OpenAP unveils Open Identity, a Converged ID Solution that Enables Consistency of Audience Identity in Streaming Video 15 Apr 2025, 4:43 pm

New technology moves the industry beyond siloed identity to unlock interoperability at scale across publisher and buyside identity solutions, internet service providers (ISP) and third-party data sets

Creates consistency and accuracy of audiences in streaming and cross-platform campaigns to make data-driven TV advertising more performant with ease of execution across premium video

Acxiom, Deep Sync, Experian, LiveRamp and TransUnion among the first to work together to standardize identity data for targeting and measurement by making data available in Open Identity

NEW YORK, April 15, 2025 – OpenAP, the advanced advertising company bringing simplicity and scale to data driven video, today announced the launch of Open Identity, a federated identity data infrastructure that enables interoperability across all identity solutions and consistency in how data is resolved to power more transparent and accurate targeting and measurement of audiences in streaming and cross-platform campaigns. The launch signifies OpenAP’s commitment to delivering on its mission of making it easier for advertisers to harness the power of big data in reaching advanced audiences across the entire premium video ecosystem.

“The advertising industry is on the precipice of a renaissance where more scalable access to big data is driving increased ROI for advertisers across premium video. But this renaissance is dependent on privacy safe ways to both standardize identity and provide access to rich campaign data for planning and measurement. The workflow of the future for streaming video must be interoperable and data must connect seamlessly across all data providers, publishers, platforms and currencies. Open Identity’s vision is to unlock this future potential,” said OpenAP CEO David Levy.

Transforming Identity for Convergent TV

Open Identity is an evolution of OpenID, the common identifier for TV, and seamlessly enables direct matching of identity data across publishers, advertisers and data providers without requiring a central identity spine. Open Identity aims to increase on-target reach of streaming and cross-platform campaigns by standardizing workflow so that identity is resolved consistently as it traverses across identity spaces, as well as give advertisers and publishers the ability to define and control how identity data is used from audience creation through to measurement.

The product was purpose-built within OpenAP’s platform to accelerate the use of rich data while solving for privacy considerations in a multi-screen, multi-data party environment. Open Identity will power OpenAP’s audience onboarding, distribution and reporting products to maintain consistency of audiences and will offer significant benefits to advertisers, data providers, publishers and measurement companies, including the ability to:

Minimize Waste & Improve Campaign Efficiency: Leverage multiple identity data providers for ID translation to minimize waste and increase audience sizes and match rates.

Modernize ID Matching: Use real-time clean room ID translations to eliminate the inherent match rate issues when using identity intermediaries facilitating crosswalks.

Transparent & Consistent Householding: Consistently define and control the use of identity data from multiple providers when creating audiences and measuring audience performance.

“We consistently hear from advertisers that they need better targeting and measurement in streaming and that it needs to be easy to see holistic campaign performance, regardless of buy type or screen. By working together to build Open Identity through the OpenAP infrastructure, identity data can be interoperable across the entire premium video ecosystem, while creating the ability for publishers and advertisers to have control of how data is used for streaming and cross-platform campaigns. Getting the pipes in place will ensure consistency and transparency in audiences, and paves way for more innovation and effective measurement to continue to demonstrate that investment in premium video drives business outcomes,” said Stephano Kim, Chief Strategy & Operations Officer at Fox Advertising; Ryan McConville, EVP & Chief Product Officer, Advertising Platforms & Operations at NBCUniversal; Travis Scoles, EVP of Advanced Advertising at Paramount Global; and David Porter, Head of Ad Sales Research, Data, and Insights at Warner Bros Discovery in a joint statement.

Modernizing Workflow to Remove Siloes in a Converged Ecosystem

Publishers and Data Providers connect their data sets to Open Identity via the OpenAP Data Hub, OpenAP’s federated data clean room solution, allowing advertisers to easily compose audiences with identity data from across the most trusted datasets in the industry without any additional crosswalks. Advertisers and Publishers will then use Open Identity to define the identity data providers that will be used on a campaign, as well control as the business logic that governs how households are associated with targeting and measurement signals in a transparent and consistent way.

Identity data from Deep Sync, Experian and TransUnion is available within Open Identity for use in both creating audience segments for targeting and measuring campaign exposures at launch, with Acxiom and LiveRamp audience data integrations underway to enable a seamless audience onboarding experience for buyers using those identity solutions. The Open Identity technology will be live beginning May 2025, with partners to be integrated on a rolling basis and will be available for use across OpenAP’s existing audience, campaign and reporting products for onboarding and distribution of audiences and to analyze campaign performance in digital, linear and cross-platform campaigns.

“Partnering with OpenAP in the Open Identity initiative empowers advertisers to identify and reach the right audiences with measurable precision and efficiency,” said Martin Wexler, executive vice president of partnerships at Acxiom. “By leveraging Acxiom’s robust data, advertisers can minimize waste, enhance campaign performance, and achieve consistent, transparent results across streaming and cross-platform campaigns. This collaboration ensures advertisers can confidently navigate the complexities of data-driven TV advertising, unlocking new levels of engagement and ROI.”

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This press release was originally published by OpenAP: “OpenAP unveils Open Identity, a Converged ID Solution that Enables Consistency of Audience Identity in Streaming Video“

The post OpenAP unveils Open Identity, a Converged ID Solution that Enables Consistency of Audience Identity in Streaming Video appeared first on Deep Sync.

11 Steps for Successful Direct Mail Marketing 9 Apr 2025, 6:39 pm

A well-executed direct mail marketing campaign is a powerful tool to engage current and prospective customers, even in today’s digital age. In fact, direct mail has the highest return on investment (ROI) for individual media (161%) despite rising postal costs.

While numerous factors directly impact the outcome of a direct mail campaign, 11 steps are crucial for campaign success. In this how-to guide, you’ll find a comprehensive list of the tried-and-true steps to a successful direct mail marketing campaign. 

1. Define the Objective of the Direct Mail Marketing Campaign

The first step is to set the objective for the direct mail marketing campaign and determine how success will be measured. Is the goal to acquire new customers, build brand awareness, or increase in-store or online traffic?

A clear campaign objective sets the tone of the campaign, defines clear expectations, and enables effective communication. Determine what metrics will be used to benchmark success. Common success metrics include response rate, conversion rate, ROI, and cost per acquisition. Paying attention to these metrics helps marketers track results and improve future performance.

2. Determine the Target Audience and Mailing List

One of the most critical decisions in the campaign planning process is determining the target audience. The goal is to choose a high-quality audience whose needs will likely match the products or services featured in the campaign. Accomplish data-driven audience selections with demographic targeting for consumers, firmographic targeting for businesses, or by selecting a hyper-focused niche audience. 

Alternatively, lookalike modeling can be used to identify the ideal market, especially if you’re managing campaigns for multiple brands. Since lookalike audiences are generated from first-party data, they provide a scalable way to expand reach to new consumers with qualities similar to those of existing customers.

3. Know Your Next Steps

A direct mail campaign should not be “one and done.” Having a follow-up plan is essential. Multiple impressions are often needed for a consumer to take notice, so commit to a strategic sequence of additional mailings. Remember to maintain brand consistency to build familiarity, but do make small changes to their creative and copy. 

Since direct mail is an investment, integrating email as a complementary touchpoint to an existing direct mail program is a cost-effective solution to reach the same audience—boosting campaign impact and ROI.

4. Develop the Offer

The offer, giveaway, or premium must generate excitement while reinforcing the overall campaign objective. Consider the relevance to the audience and perceived value. The offer should be clearly worded, easy to understand, and hard to resist. To create a sense of urgency for the recipient to respond, add an expiration or respond-by date to the offer.

5. Showcase Your Strengths

Each direct mail piece should highlight how the product or service will benefit the recipient, including common challenges that can be solved. Ensure the message is well-written, easy to understand, and free from spelling and grammatical errors. 

The copy should be clear, concise, and easy for the recipient to read and understand; bullet points are an excellent way to achieve readability. Avoid overloading the message with features, functions, or technical language; instead, focus on clear, benefit-driven copy.

