In the run-up to ATS London 2022, Tim Geenen, managing director, addressability, EU, LiveRamp, details how marketers can distil the current complexity in the identity space.

Identity is a major bugbear for marketers at the moment, with constant regulation and tech stack changes making it increasingly complex for advertisers to reach their target audiences with ads that are relevant. Advertisers are also having to deal with the fact that audiences are now consuming content across a variety of formats and devices, making targeting and measurement even more of a complex art.

Difficulty connecting data points together across devices and browsers isn’t something that’s new to the digital advertising industry, but these major roadblocks are making it considerably more challenging to do so. Not being able to properly understand which audiences you’re reaching, and not being able to accurately attribute value to specific channels, can lead to advertisers funnelling a disproportionate amount of their media spend toward avenues that are proving ineffective.

Advertisers who aren’t investing in identity solutions to optimise their campaigns across channels are likely to end up targeting the wrong consumers or bombarding the right ones with too many messages. And, in both instances, this can have significant consequences when it comes to brand recall and perception.

Putting people first

Businesses should start by looking at all of the ways that consumers may be interacting with their brand, including everything right down to customer service interactions. Not having a strong identity strategy in place to connect all of these touchpoints will prevent marketers from being able to tap into all of the data they require to deliver the best experiences to consumers.

Tim Geenen, LiveRamp

Taking a people-based marketing approach, by choosing to leverage identity signals rather than data linked to devices or other characteristics, will give marketers the ability to reach consumers with the targeted, addressable, and relevant advertising that benefits the consumer and the brand alike.

For the advertiser, shifting toward an ecosystem that enables this people-based marketing, and restores the fair value exchange between brands and consumers, will deliver a greater return on ad spend, better measurement, and increased audience reach.

The power of authenticated first-party data

In order to get the most out of any people-based marketing approach, publishers and advertisers should be looking to embrace authenticated first-party data. Doing so creates addressable media and helps to rebuild consumer trust.

Further, embracing authenticated first-party data puts the control of personal data back into the hands of the consumer, giving them the opportunity to provide and revoke permissions around how their data is collected and used.

This control is something that consumers are keen to have, after losing trust in social / digital platforms following years of seeing data misuse. This loss of trust has made consumers less likely to share their data; creating and communicating a value exchange that encourages customers to allow their data to be used in return for a better user experience or specific benefits should be a top priority for publishers and brands.

Boosting user experience with first-party data

To encourage consumers to authenticate their information, brands and publishers should consider providing a means for the consumer to create an account and register. When presenting this option, users should be informed about what value they gain from agreeing to register for an account, and control over what details they choose to share.

For advertisers and publishers, authenticated first-party data creates a digital advertising world where they can work together more closely to deliver meaningful outcomes for brands. This closer relationship between brands and publishers will be even more imperative in the future, as it will ensure that they continue to thrive in digital environments spaces, while maintaining a competitive, diverse, and privacy-focused open internet.

A people-based ecosystem offers consumers the control of their personal information, while giving marketers an opportunity to improve the experiences they are delivering to those individuals and enabling publishers to boost their ad revenues and enhance their relationships with their audiences.

Time to adopt new identity solutions

Though leaning into identity solutions may seem like the answer to addressability in the privacy-first future without third-party cookies and other identifiers, brands and publishers should be strongly considering testing them now.

Already, new addressable solutions outperform third-party cookie-based techniques, meaning there’s a good chance that brands moving to people-based identifiers early will reap the rewards.

The deprecation of third-party cookies and other identifiers, the growing complexity of privacy regulations around the world, and the increasing importance of authenticated first-party data, presents the industry with an opportunity to build a better digital advertising ecosystem. An ecosystem that respects the privacy of consumer data and works to ensure that these consumers are part of a truly fair value exchange between themselves, advertisers, and publishers.

ATS London 2022 will take place on 14th and 15th June at Central Hall Westminster. Tickets and further information are available via the ATS London 2022 event hub.