Data-Driven Marketing: What is Third-Party Data and What are the Benefits?
In the previous two articles, we have explained about the first-party data and second-party data. In this article we will continue to talk about the third type of data: the third-party data.
What is third-party data?
The third-party data is different from the first two data mentioned because the data purchased from a third company are not collected by this same company. This means that the data is purchased from “data merchants” or more precisely from data aggregators that derive their content from platforms and websites on which people have left their information.
These aggregators of data can be considered as intermediaries that make the purchase-resale. They buy from publishers and site owners to sell to companies and brands that need to get rich in data to carry out their marketing campaign.
The work of these intermediaries lies not only in the purchase-resale, but in the classification of the data. They organize the data according to different aspects:
- Sectors;
- Demographic characteristics;
- The sexes
- Ages
- Online behavior;
- The interests…
This segmentation is essential so that the companies that use them can buy data that they can exploit according to their objectives. On the other hand, if the buyer knows what kind of data they buy, they do not know where the data comes from. The buyer knows the source (the seller) but if the buyer wants to know the origin of the data, they need to contact the seller.
This opacity about the sources of the data is largely offset by the fact that the third-party data is bought and sold by program, which means that the volumes are in large scale. Often, the role of third-party data is to complete the first- and the second-party data and consolidate audiences.
How can marketers use third-party data wisely?
The third party data is particularly interesting and powerful when you pair it with the first-party data. More voluminous than the first two and with a larger scope, they allow to broaden the audience and draw a number of conclusions more in depth regarding the behaviors and interests of the targets.
1. Improve your first-party data
With third-party data, it is possible to refine the data in the first- party’s target audience using data volumes.
Proportionally, the more relevant information the data has, the more conclusive the results can be created. By buying additional information about your first audience, you will learn more about your customers, which will give you a more complete picture of what you are trying to achieve.
2. Broaden your audience
The data points of the third-party are so important that you will have access to audiences that you would not have access to even as a marketer. Without the intervention of an intermediary who provides qualified amounts of data, it would be much more complex and tedious to expand your database.
3. Increase the accuracy of your targeting
Perfectly analyzed data is also data that allows you to properly segment and sub-segment different audiences. Whether demographic, social, behavioral, or contextual, the classification can be subparts and even subparts of subparts. It is essential for a better knowledge of its public and thus of its promotional and/or advertising message.
4. Discover new audiences
As highlighted briefly above, the third- party data can bring new audiences that you would not have access to, but that you might not have thought of. With it, you develop your prospect targeting, but you can also develop new products to make them perfectly attractive to new audiences.
Conclusions
Once the first-, second- and third-parties are collected, the ideal is to group them on a single platform that allows for archiving, classification and optimized data management. This will allow you to quickly select the material you need to develop optimized and relevant marketing campaigns.
While all estimates predict that the hegemony of the data is still in its infancy, it is increasingly necessary to couple first- , second- and third-party data to have a panel of prospects and customers quality.
Collecting, organizing and analyzing is not enough anymore. In an ever-changing digital world, businesses and agencies need to be skilled at integrating new regulations for user privacy as well as new marketing practices.
Equip yourself with powerful tools to collect your own data, bet on the second-party data with B2B collaboration or working with reliable service providers, here are the real challenges for brands and companies to turn data into pure gold.