Ultimately, the goal is to have the reader imagine themselves using—and benefiting from—the product or service. Social proof, such as case studies or testimonials, can help; they are an excellent way to reinforce the value proposition and build credibility.

6. Establish a Clear Call To Action (CTA)

A CTA should tell the recipient exactly what they need to do—call, click, download, purchase, etc—and create a sense of urgency to respond. With a clear and measurable call to action, recipients know the steps to redeem the offer. 

The CTA is an excellent place to reiterate the primary benefit and expiration date. Additionally, offering multiple response mechanisms will be convenient for the reader and will enable them to respond via the channel they are most comfortable with.

7. Stand Out from the Crowd

In direct mail, design is critical. For readers to take notice, direct mail creative needs to stand out from other pieces in the mailbox. This can include using a dimensional or padded mailer or a brightly colored envelope. Direct mail is tangible; therefore, emphasis on quality design, printing, and materials will go a long way toward enhancing brand perception. 

Many brands—and their customers—value sustainability. Consider using eco-friendly, sustainable materials; Earth-conscious consumers will appreciate the thoughtful focus on sustainability.

8. Personalize the Content

Personalization can help make recipients feel special and evoke a positive emotion. Using data, customize mail pieces for specific recipients. A personal touch often leads to improved engagement and increased response rates over more generic, less personalized versions. 

Personalization can be as simple as incorporating the recipient’s name. For a more advanced approach, employ variable printing techniques to customize images, offers, and text based on audience characteristics. Personalization creates the feeling of one-to-one communication and goes a long way toward creating brand awareness and positive perception. 

9. Test, Measure, and Fine-Tune Campaigns

Testing is the best method for optimizing marketing efforts and increasing overall success rates. When it comes to direct mail, each component of the process can directly impact the results. Create a testing strategy to ensure you send the right creative with the right message to the right audience. Testing does not have to be complicated; some of the best testing programs change one component at a time to see how response rates are impacted.

Implement a system to accurately track responses. When a consumer responds, capture their contact details, how the recipient responded, and which channel the recipient responded to. Tracking responses and conversions will allow you to assign attribution and calculate the campaign’s ROI. 

Track opt-out requests as well. Tracking opt-out requests helps you maintain compliance, improve audience targeting, and protect your sender reputation. These requests will become part of a master suppression file that can be utilized during future campaigns to ensure consumer preferences are being honored. 

10. Provide Immediate Follow-Up

When a response is received, follow up as quickly as possible. Providing excellent customer service at the onset will build responders’ confidence. This is crucial because, for many responders, this will be the first contact they have had with your company. Beyond asking for the sale, the follow-up is also a means to open the consumer up to continued communication with your brand—whether through future mailings, email, or social media.

11. Create a Seamless Omnichannel Experience

Building long-term brand equity through direct mail marketing requires consistency across marketing channels, particularly when coordinating with digital efforts. Combining direct mail with other channels like email, programmatic, and social media is a comprehensive strategy that increases overall reach. 

By engaging with consumers through multiple touchpoints, you create additional opportunities to interact with the intended audience. This ultimately reinforces brand awareness and provides audience members with the ability to consume content and respond using the channels they prefer. 

Ask your data partner whether your direct mail list can also be activated for programmatic, social, or email channels—either through data onboarding, email append, or other data services. Deep Sync makes cross-channel data activation possible. For example, direct mail lists purchased for unlimited use can be activated across Meta, TikTok, Google, and The Trade Desk using Enhanced Onboarding. This makes it possible to reach the same, exact audience across multiple channels.

Recap: Steps to a Successful Direct Mail Campaign

Here are our top 11 steps to remember for your next campaign:

1. Establish the Objective
2. Determine the Target Audience
3. Know Your Next Steps
4. Develop the Offer
5. Showcase Your Strengths
6. Establish a Clear CTA
7. Stand Out from the Crowd
8. Personalize the Content
9. Test, Measure, and Fine-Tune Campaigns
10. Provide Immediate Follow-Up
11. Create a Seamless Omnichannel Experience

As you strategize for your next direct mail marketing campaign, keep these steps in mind. Each one plays a key role in building a high-impact direct mail strategy—from defining your goals and selecting the right target customers to designing a compelling direct mail piece and tracking your response rate.

And remember: the best campaigns start with the best data. Whether you’re refining your mailing list, activating audiences across marketing channels, or looking to fine-tune performance based on past results, a data provider can help you maximize your campaign’s success.

Achieve Direct Mail Success with Deep Sync

Deep Sync offers data, targeting, and omnichannel solutions tailored to your goals—whether you’re running campaigns in-house or supporting clients. Not every brand will have the right data to launch an effective direct mail campaign. That’s where Deep Sync can help: Our data recommendations are unbiased and based solely on providing the right solution for your specific business needs. 

Whether you seek audience targeting, hygiene, or enhancement solutions, you’ll experience an excellent reseller pricing structure and rapid turnaround that comes from leveraging our own proprietary datasets as well as our longstanding relationships with leading compilers and data service providers.

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Want More Direct Mail Resources?

Even in today’s digital age, physical mail remains a powerful and personal way to connect with your audience. The key to cutting through the noise is integrating traditional tactics with smart, data-driven marketing strategies and complementary digital efforts. Here are a few of our top resources to help you get started:

• “Direct Mail FAQs: A Guide for Resellers”: This resource will equip you with essential insights into direct mail strategy, effectiveness, list selection, and campaign optimization.
• “12 Steps to Direct Mail Success”: A well-executed direct mail campaign is a powerful tool to engage current and prospective customers. Here are our 12 steps to direct mail success.
• “Lookalike Modeling: How to Get Started”: With the right tools, you can build and deploy lookalike audiences across multiple channels—without having to build the models in-house. Here’s how to get started with lookalike modeling.

The post 11 Steps for Successful Direct Mail Marketing appeared first on Deep Sync.

Direct Mail FAQs: A Guide for Resellers 13 Mar 2025, 4:06 pm

From targeting the right audience to optimizing response rates, helping your clients navigate the complexities of direct mail can be challenging. 

As a reseller of direct mail marketing services and products, you’re expected to provide expert guidance on direct mail campaigns. But, what happens when your clients ask data- and campaign-related questions outside your day-to-day scope?

This resource will equip you with essential insights into direct mail strategy, effectiveness, list selection, and campaign optimization. With this knowledge, you’ll be able to answer your clients’ questions, provide informed recommendations, and help your clients achieve better results.

How Effective is Direct Mail Marketing?

Direct mail can be a powerful tool for brands, particularly when used in conjunction with other marketing channels. Recipients are more likely to open and interact with physical mail, especially when it’s personalized and suited to their needs. In fact, 95% of direct mail is engaged with—whether that means opening the piece or responding to the call to action.

It’s also more deliverable; direct mail data is anchored to a consumer’s name and address, which makes it more reliable than some other identifiers, many of which are anonymous.

Direct Mail Response Rates: What to Expect

Over the past several years, direct mail response rates have steadily increased. In fact, direct mail has the highest ROI for individual media (161%) despite rising postal costs. This is likely due to a number of factors, including the increased use of personalization and the ability to physically interact with the mail piece itself. 

According to the Association of National Advertisers’ Response Rate Report, marketing executives reported a 15.6% response rate for campaigns utilizing house lists and a 10.8% response rate for prospect lists used in 2023. Campaigns using first-party data often see even higher response rates!

Using multiple channels to amplify overall campaign effectiveness can also increase response rates.

What are the unique benefits of direct mail?

Direct mail has many advantages that are unique to its physical, tangible nature. Here are the 7 top benefits of direct marketing: 

1. Nostalgic

The tactile and personal nature of mail can invoke nostalgia and excitement and help cut through consumers’ digital fatigue. People enjoy receiving mail—whether it’s an invitation from a friend or a coupon to a local restaurant—so it creates a tangible connection between the brand and the recipient.

2. Personalized

Direct mail is personable; brands can apply images and messaging that appeal directly to the intended recipient. Since 64% of consumers are more likely to engage with personalized messaging rather than generic marketing, this can help improve response rates.

3. Adaptable

Direct marketing is adaptable to all types of businesses, products, and services.

