Data Must Be the Core of Marketing Strategy

In my last blog post I explained Turn’s vision of the omnichannel future of marketing – a data-driven approach that enables marketers to reach consumers seamlessly, consistently and effectively through any and all devices and channels. The ability to execute through all channels is critical, but data is the real key to making sure that execution is successful.

I’ll be honest: before joining Turn, I didn’t fully appreciate the value of data management platforms (DMPs). I’ve built media and technology businesses for years, but I hadn’t previously worked on a DMP. Now there is little doubt in my mind that DMPs will be the lynchpin technology in a brand marketer’s programmatic strategy – and ultimately, in their marketing strategy as a whole. Here’s how I’ve come to this understanding:

Anyone in the industry will tell you that there’s been a dramatic shift toward content marketing and organic “conversations” between brands and consumers. As this world of branded content grows, the number of touchpoints between a brand and an individual rises sharply, and this generates troves of data. It’s easy to understand that audience insights can help brands determine what messages will resonate and where to deliver them. But it’s equally important to capture the information being generated in each instance of that conversation, all along the customer journey.

That journey exists beyond the world of advertising. The experience of Bruce the consumer – a rugby fanatic who watches videos on a tablet while commuting – tells brands a huge amount about me before I’ve ever seen an ad. Surely, marketers should be able to use that information to serve me the right ad, promote the right event, email the right offer or show me the right video on their site. All of this is part of the journey I take as a consumer long before I ever buy their product.

Once you understand the volume of data that is created from content marketing, you’d be borderline insane not to organize and leverage that information that may have nothing to do with advertising, but everything to do with understanding your audience. I recently met with a top global brand that also happens to have one of the leading content marketing organizations in the world. After taking me through their content program, they asked, “Now do you understand why your DMP is central to our marketing strategy?” It was a lightbulb moment for me – the outcome of their branded content strategy is data in the form of customer touchpoints.

Brands understand that their customers are distracted media consumers, engaging across devices and streams. Providing value in the customer journey through relevant ads – and especially content – is critical to building more fruitful long-term relationships. First-party data is the key to delivering that relevance, with a DMP providing a unified view of the brand/consumer relationship across all paid and owned media.

Our mission at Turn is to help global marketers create data-driven consumer engagement – which can be a complicated task. By combining deep expertise with world-class technology, we we are powering today’s leading brands to success in tomorrow’s data-driven landscape.

Here’s how we helped Kraft revolutionize their marketing by putting data-driven content at the heart of customer engagement.

About Amobee

Founded in 2005, Amobee is an advertising platform that understands how people consume content. Our goal is to optimize outcomes for advertisers and media companies, while providing a better consumer experience. Through our platform, we help customers further their audience development, optimize their cross channel performance across all TV, connected TV, and digital media, and drive new customer growth through detailed analytics and reporting. Amobee is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tremor International, a collection of brands built to unite creativity, data and technology across the open internet.

If you’re curious to learn more, watch the on-demand demo or take a deep dive into our Research & Insights section where you can find recent webinars on-demand, media plan insights & activation templates, and more data-driven content. If you’re ready to take the next step into a sustainable, consumer-first advertising future, contact us today.