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is problematic when two or more advertisers are seeking to appeal to the same client . competitor . It also enables you to start filling in any gaps in your first party data stores .
Alex Langshur , CEO , Incubeta US
For example , when two market competitors ( e . g . Widget-r-us and We-r-widgets ) deploy Pmax across their campaigns , it ’ s essentially the same algorithm , running the same logic for optimisation . When viewed in this way , you can see how this can lead to increasing CPMs as each company tries to get Pmax to work better for them ( cost being an important input ). Our challenge is to tune these algorithms using different and proprietary signals to make them work harder and better for us , over our competitor , such as by using customer lifetime value as an early input signal . This is hard , complex , time-consuming , un-sexy work , but it ’ s absolutely critical if we want to succeed in a signal-poor , algorithmic-driven world .
The ‘ all you need is first party data ’ half-truth :
For years we ’ ve been told that leveraging first party data is the key to success . The unfortunate truth is that for 95 % of brands , their store of this valuable data represents just a tiny fraction ( often less than < 5 %) of their overall market . So even if they knew everything about their customers , it ’ s a heavy assumption to make that this is representative of the entire category and overreliance on this should be treated with caution .
Of course , to be able to use creative as a top of funnel signal , you have to have diversity in your messaging . If you take a one-size-fits-all approach to creative you won ’ t learn much , but if you create variants of your creative , you can start to understand what resonates with different audiences .
Leverage bottom of funnel engagement :
With brands losing signal left and right , they need to maximise all of the high-quality signals that they can . Fortunately , logged-in and bottom of funnel experiences offer one of the most valuable and informative sources of consumer data . Robust test-and-learn programs looking deeply at all aspects of Experience Optimisation ( EXO ) across all assets and channels , as well as more granular Conversion Rate Optimisation ( CRO ) are one of the most valuable sources of high-quality , high-intent signals available to advertisers . These signals are critical sources of input to the platform algorithms and we strongly recommend all clients to invest in EXO / CRO initiatives .
Value customer data like a balance sheet asset :
The case for data enrichment and / or access to third party consented data sources and ID graphs remains pertinent and must be a consideration within the marketer ’ s toolbox . And when it comes to ID ( and device ) graphs , scale is really all that matters .
Creative is the best top of funnel signal :
Given that our first party data is too small to fully represent our entire addressable market , we need another mechanism to turn heads , catch attention and expose potential clients to the brand . This is the role that good creative has always excelled at . Strong creative , built on the human truths that resonate with your audience and convinces them to visit your owned digital assets , has never been more important , particularly in our ‘ noisy ’, distraction-filled and media-fuelled world .
Once a visitor engages across any of your digital assets , you have the ability to start measuring and evaluating their path to purchase . Good creative is therefore a top of funnel signal , and this is incredibly important in helping tune the algorithms to work better for you versus your
I look forward to the day that CFOs in all businesses start to include corporate first party data as a tangible business asset on their balance sheet . Revenue comes from customers , and the ability to understand , segment , create and activate audiences ( to include existing and new customers ) based on first party data is a critical 21st century business function . To me , this dataset is on the same level of organisational and balance sheet importance as physical assets or intellectual property .
Therefore , it needs to be managed as an asset where the necessary resources are allocated to manage and maximise its value to the business . It ’ s my opinion that the easiest and quickest way to determine whether an organisation properly values this asset is if it has a Customer Data Platform ( CDP ) and / or some form of customer data lake . The investment in building a CDP and training staff on its use and maintenance demonstrates a deeper level of understanding the critical and intrinsic properties of proper client data management .
With the effectiveness of marketing campaigns relying much more on strong creative , strategically-wielding AI algorithms ( rather than simply letting them take charge ) and bottom
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