Explainer: The DMP

March 30, 2011 | By Carla Rover

What It Is: A data management platform (DMP) manages data flows between consumers and brands, brands and agencies to examine first-party data and compare it to data collected by third parties. This data might be drawn from a myriad of sources, ranging from social media to surveys. All of that data is posted for review on a single platform that allows decision-makers to build more efficient marketing strategy and optimize ad spend.

Why It Matters: First-party data, coupled with third-party data allows CMO’s to create audience segments based on the numbers, not digital agency fads. That data, when accessible and easy to employ in real-time for ad spends, allows campaigns and creative to collaborate effectively to maximize investments and produce dynamic consumer snapshots. That’s important for large businesses that need a complete data portrait, not just selected metrics from an ad exchange.

Who Uses It: Major brands, and even mid-range business, have to use some iteration of a DMP to have analytics data that’s actionable. While many demand-side platforms (DSPs) offer metrics and audience segmentation automation, true DMPs integrate data from multiple sources, providing a complete suite of tools necessary to manage campaigns, data analysis, short and long-range media buying plans. Well-known DMPs include BlueKai, Exelate’s DataLinx and Lotame.

Assessment: A DMP may not be the solution for smaller companies, but major brands need to utilize all available data to build strategy. Having that data at hand in a shareable format that allows reactions to first and third party performance metrics in real-time is essential. DMPs may sound a lot like DSPs, but a classic DMP provides all actionable data relevant to a brand in a format that can be interpreted, shared and employed with ease. DMPs give brands control over their analytics, allowing decision-makers to get down to the business of making money.

https://digiday.com/?p=3448

Digiday Top Stories

Marketing on Platforms
Marketers weigh the cons of working with Google Ad Manager amid Justice Department’s new lawsuit
When is it time to back away?
Navigating Economic Instability
Atlas Obscura wants to be profitable before raising funds in a tricky media market
Atlas Obscura wants to turn a profit this year before it raises another funding round, at a time when publishers are facing lower valuations and pickier investors as deal activity slows.
Navigating Economic Instability
Publishers report Q1 ad revenue is pacing 10-25% behind forecasts
Publishers are facing a slow start to Q1 and sales teams have a lot of work to do to regain lost time.
Sponsored
How ad tech is tackling waste by optimizing supply chains
Sponsored by Bidtellect The programmatic and digital advertising industry is well aware of the inefficiencies in buying and selling — from auction duplication and volume bias to multi-integrations and reselling — but how did it get this out of control? How can we fix it? A redundant, multiple-step process to ad delivery has become the norm, […]
WTF Series
WTF is cookie stuffing?
Fraud is a well-documented pox on digital advertising, but it’s also an issue for publishers and marketers working together on affiliate marketing deals, too. One of the more tried-and-true techniques is cookie stuffing.
Modern Newsroom
Why Vice, BBC, WaPo, others see new TikTok teams as the next wave of specialist publishing talent
As news publishers craft their TikTok strategies, Digiday spoke with the BBC, Vice, The Washington Post and LADbible to see who’s really behind the posts.