Data integrity is crucial and gaining more traction among marketers. However, brands and marketers may not be clear about where to begin. As such, they can start focusing on basic questions like “what†and “why.†Chris Comstock, Chief Product Officer, Claravine shares a few basic things about data integrity and the expected outcomes marketers should be aware of.
As the topic of data integrity gains more traction in the marketing community, brand marketers and agencies are often unsure where to begin. To overcome that uncertainty, it can be helpful to refocus slightly on the very basic “why?†that has prompted the consideration in the first place.
But before diving into the “why?â€, we can first examine the “what…†This needs to focus on the importance of data integrity. So, what is Data Integrity?
Data that has integrity is sure to be accurate, valuable, usable, and consistent. Not only that, data with integrity is also complete and reliable, from beginning to end. It is safely and securely stored, and remains standardized through any modifications, transfers, or erasures. In sum, data integrity is an umbrella term that speaks to how well constructed, how complete, how compliant to regulatory standards, and how accurate data is in both quantity and quality.
Data integrity is maintained through a few rules, processes, and standards implemented during the design phase.Â
See More: First-Party Data Strategies for a Transparent Supply Chain and Advertising Ecosystem
Generally speaking, there are three “big picture†outcomes agencies seek when working on behalf of clients and adopting operating principles rooted in data integrity.Â
Naming convention compliance and taxonomy: A state of uniform/centralized systematization of taxonomy and naming convention application in media operations (campaign URLs, T-sheets, placement names) or web optimization (tracking codes) or even creative management and optimization (asset naming, tagging).
Media ops error-proofing: Closely related to the first, the ability to eliminate the potential for error creation amplified by automated validation to catch errors if they do happen to slip through is a game changer for media agency operations. While many agency teams manage to “catch†mistakes pre-production, it is often a manual process that entails multiple rounds of feedback across teams and regions that can cost groups days — time better spent on increased throughput and campaign optimization (consider this “baked-in QAâ€).
Technology readiness and amplification: This can be a migration exercise, such as shifting between DAMs or new tech adoption, such as a CDP. Both can benefit from materially more rapid time-to-value and maximum value realization with effective, pre-hoc data standardization (if you are not concerned about AI/ML compounding data integrity weaknesses when applied, you should be).
These outcomes are not mutually exclusive, with the first and second points most commonly intersecting. But is there one that is most common and readily solved with regard to the agency’s reality and needs? Absolutely.Â
A Common OutcomeÂ
Marketers who are aware of the shifting sands around privacy, measurement, and performance know that taxonomy compliance is quickly turning into an area of opportunity. Data taxonomy is a tiered set-up that separates data into specific categories based on similarities. This hierarchy provides an efficient way to classify datasets and prove its uniqueness.
As awareness regarding the criticality of taxonomy compliance grows, so does the rate with which brands are writing compliance clauses into their agency contracts. At the heart of all digital marketing, taxonomic systems are what make campaigns unfold in an uncompromised manner. In order to avoid comparing apples to oranges, marketers need to first establish a level playing field, where apples only play amongst other apples.
Data privacy is also heavily dependent on a clear taxonomy. Not all data is appropriate for media buying, yet it may still be important in a brand’s quest to know more about its customers. Evolving legislation has made this need even greater since new laws present new data use guidelines.  Â
Taxonomy compliance within media is a complicated and sometimes chaotic undertaking, with multiple, often uncoordinated, teams handling critical stages of a production journey that touches distinct technologies across booking, trafficking, buying, and more.
Typically, the process will involve a laundry list of activities that are particularly prone to organic errors – as well as rogue behaviors that have no systematic link to the previously stated standards – throughout the campaign journey. Therefore, the risk to a campaign without data standards is high. With millions of ad and media spend dollars up in the air, next steps down the line can oftentimes be distorted by a poorly designed and managed campaign.
See More: How to Optimize First-party Data for Personalized Experiences
Creating a Strong Path for Client Satisfaction and Business Wins
Agencies can combat the current dilemma and create a strong path forward for client satisfaction, growth, retention, and new business wins. To do so, agencies should consider the following questions regarding existing data practices:
- How frequently do functional teams critical to the campaign journey comply with taxonomic standards? Can we improve upon this somehow? (The reality here is sometimes alarming.)
- How critical is it to the organization that this be improved upon? Is it being actively measured? (Hint: it should be)
- How able are we to identify predictors for customer dissatisfaction? How can a higher satisfaction rate be achieved?
- How will better quality data taxonomy affect downstream outcomes? Can those potential gains be quantified in terms of ROI?
Marketers are rapidly discovering a gap in the governance of marketing ops. And with building confidence, they are declaring that just because something has been tolerated as a cost of doing business for more than a decade does not make it less irresponsible today. The moment to stimulate a new maturity in campaigns, media, and creative ops, leveraging a purpose-built system, is now.
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