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Is Your Data Ready For AI?

Is Your Data Ready For AI?

Jan 22, 2025 | Data Cleansing, GDPR, JetStream

A 2025 survey of data, BI and analytics trends across 1,795 business technology leaders has been released, and whilst there are some surprises in the placement of some of the trending topics, the top four are wholly what you’d expect given the emergence of AI over the last year or so.

On a rating of 0 (not important at all) to 10 (very important), tech leaders were presented with and asked to rate twenty different technology trends that they’d be, at some point, asked by their businesses to consider.

The Trends

In alphabetical order, these trends were: –

Advanced analytics/ML/AI

Cloud for data & analytics

Data & AI literacy

Data catalogs & data intelligence platf.

Data governance

Data lakehouse

Data mesh

Data Ops & Observability

Data prep. by business users

Data products

 

Data quality mgmt.

Data security & privacy

Data warehouse modernization

Data-driven culture

Decision intelligence

Embedded BI & analytics

Generative AI for data & analytics

Integr. platforms for PM & analytics

Real-time analytics & streaming

Self-service analytics & Data disc.

So, what were the top trends?

‘Unsurprisingly, data security & privacy came in top, with data quality management second, data-driven culture third, and data governance in fourth.

An important placement in the trends list for me to mention is data & AI literacy coming in at fifth.

What does this tell us?

Despite being listed in fifth place, AI is without question the hottest topic in tech all over the world right now, but most business don’t know how to implement it. Questions arise like ‘what’s it going to do for us? How best do we utilise it? If we don’t deploy it quickly, will we lost ground to our competitors that do?’.

These are all valid questions, but one thing has to be considered before you can effectively use AI:

How good is our data?

Why are the top four in the survey the top four?

Because each of them is vitally important to ensuring that you get the right output from anything AI related.

The adage is of course “you put rubbish in, you get rubbish out”.

One of the main pillars of AI is Large Language Models (LLM), which is designed to understand and generate human-like text responses based on vast amounts of data.

So, if your data isn’t accurate, you’re setting yourself up for a fall off the bat. You’ll be inundated with swathes of information generated, some of which is used to make business critical decisions, and it may very well be the rubbish we just spoke about.

The Top Four

Looking at the top four trends, let’s quickly summarise why they’re considered the most important for these tech leaders.

Data Security and Privacy

In the context of AI, this is one of the most important elements. When I start feeding these machine learning models with our business data, who’s going to see it? A robust security and privacy policy needs to be implemented to ensure that data remains safe and secure.

Data Quality Management

Data quality is crucial for AI because high-quality data ensures the accuracy, reliability, and effectiveness of AI models. Poor data quality can lead to biased, incorrect, or unreliable outcomes, which can negatively impact decision-making and trust in AI systems. Essentially, the better the data, the better the AI’s performance and results.

Data-Driven Culture

Put simply, everyone needs to be on the bus for AI to work. If you have an Operations department that are putting up a fight in adopting a data-driven culture, they may be lapse in conforming to the rest of the business’ policies of correct data entry, which ultimately skews the results of these AI models.

Data Governance

This is the framework of policies and procedures that ensures data is managed effectively, remains high-quality, secure, and compliant with regulations. Everything from making sure the data is accurate, to tracking its lineage, to complying with GDPR policies of data handling.

With each of these trends set out, we can now see why they are paramount for businesses, especially through an AI lens.

How JetStream can help

JetStream is our first-party data cleanroom, which cleans, enhances, and appends useful third-party information to B2C businesses customer data.

And it speaks to each of the four top trends specifically.

From a data security and privacy standpoint, JetStream uses pseudonymous match keys, meaning that no one outside of your business sees the underlying data. No more sending enormous data files to bureaus once a month to make sure it’s up to date (which JetStream does in near real-time at millions of records processed per minute).

Data Quality is ensured in exactly the same way. If you have deceased customers on your database, JetStream notifies you and flags them immediately, and it does the same for customers who have moved home.

