Programmatic advertising, and the data gleaned from it, are invaluable in the process of building out a profile of an individual. However, as Tom Blacksell (pictured below), managing director of decision analytics and marketing services, Experian argues, it doesn't necessarily provide an accurate representation of an individual, in isolation. Here, Blacksell explains to ExchangeWire the importance and of offline insights, with programmatic only providing one piece of the puzzle.

We are all now well aware of the value of programmatic advertising. It’s great, I’m sold. There’s no doubt it is one of the most sophisticated ways to get your products and services in front of the right people, at the most relevant time.

By enabling marketers to pinpoint specific user types, to show ads in real-time, programmatic truly has the potential to protect your media spend and drive efficiency. Imagine you could guarantee that you were only paying for adverts being shown to people who are actually interested in your brand and your message? You wouldn’t be wasting a dime.

However, as is often the way with the latest ‘big thing’ in marketing, it’s important to remember to avoid getting carried away. Remember, programmatic won’t solve everything. It won’t give you everything you need with a single flick of a switch. It should be viewed as simply another method for you to reach potential customers and clients. As with other channels (email, SMS, social, etc.) it’s the insight you have on the people you’re trying to reach that makes it so powerful.

Regardless of whether you’re running an acquisition campaign, retention campaign, or reactivation campaign with your programmatic advertising – without the right data to work with, you’re never going to be as effective as you could be.

Tom Blacksell, MD Decision Analytics & Marketing Services, Experian

At Experian, we are always reminding our partners about the need to combine offline insights with online in order to get a more reliable profile of your customers and prospects. You need to remember that the digital profile isn’t necessarily an accurate representation of an individual. It lacks the narrative around that person and prevents us from understanding the context (and intent) around specific interactions.

So, while programmatic provides marketers with the ability to communicate in real-time it is only as powerful as the data you plug into it.

And this is what brings me back to the essence of this post – marketers need to appreciate that programmatic is simply another piece of the rather complex puzzle. In order to make the most out of the incredible capabilities we have at our fingertips, all the pieces of that puzzle need to be brought together.

There are so many interactions online that context is critical to building intelligent customer experiences.

It’s the understanding that programmatic is only one crucial facet of a successful strategy that’s the key factor here. In order to build intelligent customer journeys, marketers need to understand more about their customer than they can get online. They need to build context and they need to understand relevance.

It’s all these pieces put together and powering programmatic advertising that is so exciting. So, when you’re choosing which DMP or ad-serving platform to put your money and precious data into, you need to make sure that platform is capable of utilising the first-, second- and third-party data required. If you are looking to utilise third-party data (recommended) to add an extra layer of insight, make sure the approach you take can easily accommodate additional data sources.

Remember, everything starts with the data. Get the data right and you’re one step closer to delivering valuable experiences to your customers – across devices, channels, and time.