The Realities of Cross-Device Marketing in a Mobile Driven World: Part II

In Part I, we discussed the rise of mobile in the APAC region and what it means for ad tech and marketing strategies.

The mobile invasion made it necessary to pay attention to a new aspect of marketing known as cross-device. Cross-device may seem intimidating to the uninitiated for the reasons explored in the first part of this article.

Firstly, the term “cross-device” needs to be unpacked to reveal what it is really about and how it works.

Secondly, there is not yet a clear industry standard for how to identify devices that belong to the same user.

Lastly, marketers are holding on to attribution models that do not correspond to the true customer journey.

But no marketer should disregard the opportunities that cross-device marketing could bring. Cross-device tracking has potential to reveal device-specific consumer behaviors, which can give marketers more insights to work with when devising their cross-device digital marketing strategies.

It also opens up the doors to more effective sequential messaging, cross-device targeting, and universal ad frequency capping.

Honing your understanding of “cross-device” is the right place to start.

To move forward with strategy, heed these tips:

1. Unlearn the Last Click

Stop relying on last-click attribution as soon as possible. There are other attribution models like the time decay attribution and “customer journey” attribution models that marketers need to put into play if they want to stay competitive and build sustainable marketing strategies.

These models spread out attribution weights in a fashion closer to the realities of consumer behavior across devices, especially compared to single-touch-point models like last-click, and will lead to more effective budget allocation.

2. Don’t Forget New Customers

Consider the number of mobile users in the world again. Think of the possibilities cross-device can achieve for your brand in reaching out to the right prospects and expanding your customer base.

Deterministic solutions can do a great job at remarketing to existing customers in loyalty campaigns, but most of them have one hand tied when it comes to prospecting for new customers who have not created that predetermined form of ID.

If marketers care about prospecting, they can consider combining data from existing customer base with real-time user profiles on the web to find “lookalike” new customers who have similar browsing behavior as existing customers.

3. Be Fearless, Not Clueless

Your only chance at succeeding in cross-device is to start by experimenting.

Cross-device marketing is still in its infancy. This early stage is arguably the best time to make mistakes and learn from them before your competition wakes up to it, so don’t be afraid to jump in.

Set test periods and measureable objectives for one or more cross-device solutions, then analyze what works and what doesn’t.

Most importantly, never lose sight of the big-picture marketing strategies.

Like other marketing channels, good content and powerful creative are just as crucial as the technology behind cross-device. One beauty of programmatic advertising is the ability to create and deliver personalized ads to your target audience in milliseconds.

Don’t forget to use technology to help you capture the benefits of user-individual marketing at scale, across devices and channels.