Data Quality: Selecting a Third Party Data Provider
Picking a third party data provider can always seem like a daunting task initially. With so many potential data partners in the market, you want to ensure you make the right choice first time.
If you are a marketer or media buyer who is looking to vet a third party data provider to help in your marketing campaigns, you will want to inquire about data quality. Certain pitfalls can be avoided by asking the right questions of your data provider. The answers they give can help you determine if the data buy is right for you.
But what probing questions will enable you to calculate their data quality. Below we have put ourselves in the position of data buyer and detailed the key questions we would ask a potential data partner:
What to ask a potential 3rd party data provider
"Can you tell me about your data collection methodology?"
This is important because their data collection methodology will give you good information about whether the data is privacy-compliant and opted-in to receive to receive third party offers. Some common data collection points include website registrations, form fills, online engagements, mobile apps and purchases.
"How recent is the data you provide?"
You want to be sure you are buying fresh data. Stale data will most certainly result in a low-performing campaign. As a general rule, 2% of contact data will become stale after a month. If you are planning on using the data moving forward, you want to be sure that fresh data is added daily, monthly, or quarterly.
"Has your data been verified by an independent data verification company?"
This determines if the data is considered accurate by a independent measurement company and is extremely important as it verifies the accuracy of the data. LBDigital's data, for example, has been endorsed by independent consumer data verifier, Truthset.
It's all well and good promising scale; if the data you are buying is inaccurate, your marketing campaigns are doomed to fail.
"What data segmentation options do you offer?"
This will determine if you can reach the appropriate target audience for your product or service. Some segments include demographics, firmographics, purchase behavior, location, lifestage, interests, political persuasion or key platform issues.
"What channels can the data be marketed to?"
Data-driven marketing channels include digital advertising, direct mail, email, social, video and OTT/CTV. Most data can be made available for all channels either directly or through an onboarding partner.
Other Important Questions to Ask 3rd Party Data Providers
Once you are sure about the data quality, there are a couple of further questions to put to your potential data provider:
"What integrations do you have with DMPs and other data platforms?"
You may choose to license the data directly or you may want to push the data into your platform of choice. Before deciding on a data provider, you will want to check which existing integrations they have with DMPs and other data platforms. LBDigital's data, for example, is available in Lotame, Basis, LiveRamp and Oracle platforms.
"Do you offer custom audiences?"
No matter how many segments a third party data provider offers, you may have a niche requirement which isn't fulfilled by their proprietary audiences. That's why it's important to check they offer customized solutions so that you can target people using exclusive keywords, indicating brand intent and contextual interests. On top of the 3,000 segments LBDigital offers, you can also work with us to create a custom audience, exclusive to you.
"Are you an IAB Member?"
The IAB serves as digital media’s biggest tent, comprised of more than 650 leading media and technology companies that are responsible for selling, delivering, and optimizing digital advertising or marketing campaigns. Working with its member companies, the IAB develops technical standards and best practices for digital marketing.
If you still have questions about how to choose a third party data provider, why not get in touch with us? We have 25 years in the business and with our data mentoring service, can help you make the most of marketing data for your future campaigns.
