Addressable Campaigns: From Data Quality to Optimization

We are hearing more conversations on Addressable that focus on data optimization and quality. The media industry has historically relied on third party data but as more companies can amass first party data from their own customer pools, we are seeing a shift in how all types of data are being integrated and analyzed.  

Kemal Bokhari, General Manager Data and Analytics, DISH Media Sales, and Allison Metcalfe, General Manager, LiveRamp TV, take a look at this complex data issue from a right brain (holistic thinking and imaginative approach, or in this case, data quality) and a left brain (analytical or methodical approach) perspective. How can data optimization provide a continuous and confident feedback loop for advertisers to utilize in strengthening their creative campaigns? 

Charlene Weisler: How are companies finding the right data to use and making sure it's used correctly and to the greatest benefit? 

Kemal Bokhari: Dish is data agnostic so we don’t necessarily recommend that a client use a specific dataset. We find that many advertisers and agencies who come to us for addressable campaigns come with a target audience in mind and / or their own dataset. I believe that there is really no such thing as “the right dataset”. It all depends upon the specific goals of the campaign. We help our clients strategize and accomplish those goals.

Weisler: Given all of the discussions about data and privacy today, how do you protect user privacy while using data to give them a better experience?

Allison Metcalfe: To insure privacy, you use privacy-conscious deterministic onboarding like LiveRamp and only the highest quality data providers. LiveRamp had the first Chief Privacy Officer ever and we take this very seriously, requiring all partners to go through an audit, and annual audits thereafter to ensure that consumer privacy is being handled correctly. 

Weisler: What is the difference between first party data vs third party data?

Bokhari: First party data is data that you own yourself; Where you have a direct relationship with that subscriber or customer. CRM data is considered to be first party data. Third party data is the aggregator of first party datasets. They get a list of subscribers to target and then sell that to interested advertisers. 

Weisler: If you had to explain the use of first party, third party and data privacy to your grandparents how would you explain it?

Metcalfe: I would tell her that first party data is like Bloomingdales mailing you catalogues. You've given Bloomingdales your info and they have it to market to you. Third party data is like Visa packaging up buying behavior into segments like "department store spenders". Data privacy is about making sure that both Bloomingdales and Visa are responsible with your data and don't let it get to bad actors. (And I want to add that my grandma is an avid shopper so she will understand this explanation!)

Weisler: How can these two types of datasets enhance each other?

Bokhari: We have advertisers who come to us with their own CRM data that they may want to match to demographic data and other targets. An example would be with a credit card company who would want to contact existing cardholders for a new type of card and who live in a specific geographic zip code or DMA and earn about a certain income level. That is where we could help them enhance their first party data with our third party data to help them reach and hyper target these consumers. 

Weisler: How can data best be used for continuous ad campaign optimization? We all know that advertisers are using data to target, but how are they using previous campaign measurement to influence the way they target, the type of data they use, etc. 

Bokhari: Everyone can use their CRM data to create a targeting file. They use third party data to enhance their audience. And they learn from previous experiences what has worked and what has not worked. What has worked can be used in the next iteration of studies and campaigns to get a bigger ROI. 

Metcalfe: Many of LiveRamp's brands are conducting closed-loop measurement and are able to quite easily see how data has performed for their campaigns. Our most advanced advertisers are using multi-touch attribution modeling and/or data lakes so they can really analyze the impact of data on the customer journey.

Weisler: What is the biggest pain point for addressable advertisers when using different data sets, and how do you suggest avoiding it?

Metcalfe: I would say that the biggest pain point is probably scaling up a precise target to make sense for a TV ad campaign. They can conquer that problem by using trusted partners to onboard and model their audiences.

Weisler: Where do you see the use of data in addressable going in the next three years?

Bokhari: The only way is up. Advertisers will continue to use audiences in targeting. We expect this to expand and to be able to seamlessly target across platforms –across TV and digital. We know from our experiences that when someone runs an addressable campaign, they come back and do another. There is no waste and it is highly targeted.

Metcalfe: I see both growth and adoption as there are more and more addressable households and more inventory on a national scale to buy.

Weisler: What do you see as the biggest reason for advertisers to start using data to target audiences through addressable?

Metcalfe: It is because addressable offers advertisers the best of precise ad targeting within a powerful brand advertising medium.

For more info on DISH Media Sales’ Addressable Solution and additional Addressable Insights such as Wins and Reports, please head to the DISH Media Sales website. 

This article first appeared in www.MediaVillage.com