Introduction

The marketing industry is currently at an inflection point in regards to data, data activation, and data-driven marketing. The last months of 2013 showed a marked increase in the volume of research and information around data management platforms (DMPs) and illustrated how marketers use big data to inform their marketing activity. This increase creates a market where the concept of a DMP is quickly shifting from a nice-to-have solution to a must-have solution for any marketer. If you are a marketer and are looking to scale your efforts in an efficient and effective manner, data has quickly become the core of your strategy and will continue to drive your efforts for many years to come. To do so, you need proof and data of your own. This whitepaper aggregates some of the available public information and supplements it with real customer data from Oracle Marketing Cloud clients. A Data Activation System enables marketers and publishers to use what they know to power what they do, turning insights into action, and driving higher efficiency and performance in their marketing. Through data activation, Oracle’s enterprise SaaS solution unites fragmented data sources to drive omni-channel data aggregation and targeting. Customers of Oracle Marketing Cloud use data to analyze, advertise, and optimize their audiences in ways that were previously unavailable. With a data unchained methodology—that separates the data layer from marketing execution—your customized data segmentation can be leveraged anywhere and is not restricted to any single channel.

What Is Data Activation?

Data activation refers to the concept of unlocking the value in data through development of insights and then turning those insights into action. Data-driven marketing is not a new concept—this industry has been around for years—however, as was recently stated in a report issued by the Direct Marketing Association and researched by professors at Harvard and Columbia universities1, the digital age of the data industry has truly arrived and with it comes unparalleled opportunity. According to the research, the data-driven market economy is worth approximately US$156 billion and generates more than 676,000 jobs. More specifically the report states that the subset of this category focused on customer targeting is worth US$37 billion just by itself. This is poised for growth over the next 10 years as more companies engage in the practices of employing data to turn insights into direct actions, such as marketing.

The Three Stages of Data Activation

Oracle is focused on ensuring that data activation is easy for marketers. Data activation is primarily based on three stages:

Stage 1. Data In This phase involves getting data from any location and bringing it into a centralized platform— within a single structure—so that it can be utilized in aggregate. Data comes from any number of sources, and, on average, a marketer aggregates data from as many as four different locations. Examples of sources for marketing data include websites, mobile websites, mobile apps, offline databases or customer relationship management systems, media impressions, transactional data, and more.

Stage 2. Unlocking Value Once that data is in a single location, you unlock the value by enabling a company to run analytics on the data. The insights derived drive advertising and optimization for your outbound marketing efforts. This powers your marketing in ways that include audience profile analysis, look-alike modeling, act-alike modeling, as well as a number of other opportunities.

Stage 3. Data Out This is one of the most difficult elements of data activation and requires the most work. Oracle is the clear leader in this space as a direct result of the scope and depth of Oracle Marketing Cloud integrations throughout the ad and marketing ecosystem. Oracle enables you to share data segments that have been developed in a platform with any and all marketing partners—driving efficient customer outreach, eliminating waste, and stimulating higher performance on the back end.

Data Activation is Unique 

Data activation is a combination of all three of these stages. A platform like the Data Activation System, offered by Oracle Marketing Cloud, makes all of these possible. Every company that works with the Data Activation System creates their own, 100 percent exclusive solution due to the unique nature of the data that comes in, the combination of products being used to unlock the value, and the unique partners where the data is shared.

Data Activation Scale Equals Data Unchained

Oracle believes in the concept of data unchained, or the separation of the data layer from marketing execution inside your enterprise marketing application stack. This philosophy is simple and is based on scale and efficiency. If you operate with an execution partner—such as a data service provider (DSP) or a single sign-on (SSO)—and you give them sole access to your data for targeting and modeling purposes, you risk being efficient with that single partner alone. In that case, you restrict learning and insights from every other partner.

Any given marketer works with an average of 18 different execution partners across various forms of media including display, search, social, mobile, and video. Providing access to your data to 18 or more execution partners in a scalable, controllable, and secure fashion is a challenge that the Data Activation System is built to directly address. The platform is not chained to a single execution platform such as a DSP, but instead is integrated with every major DSP, portal, social network, mobile ad server, video ad server, and publisher in the world. This gives you the freedom to unchain your data and activate it across any media partner you desire. You can manage your media budgets based purely on performance rather than on any conflict of interest created by utilizing a partner providing a data platform in combination with a single media execution platform.

