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In this post, David Edelman tackles the issue of data collection for marketers and why the customer experience will lead the way forward.

With the much publicized rollout of Apple’s app transparency tracking framework, and the elimination of third-party cookies on Chrome, marketers are about to lose cherished sources of data that have long powered their targeting and attribution initiatives. When you look at most of the advice popping up on what to do though, it tends to focus on broad recommendations to “build up your first party data,” “look at results in a more aggregate way and refine your media mix modeling capability,” or even “build products with broader appeal so they don’t have to be so finely targeted.”  I am not going to argue with any of that.  Of course, it makes sense, but it is so vague. There are other, specific, tactical imperatives marketers need to consider as we enter a new world where data is still the currency of the realm.  

Not the end of third-party data

Even with all of the pressures to protect privacy and security of individuals, consumers still want experiences that use the power of data to make life easier, faster, more entertaining, and more empowering. Know me when I call in.  Let me go seamlessly from my home to my vacation hideaway without paper or talking to a person.  Let me know what I should be doing next to improve my health. Give me ample warning to prepare for a storm. The list is endless, and the bar is now at a height where this is all expected. Brands will compete based on how the experiences they offer use information for the benefit of the customer.

Doing this will likely require more information than most companies have within their own walls.  Information to improve targeting models, attribution models, next best action models.  Information to enrich your understanding of a customer’s context — their location, surrounding conditions, competitor engagement, demographics. Information for modeling changing conditions that should drive parallel changes in how you allocate spending across channels, on keywords, on promotions. Even without third-party online tracking data, there are still rich troves of data for marketers to tap. The better ones have full transparency of how they are captured, what degree of privacy they protect, what permissions they manage, and how timely they are.

Key points include:

• Third party data
• Data Supply-Chain Management as a Core Competency
• The “Open Data Marketplace”

Read the full article, Hey, Where Is My Data??, on LinkedIn.