4. Convenient

It’s ideal to deliver news of products, services, and new store openings directly into the hands of the consumer. Well-designed, well-written mail pieces can help to build brand awareness and improve the overall perception of your brand.

5. Targeted

Direct mail offers precise targeting, so messages can be directed to a specific audience or geographic market. Audience segments that display specific attributes can be targeted with messaging that is relevant to their behaviors, needs, and wants

6. Actionable

Respond-by dates create a sense of urgency for consumers to respond quickly, making direct mail exceptionally actionable. 

7. Optimizable

All aspects of a direct marketing campaign can be measured and tracked, making it easy to report on campaign performance. And with direct mail, it’s easy to test campaign variables to determine which performs the best. Direct mail learnings can be applied to future campaigns to enhance their effectiveness.

What are the key components of a direct mail campaign?

A successful campaign should have the following components clearly outlined prior to the launch date:

• Objective: Identify the primary objective of your campaign, along with how you will measure your success. 
• Target Audience: Determine who your intended audience is, including their attributes and characteristics.
• An Established Offer: Generate excitement with an offer that is relevant to your recipients and has a high perceived value. 
• Clear Call To Action (CTA): When someone receives your direct mail piece, it’s important that they know what to do next. Tell your recipients exactly how to respond, and include an expiration date to encourage them. 
• Compelling Visual: Emphasize high-quality design, copywriting, materials, and printing. 
• Follow Up: Have a follow-up plan that includes additional touchpoints to keep building awareness.
• Tracking and Optimization: Have a system in place to track responses, which will enable you to calculate conversions. Improve your overall results by understanding how simple changes impact responses.

First-Class v. Marketing Mail: What To Use

To determine the class of mail best suited for your client’s campaign, consider the type of mailing list, the creative being used, and the needed delivery date.

For example, residential mailing lists (also known as saturation mailing lists) are designed to be mailed via Marketing Mail; sending them via First-Class Mail can result in a very high rate of returned mail pieces (up to 20%). 

When you have specific in-home dates, First-Class Mail delivers within 2 – 3 business days and will provide you with return service for addresses that were undeliverable. On the other hand, Marketing Mail typically takes 3 – 10 days. 

Direct Mail Lists: How to Get Addresses

If you don’t have enough data to build a direct mail prospecting list on your own, providers like Deep Sync can help. Here are some frequently asked questions about our direct mail lists.

How are direct mail lists obtained? 

Direct marketing lists can be obtained directly from list compilers as well as from trusted partners that have relationships with these compilers. Our lists are available for purchase online or through our expert Client Success team. 

To explore our online options, visit AccuLeads. Here you can review many of the most popular lists available on the market today as well as several complementary data services. Through AccuLeads, you (or your client) can run counts and place orders on demand, 24/7. 

If you’re unsure about what list to select, we’re happy to help! Our team can provide an objective recommendation based on the goals your client has for their campaign and guide you through the list-purchasing process.

What type of targeted mailing lists are available?

One of the most critical decisions your client will make in the campaign planning process is which list to use. The goal is to choose an audience whose needs are likely to match the products/services their company offers. This can be accomplished with demographic targeting for consumers, firmographic targeting for businesses, or the selection of a hyper-focused niche list. 

Here are some of the most popular attributes used to create targeted direct mail lists. 

Consumer Mailing List Attributes 

• Age/Date of Birth 
• Family Composition 
• Hobbies and Interests 
• Homeowners/Renters 
• Income 
• Net Worth 
• Occupation 
• Presence of Children 

Business Mailing List Attributes

• Job Titles/Functions 
• Location Type 
• NAICS/SIC Codes 
• Nonprofits 
• Number of Employees 
• Office Expenses 
• Sales Volume 
• Years in Business 

If you need assistance identifying your client’s specific market, a list of their current customers can be used to create a highly customized lookalike audience model.

How are direct marketing lists compiled? 

Deep Sync has a 35-year history of compiling our own residential, consumer, business, move-related, property, and student datasets, as well as long-standing relationships with the nation’s leading data compilers.

Direct marketing lists are compiled from numerous sources that are most commonly linked to public records, proprietary sources, and self-reported data. Some of the most common sources are resident data, postal intelligence, business directories and publications, consumer surveys, and more.

How often are direct marketing lists cleaned? 

In the majority of cases, Deep Sync’s datasets are updated monthly. Our move-related and new homeowner offerings are updated weekly to ensure that the freshest, most relevant data is available to our clients. 

We maintain our data quality through data hygiene and suppression processes. In addition to keeping address information up to date, these processes help to prevent undesirable profiles from entering the marketing stream. Deep Sync’s preferred providers take the same approach to maintaining the highest-quality data. 

What is the deliverability of direct mail lists?

Even with a complete suite of USPS®-licensed postal hygiene, address standardization, and change of address processing regularly applied, the direct marketing lists used in your clients’ campaigns may produce some undeliverable addresses. 

When mailing to consumers, your client can anticipate a deliverability rate of 90% or higher. For a business mailing, your client can anticipate that 85% or more of the records will be delivered. Do encourage your client to mail as soon as possible after receiving their list to maximize deliverability.

How to Optimize a Direct Mail Campaign

The success of a direct mail campaign can be improved by increasing the number of touchpoints across channels. Here are our recommended strategies for adding other channels to your campaign. 

Add Phone Numbers & Emails to Your Mailing List

A data append can help add telephone numbers and email addresses to a client’s mailing list. This process involves supplementing a client’s customer data with additional data from external sources.

Deep Sync can also add phone numbers and email addresses to our third-party mailing lists. 

Integrate Digital Components into a Direct Mail Campaign

Pairing direct mail initiatives with digital campaigns creates additional opportunities for engagement where consumers spend their time online. In fact, 60% of marketers have reported increased ROI when direct mail and digital marketing channels are combined.

Consistent messaging across channels drives awareness and a variety of touch points makes responding easy. Deep Sync offers a variety of solutions to activate audiences online, including Enhanced Onboarding for first-party data. Contact us to learn more.

Start at the Envelope 

The first step in attracting attention is delivering a design that sets the mail piece apart from the rest. Emphasizing quality design, printing, and materials will go a long way as direct mail is tangible and will be handled by the recipient. 

Here are some additional ideas to recommend: 

• Send a colored envelope and print your letter on matching paper 
• Enclose a sample or premium to add volume and weight to the envelope 
• Use a padded mailer to pique the recipient’s interest 
• Send an oversized postcard that is printed in color on both sides 

The following direct mail formats are the most popular among marketers utilizing prospect lists for their campaigns. 

• Letter-Sized Envelopes: 67% 
• Postcards: 62% 
• Catalogs: 48% 
• Oversized Envelopes: 29% 

When mailing to their customers, postcards, letter-sized envelopes, catalogs, and dimensional mailers were most preferred.

Apply Personalization 

In direct mail, personalization is key. With personalization or customization, your clients can create a mail piece that has a “one-to-one” appeal as opposed to that of standard mass mail pieces. 

When thinking of personalization, you can recommend that your client: 

• Use the consumer’s name within the messaging 
• Vary the images used based on the demographic/lifestyle interests of the recipient 
• Adjust the messaging to appeal to the needs of the audience 
• Use a hand-addressed envelope

With these tips, you can help support your client in a successful direct mail campaign.

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Want more direct mail resources for resellers?

• To assist you in providing your clients with prompt and thoughtful responses, we have compiled the most frequently asked direct mail questions received by Deep Sync into one comprehensive resource. Download our guide to learn more.

• Want to learn more about why the nation’s leading printers, mail houses, and marketing service providers trust the Deep Sync reseller model? Check out our reseller partner solutions.

The post Direct Mail FAQs: A Guide for Resellers appeared first on Deep Sync.

Lookalike Modeling: How to Get Started 5 Mar 2025, 8:59 pm

Lookalike audiences provide an effective way to target new prospects and expand your customer base. However, many teams lack the bandwidth and data expertise to create these high-performing target audiences.

Outside of platform-specific tools, lookalike modeling can seem like a daunting process. That’s why we recommend outsourcing your modeling for maximum impact. With the right tools, you can build and deploy lookalike audiences across multiple channels—without having to build the models in-house.

