Using deterministic identity resolution for customer marketing personalization

Welcome to the age of personalized marketing. From eerily accurate product recommendations to campaigns that anticipate your next purchase, personalization is revolutionizing the way brands connect with customers.

But here’s the catch: all of this marketing personalization relies on one thing — accurate customer data.

When your favorite brand’s website greets you by name and knows exactly what product you want, it’s easy to forget the complex software and marketing campaign strategies running behind the scenes.  

So what exactly is your strategized marketing campaign and martech stack running on? Identity resolution! It’s the secret sauce that helps businesses understand exactly who their customers are.

Why is accurate customer data and identity resolution such a big deal? Imagine trying to send a birthday discount to a loyal customer, only to realize you’ve sent it to someone who visited your site once by accident while looking for cat videos. Not the best way to build customer loyalty or drive revenue, right? 

Deterministic identity resolution accurately stitches together data points from multiple sources, enabling businesses to create a single, comprehensive view of each customer. This leads to personalized experiences that not only delight but also convert customers.

This is also where Simon Data shines. Leveraging the power of deterministic identity resolution, the Simon Customer Data Platform (CDP) empowers businesses to truly know their customers, anticipate their needs, and deliver personalized experiences that drive revenue/

Let’s dive into how Simon Data can transform the way brands connect with their customers. 

What is identity resolution in a CDP?

In simple terms, identity resolution is the process of connecting multiple data points across various touchpoints to create a single, unified view of a customer. It’s like assembling a puzzle where each piece represents different interactions — emails, web activity, online and offline purchase history, and more — into one complete picture.

Now, not all identity resolution techniques are created equal.  Let’s meet our two main contenders: probabilistic and deterministic identity resolution.

Probabilistic identity resolution uses statistical algorithms to match data points based on likelihoods and probabilities. Imagine you’re at a concert where you see someone who looks like an old colleague. Based on their hairstyle and mannerisms, you are fairly sure it’s them, but you can’t be certain until you talk to them.

Deterministic identity resolution, on the other hand, is like having that colleague walk up to you and say, “Hey, it’s me!” It uses unique identifiers such as email addresses, phone numbers, or customer IDs to make exact matches to customers and users. This method is more accurate and reliable because it’s based on hard data rather than educated guesses.

Why is identity resolution so important?  

Personalize the customer experience from end to end

Identity resolution enhances the customer experience by empowering marketers to create more personalized marketing campaigns using the data and identifiers in their CDP. 

With it, marketing teams can curate customized recommendations, timely offers, and communications that make customers feel understood and valued. 

Avoid costly marketing mishaps with deterministic identity resolution

Identity resolution helps brands prevent costly marketing mistakes. With it, you’ll know exactly what channels (social, paid, email, SMS, etc.) they prefer and, more importantly, the messaging that resonates with them.

The cost of sending the wrong email to the wrong person, or, worse, sending a message to a customer who’s opted out, is too high to consider anything less than deterministic identity resolution in a CDP.

Improve marketing ROI

With accurate identity resolution, marketers can target their campaigns more effectively, ensuring that every dollar spent is hitting the right audience at the right time. It’s all about precision and impact.  

Build trust with your customers by protecting their data

Ensuring data accuracy and compliance is more important than ever. With laws like GDPR and CCPA in play, businesses must be careful about handling customer data. 

Deterministic identity resolution helps ensure that data is accurate and up-to-date, reducing the risk of compliance issues and maintaining customer trust. 

Later on, we’ll explore how Simon Data leverages deterministic identity resolution to empower businesses to harness the full potential of their first-party customer data.

Deterministic identity resolution

Now that we have a solid understanding of identity resolution and why it’s a game-changer, let’s look at how deterministic identity resolution works.

Imagine you have a customer named Taylor who interacts with your brand through various channels — emails, social media, in-store visits, and online purchases. In this case, Identity resolution connects all of these interactions to understand that they all belong to the same person: Taylor. It helps you build a complete picture of your customer so you can provide a seamless and personalized experience. 

Now, let’s focus on deterministic identity resolution. It’s a more precise way of resolving disparate data to a single customer profile. Instead of guessing based on patterns or similarities (like recognizing Taylor’s behavior), it uses exact identifier information (like Taylor’s email address or phone number) to match data points. This means that you can be certain that all the interactions are indeed Taylor’s and ensure that your marketing messages are always relevant and timely.

What are the advantages of this approach?  Let’s break it down:

1. Precision and accuracy: Deterministic identity resolution leverages exact matching algorithms, ensuring that each data point corresponds to a unique identifier such as an email address or phone number. This method eliminates the guesswork inherent in probabilistic approaches, providing you with highly reliable and accurate customer data.  As a result, your marketing efforts become laser-focused, targeting the right audience with personalized messages at precisely the right moment, thereby maximizing engagement and conversion rates.
2. Reduced data redundancy: Ever receive the same email from a brand three times in a row? Deterministic identity resolution helps eliminate such data redundancies by merging duplicate records and streamlining your customer database.  This not only improves the efficiency of your marketing campaigns but also saves on storage and processing costs.
3. Enhanced customer trust: When customers see that you understand their preferences and needs without bombarding them with irrelevant or repetitive messages, their trust in your brand grows. They’re more likely to engage with your content, make purchases, and remain loyal over time. It’s all about building a relationship based on trust and relevance.

