A Guide To Identity Resolution Software

If you’ve seen the 2013 movie Identity Thief, you will know that the plot revolves around Sandy Patterson (Jason Bateman) whose identity is stolen by an unnamed woman. When the identity thief makes a salon appointment using the stolen credit card, Sandy gets a phone call to notify him of his upcoming visit. Naturally, Sandy was confused as heck!

Now, had the salon used any of the various personalization solutions available today, they would have verified the customer’s identity and realized that Sandy had never made an appointment with them before. They would have reached out to him with a discount code instead and hopefully turned him into a regular customer. However, the salon did not bother to personalize his experience – not that it would have mattered to Sandy!

Every digital interaction reveals important insights into the individual. Businesses want to leverage these as much as possible. If you are one of them, read on to know what Identity Resolution Software is, how it works, its history, benefits and future!
 

Understanding Identity Resolution Software

Have you ever received a cold call or email promoting a product that you have no interest in? Sure, you have! Marketers sometimes rely on spreading awareness about their product/ service hoping that at least a small percentage of prospects will be interested. This is called push marketing, where exposing a large number of individuals to the product is the goal. Yet, intelligent marketers understand the value of personalized outreach.

For example, if someone browses online looking at leather shoes, a business selling handcrafted leather shoes would readily use this information to target them with their product. Finding a consumer already interested in buying your product or service can save time, money and effort. #SmartWorkOverHardWork

Identity Resolution Software can assist in identifying each customer's distinct digital identity so marketers can create highly relevant and tailored campaigns. However, the majority of customers engage with brands across a variety of channels, including social media. To completely identify and understand the behavior of various audiences, marketers must combine this fragmented data. This tool assists in collecting and organizing customer data from all business sources. Utilizing various identifiers, information collected across devices, online channels, user IDs, cookie data, social media history, online purchases, etc., assists marketers in obtaining a 360-degree overview of the individual.

Interesting, right? Read on to understand how Identity Resolution Software came about!
 

Evolution And Origins Of Identity Resolution Software

Marketing has gone through massive transformations over the years. The changes in consumer behavior and market competition necessitated that businesses and marketers change their tactics as well. This also led to the development of various software, including Identity Resolution Software. Here’s how:

In the 16^th and 17^th centuries, marketing was aimed at people going to the market to buy products or avail services. Marketers with discounted rates and persuasive advertising won the race.

Then in the 18^th century, modern mass marketing techniques such as direct mail, traveling salespeople and catalogs were invented by English entrepreneur Josiah Wedgewood. At the same time, Matthew Boulton, the partner of the Scottish inventor James Watt, started practicing planned obsolescence and recognized the value of "celebrity marketing."

In the 19^th century, the idea of branding became popular. Businesses creating high-quality goods and services while offering tailored customer support became known as "brands." As a result, some businesses saw a boost in their reputation and profit margins.

The term “digital marketing” first appeared in the late 1990s. By then, due to the unexpected increase in market competition, businesses were vying for the loyalty and attention of customers. Businesses had to connect with consumers through genuine interactions or lose out to rivals who did. Identity Resolution was developed as a result of this.

With the advent of devices able to access digital media (something you call the Internet!) in the 21^st century, online marketing advanced. Marketers could now build a single customer profile based on CRM data, web browser history, app searches, social media interactions, etc. This allowed marketers to identify customers across devices, channels and platforms to build personalized campaigns. 

Yet, the burning question remains: how does it all work?
 

How Does Identity Resolution Software Work?

 
Marketers require an identity graph to resolve customer identity. We hear you asking, "What the heck is that?"

It is a customer profile that contains all known identifiers linked to a specific person. The identity graph is created using several personal identifiers, including email addresses, physical addresses, mobile numbers, device IDs, account usernames, customer IDs, etc. These identifiers are gathered and linked to a customer profile in the identity graph. Additionally, information from your Customer Data Platform, CRM platform and other sources can also be integrated.

As your brand expands its digital footprint to a broader audience, new customer profiles are created in the identity graph. When a profile in the identity graph is connected to the business’s channels, customers can be quickly and continuously recognized. This helps marketers gain a better understanding of their audiences.

Yet, that is not all.
 

Benefits Of Identity Resolution Software

 
Identity Resolution Software combines information from several sources to help marketers create thorough customer profiles. These profiles can help them understand how different consumers behave across channels, leading to improved website personalization, targeted advertising, email remarketing and other marketing strategies. You can bet this leads to a plethora of benefits:
 

• Improved customer database management as the tool provides foundational accuracy for all customer-related data.

• Eliminates the risks of poor data management and identity theft (remember what happened to Sandy?).

• Improves compliance of sensitive customer data.

• Links both online and offline customer profiles to enable a better understanding of the customer journey.

• Reduces manual efforts needed to link siloed customer databases across the enterprise.

• Enhances targeting and segmentation of prospects, which leads to more accurate and personalized outreach.

At the end of the movie Identity Thief, Diana, the identity thief, turns herself in. It was an emotional moment that no one (including Sandy!) was prepared for. Yet, as a marketer, you can definitely prepare yourself for the future of Identity Resolution Software – read on!
 

What’s The Future Of Identity Resolution Software?

One thing won't change: businesses will still focus on providing more relevant and tailored experiences to customers.

With the help of 5G integrations, marketers will be able to track micro-moments through the buying process in real time. Additionally, IoT device adoption among consumers is rising. Brands will find it more difficult to track and use data as a result of the additional data and the variety of devices on which it is distributed. Identity resolution tools will therefore need to evolve and keep pace with this change.

Additionally, the issue of data privacy will be emphasized. Consumers are becoming more conscious of how businesses own and leverage their data for identity resolution. Thus, improved data governance and security capabilities are anticipated to enhance Identity Resolution Software in the future. Stay tuned for better personalization!
 

It’s A Wrap!

 
Marketers are aware that customers are interacting with their brands through a variety of channels, devices and mediums while leaving behind various identifiers. They are switching back and forth among various devices and touchpoints. Yes, there are complex data tangles everywhere! It is essential to leverage this data by organizing it and making it readily available to marketers. Hence, they require Identity Resolution Software to gather, manage and analyze crucial consumer identifiers and develop personalized outreach campaigns. We believe this tool can increase sales margins for every marketing team out there!