Data Governance is ensured by standardising your customer data and filling in the gaps, ensuring that an AI model isn’t going to misinterpret free text information that is held in your records. This is also a safety net on the Data-Driven Culture aspect as well. If you have customer data that isn’t being captured across the business in a uniformed fashion, JetStream fixes it virtually instantly and brings it in line with your preferred formats.

In Summary

Make sure your data is good before you trust what AI is telling you. It’s as simple as that.

AI is becoming more and more accessible to every business, not just the global enterprises, so get your data ducks in a row before you embark on your AI journey.

Speak to us about how JetStream can get you ready.

 

By Steve Clarke – Commercial Director at The Ark

Get in touch with The Ark

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Combating Customer Churn Using Data

Combating Customer Churn Using Data

Dec 3, 2024 | Data Cleansing, Goneaway Identification, Home Movers, National Deceased Register, Net Zero, UK Household File

Retaining customers is more crucial than ever. A recent report highlights key strategies for reducing customer churn, emphasising the importance of leveraging appended data to enhance customer records. This article will summarise the report’s findings and explore how appending data and enhancing it can help businesses maintain a loyal customer base.

The Report’s Findings

Summary of the Report’s Findings

Data-driven marketing strategies are a top priority for UK professionals in the coming year, with nearly two-thirds identifying first-party datasets as a key goal for 2025. The focus is primarily on using customer data for retention rather than acquisition, with reducing churn being the most pressing issue. This is one of the key findings from the fifth iteration of AudienceXpress’ Streaming TV Uncovered study, conducted by CoLab Media Consulting.

The report reveals a positive outlook for marketing budgets, with optimism increasing for the second consecutive year. UK companies are leading their European counterparts in gathering customer data, driven by the uncertainty around things like third-party cookies and the fragmented audience identity ecosystem. This push aims to increase loyalty through more targeted and informed advertising.

Key insights include:

  • Increased Use of Data Clean Rooms: About 30% of UK marketers plan to use data clean rooms, like The Ark’s JetStream, to share and append aggregated first-party data in 2025
  • Focus on Campaign Effectiveness: Investing in campaign effectiveness measurement is a priority for a third of marketers
  • Streaming and Connected TV Investment: Nearly half of UK marketers want to increase spending on streaming and connected TV, with significant interest in free, ad-supported TV channels

The Power of Enhanced First-Party Data for Reducing Customer Churn

Appending data to existing customer records can provide businesses with a wealth of information that helps in understanding and anticipating customer, and ultimately the power to keep them as customers.

Here are some ways in which appended data can be beneficial:

  1. Understand when your customer is moving home: The Ark’s Mover Alerts notify companies when a customer has put their house up for sale or rent. This information is crucial as it allows businesses to proactively reach out to customers offering relevant products or services that cater to their new circumstances and retain their business
  2. Understand where and how your customer lives: The Ark’s UK Household File includes over 100 variables about a customer’s property, such as house type, total income, and propensity to adopt Net Zero products. This detailed information helps businesses tailor their marketing strategies and product offerings to better match customer profiles, increasing engagement and satisfaction
  3. Data Hygiene: Keeping first-party data clean is essential for effective customer relationship management. Removing deceased customers and those who have moved away ensures that communications are directed to the right individuals, reducing wasted resources and improving the accuracy of customer insights and retention statistics.

Be Proactive

By appending data such as Mover Alerts and the UK Household File to existing customer records, businesses can gain a deeper understanding of their customers and respond more effectively to their needs. This proactive approach not only helps in reducing customer churn but also enhances overall customer satisfaction and loyalty.

 

By Steve Clarke – Commercial Director at The Ark

Get in touch to speak to us about reducing your customer churn today

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Breaking Down Data Silos: Achieving a Single Customer View with JetStream

Breaking Down Data Silos: Achieving a Single Customer View with JetStream

Nov 27, 2024 | Data Cleansing, GDPR, JetStream, SCV

Organisational constraints such as siloed data and technology continue to hinder senior marketers.

