Your business likely knows that data is the key to reaching your target audience and personalizing your marketing efforts to their needs. However, many marketers still don’t have the data they need to effectively personalize their communications, with only:
- 44% of marketers knowing their customers’ shopping habits.
- 39% of marketers having access to basic customer demographic information.
- 16% of marketers understanding their customers’ pain points and challenges.
That’s where a third-party data provider comes in. The right provider will help you unlock the insights you need to reach and engage current and potential customers. In this guide, we’ll explore how to choose the best third-party data provider for your company:
- Frequently Asked Questions About Choosing Third-Party Data Providers
- How to Choose a Third-Party Data Provider
- Top Third-Party Data Provider: Deep Sync
Frequently Asked Questions About Choosing Third-Party Data Providers
What is a third-party data provider?
A third-party data provider is a company that collects, aggregates, packages, and sells consumer and/or business data to other organizations. By compiling data from a variety of external sources, such as public records, transactional data, and surveys, these providers offer key information that your business can immediately implement to expand its reach and personalize marketing communications.
What marketing functions does third-party data support?
Third-party data can help you improve your:
- Acquisition campaigns. Obtain precisely targeted lists that enable you to reserve marketing spend and resources for those with a high likelihood of engaging.
- Demographic and firmographic insights. Learn more about your customers so you can tailor future campaigns and offerings to them accordingly.
- Lookalike audiences. Expand your reach to new individuals who are likely to be interested in your product or service. A third-party data provider can use your current customers’ demographic characteristics to identify additional segments with similar attributes to your existing audience.
- Predictive analytics. Predict customer and prospect responses and purchase behavior to target the audiences that will deliver the highest ROI.
- Loyalty campaigns. Run high-performing loyalty campaigns by collecting contact information that enables you to get in touch with customers and gathering valuable insights into their habits, behaviors, and demographics to personalize your messages.
- Digital marketing. Leverage addressable consumer data to reach potential customers across the online channels they frequent.
What are the most important considerations when choosing a third-party data provider?
When choosing a third-party data provider, make sure to consider:
- Transparency. Seek a partner that prioritizes transparency in data compilation and quality as a form of knowledge sharing. Potential providers should be willing to discuss the origins of their data, sources used in compilation, and processes used for quality assurance. This information is critical for making informed data-related decisions.
- Depth of coverage. Data partners that offer a curated collection of datasets across a variety of file types will be more agile in fulfilling your marketing requests. Inquire about their ability to source data from multiple files to meet your campaign needs. Doing so will improve data enhancement match rates and increase the number of prospects available for marketing.
- Service and delivery options. Service Level Agreements (SLAs) ensure that service and delivery operations are consistent and designed with your best interests in mind. Ask potential providers about the availability of self-service platforms and the structure of their full-service delivery models to gauge the extent of their service involvement.
- Adaptability. As your business evolves, your selected data provider should be able to scale solutions accordingly. In times of growth and decline, the right partner will present the best possible solution for your business in that specific moment. For example, can they incorporate digital marketing channels that extend your ability to make targeted connections online, even if you started working with them to improve your direct mail approach?
- Compliance. Your prospective provider should willingly present information about their compliance initiatives. Ask how their datasets and related services are compliant with all relevant laws (including CAN-SPAM, CCPA, and GDPR), industry best practices, and consumer privacy initiatives.
How to Choose a Third-Party Data Provider
To choose the best third-party data provider for your needs, follow these steps:
- Audit your existing data. Before licensing third-party data, evaluate the in-house information you already have. Identify any gaps a data provider might be able to fill, and take stock of which systems different data lives in, so you can portray an accurate picture of your current data setup to potential providers.
- Define your core marketing objectives. Determine what marketing goals you need third-party data to support. For example, are you looking for demographic insights to enrich your understanding of current customers or lookalike audience data to expand your reach?
- Create a list of questions to ask. Based on your goals and the key considerations discussed earlier, compile a list of questions for potential providers. For instance, you may ask where they source their data from and if they have specialty lists related to your business niche.
- Meet with your top choices. Set up meetings with potential providers to learn more about how they can help your business. Take notes so you can share pertinent information with your team and compare each provider.
- Make a final decision. Assess which third-party data provider best aligns with the core data partner considerations and meets your company’s specific needs.
Top Third-Party Data Provider: Deep Sync
If you’re seeking a third-party data provider, look no further than Deep Sync. With decades of experience in the data-driven marketing space, Deep Sync is the premier provider of third-party data and solutions, offering:
- Market-leading datasets based in deterministic, offline data, so you can be confident you’re reaching real people, businesses, and households
- Best-in-class coverage with datasets covering a wide variety of audiences and niches, such as homeowners, young adults, voters by party, and many other segments
- Privacy-compliant approach, adhering to all relevant consumer privacy requirements and regulations, such as CCPA and GDPR
- SOC 2 Type II compliance, enabling you to trust our data protection measures
- Extensive industry partnerships that empower you to activate audiences across channels
No matter what your marketing goals are and which channels you’re looking to leverage, Deep Sync can help you reach your target audience with messages that will resonate with them.
Final Thoughts
Choosing any type of vendor can be daunting, but finding a data provider you trust with your time, resources, and reputation to reach your audience in an effective, privacy-conscious manner is an especially involved process. By thinking through top considerations and determining your data needs, you can select a third-party data provider that will help you achieve your marketing goals.
For an embedded data partner that works seamlessly with your team, Deep Sync is the top choice. Our extensive datasets and solutions empower you to harness data for your specific business needs. To begin transforming your marketing approach, contact Deep Sync, and we’ll connect you with an expert who will work with you to create a customized data solution.
For more information on third-party data, check out these additional resources:
- What Is First-Party Data and Third-Party Data? Expert Guide. Explore the differences between different data types and how you can incorporate each one into your strategy.
- What Is Data Enrichment? How To Unlock Marketing Insights. Dive deeper into data enrichment, the process of supplementing your database with third-party data.
- How to Use Direct Mail Lists to Run a Successful Campaign. Learn more about how to use direct mail lists, a form of third-party data, to reach potential customers offline.
0 Comments