Centralized data access is emerging as a key strategy for advertisers. In our next Ask the Expert segment, we explore this topic further and discuss the importance of data ownership and the concept of audience as an asset.
We’re joined by industry leaders, Andy Fisher, Head of Merkury Advanced TV at Merkle, and Chris Feo, Experian’s SVP of Sales & Partnerships who spotlight Merkle’s commitment to centralized data access and how advertisers can use our combined solutions to navigate industry shifts while ensuring consumer privacy. Watch our Q&A to learn more about these topics and gain insights on how to stay ahead of industry changes.
The concept of audience as an asset
In order to gain actionable marketing insights about your audience, you need to identify consumers who are actively engaged with your brand and compare them against non-engaged consumers, or consumers engaged with rival brands.
Audience ownership
Audience ownership is a fundamental marketing concept where marketers build, define, create, and own their audience. This approach allows you to use your audiences as an asset and deliver a customized journey to the most promising prospects across multiple channels. With this strategy, you enhance marketing effectiveness and ensure ownership over your audience, no matter the platform or channel used.
Merkle enables marketers to own and deploy said asset (audience) so that marketers can have direct control over their audience. With audience strategy, you can tie all elements together – amplify your marketing reach, while maintaining control of your audience. Merkle connects customer experiences with business results.
Data ownership
Data ownership refers to the control organizations have over data they generate, including marketing, sales, product, and customer data. This data is often scattered across multiple platforms, making it difficult to evaluate their effectiveness. Alternatively, owning this data, which is typically housed in a data warehouse, allows the creation of historical overviews, forecasting of customer trends, and cross-channel comparisons. With advertisers and publishers both claiming ownership over their respective data and wanting to control its access, there has been a growing interest in data clean rooms.
Data clean rooms
The growing interest in data clean rooms is largely due to marketers increasing preference to maintain ownership over their audience data. They provide a secure environment for controlled collaboration between advertisers and publishers while preserving the privacy of valuable data. Data clean rooms allow all parties to define their usage terms – who can access it, how it is used, and when it is used. The rise in the use of data clean rooms strengthens data privacy and creates opportunities for deeper customer insights, which leads to enhanced customer targeting. Data clean rooms unlock new data sets, aiding brands, publishers, and data providers in adapting to rapidly changing privacy requirements.
Why is centralized data access important?
Centralized data access is crucial for the effective organization and optimization of your advertising campaigns. It involves consolidating your data in one place, allowing for the identification of inconsistencies.
Merkle’s Merkury platform
The concept of centralized data is a key component of Merkle’s Merkury platform, an enterprise identity platform that empowers brands to own and control first-party identity at an individual level. A common use case involves marketers combining their first-party data with Merkury’s data assets and marketplace data assets to build prospecting audiences. These are later published to various endpoints for activation.
The Merkury platform covers three classes of data:
- Proprietary data set – Permissioned data set covering the entire United States, compiled from about 40 different vendors
- Marketplace data – Includes contributions from various vendors like Experian
- First-party data from marketers – Allows marketers to bring in their own data
Merkury’s identity platform empowers brands to own and control first-party identity at an individual level, unifying known and unknown customer and prospect records, site and app visits, and consumer data to a single, person ID. This makes Merkury the only enterprise identity platform that combines the accuracy and sustainability of client first-party data, quality personally identifiable information (PII) data, third-party data, cookie-less media, and technology platform connections in the market.
End-to-end management of data
Data ownership and management enables you to enhance the quality of your data, facilitate the exchange of information, and ensure privacy compliance.
The Merkury platform provides a comprehensive, end-to-end solution for managing first-party data, all rooted in identity. Unlike data management platforms (DMPs) that are primarily built on cookies, the Merkury platform is constructed on a person ID, allowing it to operate effectively in a cookie-free environment.
A broader perspective with people-based views
The Merkury platform is unique because it contains data from almost every individual in the United States, providing a broader perspective compared to customer data platforms (CDPs) which only contain consumer data. The platform provides a view of the world in a people-based manner, but also offers the flexibility to toggle between person and household views. This enables you to turn data into actionable insights and makes it possible to target specific individuals within a household or consider the household as a whole.
How Experian and Merkle work together
Experian and Merkle have established a strong partnership that magnifies the capabilities of Merkle’s Merkury platform. With Experian’s robust integration capabilities and extensive connectivity opportunities, customers can use this technology for seamless direct integrations, resulting in more effective onboarding to various channels, like digital and TV.
“Experian’s role in Merkury’s data marketplace is essential as they are considered the gold standard for data. It significantly contributes to our connectivity through direct integrations and partnerships. Experian’s presence in various platforms and technologies ensures easy connections and high match rates. Our partnership is very important to us.”
andy fisher, head of merkury advanced tv
Through this partnership, Merkle can deliver unique, personalized digital customer experiences across multiple platforms and devices, highlighting their commitment to data-driven performance marketing.
Watch the full Q&A
Visit our Ask the Expert content hub to watch Andy and Chris’s full conversation about data ownership, innovative strategies to empower you to overcome identity challenges, and navigating industry shifts while protecting consumer privacy.
