Customer data is worth its weight in gold for any marketer – but only through a data man­age­ment platform can this in­form­a­tion be logically linked and stra­tegic­ally employed for marketing purposes. Data man­age­ment platforms don’t just organise customer data: they also link data from third parties and so fa­cil­it­ate accurate, target group ad­vert­ising campaigns.

What is a data man­age­ment platform?

‘Data man­age­ment platform’ (DMP) is an online marketing term, or more precisely: the online ad platform that has emerged in con­nec­tion with real-time ad­vert­ising. Basically, a DMP is a database that performs the col­lec­tion and analysis of user data. It stores in­form­a­tion that the company gains through its own channels (first-party data). DMPs are seen as a de­vel­op­ment of a classic data warehouse, because they link first-party data with third-party data.

First-party data

First-party data is data that companies or ad­vert­isers collect and own them­selves. This includes CRM system data and any in­form­a­tion from social media, the customer journey, or e-mail marketing measures.

Third-party data

As its name implies, third-party data is data that ad­vert­isers have acquired from third-party sources. For companies that do not cover all dis­tri­bu­tion channels, data provided by media agencies offers valuable input into a campaign design. This includes in­form­a­tion on general surfing behaviour, searches queries, market research, and CRM in­form­a­tion of third parties.

Provide user data in real time

Data man­age­ment platforms form the basis for efficient campaign planning in both display and real-time marketing. By linking first and third-party data, these platforms access huge amounts of data that contain complex in­form­a­tion. DMPs don’t just collect this data, they also sort it and analyse user profiles. Every user then receives a specific user ID. Using this, the DMP can in­cor­por­ate ad­di­tion­al data into this user profile, as long as the system re­cog­nises it. The ID then becomes traceable across other devices. The data is processed in real time and allows ad­vert­isers to reach the exact target audience with cor­res­pond­ing ad­vert­ising media.

DMP in real-time bidding

Data man­age­ment platforms form the basis of data-related marketing. The user profiles provided by the DMP can be used to recognise in­di­vidu­al users and show ads that match the in­form­a­tion gathered for their profiles. This classic targeted ad­vert­ising aims to track:

  • Definite be­ha­viours like clicks, website visits, or downloads
  • The user’s interest
  • Demo­graph­ic­al or geo­graph­ic­al in­form­a­tion

In real-time marketing, ads are displayed as soon as a match for them is found and processed. Using the ad exchange, the supply-side platform and the demand-side platform com­mu­nic­ate with one another. Before a bid is made on an available ad im­pres­sion, the data man­age­ment platform com­mu­nic­ates in­form­a­tion about the user who is about to see the ad. The DMP can process this in­form­a­tion within a few mil­li­seconds. This in­form­a­tion provides the basis for deciding whether the ad im­pres­sion will be bought. So data man­age­ment platforms aren’t just there to provide a better un­der­stand­ing of the target market. Through this accurate targeting of ad displays, ad­vert­isers can reduce losses and increase their ROI (return on in­vest­ment).

Go to Main Menu