The trend continues for big brand advertisers to bring programmatic media buying in-house. While there’s much talk about why brands are going in-house, there is seemingly less discussion about the ingredients for successfully building the tech stack needed to operationalize. Since customer data is the fuel for effective programmatic buying, why is data missing from the conversation?
THE IN-HOUSING TREND
The topic of “in-housing” has certainly grabbed the attention of the advertising and MarTech industry. Per the ANA study last year, 35% of marketers (most with >$100MM in annual media budgets) have already expanded their in-house programmatic media buying capabilities – that’s double from the study just one year prior! Major brands such as P&G, Sprint, Unilever, Allstate, Netflix, Kayak, Anheuser-Busch InBev, Electronic Arts and more have been blazing the trail with in-house capabilities.
The trend is driven by interest in greater transparency, control and efficiency. From a study highlighted in AdWeek, 65% are driven by interest in greater control – and harnessing data is one aspect of control that can pay off. In-house technology moves brands closer to their data. It’s commonly said that data is a brand’s most valuable asset. However, strategic advantage really comes from the ability to leverage data with precise accuracy to create relevant, timely experiences and connections with customers.
CUSTOMER IDENTITY DATA IS AN OVERLOOKED INGREDIENT
To bring programmatic capabilities in-house, you need budget, expert talent, team bandwidth, and a solid tech stack. Of course, brands need to carefully select DSPs/DMPs. A key ingredient is often forgotten though – the customer data that forms the foundation for marketing campaigns.
Identity resolution is the base layer in a marketing technology stack – a way to resolve to a single individual across all brand touchpoints and bring into view everything known about a customer. As part of the programmatic tech stack, brand marketers need to select a partner for accurate identity resolution and data onboarding to effectively target individuals with relevant ads across devices and browsers.
It’s important to select an identity and onboarding partner who has precise accuracy, vast reach to individuals across devices, and flexibility to innovate with you. Whether you choose to access identity resolution as a managed service or install an identity graph behind your firewall, every brand needs timely, secure and privacy-compliant access to customer intelligence to fuel programmatic campaigns.
While there are sure to be many lessons ahead for the industry as more programmatic advertising efforts are brought in-house, building a foundation with a validated, deterministic identity resolution partner is a key first step. Keep the focus on the data and watch your programmatic efforts flourish.
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