How to Build an Operational Data Layer for Marketing Teams
How to Build an Operational Data Layer for Marketing Teams
A unified data layer is the foundation of Operational Intelligence. It connects campaign data from multiple systems, providing a single source of truth for performance.
Step 1: Inventory Your Data Sources
List every platform that generates marketing data — ad servers, DSPs, CRM, analytics. Identify duplication and gaps.
Step 2: Define Common Structures
Agree shared definitions for campaigns, channels, and metrics. Consistency ensures that joined data remains accurate and meaningful.
Step 3: Centralise and Automate
Use cloud data warehouses like BigQuery or Snowflake to bring everything together. Automate ingestion using APIs or connectors.
Step 4: Visualise and Share
Build dashboards that surface key operational metrics — delivery, pacing, QA status — not just marketing KPIs.
The Outcome
An operational data layer unlocks faster decisions, cleaner reporting and continuous optimisation.
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