Oracle works with a number of Fortune 500 brands, and the sections below provide some of the most recent results they’ve seen. Browse through this information and see for yourself that data activation can drive real results for your business. The Economic ROI of the Data Management Platform The results listed here were reported in the Forrester TEI Report, published September 2013. Customers interviewed for the report saw the following results after implementing a DMP:

• Average 2x increase in sales conversion
• Savings of 20 percent (or more) on media costs
• Savings of up to 50 percent on data costs
• Recoupment of the investment in the DMP in as little as 3.5 months

The Economic ROI of the Data Management Platform

The results listed here were reported in the Forrester TEI Report, published September 2013. Customers interviewed for the report saw the following results after implementing a DMP:

• Average 2x increase in sales conversion
• Savings of 20 percent (or more) on media costs
• Savings of up to 50 percent on data costs
• Recoupment of the investment in the DMP in as little as 3.5 months

Data Impact Survey

The results shown here were published in July 2013.

• The survey showed a 227 percent increase in the volume of high-use, data-driven marketing, meaning more than one fifth of customer budgets went towards data-driven marketing efforts.
• 91 percent of survey respondents agree data is of primary importance for segmentation and targeting.
• Two thirds of survey respondents say more than half their digital efforts are data driven.

Data is making a positive impact in many areas:

• Media Efficiency 63%
• Performance 78%
• Interaction 68%
• Message Relevance 71%

When surveyed, we saw a 227% increase in the volume of high-use data driven marketing (meaning more than 1/5th of their budget went against data-driven efforts).

91% agree data is of primary importance for segmentation and targeting.

2/3 say more than half their digital efforts are data-driven.

The following results were self-reported by customers.

The following results were self-reported by customers using Oracle’s DMP.

Top US Retailer

A top retailer ramps up its digital efforts with a DMP to drive increased digital campaign ROI from retargeting and prospecting efforts.

• DMP campaigns perform 4x better than standard display.
• Returns on advertising spending (ROAS) are the highest performing digital effort, over search.
• Investment in digital media up 6x over 2 years.

Top Online Retail Brand

An online store chooses Oracle’s DMP to aggregate offline and online audience data intelligence to drive more targeted digital messaging, site customization, and unique private data connections with key partners and channels.

• Average 434 percent lift in revenue following DMP integration.
• Average 630 percent lift in ROAS following DMP integration.

Top US Telecommunications Brands

Top telecommunications companies leverage audience intelligence and a DMP to drive more relevant messaging on their website, increased performance from social advertising systems, and increased targeting efficiencies.

• 200 percent increase in conversion through site side optimization.
• Saved US$1.5 million in media efficiencies through customer suppression.
• 6x lift in performance using native Facebook ads.

Top Automotive Manufacturer An auto marketer leverages look-alike modeling techniques to generate targeted pools of customers who are in the market for an auto purchase. The model is generated from a seed of people qualified as auto intenders. Using these techniques, the manufacturer saw conversion lifts as high as 1000 percent.

Marketers from various verticals have tapped into third-party data to identify audiences who have exhibited intent to purchase as well as category interest markers to achieve improved performance across the board. • Leading consumer packaged goods marketer increased display ROI by 36 percent. • Retail marketer increased ROAS by 5x.

• Leading travel marketer decreased cost per booking by 40 percent.
• Education marketer lowered their CPA by 48 percent.
• Leading auto marketer increased CTR by 61 percent.
• Leading financial services marketer increased direct sales by 200 percent.

Summary

Data-driven marketing and the technology to power these efforts is fast becoming central to the strategy of any marketing organization. Behaviors are changing and marketers are becoming savvy in technology because they have no choice but to do so. If you want your marketing dollars to be efficient, you must leverage technology and use data to drive successful marketing. Work with Oracle to use what you know to power what you do. Turn your customer insights into actions with a proven data activation platform.