I don’t think it’s news to anyone that there is more readily-available audience data than ever before.
“From the dawn of civilization until 2003, humankind generated five exabytes of data. Now we produce five exabytes every two days… and the pace is accelerating.” – Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman, Google
In fact, according to Rick Smolan and Jennifer Erwitt in the book, The Human Face of Big Data, the average person today processes more data in a single day than a person in the 1500s did in an entire lifetime. In the world of advertising, this data comes from many sources, including online browsing behavior and countless offline sources.
Recently, I renewed my auto policy with a nationally-recognized auto insurance provider. During this process, they informed me that that I would be eligible for a significant discount if I were willing to place a small device on my car that measured my driving habits. The details would then be viewable on a secure website that published analytics comparing my driving patterns to other drivers in their insurance network.
Now, imagine how much information is flowing to this insurance provider. They know who I am and what I drive including the make, model and year. They know where I live, how fast I accelerate, how hard I am on my brakes and more. This data certainly has value to the insurance company in pricing my future policy. How valuable might this data be to a local auto mechanic specializing in brakes or to a local restaurant that I pass a dozen times a week?
The truth is that there are several reasons why data will increase in value to marketers as 2014 develops.
The promise of real-time bidding has always been that advertisers could leverage data at the moment of impression to determine if they do or do not want to deliver an ad. Advertisers could determine their bid price and even manipulate the content of their advertisement.
In the early days of RTB, inventory was limited; however, in 2014, nothing could be further from the truth. According to eMarketer, RTB inventory will account for 29% of all digital display spending by 2017. Publishers continue to move available inventory to RTB to capitalize on significant demand-side growth.
Facebook’s entry into RTB with FBX and Twitter’s acquisition of MoPub are great signs of things to come. With more inventory available to demand-side sources, the value of audience data gets a boost.
To quote a recent article by FBX creator Antonia Garcia, “Mobile Data Sucks Right Now.” It turns out that mobile devices and cookies are not the best of friends. Until now, targeting against audience data in mobile with any accuracy has been limited to first-party data collected and utilized by mobile apps. There are several reasons why this will change.
One development that will be a game-changer in 2014 is the expansion and improvement cross-device matching. There are literally mountains of interest- and intent-based data associated with user IDs or cookies known to a desktop or laptop. The ability to identify and target the same user on their mobile device based on their established data profile will significantly increase the value of data.
Anyone who has ever been exposed to PPC search marketing understands the value of unstructured data. In the world of search, a marketer can upload hundreds of keyword combinations and bid, report and optimize at the individual keyword level.
For years, display has leveraged data by grouping users into segments, a.k.a. channels, a.k.a. taxonomies. If an auto dealer wanted to target users who are in a “used auto intender” segment, they’d find themselves bidding and optimizing to users based on factors not associated with the data since the originating audience signal is locked away in an opaque segment.
In 2014, marketers will find new levels of success targeting against 1st party and 3rd-party-audience data leveraging technology that allows them to replicate the signal-level bidding and optimization that search marketers have long since perfected.
One look at the evolution of data brokers in our space tells us that, ultimately, unstructured data-enabled RTB is the Holy Grail. The data brokers who once had 10,000 segments now have 30,000 segments. The groupings get refined and sliced thinner and thinner. As display tech evolves to more closely resemble search, we will see the value of audience data continue to increase.
In my opinion, the story in 2014 has very little to do with who has more data or who has unique data. The story will be the steps taken by programmatic solutions to extract maximum value of the audience data on hand. Cheers to new ground being broken and to the continued success of online advertising pioneers.
James Moore is the Chief Revenue Officer for Simpli.fi, a company recognized as the authority in search retargeting. Since the mid 90’s James has been involved in leading companies who are paving new paths in digital space.	
US Small and Middle Market Exporters Expect International Sales Will Continue to Grow, According to American Express Grow Global Survey | Markets Insider
U.S. small and middle market enterprises (SMEs) who export are optimistic about their global sales potential, according to the 2018 American Express Grow Global Survey. The third annual survey of over 500 domestically-based companies selling outside of the U.S. found that nine out of ten (90%) see international markets as a major growth opportunity. Exporters expect short- and long-term increases: 75% predict that the percentage of their company’s total revenue from exported goods or services will increase over the next 12 months and 76% expect growth over the next five years. These exporters are also optimistic about forecasting future revenues, with 30% anticipating that the revenue their company derives from exports will increase by more than 50% over the next five years, up from only 18% who projected this level of increase in 2017.
