Our next segment in our Ask the Expert series dives into the importance of data enrichment and its benefits across connected TV (CTV) advertising. Ask the Expert features a series of conversations with product experts where we focus on topics that matter the most in AdTech. In our latest segment, Natalia Irmin, Director of Strategic Data & Media Partnerships at a4 Advertising, joins us to chat with Experian’s SVP of Sales & Partnerships, Chris Feo.
a4 is an advanced advertising and data company that offers audience-based, multiscreen advertising solutions for local and national advertising businesses.
In their conversation, Natalia and Chris review:
- The benefits of data enrichment
- First-party data enrichment across advertising
- Data enrichment in CTV advertising
- How Experian and a4 work together
What is data enrichment?
Data enrichment enhances first-party data sets using third-party data sources. This process involves merging first-party data from internal sources with data gathered from other internal sources or from external third-party sources.
Examples of data that can be part of the enrichment process include:
- Demographic information
- Contextual signals
- Behavioral patterns
- Interests
- Purchase-intent
The more you know about your customers, the better equipped you are to reach them where they are with the right message. By enriching your data, you can enhance your messaging, provide personalized offers, and establish a loyal customer base.
First-party data enrichment across advertising
Businesses are transitioning from cookie-based third-party targeting to first-party data enrichment solutions as a result of cookie deprecation. When data enrichment is paired with internal first-party data, you can generate a more holistic customer profile.
a4 has a rich set of first-party data, based on the subscriptions to their services. a4 uses first-party data enrichment across advertising in two ways:
- Measure performance using their viewership data
- Advise their customers on where they should focus their advertising efforts based on the customer’s viewing behavior
a4 supports the enrichment of their customers’ first-party data so they can get the most out of their insights.With Experian’s privacy-first approach, a4 can continue to rely on their first-party data while protecting personally identifiable information (PII).
Data enrichment in CTV advertising
CTV advertising refers to digital advertising that appears through a streaming service during a viewer’s video content, like a movie or TV show. CTV ad campaigns allow businesses to personalize their digital marketing messages while the viewer watches content on various platforms. CTV offers a highly measurable opportunity to increase brand awareness.
Benefits of data enrichment in CTV advertising
Data enrichment provides three key benefits that can enhance targeting, personalization, and campaign effectiveness in CTV advertising.
Understand your target audience
By using enriched data such as demographic information, viewing behavior, and interests, you can gain deeper insights into your target audience, refine your targeting strategies, and create highly personalized ad experiences. Data enrichment also enables better measurement and optimization of ad campaigns, maximizing ROI.
Integrate enriched data with other marketing channels
You can integrate enriched data into CTV with data from other marketing channels. This enables the creation of comprehensive and cohesive marketing strategies that provide consistent messaging and enhance cross-channel targeting.
Enhance the value of ad inventory
Data enrichment can also benefit content publishers and broadcasters by enhancing the value of ad inventory and providing more targeted and effective advertising opportunities.
Enabling your marketers to target specific audiences will result in improved campaign performance. Through data enrichment, you can increase return on your ad spend and boost the value of your publisher’s ad inventory. a4 and Experian can help your business attract additional demand with audience enrichment. a4 uses Experian’s vast offering of audiences and combines it with Experian’s Graph. This data can later be used to activate across a4’s parent company, Altice’s owned and operated properties, as well as beyond Altice’s own footprint via premium publisher partners.
How Experian and a4 work together
a4 and Experian have a long-standing partnership that enables a4 to enhance its data. Through our Consumer View and Consumer Sync products, a4 can add audience attributes to its subscriber and viewer data to precisely pinpoint the audience that its clients are targeting. Experian helps a4 in building a comprehensive customer profile, which helps expand the customer base for a4’s advertising clients.
We form partnerships, like we do with Experian, to enhance our data further, so that we can combine the power of the viewership and exposure data for those other attributes that clients might need.” – Natalia Irmin, Director, Data & Strategic Partnerships, a4 Advertising
Through Experian’s audience attributes and Graph, a4 can assist advertisers in targeting audiences beyond their usual reach, creating a better user experience. a4 can personalize experiences and promotions to prioritize customers with a higher likelihood of making a purchase. By tailoring messages and promotions to individual customer preferences, businesses can improve their advertising efforts and deliver them through their preferred channels.
Watch the full Q&A
Visit our Ask the Expert content hub to watch Natalia and Chris’s full conversation about data enrichment and its benefits across the advertising world. In the Q&A, Natalia and Chris also share their thoughts on the importance of first-party data enrichment, addressability, and measurability in CTV advertising.
