It is extremely important that anytime a company uses data, that we are mindful of the consumer’s privacy and considerate to the amount of marketing they might be receiving. As marketers you will never want to overwhelm a potential customer to they point they are feeling harassed.
You will also want to be mindful of the source of the data, because not all data is the same. You will want to make sure that you are using opt-in consumer data for your marketing efforts. With the prevalence of hacking, illegally sourced data is all over and you as the company is responsible for maintaining best practices and can be held liable if you use ill-gotten data sets. Any reputable data provider can provide the time stamp in which the opt-in was successfully logged.
Opt-in consumer data is when a person has given permission for companies to contact them by using this personal information. This also means that there is not information on every single person, or that every record is complete because if their is missing information from the data, it is not available or is not available for marketing purposes.
Streaming Audio, CTV, OTT, and Display Data:
There are two types of data for online advertising, Black Box and Unstructured. Black box data sets are the large data sets that are going to be larger in scope. For example age, gender, or interest. Unstructured data will be used based on the device, its location, and the history of website, podcast, etc. the user visits. Unstructured data is harder to determine the available audience size as compared to Big Box data which are known audience sets.
Social Media Data:
Social Media platforms are using the data their users provide through the content they post, the information in their profile bios, the location checkins, the companies they follow and engage with, and the content they engage with plus the network of aps their network partners with through easy log in or shared network data.
Automotive Data:
We currently have relationships with over 1,500 entities throughout the US that feed us car owner data from as frequently as daily to as late as every quarter. The contributing sources are as follows: DMV records, Dealer Point of Sale, Dealer Point of Service, Warranty, Insurance, After-market Parts, and Accessories Companies, and Major Car Clubs of America (similar to AAA group). Not all databases are going to be equal and depending on the source of the data we may not be able to access certain PII such as the VIN. For records that will include a VIN, a record will not make it into a master file unless he is present in at least two of our data feeds. This is our dual corroborating record technique. To keep the data from becoming historical, we require a third supporting record to surface, confirming the person still owns the car. Otherwise, we remove the record until we can once again prove ownership.
Email Address Sourcing and Quality:
We license a network of over 4,000 source URLs. Examples of these sites are Netflix, Travelocity, Expedia, Wall Street Journal, eTrade, Scottrade, etc. Currently, we take in about 20-30 million monthly records that are opt-in for all third-party offers. We collect the opt-in credentials to prove opt-in. The Master Consumer Database has over 230 million records available nationwide. To ensure deliverable email addresses, we first bounce the incoming data against our Master Suppression File (1.6 billion email addresses we know are no longer active). This process identifies the potential good emails going into the delivery test phase. We run ping verification, SMTP checks, and permission passes before adding the email address to our market-ready file.
Credit Data:
There are two types of credit data; Modeled and True Credit data. Modeled credit utilized an extensive algorithm that is, on average, plus or minus 10 points accurate compared to a true credit score. There are reasons to use both data sets but the benefits to utilize Modeled Credit is there is a cost savings and will not need to get approval from the FCRA compliance protocols, i.e. approved lender, firm offer of credit, a lot of paperwork, etc.
Postal Data:
Postal data comes from the several sources including the Post Office, Magazine Subscriptions, and Cable subscriptions. We also run what is called the (N)ational (C)hange (O)f (A)ddress on all of our databases every 60 days. We also run (D)elivery (P)oint (V)erification and (C)oded (A)ccuracy (S)upport (S)ystems. This insures any direct mail or digital advertising will go to the desired household.
Phone Data:
Phones can be a bit more complicated as many consumers self-report bogus phone numbers to avoid being telemarketed. The phones come from our same network of licensed source URLs. As they come in, we run them against the NPA/NXX telco table. This is how we identify if it is a cell phone number or a landline. All numbers are compliant to call once provide to a client but it is the client responsibility to have a system in place to properly verify prior to calling as that list is updated in real time. Phone numbers provided from a list company are only going to be valid for phone calls. Textable phone numbers can only be acquired by a consumer providing permission directly to the company and cannot be purchased for 3rd party purposes.
If you have a funny feeling about the the quality or the source of the data, do not use that data. The fines are extremely expensive and they are set based on the number of infractions, meaning if you are using data and send of 5,000 messages to people that are not on a marketing list that means the fines will be multiplies 5,000 times!
If you have any questions or interested in seeing what type of data is available for your marketing needs please contact us today.
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