Third-Party Data at a Glance
Third-party data is information collected by external providers and then shared or sold to organisations looking to refine their marketing strategies. It usually comes from a breadth of sources, such as websites, apps, or social platforms, which are then aggregated into datasets covering demographics, online behaviour, and more. For growth marketers, this extended view can uncover new audience segments and amplify their existing insights. One example of how this kind of data is applied in practice is through the Clearbit weekly visitor report, which enriches website traffic data with firmographic insights.
Comparing First-, Second-, and Third-Party Data
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First-party data: Data you collect directly from your own channels. Examples include website analytics, customer surveys, email subscriber data. For a detailed breakdown and strategy guide, see What is First-party data? Building a data strategy.
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Second-party data: Another organisation’s first-party data shared with you. Examples include exclusive loyalty programme data, partner’s CRM insights. For a comprehensive overview, see What is Second-party data? The Complete Guide.
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Third-party data: Data from multiple external sources aggregated by providers. Examples include purchased demographics, browsing behaviour, audience segments.
Benefits of Third-Party Data
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Broader Audience Insights: You gain access to data you wouldn’t otherwise collect in-house, helping you identify new segments and areas for growth.
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Faster Acquisition: Instead of commissioning your own surveys or extensive customer research, you can purchase existing datasets and get timely insights.
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Competitive Edge: More knowledge about emerging behaviours or demographics means more precise targeting and better results.
Challenges and Drawbacks
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Variable Quality: Sourcing data from numerous external sites can introduce inconsistencies or outdated entries. It’s worth verifying any dataset before using it.
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Privacy and Compliance: Marketing regulations such as GDPR make it crucial to handle data responsibly and confirm you’re leveraging only consented datasets.
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Costs: Quality third-party data can be expensive, which may be restrictive for smaller teams or freelancers.
Key Trends in Third-Party Data
The phasing out of third-party cookies has made businesses re-evaluate their data strategies. Despite these shifts, research shows that around 70% of digital marketing campaigns still incorporate third-party data. There is, however, a clear movement towards improved transparency, compliance, and collaboration between data providers and advertisers. Growth marketers paying attention to these trends will be better placed to adapt to evolving privacy demands while staying data-driven.
Impact on Growth Marketers
Growth marketers rely on accurate information to drive campaigns. Third-party data keeps playing a supporting role—particularly for discovering untapped audience groups and refining messaging. However, the balance is shifting towards first-party data for deeper trust, as well as to comply with new privacy requirements. Combining first-party and third-party datasets offers a well-rounded approach, delivering the breadth of coverage needed for strategic decisions.
How Growth Method Can Help
Maintaining multiple data sources and running experiment-driven workflows can get tricky. Growth Method—a work management platform built for growth-oriented teams—streamlines the process. Our platform seamlessly combines ideation, experimentation, and reporting, giving you a single place to manage your growth marketing function.
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Centralised Ideation: Outline bold experiments and connect them to team goals right from the start, with our system auto-categorising ideas and sharing them with your entire team.
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Experiment Workflows: Move each experiment from building, to going live, to analysing, and finally to completed stages. This speeds up learning and keeps everyone focused on agile marketing.
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Clear Reporting: Show executives or clients everything from top-level growth strategy to the specific effect of individual experiments. Providing proof of how third-party data boosts ROI can be done in minutes.
“We are on-track to deliver a 43% increase in inbound leads this year. There is no doubt the adoption of Growth Method is the primary driver behind these results.” — Laura Perrott, Colt Technology Services
Growth Method is the only work management platform built for growth marketers. We help companies implement a systematic approach to grow leads and revenue. Learn more by booking a call with us today.
To date, our customers have recorded over 1000 marketing experiments in Growth Method. Learn more about us here.