This is according to a recent report by Merkle (part of Dentsu’s annual CMO Navigator Report), which found that two-thirds of CMOs admit their companies still struggle with orchestration across marketing, media, and customer experience. This challenge persists despite the vast opportunities presented by new technologies like artificial intelligence.

The report, which surveyed over 1,900 CMOs across 13 countries, highlights a critical issue: while CMOs are eager to leverage new digital capabilities and emerging customer behaviours, they often feel unsteady about their organisation’s digital maturity. Instead of overhauling their tech stacks, many CMOs are focusing on extracting more value from existing capabilities and making highly targeted investments in technology, partners, and growth strategies.

 

“More than half of the CMOs are looking to new strategies to navigate forward, with a growing trend of prioritising customer experience (CX)”

Only a quarter of CMOs are heavily investing in digital transformation efforts, indicating a significant need for technologies that maximise data utilisation. More than half of the CMOs are looking to new strategies to navigate forward, with a growing trend of prioritising customer experience (CX). As they transform existing processes and data, CMOs remain optimistic about the future, with an overwhelming majority expecting marketing budget increases to support further AI adoption and more impactful customer experiences.

This is where JetStream, a revolutionary solution from The Ark, comes into play. JetStream is a cloud-based data matching platform designed to break down these silos and enhance customer experience by creating a Single Customer View (SCV).

Here’s how JetStream addresses the key challenges faced by CMOs:

Single Customer View

JetStream standardises and anonymises different customer data sets within the same organisation’s ecosystem. By consolidating disparate data sources into a unified view, JetStream ensures that all customer interactions and data points are accurately matched and integrated. This comprehensive view allows CMOs to understand their customers better and tailor their marketing strategies accordingly.

GDPR Compliance

JetStream operates within a ‘Data Clean Rooms’ environment, where sensitive data derived from unique identifiers, such as emails and names, can be leveraged while preserving privacy. This allows customer data to be matched without exposing any personally identifiable information (PII), ensuring compliance with GDPR and other data protection regulations. This secure approach builds customer trust and maintains data integrity.

Highly Accurate Data Matching

JetStream simplifies the complexities of matching customer names and addresses to third-party data sets. It deals with poorly formatted data and varying levels of data accuracy and completeness, providing a consistent and highly accurate match every time. This ensures that CMOs can trust the data they are working with, leading to more effective marketing strategies and customer interactions.

Proactive Alerts

JetStream provides near real-time alerts as changes occur within your customer data. This proactive approach allows CMOs to act fast and anticipate customer needs, enhancing the overall customer experience and enabling more timely and relevant marketing efforts.

Super-Fast Processing

With JetStream, there’s no need for monthly batch processing. The platform offers near real-time processing and matching, eliminating the need to export and transfer customer data every month. This speed and efficiency enable CMOs to stay agile and responsive in a rapidly changing digital landscape.

 

By leveraging JetStream, organisations can overcome the barriers of siloed data and technology, enabling a more cohesive and effective customer experience strategy. As CMOs continue to navigate the complexities of digital transformation, tools like JetStream provide the necessary insights and capabilities to drive meaningful engagement and growth.

 

by Steve Clarke – Commercial Director at The Ark

Want to know more about breaking down data silos?

Get in touch today!
The Power of Identity Resolution

The Power of Identity Resolution

Oct 29, 2024 | Data Cleansing, GDPR

The Power of Identity Resolution: Ensuring Accurate Customer Data Matching

In the day in age where organisations are striving to be as data-driven as possible, businesses are constantly seeking ways to better understand and engage with their customers. One of the most effective tools in achieving this is identity resolution. This process not only helps in creating accurate customer profiles but also enhances marketing strategies, customer experiences, and regulatory compliance. Let’s dive into why identity resolution is crucial and how it works. 

What is Identity Resolution?

Identity resolution is the process of creating a unified and accurate customer profile by linking data from various touchpoints and systems. This involves integrating information from emails, social media, offline interactions, and more to form a comprehensive view of each customer.

 

Why is Identity Resolution Important?

