Stop relying on third-party data and unlock the potential of your own insights. Discover how true data ownership can transform your B2B lead generation strategy

It's the ongoing battle to source the best prospects that makes B2B marketers agile in their approach. Since there is no shortage of options and technologies, it could be weak to some people to avoid using third parties for lead generation assistance. However, the solution to not only the issue of quantity but also quality is within a less used yet very potent concept: true data ownership.

The problem of how to manage, comprehend, and execute one's own data particularly about prospective clients has the potential of getting better business quality leads and more clients closing in the pipeline.

What is True Data Ownership?
True data ownership is expressed as the complete control of data by the owner, that is its collection, storage, usage, management etc. Ownership in this way is not merely about having it, in this case it means understanding, developing and using data to help make business decisions. This case getting that attention is given more to ownership of data as a valuable resource for today's businesses.

In terms of lead generation, true data ownership means building your own audience and not only depending on outdated, incomplete, or inaccurate third-party data sources. Instead, you are creating a repository of first-party data: data that you have obtained by interacting with your audience.

The Risks of Relying on Third-Party Data
B2B marketers have always turned to third-party data because it is simple and quick to find useful insights. Nevertheless, compulsive over dependence comes with these merits:

1. Issue of Accuracy:

When data is collected from many sources, there are high chances of inconsistency and this has negative effects on the targeting process and leads to spending resources on leads that do not convert. And this lack of accuracy makes employees spend significant amounts of time on non-value tasks.

2. Buried Old Data:

A great deal of out-of-date and untargeted data may reduce even more the quality of leads. They may not convert because there is a largely out of context message that is thrown at them.

3. Legal Risks:

Having to depend on third-party data carries some legal liability in such situations as GDPR and CCPA due to lack of insight into how the data was sourced.

4. Narrower Scope:

Third-party data has a limited perspective so the fundamental issues can't be drilled deeper which results in losing a customer and this in turn reduces the conversion rates.

Building a First-Party Data Strategy
In order to really possess data, companies have to direct their efforts towards the creation and governance of first-party data.

1. Analytics of the Website:

There is a lot of first-party data contained on your website. You apply the appropriate analytics tools to understand how visitors interact with the website through monitoring the number of pages visited.

2. Lead Capture Forms:

Allow for the collection of significant lead information through uncomplicated forms. Keep things in moderation in terms of the volume and nature of the data you ask for.

3. Email Marketing:

Email campaigns offer a great opportunity to obtain first-party data. Remember to measure open rates and follow-up action rates in order to know the preferences and behaviors of the audience.

4. Social Media Engagement:

Respect on social media is critical and should be given to the audience by engaging with them. Track the said engagements to understand what works, as well as look using social listening software for mentions of the brand.