Here’s how to get started with lookalike modeling.

What is lookalike modeling?

Simply put, lookalike modeling is the process of creating a lookalike audience, which is an audience of new prospects created to mirror your existing customer base. These potential customers share behavioral and demographic characteristics with your current customers, making them more likely to be interested in your offering.

How does lookalike modeling work?

The lookalike modeling process uses your customer data as a seed for modeling. For example, Deep Sync’s process uses AI and machine learning to generate demographically focused consumer profiles where matches can be made between your data and our deterministic identity graph. These profiles are then used to inform the selection of consumers in our prospect universe with demographic and/or geographic similarities—giving you the ideal lookalike audience.

What are the benefits of lookalike modeling?

Lookalike modeling can be hugely beneficial to your marketing efforts, especially when you’re able to have more direct control over the process. Here are some of the top benefits:

1. Grow Your Audience

Demographic lookalikes that use your customer data as a seed for modeling are a powerful tool to grow your advertising efforts while maintaining the quality of your audiences. This process is especially helpful in identifying high-value prospects, resulting in improved lead generation, reduced marketing spend, increased conversions, and better ROI.

2. Avoid Lookalike Lock-In

Platform-specific lookalike models cause lookalike lock-in, where the audiences are not usable on other digital channels. This limits advertisers’ ability to gain a unified understanding of their audience and apply insights beyond a single social or programmatic platform—resulting in higher costs, redundant learning, and reduced omnichannel impact.

A portable lookalike model helps avoid these issues by enabling consistent targeting across multiple channels.

3. Create Portable Audiences

Lookalikes created outside of a walled garden are portable, enabling brands to accurately and confidently target the right audiences, at scale, across multiple destinations. For example, social media lookalike audiences built on Deep Sync One can be targeted across Meta channels like Facebook and Instagram, as well as TikTok. 

This portability makes prospects significantly more likely to convert over time since the ads will reach them across disparate channels. In fact, brands with a well-executed omnichannel strategy will see a 9.5% yearly increase in annual revenue.

4. Customize Your Lookalikes

Lookalike audiences can be customized by size, making it easy to meet campaign requirements. Some lookalike modeling tools, including Deep Sync’s offline lookalike audience tool SnapShot, enable geographic and demographic prioritization for further customization.

5. Simplify Processes with AI and Machine Learning

New AI-powered lookalike audiences, like those available on Deep Sync One, simplify the audience-building process. So, brands don’t need to have in-house data experts to build these models.

6. Gain Audience Insights from Your Customer Data

Depending on how the lookalike model is created, the process can provide insights about the key demographics, interests, and behaviors of your most valuable customers. This makes it possible to better understand your customer base, inform future decisions, and see who is most likely to convert.

How to Get Started with Lookalike Modeling

The first step to getting started with lookalike modeling is to ensure your first-party data is clean, accurate, and ready to use. This means standardizing addresses, running National Change of Address (NCOA) updates, and removing duplicates or outdated records.

It’s also helpful to segment your first-party data to identify your best customers. That way, your lookalike audience can be built to model high-value customers rather than every contact in your database.  For example, excluding inactive users or those who haven’t made a purchase will improve audience quality. 

Once your data has been optimized, we recommend working with a data provider; their expertise can be incredibly helpful in building these high-performing audiences.

Build Social Media Lookalike Audiences on Deep Sync One

Lookalike Audiences on Deep Sync One are built using AI and machine learning approaches to generate demographically focused consumer profiles where matches can be made between a brand’s first-party data and our multi-dimensional, offline-to-online identity graph.

These custom on-demand audiences, informed by the intelligence within your current customer data, are extremely easy to create. Simply upload your data and let Deep Sync One do the rest! Once the audience is built, you can customize your audience size to meet your specific campaign requirements.

Simply make a free Deep Sync One account to get started. 

Build Direct Mail Lookalike Audiences with SnapShot

SnapShot on AccuLeads uses the intelligence of your data to quickly create a custom prospect audience of demographic lookalikes for direct mail campaigns. 

This automated service statistically profiles your best customers by matching your first-party data to a comprehensive database of U.S. consumers or businesses to create a customized market penetration analysis. The resulting report serves as the foundation to create fully customized lookalike audiences.

The audience can be further customized by selecting desired demographics like ZIP Codes, U.S. states, income brackets, and more. Additionally, email addresses and phone numbers can be added to expand touchpoints to other channels.

Learn more about SnapShot in this Product Sheet.

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Use Lookalike Models to Power Your Marketing Efforts

Ready to get started? Contact us today and one of our data experts can help you build the perfect lookalike model for your marketing campaigns.

The post Lookalike Modeling: How to Get Started appeared first on Deep Sync.

4 Advantages of Customizable Cloud-Based Tech for Nonprofits 24 Feb 2025, 4:02 pm

Large nonprofits have extensive, complex data collection and management needs. From gathering and analyzing vast quantities of first-party data to keeping supporter information simultaneously secure and accessible, nonprofits with multiple branches need technical solutions tailored to their needs.

Nonprofits of this size should consider turning to customizable, cloud-based platforms like Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud. While these software solutions are an investment, they can provide unmatched support for streamlining administrative tasks and effectively using data.

Whether your nonprofit plans to use Salesforce or another customizable solution, this guide will explain the benefits of these highly customizable nonprofit management platforms.

1. Scalability

Customized software grows as your nonprofit does. As long as you update your platforms, your tools are infinitely scalable. A few ways your software can scale include:

• Integrations. Many customizable platforms like Salesforce have a wide range of integrations, allowing you to add new features to your platform as needed and enjoy data synchronization. These integrations improve your operations by preventing data silos and reducing the need to toggle between platforms.
• Expansive data storage. The extensive storage that cloud-based platforms provide allows nonprofits to collect data without fear of reaching record limits. Expand your data with appends, collection strategies, and AI-driven analytics to better understand your constituents.
• Continuous updates. Ensure your software currently receives support from its developer. While you can still use tools with maintenance support but no updates, they are unlikely to scale and support your nonprofit as effectively as a product that remains a vendor’s current priority. For instance, Fíonta’s guide to Salesforce for Nonprofits emphasizes how Nonprofit Cloud receives three updates per year to expand its features, whereas Nonprofit Success Pack is no longer actively being upgraded.

When investing in software, choose platforms that give your nonprofit room to grow. Nonprofits that use limited solutions will eventually need to change platforms, requiring data migration and retraining. In contrast, software that can scale with your nonprofit will always serve your needs and can be updated to acquire new features as required.

2. Strong security standards

Customizable, cloud-based software platforms typically maintain high security standards. While you should never assume a specific vendor is secure without doing research, trusted providers in the space, such as Salesforce, are reputable for a reason.

Look for platforms with cybersecurity measures, such as:

• Multi-factor authentication
• Controlled permissions
• Password vaults
• Automatic removal of terminated team members
• Restricted IP access
• Activity checks

These practices protect your nonprofit’s information while also allowing you to take advantage of cloud-based tools that let your team work from anywhere.

eCardWidget’s guide to hybrid workplaces recommends investing in appropriately secure software and having employees complete cybersecurity training so they take proper precautions as part of the software implementation process. After all, while security software can circumvent most human error—such as automatic logouts to prevent unverified users—data breaches due to social engineering and stolen equipment still happen regularly.

3. Enhanced data analysis capabilities

Nonprofits with extensive databases know that analysis is not as simple as looking at a few spreadsheets. Especially when it comes to large amounts of data, data analysis is a multi-step process that cloud-based data management software like Databricks and Snowflake can help you with, including the following tasks:

• Collection. Your software can help gather data from sources like surveys and donation transactions and upload it automatically to the correct donor records. For example, the event management component of your software might record which supporters bought tickets to your latest community event and note this in their profiles.
• Storage. Data must be maintained long-term. Your database should include detailed profiles for donors, volunteers, sponsors, and constituents with custom entry fields corresponding to your unique data collection needs.
• Organization. Software with tagging systems, segmenting tools, and searchable databases makes organizing and finding the data you need easy.
• Cleaning. Some software solutions come with or can integrate with data hygiene tools. For example, your platform might have a plugin that identifies duplicate donor profiles and lets you decide whether to delete, merge, or maintain separate profiles.
• Analysis. Look for a platform that comes with pre-built reports for common needs and allows for custom report creation. Additionally, assess software for its use of AI-powered analysis. Some software will provide helpful AI tools that can perform predictive analytics.

