What is identity resolution and how are platforms adjusting to new privacy rules?

Identity resolution involves linking various consumer identifiers to a single individual as they interact across different channels and devices. This process is crucial for effective marketing and is essential for meeting privacy laws like the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

What Are Identity Resolution Platforms?

Identity resolution platforms are tools that help businesses integrate consumer identifiers from different sources in a way that is accurate, scalable, and respects privacy. These platforms create a comprehensive profile of individuals by linking data from both online (like device IDs, email, and cookies) and offline (like names and addresses) sources.

What You’ll Learn in This Article:

• Why marketers need identity resolution platforms
• What identity resolution platforms do
• What data onboarding is and why it matters
• What an identity graph is
• Why privacy compliance and data ownership are important
• Available third-party software integrations for identity resolution
• The benefits of using identity resolution platforms

Why Marketers Need Identity Resolution Platforms

As more consumers use connected devices like smart speakers, smart TVs, and wearables, it’s crucial for marketers to understand which devices and behaviors belong to each individual. Different identifiers, such as emails or mobile numbers, are used to track interactions. Accurately linking these identifiers has been challenging, especially with changes like the phase-out of third-party cookies by Google and Apple’s restrictions on tracking.

What Identity Resolution Platforms Do

These platforms support marketing by improving targeting, measurement, and personalization for both known and unknown audiences across different channels. Core features include:

• Data onboarding (matching online and offline data)
• Proprietary identity graphs
• Compliance with privacy regulations
• APIs for integrating with other systems

Advanced features may include match confidence scoring, data clean rooms, and pre-built connections to marketing and advertising platforms.

What is Data Onboarding and Why Is It Important?

Data onboarding is the process of integrating client data to create a unified view of the customer. This involves:

• Matching identifiers across various data points
• Hashing or tokenizing personal information to maintain privacy
• Linking matched IDs to a universal customer profile

What is an Identity Graph?

An identity graph is a database that links different identifiers to individual customer profiles. These graphs collect data from various sources, including email addresses, phone numbers, and online IDs. They help marketers understand customer behavior and measure campaign effectiveness.

Why Privacy Compliance and Data Ownership Matter

Marketers need to comply with regulations like GDPR and CCPA, which require transparency about data usage and ownership. These laws increase the need for accurate identity resolution to ensure compliance and protect consumer privacy.

Third-Party Software Integrations for Identity Resolution

Identity resolution platforms should integrate smoothly with other marketing and advertising tools. They offer pre-built connections and APIs for custom integrations, enhancing the effectiveness of marketing campaigns.

Benefits of Using Identity Resolution Platforms

Better Customer Insights: Combining data from multiple sources gives a fuller picture of customers, improving targeting and personalization.

Improved Personalization: Accurate identifiers enable more relevant marketing messages.

Seamless Customer Experiences: A unified view of customers reduces duplicate contacts and improves engagement.

Stronger Privacy Compliance: Platforms help manage data according to privacy regulations.

Enhanced Campaign Tracking: Persistent IDs allow for better measurement and attribution.

Better ROI: Reduces wasted spending by avoiding misidentification and irrelevant engagement.

In Summary

Identity resolution is essential for connecting consumer data across devices and channels. It helps businesses deliver personalized marketing and comply with privacy laws. As more devices get connected, effective identity resolution becomes even more important for understanding and engaging with customers.