The death of the cookie – and with it, vast troves of third-party data once accessible from Meta, Google, and beyond – is the long-standing elephant in the room. Brand marketers have been bracing for it, and now that it’s here, it’s time to plan around the cookie.
First-party data is the natural response, but typically, what you know about your customer only goes so far. That’s where media consumption intelligence comes in: by enriching first-party data, you light up signals about your consumer that you wouldn’t have otherwise seen. And while media consumption isn’t new, new technologies like predictive analysis and AI are furthering its potential at a critical time for insights into consumer behavior.
A best-in-class media consumption intelligence strategy can not only tell you what your customers are doing, thinking, and buying now but what they’d like to do next. Here’s what you need to know:
What is media consumption intelligence?
Based on consumer surveys, media consumption intelligence platforms seek to find out where consumers are spending their time, what kind of media they’re engaging with, what they’re watching, and why they tend to gravitate towards the platforms that they do. It also gleans insights into behaviors like why customers make purchases and can draw conclusions around intent and preferences – all of which brands can use to make more informed media buying and marketing decisions.
With AI and predictive analysis platforms, not only are you getting and understanding answers directly from an audience, you’re also able to leverage models that can predict each consumer attribute with strong accuracy. All of this is then compiled into a data profile on your customer that you have full access to – and is also updated and refreshed in real time to keep on top of changing trends.
Why it matters
Media consumption intelligence levels up your marketing strategy – which is why Acadia practices it so thoroughly. This kind of information helps inform our plans of attack as we go into strategy sessions. Acadia clients are often mid-size brands punching above their weight, and that means a $4 million ad spend needs to go as far as $6 million would in order to compete at the level clients want. Equipped with this type of consumer understanding, we’re able to spend the right amount on the right platforms, and find white space that competitors aren’t playing in, while targeting the right consumers, be it across TikTok, Pinterest, OTT or CTV. We’re not just making guesses as to where the right target customer is – it’s backed by data from survey responses, plus predictions. We can also eliminate waste by not spending where we’re less likely to be stabbing in the dark.
Since this type of insight sheds light on what type of mindset your customer is in across different platforms and what they’re buying and when, it can also help clients to tailor their messaging depending where they’re showing up, so it’s striking the right tone.
Of course, this level of consumer insight still isn’t foolproof. Testing strategies are vital to making sure that your media spend and marketing is reaching the right customer with the right messages, and this data can also help to improve testing over time.
Media consumer intelligence is a privacy-proof way to get to know your consumer base and talk to them where they spend their time most. With Acadia, this strategy can help cut through the noise and reduce reliance on unreliable third-party data streams.
Megan Herrin is the integrated media lead at Acadia