About our experts
Natalia Irmin, Director, Strategic Data & Media Partnerships, a4 Advertising
Natalia Irmin is the Director of Strategic Data & Media Partnerships for a4 Advertising. With over 10 years of experience working with data in the Defense, Finance, and Advertising industries, Natalia currently leads the a4 Strategic Partnerships team in the development of advanced data and media products in support of the organization’s media planning, buying, and advanced analytics business. Natalia holds an MBA from the NYU Stern School of Business and a Bachelor of Arts from Tel Aviv University in Israel.
Chris Feo, SVP, Sales & Partnerships, Experian
As SVP of Sales & Partnerships, Chris has over a decade of experience across identity, data, and programmatic. Chris joined Experian during the Tapad acquisition in November 2020. He joined Tapad with less than 10 employees and has been part of the executive team through both the Telenor and Experian acquisitions. He’s an active advisor, board member, and investor within the AdTech ecosystem. Outside of work, he’s a die-hard golfer, frequent traveler, and husband to his wife, two dogs, and two goats!
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The holiday season is almost here, and knowing how each generation plans to shop can give your holiday advertising campaigns the edge you need. Our recent survey of 1,000 U.S. consumers reveals 2024 holiday shopping trends for each generation and key insights into their anticipated spending levels, preferred shopping categories, and how they look for gift ideas. In this blog post, we'll explore three 2024 holiday shopping trends across generations: Projected consumer spending Top categories on shoppers' lists Preferred channels for researching gifts 1. Projected consumer spending Over 1 in 3 Gen Z and Millennials are gearing up to increase their holiday budgets this year, while Gen X and Boomers are likelier to stick to last year's budget. 36% of Millennials and Gen Z plan to spend more this holiday season 45% of Gen X and 52% of Boomers expect their spending to remain consistent with last year What this means for marketers These insights highlight the importance of tailoring your messaging. For Gen Z and Millennials, emphasize value and unique offerings that justify increased spending. For Gen X and Boomers, focus on trust and reliability, reinforcing their confidence in your brand. How Experian can help you target these audiences Experian’s custom and syndicated audience segments, including Holiday Shopper High Spenders and Holiday Shopper Moderate Spenders, enable you to connect with these diverse consumer groups. Our audiences are available on-the-shelf of leading ad platforms to help you reach people across social, TV, and mobile. The election effect U.S. holiday retail sales saw 4.1% YoY growth in 2016 and 8.3% YoY growth in 2020 following presidential elections. There’s a chance that holiday spending increases after the 2024 election, regardless of the outcome. Experian has 240+ politically relevant audiences that you can activate across major ad platforms ahead of the upcoming election. 2. Top categories on shoppers' lists Different generations have distinct preferences when it comes to what they plan to buy. Gift cards top the list for Gen X and Boomers, while Gen Z leans toward clothing. Millennials are looking to splurge on toys, electronics, and experiences. 69% of Boomers and Gen X plan to purchase gift cards 72% of Gen Z will buy clothing 45% of Millennials will buy health and beauty items 25% of Millennials will buy tickets and 22% of Millennials will buy experiences What this means for marketers Align your product offerings and promotions with each generation's preferences to capture their attention. For example, highlighting versatile gift cards may resonate more with older generations, while showcasing trendy apparel and tech gadgets will appeal to younger consumers. How Experian can help you target these shoppers We offer audience segments like Holiday Shoppers: Apparel, Cosmetics & Beauty Spenders, and Toys Shoppers that you can activate to connect with consumers primed to purchase in these categories. We recently released 19 new holiday shopping audiences we recommend targeting to drive engagement and conversions. Download our audience recommendations here. 3. Preferred channels for researching gift ideas When it comes to finding the perfect gifts, Gen Z turns to social media, while Millennials prefer online reviews and video content. Boomers and Gen X are more inclined to visit physical stores for hands-on product evaluations. 29% of Gen Z and 26% of Millennials will look for gift ideas on social media 44% of Millennials will rely on video reviews and product demos on platforms like YouTube 49% of Gen X and Boomers plan to visit physical stores to evaluate products in person What this means for marketers Understanding where each generation looks for inspiration can guide your content and ad placement strategy. To engage Gen Z, focus on social media campaigns and influencer partnerships. For Millennials, consider investing in video content and reviews. For older generations, ensure your in-store experience is optimized to convert browsing into purchases. How Experian can help you engage these shoppers Our TrueTouchTM audiences can help you pair the perfect messaging styles with the right channels and calls to action. Our Social media channel and content engagement audiences can help you reach Gen Z who are likely to be active users on major social platforms and are Black Friday shoppers. For a full list of Experian’s syndicated audiences and activation