First-party data at scale sounds unattainable. But by creating second-party data pools, brands and publishers can vastly increase the applicability of their customer data. This report, created in partnership with Salesforce, addresses the fundamental questions about second-party data so it can move from abstract concept to specific strategy.
The promise of customer data has tantalized brands for the better part of a decade. Their interest was focused on the maturation of the programmatic marketplace, where it became possible to easily buy audiences instead of space. The evolution of the ecosystem has been fueled by previously underutilized troves of customer and aggregate data.
Today, it’s clear that huge stockpiles of data processed and sorted by third parties only hold the solutions to some of marketers’ needs. For data to be effective in digital media, it needs to balance quantity with quality and relevance. As the ad ecosystem evolves, marketers demand more certainty, accuracy and trust in the data that underlies their efforts.
In recent years, the industry has begun exploring the value of second-party data—another brand’s first-party data acquired directly through partnership. The use of second-party data is no longer a nascent opportunity. We now can lay out guidelines for how to select partners whose data can enliven your campaigns, how to navigate walled-garden environments, and how to apply this data without risking your partners’ security or users’ privacy.