At any stage of your purchasing journey, navigating the complex world of technology and platforms in the media landscape can feel overwhelming—especially when trying to stay ahead of ever-changing privacy laws and tech trends. For even the most seasoned professionals, the choices seem endless: do you go with a familiar, industry-leading giant, choose a more agile but lesser-known provider, or decide to build your own solution?
This decision can significantly impact your efficiency, growth, and ultimately, your bottom line. Whether you’re seeking scalability or a personalised approach, the right platform and partner can make all the difference. However, before you make your choice there are key considerations that must be in place.
At Starcount, we often assist clients with their technology selection decisions. To help guide you through what can be a lengthy and complex process, we’ve compiled some of our key recommendations in one place.
Firstly, it’s all about the data.
Rowena Humby, CEO of Starcount, has often said that having technology without data is like having a car without fuel. This metaphor resonates deeply, as it perfectly captures what’s often missing in the adtech space. Without the right data, even the most advanced technology remains inert—unable to generate insights, understand customers, or deliver meaningful results. It’s not just about having the latest tools; it’s about fueling them with the best data to make them truly powerful.
So, what is the right data?
When deciding which data should take the lead during your technology search, we consider behavioural data to be essential. Data must reflect real, dynamic and up-to-date customer behaviours, whether from third-party signals or first-party customer data. Behavioral data not only bridges the Say-Do gap (the difference between what people say they do and what they actually do) but also captures both emotional and rational actions. Since advertising is all about influencing emotions and actions, these elements are crucial.
That said, third-party signals often require their own level of scrutiny. Due to changing legislation and evolving consent protocols, scalable behavioural signals are becoming harder to obtain. Therefore, any behavioural data used for insights and targeting must be privacy-first and maintain the scale required for the intended use case, especially within activation. Otherwise, the solution you’re exploring becomes redundant, creating a potential loss of usage, momentum, and revenue.
In a landscape shaped by these shifts in consent, signal depreciation, and increased consumer awareness, we’ve also seen a growing focus on first-party data enrichment. When selecting a platform partner for media planning, insights, and activation, understanding the role that first-party data can play within the technology’s capabilities is of utmost importance.
Considering the first-party data you currently have (or have access to) will be paramount when deciding on the next step with the right provider. Challenges within this space are that first-party data usage is often difficult due to volume constraints and sharing limitations. The partner you choose should provide the opportunity to safely onboard and enrich your own or client’s data without additional pricing requirements—stipulations that penalise those with limited or larger volumes of data. It should also offer the ability to easily build lookalike models, driving both retention and acquisition strategies in a privacy-compliant environment that continues to foster informed success.
Secondly, what about the technology infrastructure itself?
Once you’ve identified the right data, the next step is evaluating the platform which is going to help you get the most out of it. We believe that the key to finding the right solution lies in asking yourself four crucial questions to determine which platform best fits your needs.
Introducing the four A questions.
Q1. Is it applicable?
It’s a simple rule, yet an easy one to forget when you’re faced with the dazzling array of brilliant solutions available to you. The key element to remember is that a solution which can be widely applied across your business will drive overall success.
Let’s take a media agency as an example. Tools and systems are the backbone of agency operations, with many well-established data sets and tech partners ingrained across different teams. However, these tools and the information they generate are often siloed, serving only the specific team that uses them—whether that’s a planner’s reliance on TGI data or the TV team’s use of viewing data to select better ad spots.
The reality is that media applications are changing. With further channel digitalisation and the rise of programmatic approaches in traditionally planned and targeted channels, there’s an increasing need for a solution that spans across channels, teams, and departments. This kind of solution doesn’t just improve internal workflows; it also enhances your clients’ overarching strategic approach to audience enablement.
A partner focused on facilitating planning, insights, and activation by not only enhancing the data currently used but with the ability to onboard those data sets in one place will help break down silos and enable previously separate teams to collaborate more effectively, ultimately delivering better results.
Q2. Is it adaptable?
Adaptability plays a crucial role in the selection of a technology partner, and it can be viewed in two important ways.
Firstly, in our sector, stagnation is not an option. There is a constant evolution, and we are always building on bigger and better solutions that not only help grow our clients’ businesses but also advance the industry as a whole.