destinations, download our syndicated audiences guide. Download our report for five 2024 holiday shopping trends by generation Understanding 2024 holiday shopping trends by generation can help you tailor your targeting, messaging, media planning, and creative based on the generation you’re targeting. In addition to the insights covered here, download our 2024 Holiday spending trends and insights report to learn: When consumers plan to shop (hint: they're already shopping) Where they plan to shop (online vs. in-store) Download our full report to access all five of our predictions by generation, so you can address the diverse needs of this year's holiday shoppers. Download now When you work with Experian for your holiday shopping campaigns, you’re getting: Accurate consumer insights: Better understand your customers’ behavioral and demographic attributes with our #1 ranked data covering the full U.S. population. Signal-agnostic identity solutions: Our deep understanding of people in the offline and digital worlds provides you with a persistent linkage of personally identifiable information (PII) data and digital IDs, ensuring you accurate cross-device targeting, addressability and measurement. Secure connectivity: Bring data and identity to life in a way that meets your needs by securely sharing data between partners, utilizing the integrations we have across the ecosystem, and using our marketing data in flexible ways. Make the most of this holiday shopping season with Experian. Contact us today to get started. Contact us Source Online survey conducted in June, 2024 among n=1,000 U.S. adults 18+. Sample balanced to look like the general population on key demographics (age, gender, household income, ethnicity, and region). Latest posts
Today, Experian is excited to introduce our Offline Graph as a standalone product that clients can license, marking a significant step in our commitment to powering data-driven advertising through connectivity. Offline Graph empowers advertisers and advertising technology companies to build and refine consumer profiles, contributing to data connectivity, more offline audience reach, and improved offline measurement accuracy. As a result of consumers engaging with content across more channels, there are more disparate data points than ever before. When you couple that with ongoing signal loss, the need for a unified identity solution has never been greater. Experian’s Offline Graph offers companies a license of stable offline data points, like name, address, phone number, email, geographic information, date of birth, and additional attributes that provide a complete view of household and individual identities. The Offline Graph integrates known offline identity information from reliable deterministic sources like property ownership records, public records, and marketing data to provide access to all United States consumers and households. How customers can use the Offline Graph A big box retailer fills in the blanks of their existing customer data and builds a database of prospects. A media platform more effectively onboards advertisers’ segments, enabling advertisers to reach more of their customers. A retail brand better understands their customer’s demographic and behavioral make-up, by licensing Offline Graph with Marketing Attributes. A connected TV (CTV) manufacturer increases audience reach and accurately quantifies the campaign impact for their advertising partners. Experian’s Offline Graph is already driving value across industries. Here’s some in-depth client success stories: Fusion92 licenses Offline Graph to help their clients transform their marketing Fusion92 is a marketing partner that fuels business transformation in today’s digital economy and delivers exponential returns for brands. Fusion92 licenses Experian’s Offline Graph to power their strategy: from research and discovery to audience creation, activation, and measurement. With access to our Offline Graph, Fusion92 ensures their clients get the insights, targeting, reach, and measurement they need to achieve their business goals. "At Fusion92, we are always pushing the envelope to develop solutions that lead to success for our clients. Our desire to innovate pushed us to find an industry-leading partner in data and identity. This led to us licensing Experian’s Offline Graph product, which we use to build more complete audience profiles for our clients. In doing so, we help brands target, activate, and measure their marketing campaigns more effectively, leading to superior results.”dave nugent, executive vice president of data and analytics, fusion92 Using Offline Graph to deliver relevant messaging to multiple audience cohorts A leading direct-to-consumer (DTC) company with strong customer relationships built a robust first-party data set, enabling effective customer retention. To attract new customers, they partnered with Experian to access offline identity data from Experian’s Offline Graph. The Offline Graph provides them with the data needed to validate their first-party data and with the keys to unlock new customers. With this data, the DTC company delivered the right message to both sets of consumers: existing customers and new prospects. By integrating Experian’s Offline Graph they broadened their reach, personalized their messaging, and improved their marketing. What sets Experian’s Offline Graph apart from the competition Stability of data: With data from deterministic sources, our Offline Graph ensures that your view of consumers – and your ability to connect with them – is stable over time. Connected digital and offline data: Seamlessly connect