As the threat of recession looms large, companies need strategies to protect their business and maintain revenue.
Last year, Deutsche Bank forecasted that Australia would enter a recession in 2023 based on rising unemployment rates.
As a result of digital transformation, data has become perhaps the most important corporate currency, and according to experts at LiveRamp, effective management of data could be the difference between keeping your business afloat or not in a recessionary environment.
To help, LiveRamp’s COO Mel Hoptman has put together four strategies on how businesses can leverage data to protect and even increase revenue in a challenging economic environment.
1. Spend smarter
In recent quarters, many big tech companies have reported losses and plans to pull back on marketing spend. While businesses must spend smarter in times of economic uncertainty, pulling back on advertising is a mistake.
Rather than shutting off these activities – and risk losing market share to competitors, instead prove these investments drive quantifiable results. Maximise what you already have by more effectively leveraging first-party data through people-based activities. Use addressable strategies across digital, search, mobile and programmatic to analyse and justify marketing spend. When every dollar is addressable, accountable and measurable, ROI and growth will occur.
2. Ditch third-party cookies
With consumers more conscious than ever in their spending habits, targeted advertising will be key to maintaining sales. However with third-party cookies sunsetting from the ecosystem, companies need to look for alternatives, and soon. Nearly half (40%) of the internet is already cookieless4 and 2024 will be here before we know it.
In a time when every marketing dollar spent must be accountable, businesses need alternate solutions that enable accurate reach and measurement without the faults inherent to third-party cookies or mobile identifiers. In place of cookies, building campaigns on authenticated solutions that leverage people-based identifiers will improve audience building, targeting and measurement while maintaining more transparency with consumers. “Test and learn” is always a good strategy to understand which cookie alternatives work best for your unique business needs.
3. Collaborate to unlock new revenue streams
First-party data is among one of a company’s strongest assets, but it can only go so far. In order to get a true, 360-degree view of customers and understand who new and prospective consumers are “outside the four walls” of their business, companies have to collaborate with partners.
As proven by the rapid rise of retail media networks and data clean rooms, data collaboration – whether between teams in your organisation or with external partners – is undergoing huge growth. It allows for two or more enterprises to combine their data to unlock new insights about their customers. These strategic partnerships, increasingly pursued between a retailer and supplier, brand and publisher, or even internally between CIOs and CMOs, allow partners to collaborate to identify new customers, strengthen campaign planning, and improve analytics and measurement to increase revenue – all in a secure and privacy-first way.
4. Keep data governance top of mind
With security and privacy concerns ever present, make sure technology leaves no room for failure. In a recession, privacy fines or consumers losing trust in your brand cannot be risked. Closely evaluate current technology partners, and if you decide to explore new solutions for data collaboration or other activities, make sure it removes consumers’ personally identifiable information (PII) from the equation.
As an example, LiveRamp offers Safe Haven, a permission-based data collaboration environment that utilises privacy-enhancing technology, allowing organisations to share data with trusted partners safely and securely.
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Melanie Hoptman is the COO for LiveRamp Asia-Pacific, with 15 years of experience in operational, commercial and people management. At LiveRamp, Melanie is responsible for overseeing operations, as well as future growth opportunities for the APAC region. She is dedicated to reestablishing consumer trust while helping brands unlock value through the use of their own data and the building of new data partnerships.
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Top image: Melanie Hoptman