ExchangeWire Research has been delving into how marketers are making the most of data management platforms (DMPs) as part of a research project in association with Oracle Marketing Cloud. This research will first be presented as part of a panel discussion at ATS London on September 14^th, tickets are selling out fast, get yours today to avoid disappointment. 

The DMP panel will be moderated by ExchangeWire’s head of research and analysis, Rebecca Muir; she will be joined by:

– Lara Izlan, director, programmatic trading and innovation, Auto Trader (pictured)

– Damon Reeve, CEO, Authenticated Digital

– John Broughton, marketing analytics manager, Confused.com

– Oliver Southgate, head of data and technology, Havas Media

– Zuzanna Gierlinska, director, data management platform EMEA, Oracle Marketing Cloud

In this piece, panellist Lara Izlan (pictured) speaks exclusively to ExchangeWire about how Auto Trader transformed from a magazine business into one of the UK’s largest, innovative digital-only publishers.

ExchangeWire: Tell us a little about the history of Auto Trader and its transformation into a fully digital business.

Lara Izlan: Auto Trader was founded in 1977, the magazine was published weekly in a number of regional editions. Circulation peaked at 368,000 in January 2000, dropping to an average of 87,000 copies a week in 2012, and down to 27,000 in March 2013. In June 2013, after 36 years, the final editions of the printed magazine were published, with the company concentrating on its online business.

Today, Auto Trader is the number one online marketplace for car buyers in the UK, with over 11 million unique users per month. These are extremely engaged users conducting an average of 68 searches per second on autotrader.co.uk. In fact, more than 80% of all time spent on classifieds websites is spent on Auto Trader. Auto Trader also has extensive relationships with car manufacturers and dealerships nationwide – listing more than 400,000 cars each day.

It sounds like you have a lot of data available, how do you make use of that as a publisher?

We have a rich store of valuable data and insight on user behaviour, intent and engagement around automotive buying and selling.

Auto Trader’s core business has long tapped into this store of insights in building a suite of selling and retailing services for dealer customers, and to provide new and innovative tools for users looking to sell their car and/or buy a new car.

With display advertising becoming a key growth area in the business, the company is now extending this store of knowledge into building data-driven advertising solutions for its clients – both automotive manufacturers and agency partners. This contributed to the strategic decision to implement a data management platform that can bring together valuable pockets of first-party data from across the business, blended with trusted second- and third-party data, to create true automotive intender audiences that can be reached both on and off Auto Trader’s website.

How did you go about evaluating different DMP solutions?

Auto Trader conducted an RFP process that involved representatives from teams around the business to evaluate candidate platforms across a range of requirements. Some of the top data management platforms were invited to participate and they presented us with strong proposals. Ultimately, we wanted to work with a partner who ticked all the boxes technically, and had a strong track record of working with classifieds and automotive data.

DMPs are often used by individual marketing teams; do you think there is a wider business application?

At Auto Trader, we have taken a taken a collaborative approach to building out the DMP – garnering input, support, and insights from around the company – because we believe that the benefits of a fully integrated DMP has applications beyond advertising and marketing. In the requirements gathering phase we conducted brainstorm sessions with several other teams including trade, product, research, and data and insights, to come up with a comprehensive list of use cases for the DMP. These segment requirements are built into a plan that will be rolled out over time.

Who in your organisation manages your DMP?

The DMP is co-managed by the display advertising team and the data & insights team. This allows commercial and consumer considerations to feature significantly in both the initial deployment and the future development of the platform to ensure that it serves the requirements of all stakeholders – and fully maximises the potential of the platform.

How will your DMP change your marketing/advertising strategy?

The DMP is one piece of Auto Trader’s overarching strategy that looks to combine creativity and data to develop compelling, memorable advertising solutions that can be targeted to the right audiences, at the right time, in the right context. In addition to launching a new audiences proposition, the expansion of creative solutions, and continued innovation around ad formats, including native and mobile, form part of this strategy.

How will you evaluate the success of your DMP implementation?

In the short term, success means producing enhanced and brand new audience segments that our advertisers find compelling and valuable, and support our marketing team to deliver audience growth and engagement. Longer term, proof of success lies in the ability of the platform to continue to grow, and change, and remain relevant to the changing needs of a growing digital business, and a dynamic, competitive marketplace.

Will you evaluate your DMP against ROI?

We expect both direct and indirect returns to our investment in the DMP. Direct ROI in display advertising, for example, will be measured in terms of uplift in revenue and yield as a result of the introduction of new data-driven advertising solutions. In marketing, ROI could be measured by the efficiencies that can be generated.

We also hope to realise indirect ROI through the more streamlined approach to data collection, management, and delivery – based on creating a robust technology stack in which the DMP is fully and seamlessly integrated.

Further 'softer' indirect benefits will be realised through the collaboration between teams that input and benefit from the DMP.

What developments would you like to see in DMP technologies in the next 12 months, and how will they benefit your organisation?

A simplification of the ecosystem that surrounds the data management platform will improve the speed of implementation, and make it easier to maintain the platform on an ongoing basis. The fear is that over-complication in the management of the platform and companion technologies could render the platform irrelevant over time once the initial allocation of resource and attention subsides.

Additionally, (and some DMPs are already beginning to offer this) ongoing account management that includes strategic advisory element could help media owners fully maximise the potential of the platform over time.