[This blog is the third of our five-part series on data monetization. To read the previous post, click here.]
So you’ve differentiated your data enough to get a marketer’s interest, and worked with an identity resolution provider to ensure accuracy.
Now, take a step back for a moment and consider: is your data set really unique?
One way to create a unique data set is to partner with another data owner—going to market together as a way to connect and expand your product. To do this you will need syndication or licensing agreements to combine and distribute your data set.
When it comes to picking partners, sometimes it helps to think like a brand. They are, after all, your customers, and their concerns should be your concerns. Even if you chose to go it alone, you need to think about the data you’re offering and how using it might impact your brand customers.
Brands are rigorous in choosing which data providers meet their privacy, security, and accuracy expectations, and you should be as well. It’s easier to sell a product that meets or exceeds their standards than it is to change them, so it’s important to vet any data partners or sources you will work with to append or add to your own data set.
Gaining trust
“We’re honing in on where the industry is getting even more focused—and that’s transparency on sources and focus at the individual level,” says Doug MacDonald, SVP of Digital Solutions at V12 Data.
More and more platforms care about sourcing practices because they don’t want to be on the front page of the Wall Street Journal for the wrong reasons. Once trust is broken, it can be very difficult to rebuild, so getting it right the first time is crucial.
Data providers just starting out should be able to answer core questions that clients or prospects ask. Do you have a framework for the ethical use of data to ensure permissible collection, use, and application of customer data? How do you manage the collection of new data sources and the integration of those data sets with existing data sets on customers in a privacy-conscious manner?
Source from the ground up
How do you answer these questions? Think about sourcing.
By implementing a multi-point verification process with numerous data sources, data providers can ensure they are providing only the highest quality of data and the most accurate picture of the consumer as possible.
A missed mark erodes trust in the brand from a consumer who clearly sees that the message is not really for him or her—and that annoyance ultimately will come back to haunt the data provider that didn’t source and deliver high-quality data. Targeting with inaccurate and noncompliant data sets can lead campaigns to failure—or success for incorrect and, perhaps more importantly, unreplicatable reasons.
That’s why permissible sourcing is a big priority for brands—and it’s why marketers today have to ask their data management partners how they identify customers.
Knowing the answers to these questions will make it a lot easier to start marketing your data—which happens to be our next step!
It’s not easy getting started with data monetization, but we’re here to help. For more strategies on monetizing your data, download our data monetization guide.