Is Addressability a Thing of the Past in Marketing?

The concept of addressability is crucial in the world of advertising. It primarily refers to the capability of using media or tools to target custom audiences. Each marketing communication is strongly linked to a specific individual’s personal identifiable information (PII), such as name, email, or mailing address. This is comparable to the process of sending a person a direct mail. Although it is easy to communicate with customers, addressability is erroneous because customers visit many different websites on many devices. This blog majorly deals with addressability in marketing and how elements like cross-publisher IDs and mobile advertising IDs (MAIDs) are impacting addressability in advertising.  

What is Audience Addressability?

An addressable audience is the total number of online customers a media platform can reach through targeted advertising campaigns. Prior to digital advertising, addressable targeting was mainly done by holders of postal addresses, such as newspapers and magazines. After that, online addressability was powered by third-party cookies that tracked consumers’ online behaviour and acted as an element for identity. Various advertiser platforms were able to effectively develop ad campaigns for specific audiences by utilizing the data obtained by third-party cookies.

Third-party cookies are vanishing from the internet advertising ecosystem as consumer privacy concerns rise. Furthermore, Chrome, the leading browser globally with a market share of almost 70%, has announced that it will discontinue using third-party cookies shortly. The need for publishers and advertisers to build a robust,  scalable, cookie-free advertising ecosystem has increased due to Google’s move.

What are the Factors Considering Addressability? 

Cross-publisher IDs and mobile IDs allow us to get ideal information about the users. With these vital IDs, it is easy for audience segmentation, audience targeting, and other audience-based ad delivery controls across devices. Thus, these two essential elements are considered significant for addressing the right audience in marketing. 

However, a large proportion of the populace is worried that gathering these IDs for advertising purposes will affect the user’s privacy. But the fact is that most of the risks related to consumer privacy stem from directly identifiable IDs that are linked to an offline identity. Therefore, this makes it clear that cross-publisher IDs are not a major element of concern as it doesn’t affect the user’s privacy issues. 

Addressability consists of mainly three notions. First and foremost, it has to engage audience, then should be able to get the feedback of the engagement. Finally, able to improve the engagement process after getting the feedback. To implement all these vital functions, marketers or advertisers are required to get an identity graph of the audience or users. It functions similarly to address, as the address enables the postman to deliver the post to the right location, and the ID graph aids the marketers in delivering the message or content to the custom audience. Addressability fundamentally depends on getting accurate information about the users. To get the most refined data, Cubera, the Big Data company, has introduced some products like Identity Graph, Audience Manager, Omni Channel Advertising Cloud, Data As A Service and Analytics As A Service. Let us have a closer look at all these essential products. 

• Identity Graph
  A user’s real metrics can be vividly represented by an Identity Graph using information from several sources, including cookie ids, device ids, email ids, and customer ids. These components will make it possible for advertising to obtain an accurate portrait of a person. In essence, an identity graph is a collection of specific data on people that have been gathered from a variety of sources and media. Identity graph data is kept in the appropriate systems and is available at any time by typing queries to examine the most recent data, modify the data, and update the data. Advertisers are eagerly searching for the “Identity Graph” to recognize their clients through their digital channels as they engage with businesses through numerous websites, mobile applications, and social media platforms.
• Audience Manager
  The crucial task of compiling all the data assets is performed by the Audience Manager, which makes it easier to gather useful commercial data on visitors to different websites and streamlines the process of developing market segments. In the end, this aids in targeted advertising and the delivery of pertinent material to the custom-audience. Additionally, an Audience Manager must guarantee that data is properly acquired, safeguarded, and regulated.
• Omni Channel Advertising Cloud
  Omni Channel Advertising is the integration of various customer-interaction channels to produce a unified brand experience. These channels can be of any kind, such as online, offline, or mobile. To conveniently provide clients with a range of alternatives and to achieve a seamless customer experience, the Omni Channel Advertising model’s key goal.  
• Data As A Service (DaaS)
  Utilizing the internet to disperse computing services like servers, storage, databases, networking, and software analytics allows for quick innovation and adaptable resources to achieve economies of scale. Cubera can take advantage of massive data resources with DaaS and transform this valuable data into insights that benefit users. DaaS and predictive analytics enable businesses to give their customers customized experiences. As a result, the business will be able to serve its clients more effectively and cultivate a base of devoted clients. 
• Analytics As a Service
  Companies who are unable to afford a fully operational in-house data creation center can now obtain effective data analysis tools by adopting analytics as a service. Organizations can fully or partially transform the data into insightful information using appropriate BI (business intelligence) technologies within a cloud infrastructure. This makes it easier for businesses to obtain the data they need to develop data-driven insights at a low cost and without the need for dedicated servers or data specialists.

How to Address the Right Audience?  

As Google has announced the removal of third-party cookies short time soon, advertisers and publishers need to consider how to identify, target and engage the right audiences in a compliant, brand-safe way that does not adversely impact user experience. Predominantly, there are three alternatives for collecting pure data. Email addresses, unique IDs, and browser-based audiences are examples of first-party data. The advantages and disadvantages of each solution must be understood by brands and publishers, who must also consider the requirement for omnichannel measurement and optimization.  

Brands should critically examine advertising and look into alternative strategies that could produce results that are similar. Advertisers will soon identify the best options when they start experimenting with cookieless alternatives. For instance, it could not be accepted if an alternative ID strategy only produces 50% of the “Return On Advertising Spend” they were previously making. Brands must decide which percentage of the scale they are willing to accept; for some, this may be 90%, while for others, it may be 80%. Each brand will be responsible for making this choice.

To Sum Up

Since there are still pressing difficulties relating to the deletion of third-party cookies, the advertising industry is anticipating significant changes in the forthcoming years. However, in recent months, there have been massive innovations in the realm of advertising for targeting audiences. The market will also continue to progress, giving both publishers and advertisers the best ways to reach the appropriate audience at the right time with advertising.