One of the most significant changes in recent years has been the evolving landscape of compliance. The emergence of GDPR in 2018, the introduction of the CCPA, and the ongoing depreciation of cookies due are all critical considerations for the adtech world.
These shifts have created challenging environments for tech platforms and data providers that were once the go-to solutions for audience understanding and targeting. While some have adapted with ease, others have been forced to pivot their business models entirely in order to survive.
Change will continue, whether driven by privacy concerns or other factors. Therefore, it is essential to choose a partner who is nimble and capable of evolving alongside you to keep pace with the industry’s relentless progress.
The second aspect to consider is whether the technology is adaptable to your specific business needs. It’s crucial that your partner understands your unique challenges and has the flexibility to meet them. At Starcount, for example, we recognise the importance of combining our own data sources with those that are vital to our agency partners. This ensures that our solutions adapt to highlight the key data sets necessary for their specific use cases and further break down those aforementioned silos.
Make sure that you understand how difficult it is for the partner you choose to change because change will always come.
Q3. Is it actionable?
When selecting a platform, one of the most important questions to ask is: Can the insights and information it generates be acted upon? Building a one-stop shop that facilitates this is no easy task, and it all comes down to the data and how the platform uses it.
The third question we encourage you to consider is focused on closing the gap between insights and activation. As we’ve discussed, the fragmented approach to tools and data—especially in the agency world—often results in the great strategic work done upfront to identify, segment, and profile audiences being diluted during the activation phase.
Gone are the days of targeting broad categories like HW&K or ABC1 (at least we certainly hope that’s the case!). However, despite the broader audience options available in the digital ecosystem, many channels still limit you to predefined “in-platform” audiences. These options are often far removed from the detailed audience profiles crafted by strategists and planners.
The most effective solutions in the market are those that are connected by a common thread—the audience. Whether leveraging first-party data or scaled, privacy-first secondary data, Adtech platforms should enable you to use this information to create comprehensive audience profiles, gather valuable insights about who they are, what they care about, where they spend their money, and how best to reach them. But most importantly, they should empower you to act on these insights seamlessly.
Not to harp on about data again, but another important consideration is ensuring that the data the platform generates is scalable for activation. At Starcount, and for many of our clients, we find that geo-behavioural data addresses this challenge effectively. Geo-behavioural data enables clients to target behavioural audiences at scale, ensuring that the insights generated can be translated into actionable, high-impact campaigns which are proven to drive cross-funnel metrics.
Q4. Is it adoptable?
Last but certainly not least, the real dealbreaker is whether the data platform you choose will actually get used by your teams—and by your business as a whole.
Let’s face it, humans are creatures of habit. We love what we know, and we often resist new technology if it feels too complicated or different. But the success of your platform depends on how well your teams adopt it. A clean, intuitive interface is key to fostering engagement—making sure that every user, from the strategist to the analyst, can seamlessly integrate it into their daily workflow.
Of course, there’s always an element of risk when you introduce something new to your business, but with the right strategy, you can set your platform up for success. The first question to answer is: Who will be using it, and what are the real benefits for those users? But let’s not forget the most important factor—usability. Even if a platform is sophisticated, if it’s complicated, it’s doomed to fail.
While data and tech often fall into the hands of specialists, for the rest of the team—whether they’re marketers, analysts, or campaign managers—your platform needs to be intuitive. A clean, easy-to-use interface that can quickly deliver powerful, actionable insights isn’t just a bonus; it’s a must-have for engagement and real impact.
Final Thoughts
At the end of the day, the platform you choose isn’t just a tool—it’s a crucial partner in driving your business success. By ensuring that the platform is data-rich, adaptable, actionable, and easy to adopt, you’re setting yourself up for a smoother journey to growth and efficiency. So, take a deep breath, ask the right questions, and choose the partner that’s ready to grow with you.
Ready to Take the Next Step?
Selecting the right technology partner is no small feat, but by following the four A’s—Applicability, Adaptability, Actionability, and Adoptability—you’ll be well on your way to finding a solution that fits your needs and helps drive business success.
At Starcount, we’ve seen first hand how the right platform can transform not just internal operations but also customer relationships and business outcomes. We’re always here to help you navigate this complex landscape, so whether you’re just starting your search, facing a specific challenge, or looking for advice on making your current solution work better, we’d love to hear from you.
If you have any questions please reach out to us today to discuss your unique needs and explore how we can help you.
