How can marketers increase efficiencies with their data practices? Gary Walter, CEO of Infutor shares some insights:

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Tell us a little about yourself Gary…we’d love to hear about your role, a typical day at work and what inspires Infutor?

My role has evolved a lot over the past 15 years – from making coffee in the early days – to marketing, product design and sales to recruiting a team to support a scalable revenue model. Today, my time is divided into three categories: 1) developing our growing Infutor team by creating an environment where they can thrive, 2) creating operational excellence and looking for opportunities to add value across the organization and 3) facilitating growth, keeping us pointed toward the future by developing the internal, external, partnership and financing relationships we need to help us hit our targets. More than ever before I’m spending  a lot of my day on calls with various team members – collaborating, planning and executing on our road map.

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Take us through some of Infutor’s key highlights; a few learnings on scaling the company?

Infutor has evolved from being data generalists to consumer identity experts; both in our offerings and in our team. It has been critical to source and staff best in class talent: people who are leaders in process, product and functional areas of identity and who have demonstrated success in scaling businesses. I’ve also found it helpful to continue to build my external, c-level network from venture capitalist firms to public companies to ensure the company and its leadership are staying on top of all the emerging trends and issues in identity, adtech/martech, data privacy and other topics that might directly or indirectly impact our business.

How do you feel the identity space is set to evolve in the near-future?

The evolution of identity remains focused on the concept of a single view of a consumer and the value of incorporating that view across adtech, martech and CRM systems to develop a holistic identity capability. But the evolutions in technology and consumer behavior are accelerating. Consumers’ digital markers or digital identities are constantly changing. People move more frequently than they did 10, 20, 30, years ago. This means companies need to develop strategies for identifying individuals and build or incorporate the tools and data necessary to keep identities up to date and actionable.

A few ways in which you feel marketers today need to drive better marketing approaches to identity, given today’s dynamics? 

Marketers today need to be focused on the execution and efficiency of data in their organization. They are being called on to be more nimble and more data driven than ever before. Technology has afforded marketers an opportunity to test new ways to enrich and segment data and deliver new messages across a variety of channels. The world has changed and people’s buying and research habits have too.  I don’t think anyone really knows what the new status quo will be, so we have to build flexible solutions that support diversified marketing and advertising strategies and accommodate that uncertainty. Successful marketers rely on updated identity information to both improve the efficiency and ROI of their programs and ensure they are delivering the right message to the right audience in the right place at the right time.

What are some of the leading marketing technologies in your mind that are set to be top in-demand products for marketers for the rest of 2021 – possibly future identity tie-ins?

In 2021, Marketers are navigating a lot of changes affecting digital and programmatic advertising and how these changes, once fully in effect, will impact their business. Of course, this will be top of mind as they evaluate their tech stack. A few tech trends we’re keeping our eye on this year:

• Cleanroom platforms and cleanroom capabilities – these will be critical for companies that want to leverage the benefits of third-party data without overhauling their security and governance policies to support the transfer of PII. 
• CTV growth is on fire – and advertisers need identity solutions that can help better target and serve ads consumers on this growing channel. 
• Long-term effects on programmatic advertising –  third-party cookies are going away and the changes in the collection and distribution of Apple’s mobile identifier put more emphasis on identity and the value of a brand’s first party data.

A few last minute takeaways for marketing leaders in 2021: top factors they should keep in mind as they hire/ train and shape their teams?

• Invest in building personal connections and trust with your teams. 
• Invest in a hybrid working model.
• Set clear goals and establish systems that transparently and objectively track performance.

We’re focused on all of the above and leadership budgets time for one-on-ones, monthly town halls and small group meetings. These dedicated times to connect with the team give us an opportunity to reinforce our commitment to the team’s individual and collective success.

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