The best Data Management Platforms support businesses in managing, organizing, and activating customer data.
In a digital-first economy, brands cannot rely on disconnected data coming from different channels and need a single place to consolidate data to build accurate customer profiles and deliver personalized marketing campaigns.
Data Management Platforms (DMPs) fulfill an important function with the ability to collect, segment, and activate data across advertising, CRM, and customer engagement (mapping) platforms.
One of the most beneficial uses of a DMP in 2025 is identity resolution. Businesses must recognize customers across multiple touchpoints, devices, and channels. Identity resolution gives marketers confidence in the ability to maintain a single customer profile across all experiences.
It helps marketers reach the correct audience with the right message at the right time. Without identity resolution as part of a marketing campaign, campaign accuracy is diminished, and ad spend return on ad spend (ROAS) is reduced.
In this article, we’re reviewing the 5 best data management platforms for identity resolution and audience targeting in 2025. The DMPs are evaluated based on features, strengths, and organizational use cases. The goal is to help decision-makers find the right solution for their organizations.
A Data Management Platform (DMP) is a software that collects, organizes, and manages large amounts of data. This data includes customers’ and audiences’ information.
Organizations use DMPs to understand their customers' needs. They are then able to deliver personalized marketing experiences. DMPs gather data from many different sources, including website interactions, mobile app interactions, and offline data sources.
While both DMPs and CDPs are designed to manage customer data, each has a different purpose. DMPs are specifically designed to be used anonymously for advertising and audience targeting purposes.
DMPs are best when running paid campaigns and segmenting audiences. CDPs are designed for data that is identifiable and used to build databases or profiles about specific individuals. CDPs are better designed for personalized marketing efforts and customer engagement.
With technology, customers are left with multiple devices at their disposal and expect to interact with brands seamlessly across these devices.
DMPs enable identity resolution to occur. Identity resolution is the process of linking customer interactions across different devices and channels to ensure the business acknowledges it is the same customer in all scenarios.
Identity resolution allows marketers to send consistent and relevant experiences to customers.
Digital marketing is moving quickly. A cookieless future, privacy restrictions, and trans-device consumer behavior are making it difficult for marketers.
There are fewer palatable options for collecting data and tracking users now that third-party tracking cookies are going away. Using a DMP may help because even without third-party cookies, you can combine the first-party data your business collects with some consented data for targeting.
Several states, as well as the EU, are passing or have passed strict data handling/problematic behavior laws that businesses must abide by under law. DMPs offer several tools that may provide governance options for compliance with the new privacy laws.
Customers now have more (phones, laptops, tablets, connected TVs, etc.) unique ways to connect with brands and engage as customers. Identity resolution ensures that each connected transaction is collectively connected to one unique customer profile.
A recent market report from Global Growth Insights shows that over 60% of companies have turned to identity resolution software to ensure compliance with data governance and privacy standards.
According to Market Growth Reports, companies that incorporated identity resolution into CDPs saw a 35% increase in lead conversion between 2022 to 2024, thanks to better segmentation and real-time activation.
Adobe Audience Manager ranks as one of the most well-known DMPs in the enterprise market. It is meant for organizations that require deep segmentation, advanced customer identity resolution, and data activation across channels.
Multisource data collection, both online and offline.
Single customer view through identity resolution across devices.
Look-alike modeling for identifying new high-value customers.
Adobe Experience Cloud integration for end-to-end marketing.
Good integration with Adobe tools makes it suitable for enterprise users.
Good data unification and segmentation features.
Can scale with businesses of varying sizes.
Sony used Adobe Audience Manager to aggregate their customer interactions from e-commerce sales, product registrations, and digital advertising campaigns.
Using a single customer identity allowed Sony to personalize offers through email marketing and display ads, which drove customer engagement and sales.
Oracle BlueKai has a comprehensive third-party data marketplace and audience segmentation capabilities.
A marketplace for third-party data that is one of the largest.
Tools for audience segmentation and targeting are very solid.
Integrated tightly with Oracle Marketing Cloud.
Cross-device identity resolution.
Excellent for marketers who need scale in data enrichment.
Strong ecosystem for enterprises re-using an Oracle solution.
Supports advanced targeting use cases.
JetBlue worked with Oracle BlueKai to segment frequent flyers by behavior and preferences. The airline provided customized offers, resulting in increased ticket sales and loyalty program participation.
Previously branded as Krux, Salesforce Audience Studio allows marketers to capture, unify and activate their data for personalized engagement.
Comprehensive capture of data from a multitude of points of engagement.
AI segmentation and targeting.
Native integration with Salesforce Marketing Cloud.
Privacy and consent management tools.
Best for companies that are already using Salesforce products.
Strong AI capabilities for predictive targeting.
Built-in compliance features.
American Express utilized Salesforce Audience Studio to run personalized campaigns based on spending behavior. This allowed for greater use of American Express credit cards for purchases, creating customer satisfaction.
Lotame is an independent data management platform (DMP). It focuses on unifying data for audience targeting and personalization.
Flexible data onboarding and activation capabilities.
Cross-device identity resolution.
Facilitating audience analytics and audience insights.
Partnerships with major advertising technology platforms.
Very useful for organizations not locked into big ecosystems.
Flexible integrations across programs, functionality, and tech.
Strong customer support with analytics.
Unilever used Lotame to unify its first-party data across different regions. This enabled better personalization at scale, which improved campaign ROI across multiple markets.
Neustar offers sophisticated capabilities for data onboarding and identity resolution, making it perfect for target specificity.
Real-time identity resolution and verification.
Data enrichment - enables drawing an identity graph with Neustar.
Cross-channel activation.
Fraud detection and prevention.
Strong strength in identity resolution.
Reliable for markets with strong compliance needs.
Real-time capability improves campaign effectiveness.
Procter & Gamble partnered with Neustar to enhance precision in media targeting. This reduced waste of ad spend and improved the efficacy of sales spend.
Choosing a Data Management Platform (DMP) isn't just about comparing feature lists. The correct tool should fit around your business goals, as so much of data management is coming to terms with compliance and being prepared for future change.
As privacy regulations tighten and third-party cookies disappear, being flexible is only going to be as important as being functional.
When considering the options, here are some considerations:
Your DMP needs to easily integrate into your Customer Relationship Management (CRM), and Data Management Platform (CDP), as well as your advertising platforms. Smooth integration makes it easy to keep data flowing and avoid gaps, which can dilute or weaken the campaign outcome.
If a platform seems too complicated for your teams, they will be slower to use it. Find a DMP that is intuitive to use today but that will also facilitate larger datasets as your business grows.
These regulations are changing rapidly. Features for consent management and built-in compliance settings for new laws that will be introduced in 2025 will only add to your eventual data security.
You want a DMP that can resolve a customer's identity across devices and channels. The more in-depth resolution you have, the more targeted you will be.
The best DMP is one that helps you target smarter today while future-proofing against the changes that data privacy might have.
Selecting the best Data Management Platform (DMP) will be key for audience targeting, identity resolution, and privacy compliance in 2025.
If done right, a data management platform will simplify data management, allow for more personalization, and ultimately improve marketing ROI. Companies can prioritize what's important by looking at integration, scalability, privacy features, depth of identity resolution, and vendor support.
Investing in the best data management platform for a privacy-driven and cookieless digital landscape will help companies achieve success with their campaigns.
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How does a DMP help with compliance with privacy laws?
What’s the difference between DMP and CDP?
Why is identity resolution important?
Can smaller businesses use a DMP?
