By Mark Traverso, President & CEO, Lighthouse-Ameribase
Over the next few weeks we’ll be highlighting the use cases for email data. From identity resolution, to retargeting from other digital channels, to an additional revenue stream, the possibilities for email data are greater than ever. Here we explore the use of email data for linkage, particularly in the era of cookie deprecation.
The demise of third-party cookies in Google Chrome has sent ripples through the industry. Whilst their use has been debated for years, there is no denying that cookies have long enabled targeting, optimization and measurement of marketing campaigns. As brands and marketers seek new ways to connect with their audiences, the importance of email data for linkage has never been more evident.
Email for identity resolution
One of the key reasons for the importance of email data is its role in identity resolution. As cookies fade away, email addresses offer a reliable way to link customer interactions across different devices and platforms. This linkage is essential for brands to understand customer behavior holistically and deliver personalized marketing experiences.
As the industry prepares for the demise of cookies, a myriad of identity solutions are emerging, with many leveraging email data as a cornerstone for accurate customer linkage. Universal IDs like UID2.0, from The Trade Desk and ATS from LiveRamp, exemplify this trend by harnessing deterministic HEM data to facilitate seamless identification across digital channels. Unlike probabilistic signals such as IP addresses, which can yield uncertain matches, deterministic signals derived from email data offer unparalleled precision in linking individuals to their digital identities.
It’s of course important to remember that while deterministic linkage offers high accuracy, one reason marketers sometimes opt for probabilistic methods is the issue of scale. Email data linkage requires a substantial volume of data to be effective, as it relies on matching email addresses to unique individuals across digital platforms. At Lighthouse-Ameribase we offer an excellent level of scale with 11,299,337,782 HEM-MAID links and 5,581,997,957 HEM-IP links over 30 days.
Learn more about our HEM to MAID linkage >
Learn more about our HEM to IP linkage >
In this way marketers are able to achieve accurate and reliable customer linkage at scale, ensuring that their marketing efforts reach the right audience effectively.
Email for privacy-conscious marketers
It’s also worth remembering the reason why Google chose to deprecate cookies in the first place and why Safari and Firefox removed them by default years ago: privacy. Unlike third-party cookies, which depend on tracking user behavior across the web, opted-in email data is willingly shared by customers, making it a more reliable and privacy-conscious way to target and engage with audiences.
The deprecation of cookies in Chrome has underscored the importance of email data for linkage in the digital marketing landscape. Brands that prioritize accurate full-text and hashed email data will be better equipped to navigate the challenges of a cookie-less world and continue to effectively engage with their audiences. To learn more about how Lighthouse-Ameribase could help you prepare for the cookieless world with our email linkage data, get in touch.
Stay tuned for our next blog posts on Email for Brands: Better Targeting Means Higher ROI as well as Email for Product Leads: Leveraging Email as an Additional Revenue Stream.