Tune into the full recording to gain insights into the captivating topics of artificial intelligence (AI), understanding how retail networks can amplify the value of media, and the growing influence of connected TV (CTV). Dive into the Q&A to gain rich insights that could greatly influence your strategies.
About our experts
Andy Fisher, Head of Merkury Advanced TV
As the Head of Merkury Advanced TV, Andy’s primary responsibility is driving person-based marketing and big data adoption in all areas of Television including Linear, Addressable, Connected, Programmatic, and X-channel planning and Measurement. Andy has held several positions at Merkle including Chief Analytics Officer and he ran the Merkle data business. Prior to joining Merkle, Andy was the EVP, Global Data & Analytics Director at Starcom MediaVest Group where he led the SMG global analytics practice. In this role, he built and managed a team of 150 analytics professionals across 17 countries servicing many of the world’s largest advertisers. Prior to that role, Andy was Vice President and National Lead, Analytics at Razorfish, where he led the digital analytics practice and managed a team of modeling, survey, media data, and business intelligence experts. He and his team were responsible for some of the first innovations in multi-touchpoint attribution and joining online/offline data for many of the Fortune 100. Andy has also held leadership positions at Personify and IRI. Andy holds a BA in mathematics from UC Berkeley and an MA in statistics from Stanford.
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!
Latest posts
By now you’ve all seen the headlines about the burgeoning success of eCommerce compared to the relatively drastic decline in transactions for brick-and-mortar stores during the holiday season. ComScore data showed desktop online sales in the last two months of 2016 rose 12%, and are expected to rise to 16-19% once the mobile commerce numbers are tallied. This steady downward trend for brick-and-mortars has been caused by a variety of factors. Amazon has carved out a desire for free, fast shipping and one-stop shopping. The rise of “fast-fashion” pushes consumers to buy mass-produced and cheap clothing that is easiest to replicate online, and the wide-spread usability of eCommerce and mCommerce sites make the experience of online shopping hassle free. Many organizations have relied on the in-store experience to garner loyalty, so now the question is how to achieve that same experience in the digital realm as foot traffic to stores falls to all-time lows. The answer lies in understanding your users and tailoring content, not just products, within your communications. Experian Cross-Channel Marketing’s studies have shown that by incorporating editorial content into email, overall audience engagement can rise by up to 28% over audiences that don't receive content-driven messages. That’s an increase of over 20% in opens, clicks, and transaction rates! Now to be clear, this is content that is NOT focused on the sale, but rather, how the products, services, or organization can better the user’s life. Let’s dive into this a bit more deeply by talking about the types of content you can weave into your communication strategy: Product Tutorials This is the easiest to execute for those wanting to digress from the discount epidemic plaguing us all. Instead of flaunting a low price, highlight product versatility, create a video showing ease of use or wow the audience by demonstrating transformative effects with before and after photos. Bring the experience to them virtually rather than relying on a showroom to demonstrate the value. The more you draw your users into this experience, the more likely they are to remember your brand. Social Highlights + Celebrity Bloggers Many organizations spend a great amount of time and energy developing a solid social strategy, but fail to bridge the gap between social, email, the website, and even in-store experience. Pull favorite items, the highest rated products, or user-generated content into email to add a personal, more relevant touch to your brand. Also consider bringing any celebrity or blogger content to the forefront of your eNewsletters to achieve the same goal. After Your Purchase Experian has found that Welcome Emails containing a “Thank You” message for those that purchased produced 20x the revenue per email than promotional welcomes. These users are primed to purchase again as they have already shown interest in your organization, so why not incentivize another transaction immediately when appropriate? However, don't forget that the user journey doesn’t stop at the transaction. A huge part of customer satisfaction comes after the credit card has been swiped. Send communications to ensure the user knows how to care for their product, prepare for their service, or simply send a survey after their journey is complete. Including additional options to purchase should be secondary to making sure you get THIS transaction right. How It’s Made Is your product made in America, handcrafted, or come with special care that makes your brand stand out? Are your services or designers top rated for good reason? Give your customers a behind the scenes look to entice them and peak their interest in your brand. A Bigger Purpose Does your brand have a mission that will resonate in the hearts of your consumers? Is there a give-back program you think your audience will care about? If so, bring that bigger purpose to the spotlight and give your consumers a reason to be a part of your community. As your content strategy becomes more advanced, consider profiling your audience to understand their messaging preferences, and then test your content across these cohorts. Not all content will resonate with all customers, but finding the right content marketing mix will surely help your online presence stand out in a time where the digital experience is more important than ever.
