governance frameworks, and creating cross-functional accountability for data hygiene.

The uncomfortable truth? Most organizations don’t have a technology problem. They have a data culture problem. Until marketing teams prioritize data quality with the same rigor they apply to campaign performance, that 22% utilization rate will persist. The CDP isn’t failing these organizations, they’re failing to do the foundational work that makes any customer data platform valuable.