The cookie may not be dead, but with smartphone consumption continually growing, mobile device IDs could reign supreme as the media landscape continues to converge. Leo Giel (pictured below), chief revenue officer, YouAppi, tells ExchangeWire that marketers should not ignore device IDs in their mobile targeting strategies if they want to effectively identify their audience in a connected world. 

In the last decade, my daily media habits have expanded exponentially as I added a smartphone, a games console, multiple fitness devices, and TV-connected hardware devices, to my daily media consumption habits. And the next few years will probably bring a smarter watch than my Apple watch (since getting it, I've never been late for a meeting and exercise more frequently) and some other connected devices to my daily media consumption patterns.

But, as my media habits expanded to include more distribution channels – including Netflix, Amazon Prime, ESPN Live, HBO NOW, Verizon go90, etc – which I'm accessing via multiple devices, my media landscape is actually converging.

The more devices I now use to access a broader range of distribution channels, the greater the need for a unique identifier to enable brands to connect with me. Brands should be able to identify me as the same consumer across all of the devices that I use to access a diverse portfolio of content.

A decade ago, my email address was a sufficient identity for desktop PC activities. But, today, with a range of digital devices, platforms and usage habits, I need a unique identifier to unify my digital media activities; and my mobile phone device ID provides that identity.

And I'm not alone. As smartphone penetration approaches 80% in the US, according to comScore, more and more people are using their smartphone as their identifying device.

So, what does this trend mean for mobile marketers and agencies? With consumers cutting the cord (yes, I'm one of them) as they consume more content on demand through a broad range of devices, sites, channels, platforms, etc., brands are leaning on their agencies to identify and target high-value consumers, and here are three tactics which will help:

Add mobile data to campaign targeting

Lacking the standard cookie available in PC targeting has made it more difficult to incorporate mobile data in campaign targeting. By using device IDs, mobile data can include location and app usage data, which provides marketers with a lot of targeting insights.

With mobile lagging other digital media in ad spend versus time spent, the ability for mobile publishers to show that in-app ads drive sales for their advertising partners is important. Therefore, mobile apps need to take stock of their data and find ways to package it together to provide greater value. Given all of the relevant data that is tied to mobile devices and the convergence of device activation around the mobile ID, mobile data packaging will be critical to the digital marketing industry as we seek to increase revenue streams in the face of ad blocking and decreased PC-based web browsing.

Look beyond PCs when integrating cross-device data

Traditionally, marketers looked to integrate mobile and PC-based data for cross-device targeting. Although mobile/PC cross-device is still important, with mobile commerce expected to generate about 30% of total e-commerce sales, according to research from Internet Retailer (with the other 70% coming from PCs/Macs), there are many other devices providing marketers with interesting data. With the growth of the Internet of Things – including smart TVs and watches, health and fitness devices, internet-enabled devices in cars and more – it's time to look beyond the PC.

Usage-specific devices, like a fitness device, can provide interesting data streams because the data is extensive and focused. There are many marketers who would be interested in targeting fitness-focused consumers, who tend to be higher income consumers.

With the growth of devices utilising the mobile device ID, data from a range of new devices will enable marketers to create deeper and richer profiles than previously possible.

Think about new technologies for tracking and measurement

The migration to omni-channel marketing opens the door for new tracking and measurement technologies and methodologies that are better suited to the current environment and marketing trends.

With the mobile phone now omnipresent, new app-based, audio-matching-based, audience measurement solutions, like MRL, can measure where, and through which device, new, or even traditional, media is being experienced. From audio-based measurement to sentiment-analysis technologies, new tracking and measurement technologies are providing a new way to provide new insights into campaign performance.

Like consumers, agencies and marketers are also engaging prospective and current users through more channels than ever before. But whether that engagement is through an email (now most likely read on a phone), or elsewhere, it's probably connected to and/or being synchronised through the user's mobile phone or mobile device ID.

Now the industry needs to come together to create better standards for mobile IDs to make their use more efficient for users, manufacturers, marketers, and agencies alike.