Social Data Matters

There’s a new aspect to the data equation: social data. Much of the data produced on the Web now is, in some ways, related to social, whether its shares, posts, comments or likes. The introduction of new social signal metrics across the Web creates a new stream of intent data for advertisers provided they are ready to capitalize on its inherent potential to drive sales. As a result, money is pouring into the digital channel like never before, and brands that are able to effectively harness this data are seeing the benefits. Nowhere is this shift to digital more pronounced than with digital advertising that is reinforced and supplemented by social data.

Just look at the pace in which a few advertisers such as Tide and Oreo were able to create and traffic ads during Super Bowl XLVII to capitalize on the power outage – and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Mercedes may have gotten all the attention pre-game with their sexy Kate Upton spot as well as the game being played in their named stadium but Audi was on top of things in real time and punked them with their tweet about sending some LED lights to the @MBUSA Superdome. Even Walgreens jumped in with “We do carry candles #Superbowl” tweet.

As CMOs look to sort through and harness their first-party data sitting right in front of them, they also need to consider the best options for augmenting their data to hone and streamline audience-targeting strategies. Selecting the right advertising platform can help marketers combine their existing first-party data with additional social data sets that, in turn can be provided to agency trading desks to help both brands and agencies do a better job.

Programmatic advertising companies are able to help brands and agencies in these realms by providing first-party data tools, ad targeting intelligence and targeted display campaign performance across both desktop and mobile platforms. When advertisers work with the right ad technology partner, they are able to tap into the troves of powerful data gleaned from social conversations, predictive algorithms and aggregated display performance metrics to give a holistic view into consumer ad behavior. When combined with a brand’s existing data, this power and elegant blend of information can uncover new audiences, optimize future campaigns, and pinpoint customer intent across the entire Internet. Imagine what an agency trading desk can do with this combined, powerful data set.

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