“People-based marketing” is a term that gets thrown around a lot in this industry.

There are companies that tout themselves as being “people-based,” but in reality, they’re persona-based at best. They have users’ desktop cookies, and maybe their mobile IDs, but are unable to tie any of this back to actual people (the way you could with PII data that’s been ethically sourced).

This makes it impossible for these companies to accurately resolve users’ identities, to follow them across screens, to use attribution tactics like point-of-sale match back — it seriously hinders their ability to market effectively and deliver valuable audience insights.

Once you find a partner with a true people-based marketing platform, you’re in business. But to take things to the next level, that same partner should also be a one-stop-shop. Here’s why.

The importance of rapid iteration.

When you’re running campaigns with multiple companies, you get disparate pieces of information. Let’s say you’re running mobile and desktop through one company, email and paid search through another, and Connected TV campaigns through yet another. These companies might be good in their respective areas, but they’re unable to share audience insights with one another. This means you have to call multiple meetings in multiple places and interpret data on dashboards that don’t communicate with one another (if you’re getting that kind of attribution data at all).

You might be splitting your budget up amongst these companies. And if one channel is performing better than another — let’s say Facebook is outperforming search, or vice versa — it’s going to take more coordination on your part (and more meetings) to re-allocate those budgets, because you’re dealing with two different places. It’s like going to multiple grocery stores to buy ingredients for dinner. If the same ingredients, of the same quality, can be bought at one store, why not shop there?

A rarity in a crowded marketplace.

It’s rare to find a true people-based platform.

It’s even rarer to find a true people-based platform that can build you an audience, deliver an omnichannel message (email, social, mobile, desktop, Connected TV, paid search, etc.), and provide actionable audience insights.

Find a people-based platform with their own programmatic team. Go there, create your audience, let them deliver media for you, and then get reporting that’s people-based and easy to understand. This will allow you to optimize for the next campaign.

Make sure they own all their own data and have sourced it responsibly.

Any potential partner needs to take user privacy and honesty seriously. They should be fully compliant with GDPR and California’s privacy law. Ideally, they’re a member of a group like the Digital Advertising Alliance, which establishes and enforces responsible privacy practices.

There are numerous downsides to working with partners who don’t own their own data and who don’t take privacy seriously. Potential issues with regulators and a possible hit to your brand are chief among them.

But if you work with a people-based platform that gives you a full view of your audience, takes privacy seriously, and is one-stop-shop, you’re in business.

Audience insights go beyond things like age and gender.

Real, people-based marketing allows you to see what kind of car they drive, or what apps they have on their phone. If you want to target 25-to-34-year-old women, you’ll get the basics. But you’ll also glean other, potentially useful insights for future campaigns (like what these users are streaming on Netflix, if they’re shopping for flowers online, or if the lease to their car or home is expiring). This is vital information for marketers, especially when it’s packaged in an easily consumable way.

If you’re ready to move forward with a real people-based marketing campaign, get in touch. We have real people and get real results.

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