While we may all be a little tired of hearing the term “Big Data,” the fact is that it’s opened a world of possibilities in marketing. With the wealth of customer data available today, we have decisioning tools we never dreamed possible – and the ability to act on that data in real time to target, to engage, and to immediately react to external events. Most importantly, we have the data we need to understand our audiences, deliver the content they need to them at exactly the right moment and simultaneously optimize our ad spend.
The first step is to arm marketing departments with technology systems that enable data activation: marketers need a system that can serve as real-time decision engine. With this in place, we are positioned to take advantage of opportunity data presents to track consumer sentiment, journey and action as they happen. This gives us two real-time optimization opportunities:
1. Creative optimization: In the digital age, data sets are interdependent in ways they’ve never previously been. Who and where a consumer is can be as vital to targeting as what they’re consuming online now, where they were before, and whether they’ve interacted with a brand in the last 24 hours. In viewing that information, marketers can determine which message to show a consumer, and whether or not to surface an ad at all. As an example, a consumer who has seen but not interacted with your brand four times in the last hour should probably not be shown a fifth message. By the same token, a consumer who has interacted with your brand during the business day may be shown an ad with a stronger call to action in the off-hours, particularly if he has exhibited “in-market” behavior. Furthermore, external data might be considered in creative optimization: if it’s snowing where the consumer is, improve relevance by including snow in the creative.
2. Pricing optimization: When we can view real-time data, we can see which consumers are more valuable to our business. A consumer who perfectly fits the customer profile and has interacted with the brand previously is worth more than another customer who appears to be within the target but has had no interaction. And both are worth more than the “long shot.” Marketers can make real-time, data-driven decisions about how much to spend on each interaction.
With the right technology in place, marketers can take full advantage of the real-time opportunity, making decisions that both drive revenue and spare budget.
To learn more about MediaMath’s solution, click here.