Questions to Ask Your DMP

The data management platform (DMP) space is heating up, with several companies developing offerings or pivoting their businesses to ride the trend. Claiming to be a DMP, and actually having the infrastructure, the data science, the real-time responsiveness, the specific functionality, and ultimately the business model that aligns with your own business can be hard to come by.

If you are considering a DMP (and we think you should be), or you are already getting started with a solution, we suggest you run through this checklist of questions with your provider:

1. Can you handle ALL my data?
   In order to deliver strategic complete advantage, your DMP should be able to handle all data – any type, any source (online and offline, public and private, individual and aggregate, current and archived).
2. Are you a pure play platform company?
   A DMP needs to objectively evaluate data and provide you the greatest advantage. Make sure your DMP does not have any conflict of interests – Arbitrage media? Sell data?
3. Do you have a real-time infrastructure?
   The infrastructure requirements to fully function as a DMP are severe. To function in today’s marketing and advertising, you need real-time performance. Make sure your DMP optimizes in real time (not batch mode).
4. What level of data scalability do you provide?
   Make sure your DMP can process terabytes of data in real time – your entire data portfolio. Data drives relevancy, relevancy drives results – don’t ignore data assets because your DMP can’t handle the volume.
5. Are your analytics powerful enough to deliver accurate audiences?
   Make sure your DMP has the science, algorithms, models and analytics to deliver top performance audiences. Your DMP should be able to show you “live” audience modeling – analytics in action.
6. Do you integrate easily within the existing ecosystem?
   A DMP should be able to seamlessly blend into your environment and integrate with your existing systems as well as other third-party vendors. Integration and setup efforts should be easy and quick – no lengthy, expensive efforts.
7. Can you deliver closed-loop execution?
   Top performance will only occur through feedback from actual execution. Be sure your DMP is a self-learning system that delivers high performance audiences and insights into the best data sources.
8. Can you meet high data privacy and security requirements?
   Insist on the highest levels of data privacy and security. Your DMP should have appropriate membership with industry groups such as the NAI.
9. Do you offer value add services?
   Make sure your DMP provides flexible service models (self, hybrid, full) and access to experienced professionals who can support your specific needs.
10. Do you offer an easy, straightforward business model?
    Your DMP should offer straightforward pricing model, with no nickel and diming. Complete transparency.

If you are considering a DMP that can’t say yes to all of these questions, contact us, because at Core Audience we’re proud that we can say yes across the board.