Data Sources for Media: A Buyer’s Guide [REPORT]

The following is republished with the permission of the Association of National Advertisers. Find this and similar articles on ANA Newsstand.

A tremendous amount of money is spent on data for media buying decisions, specifically third-party audience data. Third-party data can come from many different sources, and multiple methodologies can be used in its collection, structuring, and marketing. This often makes it difficult for advertisers to understand exactly what they’re buying, leaving advertisers at a disadvantage and at risk of purchasing data that’s unsuitable for their purpose. To address this problem, advertisers need to evaluate the quality of a dataset before purchasing it. This paper recommends five criteria to focus on when evaluating data:

•     Does the data represent my intended campaign audience? (Data Accuracy)
•     Does everyone in the audience meet the criteria for inclusion, or are there false positives? (Data Precision)
•     How regularly is the data refreshed? When was it last refreshed? (Data Recency)
•     Does the dataset cover enough of my intended campaign audience to provide necessary scale for my client’s campaign? (Data Coverage)
•     Can I use the data with my chosen tech partners? (Data Deployability)

A checklist is also provided for advertisers to use when considering a new data partner.

This is an initiative from the Trust Consortium, which was launched by the ANA in 2019 in partnership with Reed Smith, the ANA’s outside legal counsel. The Consortium’s mission is to restore trust in the marketing ecosystem through transparency, integrity, and growth

To download report CLICK HERE.