Every publisher has a treasure trove of data at their fingertips. One of the biggest challenges is turning that data into golden nuggets of insight that can propel the business to perform at high levels.
With that in mind, Ana Browne and Jon Dickinson recently launched Exigent Digital, coupling a unified data platform with business analysis and revenue strategy services. The model is straightforward: Help businesses consolidate all the data sources, make it actionable, and provide expert insights so they can capitalize on it.
You can learn more about how Exigent Digital makes unified data platforms a reality and leverages them to uncover revenue opportunities next week at our webinar, From Analytics to Revenue Optimization in Record Time, Wednesday, November 18, 2020, at 1 PM EDT.
But in the meantime, Editorial Director Gavin Dunaway spoke with Browne and Dickinson about their solutions and how they can help teams on the front end gain visibility into data insights in real-time and then act on it.
Gavin Dunaway: In the monetization strategy work you did with various publishers like Telefonica Legacy, Newsweek, Observer Media, as well as others, over the past twenty years did you see a connection when helping them leverage their data to define the next steps for their business? Was there an ah-ha moment for you?
Ana Browne: Absolutely! Your data tells the story of your business and helps you uncover opportunities.
There was always a challenge to have all of the data connected in one place and a holistic view of the business. With Telefonica, it was about a billion impressions monthly from different countries and different servers. The reality is when you have the visibility you can define the right strategy to improve.
We have the technology and capability right now to connect the data and a solution available to use the data as the main source for developing insights and really understanding the business.
We can also transfer knowledge and work together as a team. With our customers’ data we can create visualizations in a way to help them manage and evolve their business.
Gavin Dunaway: There are other providers in the revenue analytics market. Where do you think they leave a gap?
Ana Browne: There are some good solutions available, but they are specific to one area of the business. There is also the challenge of certain metrics missing or a lesser data source being connected. Our approach is to connect all the platforms together—sales, advertising, audience, content and marketing. We’re thinking about webinars, social media, behavioral, virtual events and even offline data sources.
BI teams often want to continue to use what they have in place. By connecting all the data sources, the BI platform provides a holistic vision of the business where insights can be derived and put to work to maximize revenue.
Jon Dickinson: On top of that, a lot of the platforms require ongoing engineering support to keep the connections in place and they have to keep updating code to make the dashboard make sense. That’s one of the things that we’re trying to get away from.
You want to be making investments into resources that are going to scour that data and then look for opportunities to improve the top and bottom line and help the business be more responsive to what’s going on in the marketplace. You have to look at your data on a daily basis and it requires resources that are focused exclusively on that. You can’t look at last month’s data to find the opportunities that are happening today.
Gavin Dunaway: Where do you see publishers most struggling with unifying all of their data sets?
Ana Browne: It seems like every single day we have to connect different technologies. We’re always assessing the landscape looking at new demand partners and technologies that open up new revenue streams. What publishers want, and we deliver, is visibility into what’s going on so they can measure how their partners are performing.
It’s easy to see new innovative technologies and think that will solve revenue challenges. If they launch a new product, they need to understand how the page load is going to be affected as it can have an immediate impact on both revenue and user experience. It’s not good enough to put the technology in place, it needs to be measured and assessed.
Gavin Dunaway: A lot of publishers say automation would be nice, but there’s always a but. What is that but for people?
Jon Dickinson: Everybody’s so focused on the challenges in front of us right now that it’s particularly hard to pick your head up. The most challenging times drive the most change because you don’t really have a choice.
Businesses have downsized due to revenue challenges. Add with new platforms like virtual events and increased use of webinars, you’ve got to adapt.
People often don’t see the value that good data and automation can bring to their business. But once we get current data in front of them and they see that this is how we can put it to use in terms of streamlining operations and getting campaigns online faster it becomes clear. A simple thing like that opens a new client base for publishers.
Now we’re seeing people are looking for quick near-term solutions to revenue challenges. Data and automation are our answer to those near-term problems.
Gavin Dunaway: What about publishers who might say, “But I have an internal BI team that does that?”
Jon Dickinson: Internal Business Intelligence teams are overwhelmed trying to keep up with the needs of finance and the C-Suite. We provide 20+ years of industry knowledge and resources to service the front lines of the business better.
We’re able to connect more of the data sources and help them meet the time-sensitive demands of internal and external clients. It’s an on-going relationship providing support and analytics to help the business scale.
Don’t forget to register for our upcoming webinar with Exigent Digital next week, From Analytics to Revenue Optimization in Record Time, Wednesday, November 18, 2020, at 1 PM EDT.