Source: LiveIntent
According to an eMarketer report, digital display ad spend is forecasted to reach $22.10 billion in 2016, with mobile driving that growth. Today, programmatic has gone mainstream, with over 70% of publishers, advertisers and media agencies using the technology. However, the intricacies of how programmatic techniques can be effectively applied are often perceived as esoteric strategies by some industry professionals. IAB Europe recently published a comprehensive white paper entitled, “Using Data Effectively in Programmatic”, which addresses the benefits of using different types of data for programmatic campaigns. The paper includes real-world examples and highlights the challenges, benefits and tips on how data can be used effectively.
The Challenge
Simply put, consumers use several touch points, splitting their activities across varied channels and different devices (owned and shared). As such, several data points are created that may become disconnected. So how do you know if you’re targeting or reaching the right person?
Cross-device marketing is crucial and the consumer of today has high expectations. They expect and prefer to be reached in a way that makes sense for them. Meeting those expectations means adopting a people-based marketing strategy, especially for programmatic where data can be utilized so elegantly.
Data 123
The IAB outlines five types of data for marketers and delves into the three types of audience data: 1st party, 3rd party and 2nd party data (in order of commonality).
1st party data is in-house data that you own and have collected from your audience/consumers. According to the IAB, advertisers get the most value from 1st party data as it has been collected from consumers that have shown interest in the advertiser or brand’s offer. As a result, the likelihood of engagements or conversions is high. Examples include transactional and CRM data, for instance, from making a purchase or subscribing to a newsletter. We believe that the email address has become that universal identifier that goes cross device and represents online identity.
3rd party data, which is acquired or rented through external sources, becomes quite powerful when used with 1st party data. The IAB describes this as providing “a richer picture of audience segments” as it enables the ability to increase the effectiveness of retargeting campaigns. It is also the foundation for look-a-like targeting and provides more personalized customer experiences like making ideal product recommendations and serving relevant content.
Finally, 2nd party data is 1st data derived from another source. It is data that is shared or traded between two parties like non-competing brands or from a publisher. The main benefit here is that an advertiser can leverage the hashed data from another’s customer and in turn, target them.
Exploring Effectiveness
When it comes to using data effectively, here are three top considerations:
1). Campaign Objectives: Data should be matched to campaign objectives which can range from brand awareness to performance. If reach is the focus, then scalable data assets may be more appropriate for branding campaigns, while getting more on a granular level is quite effective for direct response campaigns.
2). Optimizing Campaigns: Using real-time data from performance reports to optimize these campaigns also ensures effectiveness. The white paper highlights that you should be optimizing based on CRM, demographic, geographic, day part and velocity targeting. It also mentions that data reports on channels, creatives and publishers should be continuously reviewed to maximize the ROI.
3). Cross-Device Solutions: Identifiers tied to devices, like cookies, are no longer ideal or an effective way to gain useful consumer insights. The identity graph helps to tie both deterministic and probabilistic data into a single actionable consumer profile. This is the future of people-based marketing and enhances programmatic efforts.
Understanding data is paramount to effective programmatic advertising as it powers people-based marketing. The explanations and findings outlined in IAB Europe’s white paper serve as a best practice guide for all advertising and marketing professionals whether intermediate or advanced. However, all advertisers should strive to be customer-centric and people-first across the board.
For a deeper dive into using data effectively for programmatic, download the white paper for more details. To learn more about how LiveIntent’s programmatic offering, fill out the form on our contact us page to speak to a real life LiveIntenter about how we can help.