You’ve likely heard of first-, second- and third-party data. What characterizes each and why does it matter? It can mean the difference between wasting enormous amounts of resources and generating effective ROI.
First-Party Data
First-party data is collected directly, first-hand. For example, this might be an email address provided when signing up for an e-newsletter; demographic information voluntarily provided; or transactional data (purchases and downloads). Such data could also involve behaviors online (web and email clicks, hovering, active time spent, etc.) or involve topics of interest determined by how the prospect engages with content over time. First-party data is a direct window into your prospects’ thought processes—a window that allows you to glean valuable information about their interests and buying intent.
Second-Party Data
Second-party data is data acquired from another party. An example is an attendee or member list provided by an outside vendor. Essentially, you are purchasing someone else’s first-party data. Reliability, privacy implications and contact weariness are risks associated with second-party data, which make it vital to partner with a trusted source.
Third-Party Data
Third-party data is any data that’s been collected by a business or other entity that doesn’t have any direct link to the visitor or customer. It often comes from sources across the web; for example, data pulled from publicly accessible websites and databases. Third-party audiences have not displayed any interest in your brand. This data can often be unreliable and lead to a dirty database and lack of audience trust, and it can ultimately impact your engagement rates and sender reputation.
Here at WFB, audience engagement and maintaining a clean database are both paramount to our business and, ultimately, our customers’ success. We understand how daunting the process can be–we literally have a full-time staff dedicated to maintaining and growing our audience of verified, engaged prospects who choose to provide information to us and our partners. We provide audience insights in many ways throughout the year, including audience demographic profiles on our advertising site and in the annual State of the Industry Report. I’d love to discuss opportunities to take advantage of our data and target your best prospects. Drop me an email.
