Consumer data has long been utilized to make business decisions, but the way we gather data continues to evolve. Technology allows brands to gather powerful new insights that can be utilized for marketing, sales, communications, new product development, daily operations, and more. Here is how everything from outdoor LED panels to your website, social media, and automated marketing can gather business-boosting data points.

What Is Consumer Data?

Consumer data is information that your target audience provides consciously or subconsciously when they interact with your brand. Before digital technologies, most data was gathered by conscious means. Also, by more direct methods. Thanks to technology, data can be gathered in multiple new ways and is more in-depth than ever before.

How we generated data in the past was limited to a basic demographic or target audience. Most businesses had 3 primary demographics that they targeted their sales and marketing.

Basic targeting included factors such as:

• Age
• Gender
• Sexual orientation
• Marital status
• Location
• Occupation
• Income level
• Education level
• And more

While the data points above are still utilized, they are considered elementary data points. Today’s data can be utilized to create in-depth and hyper-targeted consumer profiles. This includes what specific pain points you address, problems you solve, and how you add value.

It’s the difference between your demographic being “single moms” to your demographic being “single moms ages 30 to 45, with children ages 10+ who enjoy outdoor family activities”. These extra details help you to significantly improve your sales and marketing strategies.

How Digital Data Helps You Identify Your Niche?

The previous logic is that you get the most ROI marketing to your top 3 demographics. However, the ability to market on cost-effective digital channels such as outdoor LED panels, social media, PPC ads, and article marketing means you can afford to market to your niche demographics. Not only that, but digital data may alert you to a demographic that isn’t currently on your radar.

For example, you may assume your primary demographic is men ages 40+ with an income of at least $65,000 per year. Your secondary demographics may include women of the same age and men who are 30+. However, your digital data may uncover that over 30% of your website and social media traffic are consumers of all genders who are 25 to 35 years old. This is a percentage that is too large to ignore, so your sales and marketing must speak to them too.

Why Your Data Should Be Regional?

Another benefit of digital data is that it empowers you to curate regional data points and market accordingly. The old approach is to market to each region you serve in the same manner. There are a variety of reasons why this may not be the most effective approach.

Here are a few examples to consider:

• Your US-based restaurant chain may have a few more regionally inspired dishes in different parts of the state or country. For example, Tex-Mex-inspired dishes in Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico. Or pickled and spicy condiments in the south.
• A global retail chain such as H&M may not market their winter coats on their outdoor LED panels in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico—but they will in the colder climates they serve. Also, it’s not winter at the same time in the Northern Hemisphere as it is in the Southern Hemisphere so global brands must buy and market accordingly.
• If you plan to take any type of business statewide, nationwide, or global—your demographic may vary slightly. Or the demographic may be similar, but cultural differences may require you to utilize different sales and marketing strategies. For example, how you market to single women in cities such as New York, Los Angeles, or Chicago may vary from how you market to a single woman in a rural area or a country with a vastly different culture.

How Is Digital Data Generated?

Digital data is easy to generate. Whether generated from online or offline channels, data falls into one of four categories:

Zero-party data—this is data that a website or social media visitor intentionally and proactively shares with a brand such as a survey, poll, quiz, preference center data, or how consumers hover their mouse over their website or app. The data isn’t necessarily generated from someone who made a purchase but has interacted with your brand in some way. Zero-party data and first-party data are typically referred to as one and the same.

First-party data—this is data that your organization collects from your channels and sources such as an opt-in contact form on your website, social media interactions, or touchscreen indoor and outdoor LED panels. The information collected may be from a lead who has yet to convert or from an existing consumer. How you leverage this contact information can provide both individual consumer and demographic-wide data points.

Second-party data—second-party data and third-party data are typically referred to as one and the same. It is first-party data that another company collects, packages, and sells to you. This includes Google Affinity Audiences or another business selling their subscriber list or website and social media data to you.

Third-party data—this is aggregated data collected from multiple data sources, that are packaged and sold by a third-party source. This includes data collected from website or app tracking cookies, purchased email lists, and direct mail marketing lists. The downside of second and third-party data is that both come with privacy and compliance concerns.

Conclusion

In addition to the fact that consumers are empowered to opt-out of digital tracking cookies and Google will phase out tracking cookies by 2023—zero and first-party data are more powerful. With the in-depth data points you can gather from your digital channels, you don’t need second or third-party data. What you do need is the right technology and tools to generate your direct data—and digitally market your brand.

If you are searching for new outdoor LED panels to market your products and services—we invite you to reach out to Mega LED Technology today for a free quote.