Accurate Customer Profiles

  • 360-Degree View: Identity resolution helps businesses create a 360-degree view of their customers. By integrating data from multiple sources, companies can gain a holistic understanding of customer behaviours and preferences.
  • Personalisation: With accurate profiles, businesses can tailor their marketing strategies to individual customers, leading to improved engagement and satisfaction.

Improved Marketing Strategies

  • Targeting and Segmentation: Identity resolution allows for better audience segmentation and more precise targeting. This means marketing campaigns can be more effective and yield higher returns.
  • Cross-Channel Consistency: Maintaining a consistent message across various channels is crucial. Identity resolution ensures that customers receive a seamless and coherent experience, regardless of the platform.

Enhanced Customer Experience

  • Seamless Interactions: Customers expect a seamless experience across different touchpoints. Identity resolution ensures that interactions are smooth and consistent, enhancing the overall customer journey.
  • Predictive Analytics: By leveraging accurate customer data, businesses can use predictive analytics to anticipate customer needs and behaviours, further improving the customer experience.

Regulatory Compliance and Security

  • Data Privacy: With increasing data protection regulations, relying on first-party data through identity resolution helps ensure compliance and protects customer privacy.
  • Security Measures: A centralised and accurate customer data system enhances security, reducing the risk of data breaches and ensuring that customer information is safeguarded.

How Does Identity Resolution Work?

Deterministic vs. Probabilistic Matching

  • Deterministic Matching: This method uses exact data points, such as email addresses or phone numbers, to link customer data. It is highly accurate but requires precise and consistent information, which is often not available.
  • Probabilistic Matching: This approach uses statistical algorithms to link data based on probabilities. It can connect data points even when exact matches are not available, which is more often the case.  A good algorithm will recognise different ways the same name or address can be presented enabling matches to be established, even when there are significant differences in the input data for the same individual.

Identity Resolution and Matching within Data Cleanrooms: A New Era of Privacy and Precision

In today’s data-driven world, businesses are constantly seeking ways to leverage customer data to enhance their marketing strategies and improve customer experiences. However, with increasing concerns about privacy and data security, traditional methods of data sharing and analysis are becoming less viable. This is where data cleanrooms come into play.

What are Data Cleanrooms?

Data cleanrooms are secure environments where data can be matched and analysed without exposing the underlying raw PII. These environments ensure that sensitive information remains protected while still allowing for secure matching. Data cleanrooms use advanced encryption and privacy-preserving technologies to maintain data confidentiality.

 

Benefits of Identity Matching within Data Cleanrooms

Enhanced Privacy: By anonymising data and using secure environments, data cleanrooms ensure that privacy is maintained throughout the analysis process.

Better and More Precise Matching: Many organisations face challenges when matching their customer data to other datasets (whether that be other customer data or external third-party sources).  Inconsistently formatted data, missing data and other data related issues can be overcome through employing identity matching solutions, enabling an organisation to match their customer data with confidence, leading to better data-driven outcomes.

Compliance: Data cleanrooms help businesses comply with data protection regulations like GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 by ensuring that data minimisation is built into their data matching solutions and sensitive information is handled securely.

Conclusion

As the digital landscape continues to evolve, the importance of identity resolution will only grow and as privacy concerns continue to increase, data cleanrooms and identity matching offer a robust solution for businesses looking to leverage customer data responsibly.

By combining advanced privacy-preserving technologies with sophisticated matching algorithms (such as our own JetStream solution), businesses can ensure accurate customer data matching, leading to better marketing strategies, enhanced customer experiences, and robust regulatory compliance, while maintaining the highest standards of data security.

 

By Martin Jaggard – Director at The Ark

Talk to us today about how identity resolution can help your business

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The Effectiveness of Direct Mail

The Effectiveness of Direct Mail

Oct 18, 2024 | Data Cleansing, Direct Mail

Direct mail remains a powerful tool in the marketing arsenal, especially in the UK where it continues to deliver impressive results. Unlike digital channels, direct mail offers a tangible, personal touch that can significantly enhance engagement and response rates, but careful planning is essential to increase the chances of a successful campaign – “Right Person, Right Time, Right Message”.

