Ted Flanagan, vp of customer success, LiveRamp
As the commerce category evolves and expands to more verticals and use cases, the industry is seeing a proliferation of media networks. Thanks to retailers, there’s a blueprint for how data captured from the core business can power a new high-growth, high-margin revenue stream. Now, across many verticals — like travel and hospitality, rideshare, entertainment, financial services and more — data-rich enterprises searching for growth want to get in the game.
Launching and scaling a media network is a robust undertaking. These platforms leverage data in fundamentally different ways than the core business, requiring new strategic partnerships and integrations with media buying and selling technologies. Moreover, no CEO will pursue a new business line if it’s perceived to add risk to the enterprise, necessitating clear answers to questions about privacy, security and data governance.
Protecting the data sourced from trusted consumer relationships is paramount to a media network offering, as is the prioritization of addressability, measurability and alignment to business outcomes. Collectively, this requires a different kind of data stack that is inherently secure and performance-enhancing, making data clean rooms the ideal tool to help new commerce media networks reach their full potential.
Test and learn, then scale and innovate
Media is not the core competency for companies launching commerce media networks. A phased and iterative approach is required to build the media muscle until it’s strong enough to power real growth.
Start by testing with a small number of hand-picked partners and focus on finding one or two new, high-value insights. By using a clean room to collaborate, both parties can be confident that data access will be limited to only what is necessary for the agreed-upon use case.
Next, take action on those insights, even if only in one channel, and measure the outcomes. The results of those tests will be the foundation for the initial offering that is brought to market. Prepare to replicate and automate those use cases with the next wave of partners and across additional channels.
Once the first iteration is in market, feedback from brand and inventory partners will be crucial to innovate and scale. Double down on investments in automation and standardization to increase the volume and velocity of collaborations.
For example, invest in offering self-service capabilities and standardized insights that streamline how a company’s most strategic advertisers and long-tail brands can collaborate with the media network. A partner ecosystem can be further enriched by implementing data monetization strategies that appeal to both endemic and non-endemic advertisers.
Clean rooms drive value with always-on partnerships
Part of what fuels growth in commerce media is its unique capacity to power win-win partnerships where business outcomes deliver consumer benefits. Clean room-powered collaborations create an even more virtuous cycle.
A clean room’s robust analytics can surface new insights about consumer needs or purchasing patterns to inform more tailored messages and personalized offers. It can also support a media network’s ability to activate data across social platforms and media channels so brands can reach customers everywhere they spend their time. Moreover, a clean room’s ability to safely access more conversion and transaction data enables closed-loop measurement, validating how well those messages or offers work so enterprises can confidently scale investment in the program.
This cycle of insights, activation and measurement becomes the backbone of partnerships that drive growth for commerce companies and their brand partners, while providing a better consumer experience that builds brand loyalty over time. That makes commerce media no longer just an ancillary business opportunity but a growth engine for the business’ core.
How businesses overcome barriers to adoption of commerce media
Cultivating a scaled and mature commerce media offering takes time and resources. It requires a complex interplay of new technical, legal and business concepts that businesses must learn to navigate to capitalize on the opportunity.
Overcoming such obstacles starts with the right talent and excellent cross-functional collaboration between technical, legal and business teams. To set a clear growth path, commerce companies should focus on the core building blocks and foundational capabilities of combining data and analytics with media activation and measurement. Partners who specialize in the space can provide further catalysts.
For example, one of the biggest hurdles to launching a media network — or any data collaboration partnership — is prolonged periods of negotiation, contracts and legal, further compounded by the need for data science resources. The right clean room partner can deliver the technology and expertise that not only accelerate the build-out of these media network tech stacks, but also deliver much-needed standardization of legal and code templates aligned with a business’ highest-value use cases.
Once established, commerce media networks can deliver the most talked about flywheel in business today. Success begets success, and as the new muscle gets stronger when supported by clean rooms, it will lift the business to new heights.
Sponsored by LiveRamp
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