[This blog is the second of our five-part series on data monetization. To read the first post, click here.]
The tough thing about using data in marketing is actually reaching the person.
Consumers constantly change as their lives evolve—with each job and each new address, with marriage and children, as new devices and platforms emerge. Only by connecting all this data together at the consumer level in near-real-time will data owners be able to help advertisers reach the consumers who will most likely respond.
The key is identity resolution—the ability to match consumer data collected over time, across channels and devices, to an accurate identifier of an individual. Identity resolution also has the ability to reach encrypted data points from directly identifiable personal data to form an accurate and privacy-compliant picture of a consumer.
So when it comes to data monetization, somewhere between packaging and differentiating your data and ensuring you meet privacy and security standards, you should look into an identity resolution provider.
Why should data owners care about identity resolution?
To put it simply, it’s what advertisers expect. And more importantly, it’s what their audiences expect, too.
According to Doug MacDonald, SVP of Digital Solutions at V12 Data, “It wasn’t all that long ago when targeting prebaked or profiled personas was the height of sophistication for most data-driven marketers. Fast-forward five years and we data providers are now helping marketers succeed by delivering CRM segmentation, analytics, custom audiences, and predicting likely behavior based on measurable results.
“The critical shift has been up to us—the data providers—working with marketers and agencies, nudging them away from persona-based targeting towards custom segmentation.”
So where do you start?
1) Use deterministic matching. Deterministic matching is a data matching technique that is all about finding individuals, rather than cookies or device IDs. It’s what powers the people-based marketing that Facebook and Google are known for, and consumers are starting to expect brands to deliver.
“You need to have a one-to-one deterministic match,” V12’s MacDonald said. “Once we have that match, we can start doing the interesting, people-focused targeting; we can follow someone through a journey and have a conversation with one person, not just a household.”
2) Be omnichannel. Advertisers and the brands they represent are relentlessly focused on achieving true, people-based campaigns where the right messaging reaches consumers so seamlessly that channels disappear.
Omnichannel marketers build custom experiences from a single view of each customer, in the right channels. With a holistic omnichannel view, they can customize every touch point to lead the customer to the next step of their journey.
By taking these steps, you’ll make your data not only more valuable, but also make it more activatable wherever your clients want to use it, so they can delight their customer, too.
So what’s next? Well, brands are rigorous in choosing which data providers meet their privacy, security, and accuracy expectations, and you should be, too. Step 3 is all about ensuring that your data meets privacy and security standards.
It’s not easy getting started with data monetization, but we’re here to help. For more strategies on monetizing your data, download our guide.