Precision, reduced redundancy, and enhanced trust all lead to increased revenue.  By accurately identifying and targeting customers, businesses can optimize their marketing spend, improve conversion rates, and drive more sales.  It’s like having a finely tuned engine that runs smoothly and efficiently, propelling your business forward.

Identity resolution within Simon Data

At the heart of Simon Data’s identity resolution capabilities is its robust platform built on top of the cloud data platform. By leveraging Snowflake’s (and other CDWs’) cutting-edge capabilities, Simon ensures that your CDW remains the ultimate source of truth.  This means no more second-guessing or cross-referencing between disparate systems — everything you need is in one reliable, scalable, and secure place.

Features of identity resolution in Simon Data

1. Seamless data integration: One of the standout features of Simon Data’s platform is its ability to seamlessly integrate data from multiple sources by sitting directly on top of your cloud data warehouse. Whether it’s your CRM, ESP, eCommerce platform, or engagement data, as long as it’s present in your data warehouse, Simon can give you the master key that unlocks all the doors to your customer insights. 
2. Real-time incorporation of website event data: Time is money, and in the fast-paced world of digital marketing, real-time data is invaluable. Simon ensures that your website event data is incorporated in real time, allowing you to respond to customer actions and behaviors instantly. Did a customer just abandon their cart? Trigger a personalized email offer to increase the chance of conversion while your product is still top-of-mind.
3. SQL-based approach: For those who love the flexibility and power of SQL, Simon Data’s CDP offers a SQL-first approach that lets you query and manipulate data with precision.  Don’t worry if you’re not a SQL wizard; a user-friendly interface is on its way, making it easy for everyone on your team to harness the power of your data without breaking a sweat.

Benefits of using identity resolution in Simon

1. Scalable solutions for businesses of all sizes: Whether you’re a startup just getting off the ground or an enterprise with a global presence, Simon Data’s platform scales to meet your needs. Its robust infrastructure (i.e., the cloud data platform like Snowflake) handles large volumes of data effortlessly, ensuring that your identity resolution efforts grow alongside your business.  
2. Transparent, customizable workflows: Transparency and customization are at the core of Simon Data’s approach. You get to see exactly how your data is processed and matched, view an audit log of identity table changes over time, and you can customize workflows to fit your unique business requirements.
3. Enhanced data security and compliance: Let’s face it: with the depreciation of cookies and more access to first-party data, data breaches and regulatory compliance are top concerns. Simon Data takes data security seriously. Built on your own cloud data platform, Simon offers advanced security features and compliance with major data protection regulations like GDPR and CCPR.  Rest easy knowing your customer data is protected and handled with utmost care.

The future of identity resolution

The future of identity resolution is bright and full of promise. The digital landscape is constantly evolving, and with it, the tools and techniques we use to understand and connect with customers. This is what I’ve seen over the past year.

Emerging trends: The role of AI and machine learning

One of the most thrilling trends in identity resolution is the integration of AI and machine learning.  These technologies are set to revolutionize the way we process and analyze customer data.  

AI will work 24/7, piecing together clues to build the most accurate customer profiles and proactively flag underlying data issues that could have a detrimental effect on downstream marketing activities. It enhances the precision and speed of identity resolution, enabling businesses to react to customer behaviors in real time and predict future actions with uncanny accuracy.  

Market predictions: The increasing importance of precise identity resolution

As personalization becomes the norm rather than the exception, and as third-party cookies continue to die a slow, painful death, the demand for precise identity resolution is only growing.  Customers expect brands to understand their needs and preferences without being intrusive.  

The future landscape of marketing will see businesses investing more in tailor-made identity resolution techniques to meet these expectations. Moreover, as data privacy regulations become stricter, the ability to accurately and securely resolve identities will be a critical differentiator. Companies that can navigate this complex terrain while maintaining customer trust will lead the pack.

Simon Data’s vision: Continuously innovating to drive value

At Simon Data, we’re not just keeping up with these trends — we’re leading the charge. We’re committed to exploring the latest advancements in AI and machine learning into our platform, ensuring that our clients always have access to cutting-edge tools that make their lives easier and their bank accounts larger. 

Our goal is to drive more value for customers by making identity resolution more precise, scalable, and secure. We believe that we can help businesses not only meet but exceed their marketing goals when they take advantage of our deterministic identity resolution capabilities. 

As we wrap up, it’s clear that the future of identity resolution is both exciting and essential. The advancements in technology promise to make identity resolution more powerful and indispensable than ever before.  And with Simon Data at your side, you can be confident that you’re equipped with the best tools to navigate this future successfully.

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