Removing the blockers to ensure data monetization works effectively

Telcos generate a lot of data.

Therefore, it shouldn’t be news to any firm that the first-party data they collect on their customers offers huge potential to generate additional revenue for both themselves and their partners.

A strong data monetization strategy can provide a valuable source of income, enabling you to offer your chosen partners crucial insight into consumers’ behavior and interests they can use to improve their own outcomes. And as the types of data collected by telcos are among the richest and most comprehensive of any business, these firms are well-placed to offer detailed understanding of their customers to partners.

Data volumes are already huge, and growth shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. In the UK, for example, figures from Ofcom show the amount of mobile data generated by consumers rose by 27.9 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2021 to 1,281 petabytes, and within this will be great potential for operators to learn more about their customers and turn this insight into additional revenue.

However, adopting successful data monetization strategies can prove challenging. Often, while telcos are well aware of the value of their data, actually unlocking this can be difficult, since there are several common blockers that prevent the data being used to its full potential. So what are some of these, and what can telcos do about it to improve their results?

Identifying the right use cases for data monetization

One initial challenge for telcos looking to make the most of this data is actually identifying the best use cases for this insight. With potentially trillions of data points stored within their systems, being able to cut through the noise and drill down into the most valuable sources of information can be tricky.

Part of the problem with this is that data is often inaccessible and hard to interpret for non-data science professionals. This means users of commercial teams may often be unclear about exactly what data they can use and how it can be combined to derive insights.

Therefore, an easy-to-use solution that enables any user to explore and manipulate their information without the need to turn to big data experts is a must. Simple user interfaces that allow you to select and combine various categories using drag and drop tools help you understand how relationships work. 

Being able to do so at scale – working with datasets that contain tens of millions of customer records – also greatly improves the data monetization services that telcos are able to offer. This allows you to get a much better idea of what data will be of most use and expand the range of use cases you can offer to partners.

Ensuring privacy and balancing customer trust

Another major blocker to overcome is the question of how you balance data monetization with customer privacy. Consumers are more conscious than ever about the value of their data and how this is used as a commodity by companies, so will often be highly protective of these assets. At the same time, tough privacy laws such as GDPR and CCPA place limitations on what can be done with data.

So how can telcos be certain of the privacy of the data they use in their monetization efforts? The first step must be effective tokenization within your platform, so the data you’re working with can’t be traced back to individual customers by external parties.

It’s also vital that customers are able to give true consent to the use of their data in order for monetization strategies to be successful. This is about much more than just ticking boxes – it involves ensuring every customer can have a say in exactly which parts of their data can’t be used in your monetization efforts.

To do this, it’s vital that customers themselves are able to perceive the value of allowing their data to be used in this way. While customers are concerned about their privacy, it’s often the case that they’ll be happy to offer their data in exchange for tangible benefits. This means telcos must be able to answer the question of ‘what’s in it for me?’.

In turn, this means you’ll need a platform that can recognise and respect these wishes. The ability to manage privacy and remove data that you don’t have permission to use will be a must-have.

However, with the right data visualization, manipulation and privacy tools, you can navigate these key blockers and be in a much better position to make your telecoms big data monetization services a success.

Find out more about how Intent HQ’s products can help you transform your strategy for the privacy-first era.

Image credit: iStock/metamorworks