Marketing Data activation
For digital marketers and agencies managing campaigns across programmatic, search, and social platforms, unlocking the full potential of your campaign data is essential. A custom data warehouse can give you the same (or better) value as a CDP—at a fraction of the cost and with complete control over your data.
For digital marketers and agencies running campaigns across programmatic, search, and social platforms, unlocking the full value of your marketing data often requires more than a single tool. While Customer Data Platforms (CDPs) are powerful for unifying user profiles and activating audiences, a custom data warehouse can enhance that foundation—offering deeper insights, advanced modelling, and flexibility across your entire stack.
Rather than replacing your CDP, a data warehouse works alongside it to give you greater control, scalability, and intelligence.
Extend the Power of Your CDP with a Modern Data Stack
Most CDPs excel at stitching together user identities and activating audiences across paid media and owned channels. But when paired with a data warehouse—using tools like BigQuery, Snowflake, or Redshift—you gain additional capabilities such as:
Cross-channel performance modelling
Custom segmentation and experimentation
Advanced attribution and predictive analytics
Tailored reporting for internal and external stakeholders
Your CDP remains the activation layer. The data warehouse becomes your intelligence engine.
How Audience Activation Really Works
Activating audience data across Google, Meta, TikTok, and publishers like News Corp often requires structured, privacy-compliant integrations. These typically fall into two categories:
1. Native CDP Connectors to Ad Platforms
Most enterprise CDPs offer built-in integrations to push segments into media platforms. Examples include:
Salesforce Data Cloud → Google Ads, Meta, LinkedIn, Amazon Ads
Adobe Real-Time CDP → The Trade Desk, DV360, Yahoo, TikTok
Segment (Twilio) CDP → Facebook Custom Audiences, Google Ads, Pinterest, Snap
mParticle → MediaMath, Meta, Braze, and over 300 integrations
These connectors ensure proper match rates, consent handling, and delivery tracking.
2. Warehouse-Driven Activation
Even without a CDP—or alongside one—audiences can be built and pushed from a warehouse using:
Reverse ETL tools like Hightouch, Census, or RudderStack to send segments to platforms.
Google Ads Customer Match, Meta Custom Audiences, or LinkedIn Matched Audiences via hashed uploads.
Publisher partnerships, where you pass CRM or modelled data to publishers like News Corp or Nine for direct targeting or PMPs.
This method gives you complete control over segmentation logic, frequency, and timing.
How to Get Started
Define your goals: e.g., campaign reporting, audience experimentation, or predictive analytics.
Connect your platforms: Sync Google Ads (Ads Data Hub), Meta, CRM, analytics, and CDP exports into your warehouse.
Model your data: Use dbt or custom SQL to clean, join, and structure data for reporting and segmentation.
Visualize and activate: Use Looker Studio, Power BI, or reverse ETL tools to share insights and push audiences.
Final Thought
A CDP is a valuable part of a modern marketing stack—but it’s not the whole story. By pairing it with a robust, scalable data warehouse, you unlock richer insights and greater flexibility, helping your team move faster and make smarter decisions.
Want help designing the right data architecture for your marketing strategy? Get in touch to learn how we support digital teams with audience data infrastructure that’s future-ready.