When implementing Facebook campaigns, marketers are often limited in their targeting choices by Facebook’s native targeting. This includes age, interests, relationship status and location. However, first-party data is often not enough to build a fully realised understanding of who your consumers are.
Third-party data, being data collected outside the platform, can enrich a campaign and allow for more accurate targeting. In the case of Facebook campaigns, for example, this data can shed light on your audience’s shopping habits, income bracket and professional responsibilities.
LiveRamp’s IdentityLink Data Marketplace offers a third-party data solution, with over 65 Facebook-approved Data Marketplace partners in Australia and globally . Third-party data purchased in Data Marketplace can supplement first-party data, enriching and boosting the effectiveness of your Facebook marketing campaigns by providing you with a deeper insight of who your customers are. These insights can then inform tailored and targeted marketing strategies.
A recent article in The Marketing Journal discusses some reasons behind the recent growth of third-party data, claiming that the growth is driven by the need to size new markets and create more complete and accurate understandings of target consumers as well as power digital ad targeting and personalised marketing efforts. But what are the practical benefits of third-party data, and how can you incorporate it into your digital marketing strategy?
To unpack this, we recently invited Amanda Grant, managing partner and U.S. Head of Social for advertising giant GroupM to join us in a webinar on the benefits of third-party data, particularly in regard to optimising Facebook campaigns and marketing strategy.
Support weak first-party data and access hidden online and offline information
A primary benefit of third-party data is that it can fill gaps in first-party data. Facebook stores data on its users, but the limitation is that it only extends to these users’ activities on the platform. Third-party data can augment this information by extending it beyond Facebook, giving marketers an extra facet to engage with consumers in a privacy-conscious manner.
In the retail industry, for example, first-party data on Facebook can measure a consumers’ interests in brands and products from what they like and engage with on the platform. However, the group of consumers who choose to like a pet food brand’s Facebook page, for example, doesn’t necessarily correlate with the group of consumers who are pet owners and are actually interested in purchasing pet food. It’s these consumers you would want to target with marketing campaigns for this brand and implementing third-party data via the IdentityLink Data Marketplace to identify them.
Another gap in first-party data on Facebook is that it only houses online data, and at most, online representations of offline data. For example, if someone buys a house, this is only held as first-party data on Facebook if that consumer chooses to post about it, which then informs marketers that this consumer is a homeowner.
There are various forms of offline data that can add layers of understanding beyond this. By utilising third-party data via our IdentityLink Data Marketplace, marketers could learn that the homeowner has filed for a renovation permit. This adds the understanding that they are looking to remodel their house, meaning they will likely be interested in remodelling loans and renovation services.
Predict consumer interest and target accordingly
Another benefit of third-party data is that it can help marketers delve deeper into what kind of interest a consumer has in a particular brand.
For example, if consumers like the Facebook page of a particular automotive brand, marketers could draw the conclusion that they are interested in this car brand. However, consumers who like this page could range from people who have recently bought a car, to those who are looking to buy a car, or perhaps even those who don’t drive a car at all! By implementing third-party data, marketers can narrow down their visibility on their target consumers, and learn what consumers are in the relevant stage of the purchase cycle. In this case, this is consumers who are interested in purchasing a new car. By learning this, marketers can then effectively communicate with their target audience, reducing the risk of marketing to irrelevant consumers, which can negatively impact trust in the brand.
It’s vital for marketers to have accurate insights into their consumer-base, especially in industries with longer purchase cycles. This will ensure we avoid communicating with the wrong audience, which can negatively impact brand trust and loyalty.
To dive deeper and learn more on the benefits of incorporating third-party data with Facebook campaigns, view the webinar below. Learn more about LiveRamp’s IdentityLink Data Marketplace