What is an ID Graph?

Identity Graph (also known as Device Graph, IDGraph)

An Identity Graph (ID Graph) is a centralized repository or database that stores all customer identifiers.  These identifiers include usernames,  email, phone, mobile ID or “MAID” (IDFA for iOS or AAID for Google Android).  You could have the same customer in your eCommerce software, CRM, email marketing tool and ad platform. An ID Graph will process the data from all tools and stitch it in one profile.

Identity Resolution
Matching multiple IDs and linking customer records from disparate sources is called Identity Resolution.   For marketers focused on People-Based Marketing or B2B Account Based Marketing, resolving the multiple touch points enables you to reach your target audience effectively.

Most consumers share devices and accounts like streaming services, Apple iTunes or Google Play.   Since the entire family uses operates as an entity it makes sense to consolidate their purchasing power into household level marketing much the same way direct mail catalog companies did years ago.   Our Household Graph is an identity graph for targeting people at the household level for connected TV, programmatic and social media advertising.   For identifying users in a household, marketers can use device clustering; which is the process of grouping similar devices based on IP sharing history, browsing patterns, plus mobile app usage.

How do you build an Identity Graph?

The most important piece of technology required to build your own ID Graph is a data warehouse.   Managing and maintaining billions of consumer devices and records requires a lot of storage and processing power.   Graph databases are also a useful way to manage and visualize connections between identities.

Use Cases for Identity Graphs

Most advertisers and agencies attempt to gain a 360 view or single view of their customer across all channels.  People-Based Marketing relies on this exclusively.   Once your id graph is established you can use if for a variety of purposes.

• Target Marketing:  Increase Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) by only targeting the people you intend to.  Onboarding your CRM data for digital targeting is one of the simplest and best performing ways to reach prospects and customers at multiple stages of the buying process.
• Personalization:  Amazon and Netflix are masters at personalizing content just for you based on your purchase or viewing history.  The more you know about your customer the easier it is to customize content and offers most likely to convert to purchase or the engagement you are looking for.
• Attribution:  Consumers use multiple devices to complete transactions today.  They may have watched a video on YouTube about your product or service, searched for it on their mobile device while watching and then conducting the transaction directly via their MacBook.  Cross Device attribution and measurement is important to know where to focus your marketing budget using your Skydeo IDGraph most effectively.

ID Graph Vendors

Identity Graphs are a core marketing function for digital advertisers.  Why would you rely on a “marketing company” not smart enough to register the domain name for their primary products?   IdentityGraph.com –  IDGraph.com and People-BasedMarketing.com enable Skydeo to be featured higher in organic search results at no cost which enables us to spend less on sales & marketing thereby passing the savings on to you.

IDGraph Match Rates

Most companies looking to onboard their data are most concerned with the match rate of their consumer file or hashed emails to mobile IDs.   Before beginning to license new data, you may want to review your current assets.    Things to consider for optimal fidelity and match rates:

1. Are your emails good?  Are they current?   Does the consumer use that email for communicating or logins?  Many data companies and platforms rely on companies with legacy technology and ancient email lists.   If your email file isn’t deterministic then it becomes difficult to gauge fidelity later in the process.  You may want to consider advanced matching to get 90-99% matching for your consumer file.   Contact Us to learn more.
2. Hashed Email (HEM) to mobile IDs:   Cookies are dead so don’t waste your time.   Deterministic matching to mobile id is critical for establishing an accurate ID Graph.  Most IDGraph  Vendors that brag about high match rates are doing something weird to increase their percentage.  The most common technique is probabilistic matching based on IP Address.  While this can increase scale it introduces higher risk of inaccuracy based on time-series data collection.  Skydeo IDGraph and HouseholdGraph are 100% deterministic.
3. Data Freshness:   Emails are fresh, Check.  Deterministic Match rate to MAID, Check.  How fresh is the MAID?   As a mobile-first company with direct connections to multiple apps, Skydeo sees a large percentage of mobile devices daily.  Most IDGraph vendor get their mobile devices from other data companies and then combine it themselves.  If your ID Graph vendor can’t provide the IP_Address, device type, user_agent or other basic device information than they really can’t verify MAID freshness so when you go to activate your IDGraph for advertising you will never find that user.

ID Graph Pricing

Traditional ID Graph vendors price their offering on a CPM based on records inputted (not matched) plus a healthy revenue share of 30% or more on advertising spend.  Agencies and large platforms charge $100,000 a month or more brand marketers.  Wholesale pricing can ranges dramatically.