There’s no denying it; marketing attribution is hard. And it just got a lot harder. With the reality of “data deprecation” due to the elimination of IDFA and third-party cookies looming, MATT Unplugged 2021 sought to console marketers who are afraid of losing touch – make that “multi-touch” – with their consumers once new privacy updates go into effect in 2022. Spoiler alert - it’s not as bad as you think!

But before the conversation shifted to what the loss of customer identifiers will mean to advertisers, there was much more on the topic of multi-touch attribution to discuss.

Here are the key takeaways from our four panel discussions:

Which Marketing Growth Framework is Best? (CMO Panel)

MATT Unplugged 2021 kicked off with the much-anticipated “CMO Debate Panel” in which CMOs from CVS Health, Bank of America, Zillow, Diageo, and more, discussed the merits and disadvantages of the marketing growth frameworks featured in our Great Debate Series.

Key Takeaways Include:

• Understand your customers’ “need state” before you determine how to reach them. (Do they need the product now vs. in the future?)
  
  
• ROI can mean different things to different marketers; flexibility is important.
  
  
• Think about the holistic journey of the customer rather than how to market to them – and engineer relevance at every step of the customer journey.
  
  
• You can’t buy customer attention through advertising, you have to earn it.
  
  

Relief for the Impending “Identity” Crisis

The next panel included insights from the publisher, agency, advertiser, and provider perspectives on the impact of data deprecation.

Key Takeaways Include:

• Less data isn’t always a bad thing; what matters is how we look at it and prepare to house multiple sources of data.
  
  
• We’ve become over-reliant on cookies, and now we can focus on higher quality data.
  
  
• The shift to first-party data will give marketers a chance to focus more on the brand and bring the emotional piece back to make more meaningful connections with consumers.
  
  
• We need to provide better incentives for people to opt in. Ask yourself: What are we providing to the consumer that will make them want to opt in? 
  
  

No Cookies? No IDFA? What’s an MTA Marketer To Do?

In the next panel, a data scientist and online retail marketer compared experiences to unleash some practical advice on what marketers can do to continue their attribution efforts in a cookieless world.

Key Takeaways Include:

• Marketers will be able to do more with less data as we move away from third-party data.
  
  
• We’re moving toward a world where you don’t rely on yesterday’s data to make decisions, we will go out weeks, months, even longer.
  
  
• From challenge comes innovation; changes in the ecosystem are already acting as a springboard for testing new technologies and media assets.
  
  
• Clients are preparing by investing in first-party data and exploring privacy-driven attribution technologies.
  
  

How to Leverage First-Party Data

MATT Unplugged 2021’s final panel discussion focused on how to unleash opportunities for securing first-party data. This presentation featured expert tips from Thirdlove, Nutrisystem, Casper, and Thistle. These panelists made the future look hopeful for marketers interested in driving opt-ins and delivering more value to their customers – what everyone wants and needs in the current environment.

Key Takeaways Include: 

• Marketers are already developing innovative ways to obtain and leverage first-party data. 
  
  
• As part of the onboarding process, capture first-party data by asking questions about customers that let you know more about their needs. Ask the right questions from the start so you can help them out in the future.
  
  
• Gain customer preferences through online/app quizzes. This can help you not only create better products, but expand into other categories, create look-a-like audiences, and leverage data points to enhance your site experience.
  
  
• Bring all of your different data inputs into one CDP system – app, web, etc. – bring it all into one place to see what performance looks like across all platforms. 
  
  

Also heard at MATT Unplugged 2021:

No Pain, No Gain for Attribution
Marc Vermut, VP, The Knowledge Lab, Neustar, spoke about how to use integrated, coordinated messaging to deliver experiences. By investing in people, processes, culture, and data/analytics, you can understand what truly resonates with customers to propel them forward. 

MMA State of the MTA Benchmarking Survey - 2020
MATT Unplugged 2021 attendees got a sneak peek into where their peers stand on multi-touch attribution. MMA’s Vas Bakopoulos, SVP/Head of Insights & Research, MMA, shared that while some companies (5%) have “taken a step back” from MTA since 2019, 46% feel that MTA is the future of attribution. Click here  

Forget the Funnel, It’s the “Moveable Middles” That Count
Joel Rubinson discussed the findings of a foundational study by MMA and Neustar which proves that Outcomes Based Marketing 2.0 outperforms reach-based planning by more than 50% on ROAS. He explained how the “Moveable Middle” (consumers who buy your brand sometimes) is five times more responsive to advertising versus other consumer cohorts. 

There’s much more to know about marketing attribution and how to survive data deprecation, so view any or all of the recorded sessions. We’ll see you next year at MATT Unplugged!