Unlike third-party data that is often available to many different companies, source data is unique to your company. This is data that you own and collect with the direct consent of consumers, through interactions on apps and websites, and in response to marketing initiatives, such as email and loyalty programs. But first, what is source data? Source data is a term that refers to data that you collect directly from your customers. This data is not collected through third parties, but through channels owned by you, such as your website, application or emails.
Here are three things digital marketers should focus on right now. Marketers will need to address technologies and capabilities, including better use of customer data platforms over other technologies and the most efficient processes for data acquisition, organization and storage. They will also need to compare the maturity of their advanced analytics teams and learn what best practices are and how to follow them. What Digital Marketing Leaders Need to Know to Accelerate Firsthand Data Capture by Chelsea Gross.
The first component of a proprietary data strategy is a unified view of consumers, whether potential, current or expired. In the meantime, expand your first-party data strategy with these 22 ways to collect first-party data. To properly collect first-party data, you must create a data transaction that provides value to the customer and ensures trust by communicating transparency of use and responsible data governance. Understanding how you will use your customers' data to deliver a great experience is a key component, although consumers are also increasingly aware of data privacy issues that may prevent them from providing their information to brands they consider less trustworthy.
What is less clear are the specific data points needed to support your use case and your audiences, (how can you get those data points) and (what you can do to get a data point you might not have today). Taking your data out of these silos and into one place will help you understand the big picture of the data you have, and your customer profiles will begin to take shape. Responsible data governance is critical, as a single error in data privacy can lead your customers to file a request to have their data deleted or leave you vulnerable to a class action lawsuit. There are several ways to understand your customers through data, and they aren't just limited to the data points you can collect, but to how you can combine and enrich that data to create new insights.
When you send your email address to an e-commerce website to get that coupon code, you simply provide them with first-party data. Third-party data, on the other hand, consists of information collected by a party that does not have a direct relationship with the person whose data is collected. But at the same time as customer expectations rise, data privacy demands that prevent third-party data collection and identity bonding also increase in complexity. And there are still plenty of options to improve customer data with additional demographics and behavioral data.
Customers have the right to expect transparency about how their data is used and assurances that data governance is handled responsibly. If you create this data correctly, automate and enforce standards, it will flow into and enrich your proprietary data (also known as source data). With coordination, standardization, and governance of all teams completing their metadata (a fancy way of saying data attributes) for these objects, your source data will benefit significantly. .
