Do You Own Your Data or Just Rent It

By Kristen Judd

Do You Own Your Data or Just Rent It?

Given the broad reach of the media coverage and conversation about the topic, even the least digitally dependent or savvy among us are aware of the current controversy and backlash surrounding Facebook as it relates to access to and handling of user data. Many people reading this may also be familiar with some of the recent changes Facebook has announced that could have an impact on automobile dealerships’ marketing and advertising strategies.

Of course, I’m referring to Facebook’s announcement that it plans to cut off access to third-party data brokers like Experian and Acxiom for targeted ads that had been previously available through a marketing feature known as Partner Categories. Now, whether paid Facebook ads that leveraged this kind of third-party data were part of your marketing strategy, there are far more important lessons to be taken away from the Facebook’s shuttering of the Partner Categories program.

If You Only "Rent" Your Data, You've Got an Unstable Foundation

We can all agree on how powerful data can be, especially the kind of interest and intent data that Facebook and Google have and have made available through their paid advertising platforms. That data enables marketers to target specific groups with highly relevant, tailored messages. The problem is that you don’t own this data, you’re just “renting” it. As long as you’re just “renting” data and running a strategy that rests, even partially, on a platform over which you ultimately have no control, you will always be vulnerable to changes like the ones that Facebook just sprung on all of us.

You wouldn't build your house on an unstable foundation. Why build your business on one?

How 3 Birds Marketing Can Help

The most important takeaway here is that leveraging and investing in enhancing your own first-party data has never been more important. At 3 Birds, our solutions go way beyond using our automobile dealership clients’ first-party data. We use quality content, relevant communications, data mining, and predictive modeling to add thousands of new data points to our clients’ customer data.

If I’ve struck a nerve and you’d like to learn how we work with dealerships across the country to enhance their own first-party data with valuable consumer interest and intent data that belongs to those dealerships, let’s sched ule a strategy session .

Aren’t you ready to stop “renting” your data and starting building equity in your own customer database? If so, we're here to help.

Kristen Judd

CEO