In a perfect world, marketers could buy one technology solution that covers all of their needs: a single platform that collects and centralizes all of a brand’s cross-channel data, and incorporates every type of marketing solution you could need, from search to media to email to CRM to mobile and beyond. Seamless, efficient and all-in-one. No more worries about data silos or time-consuming technology integrations.
Unfortunately, this does not exist, and we’ll probably never see it in our lifetimes. At Signal, our clients tell us that they work with an average of 17 different marketing systems, which combined with multiple devices and touch points, generates massive data collection, integration, and distribution challenges.
The practical answer to this problem doesn’t lie in buying more data or technology – clearly every marketer already has plenty – but rather in making those assets work better, together, as a true integrated stack.
Enter Signal’s platform, a patented suite of products built from the ground up to enable marketers to collect, connect and act on customer engagement data – across channels and devices in real-time.
In an industry awash in buzzwords and acronyms, the availability of Signal’s platform raises two obvious questions for marketers: “What is an Open Data Platform?” and “Do I need one?”
So here’s a handy and quick checklist to help you decide if you might benefit:
✓ Can you interact with customers across multiple channels and devices?
✓ Can you collect data off those interactions?
✓ Can you synchronize and match across those data sources?
✓ Can you syndicate the consolidated data to the destination of your choice?
✓ Can you build segments based on attributes and behaviors?
✓ Can you execute rules that drive customer interactions?
✓ Can you choose any endpoint or vendor for the execution of those interactions?
✓ Can you simultaneously collect and act on data?
If you answered no to three or more of these questions, then you need an open data platform! Signal’s platform satisfies these requirements through several key attributes:
• It’s complementary to existing investments. It integrates with any data source or existing marketing technology solutions.
• It organizes point solutions into an integrated marketing technology stack. All solutions such as DSP, DMP, CRM, Search, Messaging, and Social share data and leverage the same rules system.
• It gives brands complete control over how their first party data is shared and used. Develop a complete view of your customer while respecting policies, privacy, and preferences
• It provides clean data. Generate a single, consolidated data source for all analytics and marketing activities
• It’s cross-channel. Collect, connect and activate online and offline data, as well as paid and owned media
• It provides a universal decision engine. A single system directs multiple interactions across channels for consistency and efficiency by building targeting rules once and using them everywhere.
• It’s real-time. Collect, decision, and act on data in less than 50 milliseconds.
The challenges around data collection and connectivity result in millions of dollars in wasted media spend for marketers – and constant marketing noise for consumers. Signal’s platform is enabling brands to solve these issues with an ecosystem -neutral infrastructure that supports all brands, technology suppliers and publishers.
Originally published June 12, 2014