While U.S. SMEs who export are optimistic about international opportunities, more than two thirds (71%) said that changing global economics are a significant challenge. Exporters expressed caution due to uncertainty around trade agreements (39%) and U.S. trade policies (38%). Over the last 12 months, many exporters changed their exporting strategy due to trade agreements and policies (32%) as well as political instability (28%).
"Exporting is often seen as a challenging path to growth, but our research finds that small and mid-sized companies that begin exporting generally see the strategy quickly become a substantial part of their business and provide secondary benefits in recruitment and domestic operations,” said Brendan Walsh, Executive Vice President in the Global Commercial Services division at American Express. "We continue to see optimism and success among U.S. exporters, and we encourage SMEs to consider international sales by doing their due diligence about the potential range of opportunities.”
Changing global economics impact opportunities around the world. When asked which region offered the greatest opportunity over the next five years, a quarter (25%) of exporters said North America (Canada/Mexico), down from 34% in 2017 and 2016. Now North America is virtually tied with Asia (26%) and Europe (25%) as the top regions for international growth opportunities. Areas that experienced increased optimism were the Middle East (10%, up from 5% in 2017) and Oceania (5%, up from 1% in 2017).
More than three quarters (78%) said exporting became a substantial part of their business within three years or less of selling globally, and a major reason is online technologies have helped companies find new international markets – especially receiving inbound requests through their website. More than four in ten (45%) identified new international markets to target based on their company’s website traffic, and 30% said they are currently doing business in international markets because a customer found their product online. When exporters’ website traffic alerts them to a new market opportunity, the next steps they take include further researching the market (60%), exploring the market for partners (59%) and traveling to the market itself (55%).
Additionally, respondents are adjusting their exporting strategies due to emerging technology trends in the industry. Four in ten (43%) said technology that makes exporting easier to scale has changed their strategy in the last 12 months. The technologies most likely to have a significant impact on their plans to sell internationally include fintech (36%), artificial intelligence (35%) and the internet of things (35%). Interestingly, the adoption of supply chain technology (e.g., machine learning, robotics, etc.) divides companies: 34% said that the adoption of this technology will lead their company to increase efforts in international trade, while 31% said it will lead them to be more cautious.
As U.S. exporters remain optimistic on revenue growth through international business, companies also often experience positive impacts on their domestic operation as a result of exporting. A strong majority of SME exporters agree that selling to countries outside of the U.S. has led their company to implement changes to the products or services that they offer (83%) and make adjustments (when necessary) to the way they market to domestic customers (84%). A significant amount of exporters report that selling internationally also impacts domestic hiring, in terms of attracting and retaining new talent (85%).
While technological advances help companies find new global markets and make them more accessible, companies rely on additional resources to help them grow their international business. Small and mid-sized companies said they most often learn about international markets where they do business by networking (45%), seeking out resources in markets of interest such as employees and distributors (43%), joining trade and business associations (39%) and reviewing the online materials of potential trade partners and customers (38%). Additionally, nearly one-third tap the resources of government agencies (30%) like the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Export Assistance Centers (USEACs) and the U.S. Small Business Administration (27%), as well as corporate training programs (31%), such as American Express Grow GlobalSM. Through the Grow Global program, American Express offers exporting advice and best practices to help SMEs.
The American Express Grow Global program, launched in 2015, brings together global trade experts, exporting officials and business leaders to provide valuable resources for U.S small and middle market companies to sell internationally. The program includes free events and online resources that connect owners and decision makers with exporting officials and international buyers. Resource guides cover topics including finding profitable international clients, how to navigate existing government and private resources and leveraging marketing and sales for international growth.
Research findings are based on a survey conducted by Morar HPI fielded across the US July 17th - 19th, 2018. The survey queried 528 full-time employees with decision making authority at companies ranging in size from $250,000 to less than $1 billion in annual revenues, who report that a portion of their company’s annual revenue is currently derived from the sale of goods or services outside of the United States. Results of any survey are subject to sampling variation. The survey has a margin of error of +/- 4.3% at the 95% level of confidence for the overall sample.
Studies referenced in 2017 and 2016 were provided by Teneo Strategy using the same methodology as this 2018 survey.