The better your software manages your data, the easier analysis will be. By maintaining a centralized platform, you can better feed your data through your analytics process and obtain actionable insights.

4. Extensive adaptability

Nonprofit organizations often opt for customizable software because their specific requirements are not fully met by existing out-of-the-box solutions available in the market. These organizations have distinct missions and workflows, necessitating tailored features and functionalities that adapt to their individual operational challenges. By choosing customizable software, nonprofits can ensure that the technology aligns perfectly with their goals, allowing them to serve their communities more effectively.

For example, you might have unique administrative processes that require maintaining separate databases for multiple chapters of your nonprofit, or you may need a custom middleware solution to connect your software with a third-party platform.

If your nonprofit has unique needs, investing in a platform a developer can fully customize may be necessary. When assessing technical consultants, consider their:

• Area of expertise. Developers should provide details on what types of software they commonly work with. For example, if you need assistance setting up your Salesforce instance, you should work with a certified Salesforce partner rather than a consultant specializing in Blackbaud products.
• Ongoing support. Consider if you may have additional software-related needs after your initial customization. For instance, you may need additional support for training new team members or look for a partner that provides data management and marketing services.
• Timeline. Fully customizing a new software platform is an extensive process that may take several months. Speak with consultants about timelines and budget needs to ensure you are working with a partner who will complete your project promptly without overpromising results.

Working with a developer is also an opportunity to learn more about your software. These professionals work with a wide range of nonprofits, all with unique needs. As such, they can assess your software and identify opportunities to improve your processes with custom development.

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Customizable, cloud-based software can transform nonprofits’ operations for the better. From improved scalability to reliable flexibility, these solutions can adapt to your organization’s needs with the right investment. Assess if your nonprofit is a good candidate for this type of software and start researching top vendors.

The post 4 Advantages of Customizable Cloud-Based Tech for Nonprofits appeared first on Deep Sync.

Digital Advertising for Upcoming Political Campaigns: Onboarding Tips for Agencies 19 Feb 2025, 7:46 pm

For political agencies, every second counts. As advertising ramps up for the upcoming special elections in 2025 and the 2026 midterms, tight campaign timelines demand rapid execution; waiting days to activate voter lists is far from ideal.

Traditional onboarding methods can be slow and inefficient, and agencies need a better way to quickly and effectively onboard voter lists to The Trade Desk. That’s where Enhanced Onboarding on Deep Sync One can help.

This streamlined, self-service solution improves match rates and enables agencies to activate voter audiences on The Trade Desk—often within hours. With enhanced speed and accuracy, political advertisers can maximize reach, execute campaigns more quickly, and improve ROI.

In this guide, we’ll cover the challenges agencies face with traditional onboarding and activation, a solution to improve this process, and the benefits of Enhanced Onboarding.

The Challenge: Onboarding and Activating Audiences

One of our clients, a full-service political advertising and public affairs agency, sought a streamlined process to onboard files for their one-to-one advertising initiatives. They had experience with other popular onboarding solutions, including direct ingestion into ad platforms, but hadn’t found the right blend of efficiency and effectiveness.

Another client, a full-service digital agency serving some of the biggest names in politics, sought a fast and reliable way to activate their clients’ voter lists. They had experience with other popular onboarding solutions, but none offered the speed necessary for their clients’ most time-sensitive campaigns. 

The Solution: Enhanced Onboarding for Political Advertising Agencies

For both clients, we proposed Enhanced Onboarding. This simple, self-service activation solution within the Deep Sync One audience-building platform matches and onboards new names in hours, even for lists of millions. In addition to the benefit of accelerated delivery times, Enhanced Onboarding increases match rates to key programmatic and social destinations, including The Trade Desk.

While average match rates in the industry hover between 30% and 50%, The Trade Desk offers a better match rate—over 56%—due to the company’s use of UIDs. Deep Sync’s Enhanced Onboarding to The Trade Desk can raise these match rates by an additional 25% on average.

How does Enhanced Onboarding to The Trade Desk work?

Enhanced Onboarding ingests first-party datasets and utilizes Deep Sync’s robust identity graph to match customer data. A series of user-defined identifiers enables Deep Sync to search for and identify consumers within the graph. 

The inclusion of online and offline identifiers, including UID2s, enhances the outcome of onboarding results with increased match rates. In most cases, audiences can be enabled on The Trade Desk and other key programmatic and social platforms within 24 hours, if not sooner.

The Results: An Improved Ability to Reach Voters

After making an account on the Deep Sync One platform, our client experienced a simple and quick uploading process. They were able to view their initial match rate, as well as how many households matched their DSP. 

Similarly, our other agency client was able to upload their clients’ voter files. They experienced a quick turnaround time and impressive match rates, plus a significant increase in reach for their clients with the use of Enhanced Onboarding’s household expansion capability.

With household expansion, additional records from the matched individual’s household are added to the overall audience. 

7 Benefits of Enhanced Onboarding for Political Marketing

The 2025 special elections and 2026 midterms are quickly approaching. Whether your client’s goal is to improve candidates’ turnout on election day or encourage voters to support ballot initiatives, here are 7 ways that Enhanced Onboarding can contribute to successful campaigns and improve your political advertising services. 

1. Simple, Transparent Process

Enhanced Onboarding is a self-service solution that can be accessed immediately upon creation of a Deep Sync One account. The contract process is streamlined; users need only agree to Deep Sync’s Terms & Conditions in the Deep Sync One platform.

2. Competitive Pricing

Pricing is based on a cost-per-thousand model, and volume-based discounts are available. There are no platform access fees, subscriptions, or monthly spend requirements. Users pay only for records (based on input, not matches or output) that are active in The Trade Desk in a given month. Records can be deactivated within the platform at any time.

3. Deterministic Matching

Ingested data is matched deterministically to Deep Sync’s identity graph, which includes UID2s. Our identity graph is built from the ground up on a framework of direct mail-grade name and postal address information linked to online identifiers where shared personal information is present.

4. Relevant Scaling

Deep Sync matches exclusively to real-world individuals and households to ensure the highest fidelity when delivering audiences to The Trade Desk. We scale based on UID2s, which reduces instances of unusable matches and eliminates waste.

5. Accelerated Delivery Times

While other services take days to ingest and process client data, Enhanced Onboarding frequently delivers audiences to The Trade Desk in less than an hour from the time of submission. 

6. Individual- and Household-Level Matching

Control the precision of Enhanced Onboarding by toggling between the individual- and household-level matching options. While individual-level matching is more precise, household-level matching extends your reach to other members of the household, ultimately increasing your overall match rates. 

7. Add Greater Focus to Your Campaigns with Customer Segmentation

Power highly relevant messaging by creating customer segments prior to onboarding voter lists. Our customer segmentation feature enables you to achieve your targeting goals through the application of Deep Sync’s demographic and interest data attributes. These attributes serve as filters to identify and group select members of your target audience. Multiple segments can be created from a single voter file. 

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Improve Your Digital Strategy with Deep Sync

As we head toward the 2025 special elections and the 2026 midterms, improving your digital strategy will ensure your campaigns are election-ready. Begin today with Deep Sync’s Enhanced Onboarding and experience an average match rate boost of 25%. Log in to Deep Sync One to upload your file. 

Interested in a demonstration? Contact us to schedule your one-on-one session and learn how Deep Sync One can improve your online advertising.

Want more resources?

• Learn more about our Enhanced Onboarding Solution Powered by UID2 in this blog post.
• See more results of Enhanced Onboarding of digital advertising for political agencies in these case studies: Digital Political Agency Tackles Tight Timelines with a Unique Onboarding Solution and Political Agency Discovers an On-Demand Solution to Quickly Activate Client Data

The post Digital Advertising for Upcoming Political Campaigns: Onboarding Tips for Agencies appeared first on Deep Sync.

