Identity Questions Answered
For marketers and brands looking for an identity provider, we have gathered information on what you need to know and what you need to ask your potential identity provider.
Identity is one of marketing’s most essential tools in today’s privacy-first landscape – the perfect tool for finally getting to know today’s complex, multi-device, multi-channel consumer. As consumer buying journeys become more fragmented across screens and channels, bringing together identifiers across online and offline touchpoints, identity, is the only way to truly understand purchase triggers, barriers and important shopping moments on individual consumers.
An accurate identity resolution strategy is critical to the success of any marketing campaign. It fuels customer experiences, allowing brands to create and build richer customer profiles. With the ability to view the entire picture surrounding one customer, their buying behaviors, demographic and even device data, brand marketers can create more tailored messages and campaigns that drive loyalty, engagement, purchasing and success.
If you are a marketer looking for an identity provider (eh-hem… like Throtle), we put together some of the must-ask questions to ask before tying the knot:
1. Is your identity graph deterministic or probabilistic?
Deterministic matching is the gold standard. Yet what some companies call “deterministic” matching really isn’t. Some think finding a single 1:1 match between two data points qualifies as a confirmed deterministic pairing. Others, including Throtle, hold themselves to a much higher standard of quality and accuracy that requires multi-source corroboration of all data and several layers of validation before declaring that a match is highly deterministic.
2. What is the logic behind your match rate?
A match rate depends heavily on a steady flow of multi-source data that is accurate and validated. At Throtle, we view the match rate as our ability to match to a unique individual rather than unique cookies or device IDs. For example, if we match John Doe and see he has three devices, we count him as a unique match because all three devices belong to one unique individual. Other providers rely on each device or cookie match as unique regardless of whether they belong to the same individual and in this case would say they have 3 matches. As such, match rates are often inflated and do not accurately depict the match rate against unique individuals in a client’s file. We always advise asking for apples-to-apples data from all partners you are evaluating so that you can be sure that match rate definitions and calculations are consistent across partners.
3. Do you have a data hygiene strategy?
The best identity resolution vendors deploy a variety of “data hygiene” steps such as email validation, de-duplication, National Change of Address (NCOA), and more to ensure a customer’s data is at the highest level of fidelity. This is completed before matching to ensure the highest possible match rate. We always recommend a data match test before signing any contracts. Both sides must understand the depth and wealth of the data and how it might or might not perform before partnering.
4. Is your identity privacy compliant?
Well-executed identity resolution embraces industry best practices and principles that ensure data is harnessed in ethical, compliant, and privacy safe ways. In the wake of GDPR, CCPA and others to soon follow, identity resolution ensures secure data transfer and encrypted storage, data processing controls and access restrictions, and regulatory compliance.
Conclusion
An identity strategy is a must-have, not a nice-to-have for 2022. To remain competitive in the age of the empowered, connected consumer, marketers must be able to connect customer data into a cohesive whole. Those who leverage identity resolution will be able to provide a seamless customer experience that is consistent and personalized across channels, creating increased engagement and relevant interactions that improve loyalty and ensure long-term success.