Data, Differently: The Shift from Owning Your Own Data to Owning the Right Data
While today’s data analysis tools have become ever more sophisticated, the sheer amount of data available can be so unwieldy as to render it futile. To contextualize and derive real insights, the ways we capture information must change, says Andrew Carlin, EVP of Sales & Customer Success at Limelight Platform.
According to Carlin, the drive to own as much data as possible is an outdated concept. Marketers must refocus their data capture efforts or miss out on profound opportunities — especially in the experiential space. They must work harder, not smarter.
Why has the emphasis gone from quantity to quality with data collection?
It’s an overarching theme I come across quite a bit: you want autonomy to a certain extent around data — but data is only as good as the stuff you can use. If you don’t build a good foundation and structure the data properly around your requirements, you won’t be able to use it. That’s one of the biggest challenges regarding data acquisition because so much can be acquired and leveraged. You can talk about how to slice and dice it until the cows come home, but it’s about usable data.
You can get caught in the weeds.
That’s it — it’s overwhelming. It’s either unusable or not measurable, which can clearly be a waste of time, money and effort. I love it when clients say, “Feed me a firehose”; it allows me to dig down into more of the why and the what: Why do you want this data? What are you being measured on? What are your KPIs? If I can get a clear line of sight into those answers — especially if it’s well before activation — I can tie it back to actionable results.
What if the clients don’t know those answers?
That’s fine. That’s all part of Limelight’s consultative approach. I don’t expect everybody to be an expert — we live and breathe this daily. It comes down to quality versus quantity. With quality, you’re spear-hunting; with quantity, it’s just the proverbial “throw it at a wall and see what sticks.” When you couple in personalization to create a connected experience — serving up the right content to the right person at the right time — throwing it against the wall just doesn’t work. “Let me get as much data as I can, and I’ll put it through our system and hope for good results to pop out” is an older mentality. It’s no longer about having a wide mouth at the top of a funnel.
That must be especially true in experiential, where ROI has been hard to prove.
With experiential, we’ve always known that cost per acquisition is much higher. It might be much more difficult for a brand to swallow the investment upfront by focusing on live events and the like, but the quality and level of engagement will be much better than the quantity.
The right data bears that out. You can’t underestimate the value of consumer experiences, where you can interact with consumers in a live, intimate setting. The industry and the world are catching up to the stuff we discussed years ago.
So how is Limelight helping clients with this new reality?
Compliance, for one. Whether it’s GDPR, CASL, or even accessibility, clients of Limelight are covered; you don't need to be an expert. If you just buy a list, the legality of using certain types of data and what can be used is your responsibility.
That dovetails into the ecosystem conversation — the ‘Do we build it, or do we buy it?’ question.
I think many clients underestimate that when you buy it, you’re becoming part of an ecosystem. But you're missing out on so much value if the vendor doesn’t allow you to engage in that ecosystem.
At Limelight, we run product counsel sessions, bringing together non-competitive brands to learn and support each other’s success. Fundamentally — whether strategically or tactically — they’re all trying to solve very similar things; it’s just that the lens they see the world is slightly different.
Data is supposed to be informative. It’s meant to help you make educated decisions. Structuring and utilizing it correctly will help you track and figure out which ways to go: Where should I double down? Where should I pull back? And be able to report on it and answer why you should be doing those things.
Which goes back to having too much data. Too much, and it can become useless.
There needs to be consistent fluidity around your data acquisition efforts. It’s also that you don’t want your data to become dated to become stale. The longer it sits stagnant, the more useless it becomes. You need to find ways to cleanse it and enhance it consistently.
How does Meshh - Limelight’s spatial analytics platform] enhance data collection?
It allows us to marry passive and active data, giving clients a holistic view of the events for the first time. But again, we’re just one pipe into your core data stack. Data can come from multiple channels. We’re the offline channel, but that data needs to be mashed up with your other data sets. We’re not the end-all, be-all.
So, when it comes to data, what’s the first step for clients looking to shift from ‘as much as possible’ to ‘as focused as possible’?
It recognizes that what you gathered even just a few years ago isn’t acceptable today. It’s taking a step back and thinking about your goal. Limelight prides itself on being vanilla — meaning when you get schooled up on an instance of our platform, it’s not configured. You’re configuring the workflow, the touch points, and ultimately what data you want to pull back depending on your goals.
Only then can we focus on personalizing experiences to obtain the data points that align with KPIs like brand loyalty or affinity. But the first step is acknowledging that change needs to be constant and that you must evolve.