How to Drive Value From a Data Management Platform

DMPs are at the top of many marketers’ technology wish lists. They promise to dramatically increase conversion rates while lowering media and data costs by unifying data and identifying and targeting the right audiences. They help organizations deliver a consistent and personalized experience for customers every time they interact with their brand. They also give marketers a unified perspective on customer interactions across all communication channels including websites, social media, paid media, and more.

In my latest Marketing Land article, Cutting through the Hype: 5 Points to Drive Value from a DMP, you’ll find that many organizations who have invested in DMPs have not seen the value and results they expected.  

The article outlines five insights and actions that made the difference for those who did find success with their platforms:

Realize it’s not just about the technology.   A solid plan comes first, defining an organization’s strategic objectives and understanding what’s required to reach those objectives is critical.

Focus on quick wins.  Start finding ROI right away by using data that’s easily available right away, such as an email marketing list or CRM data. Organizations that do this can quickly save some of their media spend by suppressing existing customers before integrating data that’s harder to obtain.

Make sure your data is usable.  Data should be structured correctly, it should match up with other data sources, and should be in a format that’s easily leveraged without additional processing. Developing a comprehensive data taxonomy is one of the best ways to ensure data is clean, usable, and easily understood.

Move from data to insights. Real value comes from knowing why something happened and then figuring out what actions to take with that information. To help achieve this, have a firm understanding of key performance indicators (KPIs) and the key business objectives (KPOs) they support.

Make sure you have the right team to deliver. Implementing and leveraging a DMP requires people with specialized expertise in data, the underlying platforms, strategic planning, project management, analytics and more. Since most people with experience implementing these platforms are with vendors or specialist agencies, working with a combination of in-house experts and outside partners is usually the best approach to cover strategic, technical, and day-to-day operational DMP needs.

For a deeper understanding of what it takes to get all you can out of a data management platform, read the complete article on Marketing Land: Cutting Through The Hype: 5 Points To Drive Value From A Data Management Platform (DMP).

Want to learn more about what Data Marketing Platforms are and what they can do? View our webinar on Achieving True Omni-channel Marketing with Data Management Platforms and download our DMP solution sheet.