Right Person

Targeting the right audience is crucial for the success of any direct mail campaign. Direct mail allows for precise targeting based on demographics, purchasing history, and other relevant data, including triggers such as moving home and having a baby.

Personalisation: Direct mail can be highly personalised, increasing the likelihood of engagement. According to the Direct Marketing Association (DMA), personalised direct mail has a response rate of 4.9%, compared to 1% for email – that’s a significant difference!

Targeted Reach: With accurate data, direct mail can reach the exact audience you want. For instance, 79% of consumers act on direct mail immediately, and 56% of consumers find printed marketing to be the most trustworthy (Source: bakergoodchild).

Right Time

Timing is everything in marketing, and direct mail is no exception. Sending your mail at the right time can significantly boost response rates.

Seasonal Campaigns: Aligning your direct mail campaigns with seasonal events or holidays can increase relevance and engagement. For example, holiday-themed mailings often see higher response rates.

Customer Journey: Direct mail can be timed to coincide with key moments in the customer journey, such as post-purchase follow-ups or reminders for upcoming renewals. This ensures your message is received when it is most relevant.

Right Message

Crafting the right message is essential to capture attention and drive action. Direct mail offers the flexibility to create visually appealing and compelling content.

High Engagement: Direct mail has a 35% higher brand recall than social media, making it a powerful tool for brand awareness (see “Direct Mail Effectiveness Statistics” below).

Tangible Impact: Unlike digital ads that can be easily ignored, direct mail is a physical item that recipients can hold, making it more memorable. According to JICMAIL, 95% of direct mail is engaged with and has some form of physical interaction.

Data Cleansing

Ensuring your data is clean and up-to-date is critical for the success of your direct mail campaigns. This involves removing duplicates, updating addresses, and screening against suppression lists, including:

Mailing Preference Service (MPS): The MPS allows individuals to opt out of unsolicited advertising mail. Screening your data against the MPS ensures you respect consumer preferences and avoid sending mail to those who have opted out, as well as complying with best practice.

Gone Aways: Approximately 1.5 million UK households move each year and screening your data against gone away suppression files, such as Re-mover, helps you avoid sending mail to outdated addresses, avoiding wastage, saving money and preventing fraud.

Deceased Records: Screening your data against deceased registers, such as the National Deceased Register, prevents the distress of sending mail to deceased individuals and helps to prevent fraud.

In-house Stop Lists: Many businesses have a list of individuals who have asked not to be contacted and it is essential that organisations apply these correctly to avoid unnecessary annoyance and inconvenience.

Duplicates: Removing duplicate records ensures each recipient only receives one piece of mail, reducing waste and improving the efficiency of your campaign.

Direct Mail Effectiveness Statistics

The facts speak for themselves; Direct Mail outperforms almost all other forms of marketing:

Response Rates and Engagement

High Engagement: Direct mail boasts an average engagement rate of 95% (Source: Uprinting.com).

Higher Response Rates: Direct mail response rates are 5 to 9 times higher than any other advertising channel (Source: Uprinting.com).

Open Rates: Direct mail has an open rate of 80-90%, compared to email’s 20-30% (Source MarketReach).

Immediate Action: 71% of people read direct mail the day it is delivered (Source: MarketReach).

Longevity: Direct mail is kept in a recipient’s home for an average of 17 days (Source: MarketReach).

Return on Investment (ROI)

High ROI: Direct mail receives the highest ROI of 112% across all mediums, followed by SMS (102%), email (93%), and paid search (88%) (Source: Uprinting.com).

Cost-Effective: For every £1 spent on direct mail, businesses can expect an average return of £14 (Source: Sappipapers.com).

Consumer Preferences

Preferred Channel: 73% of UK consumers say they prefer being contacted by brands via direct mail (Source: MarketReach).

Memorability: Direct mail is 49% more memorable and 33% more engaging than email marketing (Source: MarketReach).

Personal Touch: 70% of consumers feel direct mail is more personal than online interactions (Source: MarketReach).

