Data strength: The fuel that unlocks the potential of AI
Insights from Google, with Claes Eriksson, Head of Measurement, Google Nordics.
AI is creating new opportunities for companies to make their marketing more efficient, improve the customer experience and make more data-driven decisions. But the value of the technology depends largely on the quality of the data behind it. Claes Eriksson describes how companies can build a strong data foundation to get more out of AI, strengthen their ability to measure, and set the stage for long-term growth.
There is no doubt that artificial intelligence is a revolutionary technology for companies seeking a competitive edge in a changing world. But while most marketers and business leaders focus on the AI models themselves, many forget what actually powers these systems. The truth is simple but crucial: strong data now plays a dual role. It is the foundation for activating and optimizing advertising in a new AI era. It is also the absolute prerequisite for measuring and evaluating marketing investments reliably, and for building more advanced marketing use cases. Without a strong data foundation, AI optimization becomes ineffective and measurement misleading.
AI is only as effective as the information it learns from. In today's digital landscape, where privacy regulations and the phase-out of third-party cookies limit traditional tracking, a company's own first-party data is its most valuable asset. When this data is combined with AI, advertisers gain access to exceptional pattern recognition and predictive insights, tailored to their unique business goals. To succeed fully, organizations must break down internal silos and connect their data, teams and business results. Below is a concrete four-step plan for building a strong data structure, activating your campaigns and measuring your return. Strong data is the foundation for both successful AI activation and accurate measurement.
Four steps to greater data strength and growth
1. Connect your data sources
The journey begins with establishing a secure, stable pipeline from your data sources to the advertising platforms. The aim is to simplify and unify a traditionally fragmented landscape where valuable information sits isolated in different silos.
- Strengthen your data by upgrading older third-party tags to modern first-party data collection. This lets you manage tracking in a secure, sustainable and privacy-friendly way, directly through your own domain.
- Centralize your data by gathering all sources in one place. Use tools that simplify the process with ready-made workflows for direct connection to advertising systems, which makes management easier.
2. Maximize data quality
Once data is flowing freely, you need to make sure you are collecting the right signals. AI tools are only as smart as the data they are fed. If the data is wrong, the AI learns the wrong lessons and optimizes for the wrong results, which becomes a silent efficiency killer.
Marketers should focus on four key signal types, including:
- First-party customer data. Build your data strength by integrating hashed customer data (such as encrypted email addresses or phone numbers) directly into your advertising infrastructure. By sharing this type of first-party data, AI models can match and attribute conversions more accurately across devices and platforms.
- Transaction and behavioral signals. Measure the actual value of a purchase to prevent double counting, and gain deeper insight into the customer journey on your website so AI can optimize for your most valuable business goals.
3. Activate your data and AI
High data quality is the key to activating AI optimally and turning your signals into real business results. It acts as a critical input for Google's AI and makes it possible to reach the right customers more efficiently. The idea is to let AI use your own customer signals to steer bidding and audience selection in entirely new ways.
- Audiences: Find your most valuable customer segments and expand your reach to similar audiences.
- Bidding: AI-driven bidding uses your data to identify new keywords and channels, and optimizes the budget in real time.
- Channel optimization: The data enables sophisticated attribution models that assign fair value to every touchpoint in the customer journey.
4. Prove impact through modern measurement
Measurement is where the real effect of your data strength becomes clear. Just as before the AI revolution, strong data remains the foundation for understanding what actually works and for measuring investments better. By moving beyond simple last-click metrics, you can measure the business-critical KPIs that really matter, such as revenue and profit. A modern measurement toolbox combines three complementary parts:
- Attribution: Advanced attribution models, such as data-driven attribution, help you understand which media touchpoints contribute most to the customer journey.
- Incrementality tests: Through controlled experiments (for example, geo and conversion tests), you can measure the true, incremental effect of your campaigns and see whether an ad actually caused a conversion.
- Marketing Mix Modelling (MMM): Statistical models analyze investments against sales, helping you optimize budgets across all channels, both digital and physical.
Organization matters too
A decisive factor in building strong data and robust measurement is the organization. Measurement infrastructure and data strategy are often reduced to purely technical questions and decisions. Although the technology is a prerequisite, decisions must always be grounded in business priorities and commercial value. To maximize marketing returns and justify investments, close collaboration between marketing and IT is required, with both sides sharing an understanding of the business goals and the technical choices.
The way forward
The way forward is to invest in future growth. Building data strength is not only about fine-tuning ongoing campaigns; it is about strategically preparing the organization for the future. AI grounded in a high-quality first-party data strategy drives intelligent optimization, ensuring that every krona invested does the most good. For forward-looking business leaders, superior data strength is no longer optional. It is an absolute prerequisite for unlocking the full potential of modern AI and driving profitable growth.
By taking control of your own data strength, you stop guessing and start investing. It is not only the key to getting the most out of AI, but the only way to prove marketing's real value on the bottom line.