Email marketing remains a marketer’s most powerful tool. It not only produces an impressively high ROI, it’s also highly measurable. It’s not uncommon to hear people boast about high deliverability as one of these metrics. However what does that statistic ‘deliverability’ actually mean? Statistics suggest that 1 in every 5 emails fail to land in the inbox [1] which means 20% of opportunities to connect with customers are being missed. Having great deliverability is what every marketer strives for but it is something that has been difficult for people to define. Now it’s not uncommon for words to have different meanings in different countries, the most obvious example being football. Deliverability, like football, has many different meanings No wonder Googling the term “deliverability” leaves you more confused than when you started. Metrics and people’s interpretation of their meaning is one of the biggest reasons for confusion around the topic of deliverability and many marketers mistakenly feel secure in their ability to reach subscribers if they have a high delivery rate. This however, isn’t necessarily the case… Delivered vs ‘accepted’ Often what marketers believe to be a measurement of their deliverability is in reality the proportion of emails that were ‘accepted.’ An email is considered to be delivered if it does not bounce or doesn’t get returned to the mail server stating it was unable to be delivered for a specific reason. Delivery rate is a calculation of mail sent minus the volume that bounced. Deliverability is making sure you are doing what you can to put yourself in the best position to be actually seen by your email subscribers. Not stuck in spam or ignored. Inbox placement is an ongoing battle for email marketers and is effected by many factors such as CAN-SPAM, PECR, CASL compliance, sender reputation, list hygiene, authentication and blacklisting. The number of active subscribers, open and click-through rates also can influence reputation with certain ISPs such as Hotmail or Gmail. Successful deliverability depends on a combination of best practices, including authentication and email reputation. The rules of deliverability go through perpetual change and proven techniques can prevent failures. Many people believe there is a silver bullet or a guarantee that a supplier can provide 99% deliverability rates, in reality sending mail to those who want it is the only truly proven way to get great deliverability. Deliverability is a critical element of email marketing and something that all marketers should be considering. Want to learn more about deliverability? Check out our ebook "You’ve got mail! Spotlight on email deliverability," where we offer a proactive strategy for building brand loyality and improving ROI through email deliverability and optimized email marketing programs. Read related posts about email marketing and deliverability here. [1] Return path Deliverability Benchmark Report http://returnpath.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/2015-Deliverability-Benchmark-Report.pdf Tom Corbett is an expert on Email Deliverability
Engagement matters. It matters to marketers and it matters to the consumer…but what is the most effective way to improve that engagement? We sat down with Marketing Expert, Liz McLemore to get her take on the top 5 marketing resolutions to improve your marketing programs. Resolution 1: Gain a full understanding of your data This year, strive to get a full picture of what data you have available. In order to really know who your customers are across all channels and be able to deliver meaningful experiences to them, you’ll need to consider what sources of data are available to you, and then who needs to have access to that data in order to best leverage it. Here are a few tips to get you started: -Collect demographic and behavioral data to get a clear picture of your customers. Combining these data types will help give you a better view of your audience. -Perform a comprehensive data audit to figure out exactly what your data is telling you. Document everything, from the data type to how often it’s updated. -Find a partner who can centralize your database and help you leverage unlimited data types and sources. Resolution 2: Amp up your personalization Your newly centralized data will allow you to better personalize the content and timing of your cross-channel communications. In order to make change executable, consider a phased approach to personalization. -Start small, with elements of your current template that can easily be personalized, such as headers or footers. -Enhance personalization through demographic or behavioral data, such as loyalty points. -Move toward a true 1:1 experience by partnering with a cross-channel communications provider who can help with state-based personalization. Resolution 3: Maintain a consistent approach When your customers interact with your brand, they should encounter a consistent brand experience. They don’t think in channels, so why should you? -View your brand as a customer would. Sign up for your emails, check out the in-store experience, and follow your brand on social media. -Compare your message across channels. Is the story you’re telling consistent? -Examine your internal operations, and work to remove silos. Cross-functional teams need to work together seamlessly in order to deliver a seamless cross-channel customer experience. Resolution 4: Adopt a mobile-first approach in every channel Customers do more than check email on their phones. Mobile commerce is growing, and a Business Insider BI Intelligence report predicts that mobile will account for 45% of all ecommerce by 2020. In order to take advantage of this growth, expand your mobile-first approach beyond the inbox. -Have a well-paved mobile path. Test the look and feel of your emails on a mobile device. Make sure that your website is mobile optimized, and that the path to purchase is as frictionless as possible. -When incorporating an SMS campaign, have a clear goal in mind. SMS campaigns can be effective ways to promote upcoming deals, cultivate loyalty, or inform, but it’s important to narrow your focus in order to best engage your customers. -Be compliant. If you do not have a mobile expert on your team, be sure to partner with one who can ensure your campaigns follow mobile compliance guidelines. Resolution 5: Measure effectiveness Now that you’ve put processes and plans into effect, measure their impact. -Work with your web, mobile, and social teams at the campaign creation stage to determine what metrics you need to measure, and why. In today’s cross-channel marketing world, it’s about more than open and click rates. -Compare your engagement rates to industry benchmarks to gain a better sense of how your brand is performing, but remember you need to be your OWN benchmark. -Invest in more sophisticated analytics programs to take your reporting to the next level, or seek the professional advice of experts who can show you how to separate the signal from the noise and gain deeper insights. These five tips and more are discussed in our webinar “Trends are Dead Ends: Create a clear road to success with our 2017 planning tips.” If you didn’t get a chance to join us, you can view a recording of it here. Also, if you want more information on our 2016 holiday insights please join us for our next webinar “It’s a wrap: 2016 holiday insights, “on February 23rd at 1pm ET.