LiveRamp has been doing data activation for some years now, and we’ve loved watching our customers grow and develop their use cases as technology and data ecosystems have developed.
If you don’t already know, data activation, or what’s been called onboarding, brings offline data sets online in a privacy-conscious manner, creating a more complete audience view, and makes them usable across channels. Of course there’s a lot more to it, so let’s dive in.
Yes, it’s about targeting
Targeting is the most obvious application for data activation, and it’s the way that most marketers are currently using it.
There’s a lot that data activation for targeting has to offer, like making your advertising more informed and relevant.
When you’re targeting audiences based on attributes like whether they’re a prospect (and showing them a 20% discount for buying for the first time) or an existing customer (and suppressing that discount in favor of an upsell), you’re activating data to reach the right people AND connecting them with offers they want to see. This is the first step toward becoming a people-based marketer!
Activation gives you the means to enhance cross-device identity and extend your audiences across multiple channels. Check out our e-book, 10 Smart Segmentation and Targeting Tactics, to learn how you can use the same tactics leading brands use to improve their customer experience.
If you’re not doing people-based measurement, you’re not doing people-based marketing
If you’re using data activation for targeting, you need to use it in your measurement to see how those campaigns are performing and understand the results down to a person-based level. You’ve already built the audiences, so it’s easy to use them again!
With people-based measurement, you can link offline sales data and attribute that to an ad exposure. You can also get more granular in your analytics and audience segmentation and drill down into how different audience segments are responding to creative across channels. Or take these audiences as the basis for lookalike modeling and plan more informed acquisition campaigns.
Show your customers you care
Sure, personalization is the most advanced application of data activation, but that doesn’t mean that every personalization use case is for deep-pocketed, cutting-edge brands only, or that it’s hard to implement.
Personalization is a lot like targeting in that it’s about serving more relevant content to your audiences, wherever they are. But personalization can take it a step further by showing your customers you understand them and that you’re working hard to provide experiences that tie to the things that are most important to them. Things like web experiences for customers who are not logged in or applying specific engagement tactics to recommend products relevant to them.
Get it now?
All of this is to say that customer data activation is super cool.
Data activation for targeting lets you reach your customers with relevant ads.
Data activation for measurement connects your online and offline data together so your campaign analysis and customer insights reflect the full view of what drove sales.
Data activation for personalization means your customers will get the customized experience they want and deserve—every time you interact with them.
Wherever you are in your data activation journey, there’s a lot you’ll be able to use to improve your marketing. To learn more, check out our e-book, Turbo-Charge Your Media Plan with Data Activation.