For advertisers, selecting the right ad platform means making a lot of high-stakes decisions about how to execute media plans. Competition rises for premium ad placements, which means price does too. Customers are busier than ever, so their attention is split. And the pressure of meeting annual goals grows every day.
To make the right decisions about which campaigns to invest in, which to optimize, and which to pause, advertisers need accurate, precise data. They rely on advertising platforms to highlight what’s working and with who. Unfortunately, not all ad platforms require the same level of accuracy.
To help advertisers determine which platforms to trust, we put together a list of the signs that your platform is providing your team with precise, useful data that can help you drive growth. Whether you’re investing in first party data advertising or leaning on third-party sources, the quality of your data determines how far your media budget goes.
1. Data Matches Offline Trends and Data
Metrics that focus on online behavior can help in specific kinds of campaigns, like retargeting campaigns. But often, it’s difficult to prove their accuracy. Vanity metrics, video views, for example, can be inflated across different platforms.
Ad platforms that focus on offline behavior tend to have a much higher threshold for accuracy. Metrics like incremental sales or foot traffic can be verified by the data collected in your point of sale (POS). When you have other ways to verify the campaign performance, you can be sure that the data you’re looking at is accurate.
2. Why Location Data Advertising Produces Verifiable Results
Most digital ad metrics exist in a closed loop. A platform reports an impression, a click, or a view, and advertisers have little choice but to take that number at face value. Location data advertising breaks that loop by connecting campaign activity to physical-world behavior that can be independently verified.
When a platform uses precise location data, you can measure outcomes like store visits, foot traffic lift, and incremental sales against data you already have in your POS or CRM. That cross-reference is what separates a platform making claims from a platform proving results.
This kind of offline verification also makes it harder for platforms to inflate performance numbers. If the foot traffic data says one thing and your POS says another, you’ll know immediately. That accountability is what makes location-based targeting a stronger foundation for media spend than online-only metrics alone.
3. You See a Complete Picture of Audiences
Another way to verify the data used by your ad platform is to investigate its audience segmentation. Ask about the criteria put in place to determine who is included in an audience segment and who is not.
Make sure that the audiences are built on intent to purchase (or visit) rather than a passive interest in your product or service. Verify that the platform considers multiple signals so that audiences aren’t artificially inflated. The way the platform builds the parameters around their audience segments directly impacts how far each dollar of your media spend will go. Audience segmentation in advertising works best when it’s grounded in verified, real-world behavior rather than passive signals.
4. Third-Party Confirmation
Whenever possible, investing in ad platforms that use first-party data will provide a more precise and accurate understanding of campaign performance and audience segments. That doesn’t mean that third-party data is unreliable. But, whenever possible, look for verification from a third-party about the quality of the data they use.
Check the platform’s website for badges that speak to its accuracy and precision. Also, consider the case studies and reviews from previous customers. They can give you a more complete picture of the kinds of results their platform drives and how clients verified those metrics.
Learn More About GroundTruth’s Precise Audience Data
Before launching your most important campaigns of the year, make sure that you’re using the best possible data to reach your target audiences. If you’d like to understand how GroundTruth customers use our proprietary Blueprint technology to drive real business results for our customers, contact us today!
Frequently Asked Questions
What is first party data in advertising?
In advertising, first party data refers to data collected directly from real consumer interactions to target and measure ad campaigns. Rather than relying on data purchased from outside sources, first party data comes from verified behaviors like store visits, purchase history, and app activity. This makes it more accurate and more accountable than third-party alternatives.
How does location-based advertising work?
Location-based advertising uses verified signals from mobile devices to understand where consumers go in the physical world. Advertisers can use this data to reach audiences based on the places they visit, and then measure whether those campaigns actually drove store visits or purchases. Because the results can be cross-referenced with point of sale data, location-based advertising produces outcomes that are independently verifiable.
Why does audience segmentation in advertising matter?
Audience segmentation in advertising determines which consumers see your ads and why. Platforms that build segments based on passive signals like a single webpage visit tend to produce inflated audience sizes and weaker results. Platforms that build segments around demonstrated intent, like repeated visits to a store category or verified purchase behavior, give advertisers a more precise and reliable pool of potential customers.
