{"id":385910,"date":"2016-06-08T10:43:24","date_gmt":"2016-06-08T17:43:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/customerthink.com\/?p=385910"},"modified":"2016-06-08T10:44:21","modified_gmt":"2016-06-08T17:44:21","slug":"a-marketers-guide-to-using-data","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/customerthink.com\/a-marketers-guide-to-using-data\/","title":{"rendered":"A Marketer\u2019s Guide to Using Data"},"content":{"rendered":"

Data is one of the most important assets in the marketing mix. Data-driven marketing delivers results in terms of customer loyalty, customer engagement and market growth. According to a report by Forbes Insights and Turn, Data Driven and Digitally Savvy: The Rise of the New Marketing Organization, \u201cOrganizations that are \u2018leaders\u2019 in data-driven marketing report far higher levels of customer engagement and market growth than their \u2018laggard\u2019 counterparts. In fact, leaders are three times more likely than laggards to say they have achieved competitive advantage in customer engagement\/loyalty (74% vs. 24%) and almost three times more likely to have increased revenues (55% vs. 20%).\u201d<\/p>\n

The Three Types of Data<\/h2>\n

You may have heard the terms 1st party, 2nd part and 3rd party data. If you aren\u2019t entirely familiar with what each type of data entails, here\u2019s a brief overview.<\/p>\n

1st Party Data<\/strong>
\nThis is data you have captured based on the actions someone makes when interacting with your business. For example, this may be data collected when a user fills out a form on your website (i.e. name, address, phone number); it could be purchases and other transactions, both offline and online, that your customers make (i.e. what types of products or services they purchased from you, when they purchase, how often they purchase); or it could be data gathered from users interacting with your website (i.e. how they arrived at your site, what pages they went to, how long they spent on those pages). Many 1st party data elements can be collected through the numerous interactions your customers and prospects are having with your brand.<\/p>\n

2nd Party Data<\/strong>
\nThis data term is still relatively new, and refers to another company\u2019s 1st party data that is collected and sold or exchanged to you. Another way to think of this is as data that users aren\u2019t giving you directly, but that you\u2019re obtaining through a direct relationship with another entity. This data is generally unique to you, but it is not strictly \u201cyours\u201d in the sense that you did not collect it from users directly. One example might be a hotel chain working with an airline to mutually benefit from each other\u2019s data sets. Or an apparel retailer and a sportswear brand might exchange data to enhance their co-op advertising programs through better targeting and personalization.<\/p>\n

3rd Party Data<\/strong>
\n3rd party is external data available for purchase by data providers who source and aggregate the data into applicable sets that can be applied to your 1st party data bases. This data is integral to deploying targeted marketing campaigns, because they provide hundreds of data elements that no consumer would fill out in a single form. With only a few 1st party data elements, 3rd party data sets can be appended to correct and fill in missing elements such as email addresses, phone numbers, lifestyles, demographics, purchase indicators and more to strengthen your customer insights.<\/p>\n

Best Uses of Each Data Type<\/h2>\n

Econsultancy and Signal<\/a> conducted research, asking marketers to rate how they used 1st party, 2nd party, and 3rd party data. When marketers were asked to compare different levels of data and their effect on desired outcomes, first-party data ranked highest across the board. It was most popular for gaining insight into customers, cited by 74% of respondents. More than six in 10 respondents also said it was the easiest to justify using, drove the highest increase in customer value and the highest campaign lift among data sources.<\/p>\n

\"marketing<\/p>\n

According to a report by eMarketer, \u201cJanuary 2015 study by Forrester Consulting<\/a>, commissioned by Adroit Digital<\/a>, found that while first-party data had to be accompanied by second- and third-party information<\/a>, it was still the most important source\u2014cited by 87% of US digital marketers and customer insights professionals when asked about their attitudes toward the use of data at their companies.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"marketing<\/p>\n

According to the research:<\/p>\n