I’m sure you’ve heard a lot about first and third-party data. It’s all over the internet, headlines plastered across every business and tech blog all over the world on a weekly basis. For most of us, that means next to nothing. Okay – so it’s data coming from different places. What’s the big deal? What’s the difference? To explain this, we first need to take a close look at the different kinds of data.
Third-party Data
- Third-party data comes from another provider or website (such as Facebook, Twitter etc.)
- Third-party data is based on whatever data the provider feels is important, or wants to release to you
- It can often contain information that is too thin to base a full demographic profile on
- You don’t have ownership over any data
Now that we know what third-party data is and where we get it, how does it work? Well, the short answer is: it doesn’t. Not well, anyway. Reliance on third-party data gives us poor ad targeting and adversely affects all attempts to monetize. Instead of rich and direct information, you’re receiving vague information which can be withdrawn from you anytime the third-party company decides to change permissions, rendering any usage of that data suddenly ineffectual. It’s also poor quality because you can’t ensure the source, the authenticity, accuracy, and whether it’s permission-based or not. If you’re obtaining API access data (which is what you’d receive from Facebook, for example) and you ever need to access it again in the future, there’s a chance the company will decide you can no longer have access; worst of all – you don’t own any of it and can’t keep it stored. There also exists third-party data that you can purchase (as in static, databases or data sheets). You also run the risk that your competitors are buying the exact same thing.
First-party Data
- First-party data comes directly from the source
- First-party data contains all information available, you can choose what has importance to you
- It contains heaps of detailed and useful information you can use to build complex and meaningful profiles
- You completely own your first-party data
First-party data is king, and vastly preferred across the net for it’s relative freedom. Having control over all your data means you have total control over your monetization and marketing strategy – something all businesses dearly need. In this way, we’re able to rely on concise, detailed and robust information that gives us much more accurate user profiles and demographics. As opposed to third-party data, you can manipulate the data and analyze it in your own way, making it more customized and tailored to your company’s needs. First-party data has proven itself more useful in situations like targeted advertising, making sponsorship deals and in producing more relevant content for your audience which in turn drives your pageviews and visits ever higher. The most beneficial aspect of first-party data is that you own it – 100%. You store this information in your own databases, meaning it’s absolutely available anytime you need it – whether that’s in a few months, years or even decades. This means you can’t have the rug pulled out from underneath you at any time, and your data-based strategies aren’t in jeopardy.
Enabling tools like Social Login, you collect this data directly from your users and smoothly add it into your database. From there, it’s displayed in your Analytics Dashboard and is also available to export at your leisure.
For more information and tips on making the most of your data, download our white paper.