Reducing Mailing Costs – Consider Cooperative and Non-Personalised Mailings

Participating in cooperative mailings, where postage costs are shared across multiple brands, can significantly reduce the overall expense of direct mail campaigns. By pooling resources, businesses can take advantage of bulk mailing discounts offered by postal services, which are often much lower than individual rates. This collaborative approach not only lowers the cost per piece but also allows smaller brands to benefit from the economies of scale typically reserved for larger mailers.

Additionally, cooperative mailings can increase the reach and impact of each campaign, as the combined effort can attract more attention and engagement from recipients. This strategy ensures that direct mail remains a cost-effective and efficient marketing channel for businesses of all sizes.

Royal Mail offers significant postage discounts for non-personalised mailings, making it an attractive option for businesses looking to maximize their marketing budget. By leveraging these discounts, companies can reduce their postage costs while still achieving wide coverage and high visibility.

Conclusion

Direct mail continues to be a valuable marketing channel in the UK, offering measurable and impactful results. By focusing on the right person, right time, and right message, and ensuring your data is clean and accurate, businesses can maximise their return on investment and build stronger connections with their audience.

by Martin Jaggard – Director at The Ark

 

Want to know more about how Direct Mail can help your business?

Get in touch today
The Importance of Clean and Uniform Data when Leveraging AI

The Importance of Clean and Uniform Data when Leveraging AI

Oct 9, 2024 | Data Cleansing

After spending the day at Big Data LDN a few weeks back, I put together a blog article about my three big takeaways for the show.

One of the biggest focal points for me was the importance of making sure your data is fit-for-purpose when considering utilising AI within your business… so I decided to elaborate on that point.

In short, the quality of your data is THE most important consideration for AI.

Whether you’re working with large language models (LLMs) or generative AI, clean and uniform data is the foundation upon which successful AI applications are built.

Why is it that important?

Accuracy and Reliability

Clean data ensures that the AI models you develop are accurate and reliable. When data is free from errors, inconsistencies, and duplicates, AI algorithms can learn more effectively. This leads to more precise predictions, better decision-making, and overall improved performance of AI systems.

Efficiency in Training

Uniform data simplifies the training process for AI models. When data is standardised, it reduces the complexity of processing and allows for more efficient training. This not only saves time, but also reduces computational resources, making the development process more cost-effective when considering cost per consumption models like Azure or AWS.

Enhanced Model Performance

AI models, especially LLMs and generative AI, thrive on large volumes of high-quality data. Clean and uniform data helps in minimising noise and irrelevant information, allowing the models to focus on learning meaningful patterns. This results in enhanced model performance and more accurate outputs.

Gartner is predicting nothing other than the contiuned increase of spending on AI projects

Scalability

As AI applications scale, the importance of clean data becomes even more pronounced. Uniform data structures enable seamless integration and scalability of AI systems. This is particularly important for businesses looking to expand their AI capabilities across different departments or regions.

Ethical AI Development

Maintaining clean and uniform data is also a step towards ethical AI development. It helps in reducing biases that can arise from flawed or inconsistent data. By ensuring that the data used to train AI models is representative and unbiased, we can develop AI systems that are fairer and more inclusive.

Decision Making (the big one!)

For me, this is one of the most important aspects of the whole piece. Organisations make huge business critical decisions based on data, and nothing is going to change that any time soon. As much as we’ll come to rely on AI doing the legwork, ultimately it will be someone just like you or I say in a chair making a call based on the output.

So, what happens if your AI model has had bad data to consider?

You guessed it – absolute rubbish.

Sort your data out at the source and you negate this as an issue off the bat.

To close…

The power of AI, particularly LLMs and generative AI, is significantly amplified by the quality of the data they are trained on. Clean and uniform data not only enhances the accuracy and efficiency of AI models but also supports ethical and scalable AI development. As we continue to push the boundaries of what AI can achieve, prioritising data quality will remain a critical factor in unlocking its full potential.

by Steve Clarke – Commercial Director at The Ark

 

The Ark specilises in data cleansing, single customer view, and identity resolution. If you’d like to speak to us about any of these topics, get in touch today.

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