Partnership building key to implementing first-party data: Carsales GM

When it comes to implementing first-party data and people-based marketing, a key factor is partnership building, according to Stephen Kyefulumya, general manager, media growth and innovation at Carsales.

At the 2022 Adobe Summit, Kyefulumya told Digital Nation, “Working with partners who want to market, bring in their first-party data sets, sync it with ours, and then from that drive marketing execution outcomes.

“If you match the data, what marketing message do you want to give those people when they next come to our site or once you match the data what are those traits that we can use to expand your audience and drive some marketing outcomes for you?”

Kyefulumya said one of the key actions Carsales will make with this type of marketing is using AI to build lookalikes and expand.

“That is what for us, people-based marketing at scale looks like. We've been working with partners, and driving large scale marketing outcomes for them. But using people-based marketing, that's the core execution point, not cookies,” he said.

As first-party data becomes the norm with the eradication of third party cookies, Kyefulumya said Carsales has a substantial first-party data set.

“With the changes in digital marketing, the degradation of the third party cookie, all these things mean that it is giving customers more control of their data. These are good things and we're fully supportive of that direction,” he said.

What this means for Carsales, with its first-party data sets and trusted relationship with its customers is it can offer marketers personalisation at scale, Kyefulumya said.

“That's the new frontier, past all those macro changes. That is what we are focused on, building a people-based marketing solution, at scale and privacy-focused. We believe it's going to be a big part of how we interact with customers with marketers and the value that we're going to drive from it,” he explained.

A customer data platform (CDP) is an integral part of the online car marketplace Carsales’ personalisation strategy according to Kyefulumya.

He said a customer’s personalisation journey begins when they search for a vehicle on the site and begin to customise what they want to segment those people and be able to activate personalisation outcomes.

Kyefulumya said Carsales sees personalisation in three ways: commercials, marketing messages and product personalisation, which are all underpinned by a CDP allowing Carsales to do these three actions at scale.

In terms of commercials, he said, “We know what ads to show somebody when they come into our marketplaces to ensure they are most relevant to them.”

For marketing messages, Kyefulumya said they will be sending messages to potential buyers at whatever touchpoints they are at in their purchase journey.

When it comes to product personalisation, he said when a customer lands on the site, Carsales changes what it shows them based on what is of interest in their marketing and buying journey.