As targeting on social media continues to get more complicated – the slow demise of cookies and iOS 14.5 updates being the latest challenge to reaching your audiences – this is resulting in a reduction in campaign effectiveness. To address this decline, social media advertisers need to be looking at new ways to identify and target their audiences precisely.   

For an advertiser, the critical factor for campaign successes – arguably the most critical – is targeting. While much social media targeting relies upon on-platform data – think interests, likes or location – powerful and relevant information such as buyer behavior, mobile app usage, product preferences, or purchase intent is also an option. To activate this, social media advertisers need to be investing in third-party data. 

From car ownership to holiday types, financial product ownership to job function, brand preference to entertainment choices and much more, leverage this data, and your targeting becomes more accurate and campaigns more effective. 

What to look for when buying third-party data    

But if buying third-party data to apply to your marketing campaigns is new to you, what should you be considering? Well, I recommend focusing on the following areas:  

1. Data quality 

Accurate targeting requires quality data, and this comes down to two factors:

• Is the data compliant? Has the data been collected in accordance with the necessary privacy regulations? In essence, is it safe for you to activate it for your marketing activity? 

• Who is the data from? It’s not just about the data itself. With thousands of audience data sets available, do your due diligence. Who is the data sourced from?  Is it from a reputable and trusted company with established data practices that you’ve heard of, like Oracle, LiveRamp or D&B? If so, you can be confident in the quality of the audience data and that it complies with all regulations. 

2. The scale of the data

What is the potential reach of the particular third-party audience data you are considering – and how does this compare to other options? The data must provide the scale you need to support your campaign goals. It goes without saying that the more defined your audience, the smaller the reach. And scale also applies to your audience categories. For example, if you’re an agency, can you access data from a wealth of industries such as retail, consumer packaged goods, automotive, financial services, business, and more, or is it limited to specific sectors? 

3. Ease of finding and activating 

Your time and effort should go into defining your target audience – but accessing, buying and activating the data you need should be a streamlined process. For example, the DeepSync Labs marketplace allows you quickly to search across over 100,000 rich consumer and business audiences, choose your audience segments and activate them in your social media destination, for example, Facebook Business Manager. Choose solutions that remove the complexity of finding quality audiences and eliminate any contractual, licencing, or operational headaches around buying, so the data is ready to use immediately.     

4. Only pay for what you need

Treat your third-party audience data as you would a new channel. You wouldn’t go all out but instead would test it to see if it works. Start small, measure the performance and if the data is delivering an improved return on investment, then commit more budget. You shouldn’t have to commit to minimum order values or be tied into a data contract: if the data works, great, but if it doesn’t, there should be no obligation to continue to spend.

Take into account these areas, and you won’t go far wrong.

Precision targeting is not just the domain of big budgets

And this data is not solely the prerogative of the big advertisers. It’s never been easier for smaller agencies and brands to take full advantage by accessing this information to remove targeting blind spots and compete with the big boys!  

Third-party data lets you run more efficient and cost-effective campaigns, target those audiences most likely to meet your campaign goals and improve your performance. Failing to use this data means social media advertisers are stifling their campaign potential. 

To find out how DeepSync Labs can address your targeting challenges, visit our site or get in touch with us at support@deepsynclabs.com.