Telco data is an untapped source of customer information
Brands often turn to sources like Google and Facebook to find information about consumers, but a new report suggests that telecom carriers could be a valuable source of customer data.
The study of over 300 brands in the US, UK and France by Ovum for mobile technology company Synchronoss Technologies finds that 67 percent of brands consider telecoms operators to be a better original source of data insights than Google, Apple and Samsung.
Google (59 percent) and Facebook (52 percent) remain the dominant brand partners for data insights and digital advertising. 26 percent of brands say they do currently partner with telcos that specialize in digital advertising. However, 48 percent of brands are not aware of telecom operators' ability to even offer these insights -- suggesting that many have been slow to see the opportunity to monetize these core assets.
"We've known for years that operators are sitting on a gold mine of contextual customer data. Studies have estimated the market to be worth potentially billions of dollars. But no one's looked at this from the brand’s perspective -- and it's good news for telcos," says Ted Woodbery, VP Comms and Media Marketing at Synchronoss. "More than two thirds (67 percent) of brands surveyed value it above everything but social network data. Of those brands that weren't previously aware that telco data existed, 92 percent are willing to explore commercial partnerships with operators once elucidated."
Of those brands that do currently know about or use telco data to underpin digital advertising, 64 percent say that it's of high quality and compelling. Yet, availability and awareness of this data remains a critical problem as most advertising agencies don't offer it. This is surprising given that half of the brands surveyed say that a lack of good quality, actionable customer data insights is the biggest barrier to their adoption of mobile advertising.
More information is available in the full report which you can find on the Synchronoss website.
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