2025 Data and Fundraising Trends for Nonprofits 14 Feb 2025, 8:09 pm

For nonprofits today, fundraising can feel like an uphill battle. Between rising postal costs, donor fatigue, and an increasingly crowded digital landscape—it’s harder than ever to break through the noise and connect with donors. Without a strategic, data-driven approach, nonprofits risk missing key opportunities to engage donors. 

The good news? Data and technology are transforming nonprofit fundraising. In NonProfit PRO’s “40 Nonprofit Trends for 2025” resource, our experts shared key insights on how nonprofits can thrive in 2025 and beyond. 

Fundraising Trends for the Nonprofit Sector

For nonprofit organizations, finding ways to engage in current fundraising trends can help improve donor communications. Here are some trends that our data experts are paying attention to this year:

A Return to Physical Mail

“What’s old is new again. Direct mail will be an extremely powerful fundraising method in 2025,” said Matt Austin, Deep Sync’s Sr. Senior Director of Sales. 

“Despite challenges like rising postal costs, 81% of brands expect to increase their direct mail budgets in 2025. Fundraisers should do the same. Done right, direct mail can cut through the digital clutter, deepen relationships with supporters, and achieve better ROI on your campaigns.” 

“Mail volume has decreased in recent years, so fundraising appeals now face less competition in donors’ mailboxes. This gives nonprofits an opportunity to stand out by delivering personalized, tangible messages that resonate with donors.”

“That doesn’t mean that fundraisers should abandon digital channels. Instead, direct mail should complement digital campaigns as part of an omnichannel strategy. Integrating direct mail with digital channels helps to reach supporters across multiple touch points, boosting engagement and donations.” —  Matt Austin, Senior Director of Sales, Deep Sync

Increase Touch Points with Multichannel Communications

“Increasing the number of touch points with multichannel communications will be an effective strategy for 2025. It’s no longer enough to rely on just one method; create touchpoints with donors across email, direct mail, text, digital ads, and more. By meeting them where they are, you create a cohesive experience that keeps your mission top of mind,” said Jennifer Cole, AlumniFinder’s Director of Sales

“Another great fundraising tactic is to overlay your top revenue-producing direct mail appeal(s) with a digital component. For example, consider sending personalized digital targeted ads to the households that will receive the direct mail appeal two weeks prior to the mail drop. The digital ads will begin warming up the recipients about all the great things your nonprofit is doing, or looking to do, with their help.”

“This can help build brand awareness and momentum that can help sway the recipient to take action. Increasing the number of touchpoints makes supporters more likely to respond. A multichannel strategy builds brand awareness and creates momentum that can lead to greater impact.” —  Jennifer Cole, Director of Sales, AlumniFinder (a Deep Sync brand)

Use Technology and Data Analytics to Drive Charitable Giving

The key to nonprofits’ success in 2025 will be in their use of data and new technology. Here are some suggestions from our team:

Use Online Prospect Research Tools

“In 2025, one of the most valuable technologies nonprofits should embrace is online prospect research tools. Maintaining clean, up-to-date donor data is crucial for building effective campaigns. Online prospect research tools allow nonprofits to deepen their understanding of supporters by providing access to detailed demographic, wealth, and behavioral insights. This information helps organizations segment their audiences, personalize outreach, and prioritize efforts where they’ll have the greatest impact,” said Jon McMahan, AlumniFinder’s Senior Account Director.

“With online prospect research tools, nonprofits can identify potential donors, better understand existing supporters, and ensure their data stays accurate over time. It’s about creating a stronger foundation for all your engagement efforts, whether through direct mail, digital campaigns, or events.”

“As we look ahead, technology like this will continue to reshape the way nonprofits connect with their supporters. Embracing these tools can help you stay ahead of the curve and make smarter, more informed decisions for your organization.” —  Jon McMahan, Senior Account Director, AlumniFinder (a Deep Sync brand)

Leverage Predictive Analytics for Personalized Appeals

“The ability to predict and respond to donor behaviors is key to building lasting relationships and converting one-time donors to recurring supporters. Predictive analytics can help nonprofits have more effective donor outreach by reaching donors with the propensity to give and an affinity for their cause,” said Matt Austin, Deep Sync’s Sr. Senior Director of Sales.

“By leveraging predictive analytics, nonprofits can optimize donor outreach, allocate resources effectively, and ensure every interaction strengthens donor loyalty and maximizes support for their mission. Analyzing past behavior can also help nonprofits tailor communications to align with individual donor preferences and forecast future donations.”

“As donors continue to expect meaningful connections and proof that their contributions make a tangible impact, nonprofits that can deliver these personalized appeals will be more successful.” —  Matt Austin, Senior Director of Sales, Deep Sync

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Donor Behavior in 2025: Our Best Advice

As you continue to try to hit your fundraising goals this year, here are our three best recommendations:

• Share a consistent message across multiple channels, including direct mail.
• Use online prospect research tools, like AlumniFinder Online, to improve your outreach.
• Leverage predictive analytics to optimize your campaigns.

For the full list of 2025 Data and Fundraising Trends for Nonprofits, download NonProfit PRO’s resource.

The post 2025 Data and Fundraising Trends for Nonprofits appeared first on Deep Sync.

Google Customer Match: How to Leverage Your Customer Data 12 Feb 2025, 8:09 pm

Advertisers have long struggled to use first-party customer data to create highly targeted advertising campaigns. However, due to increased privacy restrictions, the decline of third-party cookies, and fragmented customer journeys across multiple devices, traditional targeting methods aren’t as effective as they used to be. In fact, 56% of advertising decision-makers report facing limitations in audience targeting in the current landscape.

Google Customer Match can help brands and agencies leverage their first-party data to create highly targeted campaigns that accurately reach existing customers, re-engage past buyers, and identify new prospects. In this guide, we’ll cover how Customer Match works and how it can help advertisers achieve more efficient return on ad spend (ROAS), higher engagement, and better overall campaign performance.

What is Google Customer Match?

Google Customer Match is a tool that enables advertisers to reach and re-engage customers across Google platforms, including Google Ads and Google DV360. This enables advertising on a variety of products, such as Gmail, Search, YouTube, and more.

Unlike Google’s third-party cookies, Customer Match uses brands’ first-party data. This makes it a more privacy-safe, future-proof solution for personalized advertising and audience retention.

How Does Customer Match Work?

To leverage Customer Match, advertisers begin by uploading their first-party data. This can be in the form of a customer list or data file that contains mailing addresses, email addresses, or phone numbers. Google then matches the customer data to Google users across its platforms.

This process enables advertisers to create or update campaigns to reach customers from their uploaded data file that Google has identified as Google users. So when those customers are signed into their Google account, they’ll be served advertisements.

Benefits of Using Google Customer Match

With Customer Match, marketing becomes more effective; advertisers can experience increased campaign effectiveness, conversion rates, and return on ad spend. And with more accurate targeting, it’s easier to reach more of your existing customers. 

Here are some benefits of using Customer Match: 

Cross-Device Targeting:

Since Customer Match is tied to Google accounts, it enables advertisers to target users across all of the devices where they sign into their accounts. So whether consumers are browsing the Shopping tab on desktop or scrolling YouTube on mobile, your ads will reach them.

Higher Conversion Rates:

Because Customer Match audiences use first-party data, they outperform cold audiences. The ability to accurately target past buyers and already-engaged users typically leads to higher click-through and conversion rates—making your campaigns more effective overall.

Fuel Smart Bidding:

By providing better audience signals, the Customer Match feature enhances Smart Bidding strategies to optimize ad delivery and maximize ROI.

Customer Match Use Cases

While all advertisers can benefit from Customer Match, here are a few use cases where this tool is especially helpful.

Seasonal Retargeting

Customer Match makes it easy to re-engage seasonal customers with targeted campaigns. By serving ads to last year’s holiday shoppers or users with an upcoming subscription renewal, brands can encourage customers to make another purchase.

Example: A fashion retailer may launch a springtime campaign to target past customers with ads for a new line of bathing suits if they have previously purchased one of the brand’s bathing suits.

