The term “integrated data” has been a buzzword for some time now, but what exactly does it mean, especially from a market research perspective, and how is it actionable? At Research Now, our view is that integrated data connects transactional data with a primary or third-party data source to gain a more holistic picture with more precise targeting and deeper audience insights. The way we think of it is:

First-Party Client Data is generated and collected as part of the organization’s ongoing business process including CRM, business analytics, behavioral data, profile data, etc. This data is stored in various forms such as in data warehouses, financial systems, etc. These address the What as in what have consumers already clicked on, interacted with, bought, reviewed or referred. This data is commonly accessed through a company’s own Salesforce.com CRM data, Google Analytics, Tableau, Cognos, etc.

Primary Research Data is authentic, high-accuracy consumer insights data collected by a trusted, quality data service provider, like Research Now. Insights Data address questions of attitudes and behavior – the Why consumers clicked on, interacted, bought, reviewed or referred a product/category and How. Examples may include surveying high-quality brand/category buyer/loyalists, specialty (healthcare, politics, gaming) audiences, or hard-to-reach (by-category/-brand automotive intenders, electronic device owners, B2B occupational & business profiles) audience data, etc. This insights data can be matched to transactional data and third-party data to expand targeting capabilities and deepen analysis.

Third-Party Data is data that’s been collected from a variety of online and offline sources that can be integrated with Transactional Data and Primary Research. These address questions of Who precisely the ideal target audience is and What Else they do outside the interactions with your company. Leveraging third-party data augments targeting and supercharges analysis to unlock deeper, multifaceted insights from your ideal target audience. Examples of third-party data may include automotive registration history, census, demographic, financial, geographic, lifestage, psychographic, POS purchase, geo-demographic, travel, voter history, etc.

Since I am a foodie, and more specifically a “dessert-ie,” I like to think of integrated data in simpler terms: cookies and sundaes. You have your delicious chocolate chip cookies, which represents your transactional data source. That’s a staple and it’s best when it’s still fresh and warm. On its own it’s wonderful, but if you’re like me you need something with your warm cookies, you need milk. This is where primary research data comes in. It’s hard to imagine enjoying the warm cookie’s full potential without milk, just like it’s hard to imagine transaction data without primary research. And when I want something just a little bit more, I’ll upgrade my milk to ice-cream and add various toppings such as hot fudge. That’s what it’s like when you combine transaction data, primary research, and third-party data – you get the cookie sundae with the cherry on top.

For marketers, the only way to break through the clutter with their target audience is by having a personalized, relevant, and in-depth understanding of their consumer’s attitudes and behaviors. By partnering with a panel company that appends survey data with a third-party source, the result is ultimately the cherry on top – trusted, in-depth, actionable insights based on claimed and confirmed behavior to unlock deeper, multifaceted insights from your ideal audiences.

At Research Now, this is where our primary research data source – our large, deeply-profiled online panel used to conduct research by collecting opinions and feedback from over 11 million people globally – comes into play. In partnership with a variety of third-party sources, we append or target via modeled consumer behavior, actual behavior data, financial data, healthcare data, voter data, B2B data, and much more, to produce enriched data with powerful precision and depth.