What Is Identity Resolution?
Identity resolution is the process of connecting different identifiers and data points that belong to the same person, household, or organization to create a more consistent view of that identity.
Identity Resolution, Explained Simply
People and companies rarely appear the same way in every dataset.
One system may recognize a person by business email. Another may use a personal email, device identifier, postal address, customer ID, or other identifier.
Identity resolution determines when those separate identifiers can appropriately be connected to the same underlying identity.
For B2B marketers, identity resolution can also involve connecting professionals with companies and maintaining those relationships as people change jobs, titles, or contact information.
Why Identity Resolution Matters
Identity resolution can enable marketers to:
- Reduce fragmented customer and prospect records
- Connect identifiers across datasets and platforms
- Improve audience matching
- Support B2B2C linkage
- Create more consistent audience views
- Improve cross-channel activation
- Strengthen personalization and measurement
PAULA'S PERSPECTIVE
Identity is one of the foundations of modern data-driven marketing.
If you cannot confidently determine who a record represents — or which company that professional belongs to — every strategy built on top of that data becomes less reliable.
Identity resolution is not about forcing every available data point together. The goal is accurate, responsible linkage that creates a more useful representation of the audience.
Quality of the connection matters more than simply maximizing the number of connections.
— Paula Chiocchi
Identity Resolution in Practice
- Step 1Multiple Identifiers
- Step 2Business Email
- Step 3Company & Title Data
- Step 4Approved Identifier
- Step 5Unified Profile
Imagine the same executive appears in several systems.
The CRM contains a business email. Another dataset contains updated company and title information. A separate environment contains another approved identifier associated with that individual.
Identity resolution can determine whether those records represent the same person and connect the appropriate information.
Instead of treating the records as unrelated people, the marketer gains a more consistent view of one professional identity.
KEY TAKEAWAY
Identity resolution connects disparate identifiers to create consistent, reliable views of people, households, and organizations.
Related Glossary Terms
About Paula Chiocchi
Paula Chiocchi is the Founder and CEO of Outward Media, Inc. and host of B2B Influence: Spotlight on Industry Game-Changers, with decades of experience in data-driven marketing.