Re-engage Cold Contacts

Many businesses struggle to re-engage lapsed customers. Because Customer Match enables improved targeting, you can ensure you’re reaching the right customers; this can help you convert “lost” customers to new opportunities.

Example: A software-as-a-service (SaaS) company can launch a campaign to target customers who have previously paid for a subscription or signed up for a free trial with an offer to re-subscribe.

Drive Repeat Purchases with Existing Customers

Target previous buyers with personalized ads to encourage repeat purchases. For example, engage current customers with promotional offers, cross-sell and upsell opportunities, or VIP customer rewards.

Example: A tech company may launch a campaign targeted to customers who have recently purchased a laptop to promote compatible headphones.

Enhanced Onboarding to Google Ads and Google DV360

Deep Sync is a Google Customer Match partner and can now support Google Ads and DV360 as destinations for Enhanced Onboarding. Enhanced Onboarding, also called first-party data onboarding, enhances customer data with relevant online and offline data including identifiers like email addresses, phone numbers, IP addresses, and Mobile Ad IDs. 

The more identifiers that flow to a downstream platform, the more likely the platform will be able to find a match. This solution helps expand addressability and boost match rates, enabling improved first-party data activation across Google’s ecosystem including Search, Display,  YouTube, and more.

Deep Sync’s Enhanced Onboarding, an alternative solution for first-party onboarding to Google Ads and Google DV360, is available on the Deep Sync One platform. This process works by ingesting first-party data from a customer data file and enhancing it with online and offline identifiers from Deep Sync’s robust identity graph to maximize match rates. Once a consumer record has been identified and enhanced, the data can be delivered to Google Ads and/or Google DV360 using the Google Customer Match Audience API within 24 hours.

One of the most significant benefits of Deep Sync One’s onboarding process is the data enhancement that we perform prior to delivering your file to the selected destination. This enhancement of your customer data aids in the matching process, which can lead to a higher percentage of matches identified through your desired destination.

Expand Your Reach with Household Matching

Control the precision of Enhanced Onboarding by toggling between the individual- and household-level matching options. While individual-level matching is more precise, household-level matching extends your reach to other members of the household—ultimately increasing your overall match rates. 

Segment Your Customer Match Lists for Better Results

Power highly relevant messaging by creating customer segments prior to onboarding your first-party data to the Google Search network and Google Display network. Our customer segmentation feature enables you to achieve audience targeting goals through the application of Deep Sync’s demographic and interest data attributes. These attributes serve as filters to identify and group select members of your audience. And, multiple segments can be created from a single customer file.

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How to Get Started: Leverage Customer Match with Deep Sync

To get started, register for Deep Sync One. On the login screen, select “Get Started.” Then, enter your email address and password. You’ll be prompted to add a credit card and select a destination. Both entries are optional at this stage; however, a credit card is required for billing purposes before Enhanced Onboarding can begin.

Instructions for establishing Google Ads and/or Google DV360 as your destination of choice are available in this User Guide.

Want to learn more about Enhanced Onboarding?

• Learn how Enhanced Onboarding works to boost first-party match rates in this blog post.
• Enhanced Onboarding is available for The Trade Desk. Learn more in this blog post.
• Download this product sheet for more information about Deep Sync’s Enhanced Onboarding.

The post Google Customer Match: How to Leverage Your Customer Data appeared first on Deep Sync.

Direct Mail in 2025: Statistics and Tips for Success 11 Feb 2025, 6:38 pm

Digital marketing has dominated the industry for years, but that doesn’t mean direct mail is dead! In 2025, overlooking the power of physical mail will be a costly mistake.

Direct mail continues to drive high engagement, strong conversion rates, and lasting brand recall—making it a crucial tool for acquisition, awareness, and retention. That’s why, even in today’s digital landscape, direct mail should be a key piece of your marketing mix.

2025 will be the year of direct mail! Here are some direct mail statistics and best practices to consider as you plan your next campaign. 

Direct Mail Statistics for 2025

Marketers are betting big on direct mail this year! 61% of marketers have increased direct mail investments in the last 12 months, likely because it can effectively cut through the digital clutter. And, this trend isn’t slowing down: 81% of brands plan to increase their direct mail budgets for 2025.

As competition for consumer attention grows, it’s important for brands to find ways to stand out from the crowd. With many consumers experiencing digital fatigue, businesses should turn to tangible, personalized mail to create lasting impressions and drive engagement.

Why are direct mail campaigns so valuable?

If you’re not leveraging direct mail in your marketing strategy, now is the time to start. Here are 3 reasons why direct mail marketing is a worthwhile investment in 2025:

1. Performance is Improving: 70% of marketers reported direct mail performance has improved over the last 12 months
2. Lower Mail Volume = More Attention: Postal rate increases caused a decline in mail volume, making it easier for marketing materials to stand out.
3. Response Rates are High: Direct mail has the highest ROI for individual media (161%) despite rising postal costs.

These direct mail statistics prove that direct mail is not only effective today but is poised to become even more impactful in the future.

Consumer Psychology: Why Direct Mail Advertising Works

For consumers, direct mail’s tangible nature engages the senses, captures attention for longer periods, and provides extended recall. Consumer sentiment surrounding direct mail is positive, and consumers seem to trust direct mail more than other channels.

Research shows that as a result of direct mail… 

• 57% visited the brand’s website
• 53% searched for that brand online
• 46% searched for online reviews
• 38% visited a physical location
• 36% made a purchase
• 28% visited another website
• 20% checked that brand’s social media.

These direct mail statistics show that direct mail is highly effective in driving consumer action!

Tips for Successful Direct Mail Marketing in 2025

Here are some of our best tips for successful direct mail marketing campaigns.

Tip #1: Personalization is Key

Consumers expect personalized experiences, and direct mail is no exception! 64% of consumers are more likely to engage with personalized messaging rather than generic marketing. Using data to personalize names and segment your list to include tailored offers provides a more customized approach—increasing response rates and strengthening customer relationships.

Tip #2: Include a Clear Call-to-Action (CTA)

When someone receives your direct mail piece, it’s important that they know what to do next. Make it easy for recipients by including a QR code, the URL to your website, or information about redeeming a special offer. Remember: Your CTA should be compelling, specific, and easy to follow.

Tip #3: Use Direct Mail to Complement Digital Campaigns

Increase your response rates by reaching the same audience through direct mail and digital channels. Using tools like QR codes and social media retargeting can help create a seamless omnichannel experience that drives conversions, boosts engagement, and improves direct mail ROI.

This approach is crucial as it empowers marketers to meet their audiences where they are, providing seamless experiences that drive consumers to act. This is accomplished by extending reach to a broader audience, consistent messaging that creates awareness, and a variety of touchpoints that make responding easy.

When direct mail and digital marketing channels are combined…

• 68% of marketers have experienced increased website visits
• Marketers see conversion rates of 40% 
• 60% of marketers have reported increased ROI

Effective omnichannel campaigns rely on high-quality data; it’s important to be able to reach the same, exact audience across physical and digital touchpoints. That’s where Deep Sync can help. Contact us to get started!

6 Benefits of Cross-Channel Data Activation

Experience increased campaign response rates by leveraging audiences that support cross-channel initiatives. Unlike traditional marketing, which tends to focus on independent channels and generally relies on separate datasets to power campaigns, cross-channel marketing places emphasis on the audience, promoting consistency across channels.

There are 6 key benefits of cross-channel data activation:

1. Reach more of your desired audience by leveraging multiple touchpoints.

By leveraging multiple touchpoints to share your brand’s message, you reach your audience where they are most comfortable. Incorporating email, programmatic, and/or social media advertising alongside your existing direct mail efforts creates additional opportunities for engagement where your audience is already spending time.

2. Enhance brand visibility with consistency across channels.

A consistent presence with familiar messaging across multiple channels reinforces brand awareness and enhances recall of your offerings. When your audience encounters your brand on a variety of platforms, it strengthens their perception and recognition of your brand and its value proposition.

3. Accommodate stages of the buyer journey with multiple channels.

Different channels are known to cater to consumers at different stages of the buying journey. For instance, social media is effective for brand awareness and engagement, while email marketing can nurture leads towards conversion. Using multiple channels enables you to tailor your messages and strategies accordingly.

