1. How a DMP’s Success Begins Offline
By Paul Mander | Strategic Services Consultant, BlueKai
“Garbage in, Garbage out!” That’s what my professor told the class on the first day of digital systems
design. His point was that you should always make sure you are putting the right data into a system
before you tryto troubleshootitordoubtits functionality. The quip also applies for Data Management
Platforms (DMPs).
Marketerswhouse DMPs have accessto a powerful tool.Theycanachieve consistentsegmentationand
precisely target their online audiences. A good DMP will offer insightful analytics reports that allow
marketerstolearnmore about theircustomers. However, unlessmarketersunderstandwhat they want
and howtheywantto use it, thentheymaynot fullyrealizeall of the aforementionedbenefits. Here are
a fewthingsa marketershould considerbefore beginning a DMP implementation (of course, a BlueKai
StrategicServicesConsultant is also a great resource to leverage in developing an effective approach):
What are myonline marketinggoals – drive traffic to a particular page? Increase shopping cart
conversions? Have site visitors view or download particular pieces of media?
How is my offline (e.g. CRM) data organized?
How do I currently segment my customers?
Organizational rolesandresponsibilities: how is the marketing team organized – by region? By
brand/product? Who has budget ownership for various marketing activities?
Am I somehow limited in the data that I can collect from my websites?
Takingthese pointsintoconsideration will lead to a DMP that collects the right data and organizes it in
a useful manner. Itwill alsohelpthe DMPfitwithinthe company’sworkflow; if a brandmanager needs
to target only his or her brand users, then data that is organized solely by region may not be useful,
regardless of the insights the DMP will provide about those users’ interests. A company’s digital data
strategy must fit within its overall marketing strategy, and it pays dividends to consider these offline
factors when kicking off with a DMP.