offline data with digital identifiers through our Digital Graph, enabling a holistic approach to marketing, while ensuring consumer privacy is prioritized. Tailor made for your use cases: Build the Offline Graph to fit your specific needs, selecting the exact offline identity information required for your campaigns. Expanded consumer insights: Connect more data points to enrich your understanding of consumer demographics and behavior, using Experian’s Marketing Attributes and Audiences data. Offline Graph: Your gateway to consumer connectivity As signals fade, there is a large emphasis on procuring and having accurate consumer data. Experian’s Offline Graph delivers the connectivity and insights necessary to stay ahead. Whether you aim to strengthen your existing data or access entirely new data sets, Experian’s Offline Graph offers a solution tailored to your needs. Transform your data strategy with Experian’s Offline Graph — your gateway to a unified consumer identity solution. Get started today Latest posts
Ditch the cookie, not the data with the next evolution of contextual targeting Today, we're excited to announce Contextually-Indexed Audiences, a game-changer in contextual targeting. Experian’s new solution offers advertisers a powerful, privacy-safe solution that combines the precision of deterministic audience targeting with the flexibility of contextual targeting. Powered by real-time analysis from two million websites, access to 1,400 trusted audience segments, and easy activation through the top demand-side platform’s contextual marketplace or Audigent private marketplaces (PMPs), this solution offers advertisers a scalable way to reach their target consumers. With this solution, advertisers can reach consumers on websites that over-index for visitors with the demographics, behaviors, or interests, they are looking to target. For example, an automotive brand can select Experian’s “Contextually-indexed in-market for a luxury electric car” audience segment and reach consumers when they are browsing websites that often attract that exact segment. Best of all, this is done in a privacy-safe way since it’s not reliant on cookies, mobile ad IDs (MAIDs) or other user identifiers. How Contextually-Indexed Audiences work Contextually-Indexed Audiences harness advanced machine learning technology to move beyond traditional keyword-based strategies. The solution works in three steps: First, it analyzes traffic from over two million websites and mobile apps to identify the types of frequent visitors to those platforms. Next, using Experian’s Digital Graph, it resolves the identities of those visitors and maps them to more than 1,400 of Experian’s Syndicated Audiences, determining which audiences are most overrepresented on each site. Finally, the relevant audiences are assigned to those sites, allowing advertisers to deliver ads to people in those audiences while they are actively browsing the websites — without relying on user identifiers. Customer success story A leading auto manufacturer was among the first clients to activate this new solution while we were in beta. The goal was to identify new contextual targeting solutions that focus on privacy while maintaining scale and performance. The client identified two key target audiences: first-time vehicle buyers and experienced buyers. The initial campaigns using this new solution were highly successful. Even as the campaign scaled to twice the original volume, it continued to deliver three times the targeted click-through rate (CTR) goal. “Partnering with industry leaders like Experian, we're pushing the boundaries of contextual targeting with innovative data strategies that offer buyers greater flexibility and improved performance. These advanced contextual solutions are exciting as they not only drive results but also have the same privacy safeguards as traditional contextual targeting.”Matt Griffith, CTO & Co-Founder, Audigent Benefits of Contextually-Indexed Audiences Accurate consumer reach: Real-time integrations with over two million websites and apps coupled with machine-learning indexing technology ensure audience segments are constantly refreshed, which means advertisers reach consumers based on their latest habits. Privacy-safe audience targeting: These audiences are not reliant on cookies or any other user identifiers for targeting. Audience customization: Create the right audience segment for your campaign by using a combination of over 1,400 audiences across 12 data categories like demographics, politics, health, travel, finance, and TV. Flexible activation: Activate these audiences instantly in the top demand-side platform’s contextual marketplace or utilize our partnership with Audigent to create a custom private marketplace (PMP), where they can be activated across any media buying platform. When using a PMP, advertisers benefit from additional performance optimization capabilities. Experian’s Contextually-Indexed Audiences offer advertisers a powerful solution that combines the precision of audience targeting with the flexibility of contextual targeting. With real-time analysis of over two million sites and access to 1,400 trusted audience segments, advertisers can reach consumers based on their exact behaviors and interests. This is done in a privacy-safe, yet scalable way since it’s not reliant on cookies or other user identifiers. Whether activating instantly through the top demand-side platform or customizing through Audigent PMPs, this is the future of audience targeting. Ditch the cookie, not the data, and elevate your strategy today. See how these audiences can work for you Latest posts