4. Support retargeting initiatives that drive consumers to make a purchase.

Cross-channel audiences are ideal for retargeting initiatives that drive consumers toward making a purchase. For example, individuals who have engaged with direct mail can be retargeted through digital channels, reinforcing your brand’s message and encouraging them to take action.

5. Increase response rates by capturing attention across channels.

Consistent, personalized messaging across channels aids in capturing your audience’s attention. Consumers are more likely to interact with brands when they feel understood and valued; this can translate to increased engagement, email open rates, social media interactions, and website visits.

6. Optimize marketing performance by increasing conversion rates.

By optimizing marketing efforts based on data-driven insights, brands can experience reduced marketing costs by avoiding wasted impressions, increased revenue from higher conversion rates, and improved customer lifetime value by building stronger relationships.

Overall, a thoughtful combination of digital and direct mail outreach can boost direct mail response rates and return on investment (ROI).

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Reach Audiences with Deep Sync

Reaching your desired audience with the right message at the right time can prove difficult in today’s world of disparate datasets and fragmented channels. Doing so requires maximizing your first-party data and leveraging compliant, trustworthy third-party audiences.

Deep Sync’s best-in-class datasets and integrated offerings enable you to create an audience once and activate it across online and offline channels for impactful marketing that drives meaningful results. With information on 97% of U.S. consumers age 18 and older and more than 1,500 attributes across Consumer, B2B, Home, and Student datasets, here are some of Deep Sync’s data offerings:

Want more direct mail resources?

• Receiving direct mail pieces can evoke feelings of nostalgia and help cut through consumers’ growing digital fatigue. Learn more in this blog post: Direct Mail Nostalgia & Digital Fatigue
• Cross-channel data activation can boost the effectiveness of direct mail marketing by increasing reach and utilizing a variety of touchpoints. Learn more about the latest direct mail statistics and how adding digital channels to direct mail campaigns increases conversions in this Solution Sheet: Boost the Effectiveness of Direct Mail with Cross-Channel Data Activation
• Postal rate increases may pose a challenge for direct mail marketers, but data can help offset the cost. Learn how in this blog post: Navigating Postal Rate Increases with Data

The post Direct Mail in 2025: Statistics and Tips for Success appeared first on Deep Sync.

4 Strategies for Reaching Your Healthcare Audience 10 Feb 2025, 2:20 pm

Healthcare organizations must communicate with their audiences to ensure their services are at the top of patients’ minds when they need medical care. However, as a healthcare professional in an ever-changing communications landscape, you may not know how to reach your audience. Or, you might wonder, what are the best ways for me to connect with previous, current, and potential patients?

In this guide, we’ll answer that question by discussing the best strategies for reaching your healthcare organization’s audience. With a proper communications and marketing strategy, you’ll develop thorough processes for this key component of practice management.

The Foundation of Healthcare Marketing

For most for-profit or nonprofit organizations, marketing is a way to tell the greater community they have something worth paying attention to. Businesses try to generate excitement over their products and services to convince you to buy them, and nonprofits want to boost awareness of their cause and persuade you to donate.

What makes healthcare marketing and communications different? People already know their health is important. Instead of convincing your audience to pay attention to their health, your focus should be making healthcare more accessible and empowering patients to take their medical care into their own hands. There’s even a quantifiable scale that helps you measure patient engagement in healthcare—Patient Activation Measure (PAM).

Remember this concept when developing your strategy for reaching out to your healthcare audience and drafting messages to ensure your communications resonate.

1. Understand your target audience.

The key to successful patient outreach and marketing is to create messaging that resonates with your audience. To do that, you must understand who your audience is. Use your first-party data to determine which channels to focus on and what messaging to use.

Consider key details such as:

• Age and gender. Individuals of different ages and genders may have health concerns requiring different outreach and messaging. For example, you may send annual reminders to book gynecology appointments for female patients.
• Family size. Individuals with children also have healthcare concerns that differ from other patients. For instance, parents may appreciate reminders for needed vaccinations.
• Geographic location. Most patients live close to their medical organization’s facilities. However, double-check your data to explore how you can more effectively reach patients who live farther away.
• Income level. Income level may affect a patient’s access to healthcare services. For instance, high-income individuals may seek elective procedures or specialized care, whereas low-income individuals may be more concerned about affordable options and basic medical care.
• Communications preferences. Aside from the types of messages to send, you should also consider how to send them. Once you know your audience’s communication preferences, ensure patients read your messages by sending them through the channels your audience frequents.

If you lack key information about your target audience, conduct a data append to fill in any gaps. These additional details will also help you narrow your audience, develop more precise segments, and discover more effective forms of outreach.

2. Implement a patient portal.

One of the best ways to reach your audience and boost healthcare awareness is by implementing a patient portal for your healthcare organization and encouraging patients to use it. These tools usually provide the following capabilities:

• Appointment scheduling. Patient appointment scheduling features enable your audience to book appointments with providers conveniently through the online portal.
• Access to personal health information. Patients can access their healthcare records, test results, and other personal health information anytime.
• Two-way patient-provider communication. Through the portal, patients can send quick questions about their specific healthcare conditions or care to their providers, who can then respond.
• Billing and payment management. Make it easy for patients to pay their medical fees by offering online billing through the patient portal.
• Access to health education resources. Some patient portals allow healthcare organizations to upload and provide health education resources, empowering patients to learn more about their health.

Investing in practice management tools helps you reach out to your audience and stay connected, improving their healthcare outcomes and experience with your organization. A tool with an intuitive, user-friendly interface allows your audience to take charge of their health in a simple, convenient way. These features foster a strong community, creating a more connected medical and healthcare experience.

3. Offer telehealth.

Telehealth is a way for healthcare providers to offer medical services and consultations remotely. It provides more accessible healthcare to patients, as it’s available when patients can’t physically go to the clinic. Plus, it’s generally a more cost-effective option; telehealth usually costs less than attending an in-person appointment.

Offering telehealth empowers patients to take their healthcare more seriously and seek help, especially for minor issues such as prescription renewals or confusion over lab results. It gives patients another convenient avenue to communicate with your organization and improve their health outcomes.

According to PracticeSuite, many practice management software solutions also offer telehealth capabilities. Just ensure you invest in a solution that keeps patient data safe and adheres to healthcare data governance rules.

4. Optimize marketing channels to reach your audience.

After you’ve implemented key tools that empower patients to take their healthcare into their own hands and contact you, you can focus on ways you can reach your healthcare audience. In particular, optimize your marketing channels and messages to resonate with your patients.

Here are the common marketing channels healthcare organizations use to message their audience:

• Website. Your website should serve as an all-in-one information hub for your organization, containing key pages that provide all the details patients might want to know. Focus on a clean, accessible design that makes it easy for web visitors to read through your page and navigate where they want to go.
• Emails. Use the details you obtained through audience research to personalize the emails you send to your audience. Remind them of routine tests, vaccines, and other relevant events or activities. You can also remind them you’re there if they need care.
• Text messages. Due to their short character count, healthcare text messages are best suited for short reminders of upcoming appointments. If you want to reach patients with a longer message, you can include the link to the patient portal and ask them to log in to view the message.
• Social media. Like your website, social media can reach your entire community. Use this space to position your organization as a trusted healthcare provider by featuring top physicians, offering general healthcare tips, discussing your grateful patient program, and promoting upcoming events.

When communicating with patients, adhere to HIPAA rules and data regulations. Remember that emails and text messages aren’t considered secure forms of communication, as they aren’t encrypted.

Don’t include sensitive health information in these messages; instead, direct the patient to their health portal where you can provide those details. For example, your message might say: “You have new test results from your provider. Please click the link below to log in to your healthcare portal and view the results.”

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Although outreach and marketing for healthcare organizations can be more complicated than for other businesses, they’re still a key part of business operations. You want patients to consider you a trustworthy healthcare partner so they feel reassured that their care is in capable hands. Follow an outreach strategy reinforcing that feeling and invest in tools that keep their data safe and private.

The post 4 Strategies for Reaching Your Healthcare Audience appeared first on Deep Sync.