Buyer's Guide: Data Solutions

Best practices: How to choose a data partner

Today, marketers face increasing pressure to make data-driven decisions. Clients are leveraging their own first-party data, collaborating with partners for second-party data and sourcing third-party data to get a complete customer view.

This data, when properly utilized, helps brands strengthen relationships with existing customers and build profitable new ones—ultimately improving the effectiveness of their marketing spend.

However, many businesses struggle to fully unlock the potential of their first-party data, missing out on crucial insights on target buyers and personalization opportunities.

5 challenges of building a complete foundational data strategy

When building a complete foundational data strategy, marketers typically run into five primary challenges:

• Limited and incomplete first-party data
• Ensuring data security, privacy & ethical sourcing
• Inconsistent performance
• Fragmented customer view
• Disjointed customer experience

So how can they sidestep these challenges and unlock the power of complete foundational data? It all starts by choosing a strategic data partner

10 essential capabilities to look for when choosing a data partner

Whether you're in the RFP process with a vendor or just starting to research the best data partner for your business, there are 10 essential capabilities to consider, including:

1. Privacy
2. Accuracy
3. Coverage
4. Granularity
5. Timeliness
6. Predictive power
7. Consistency
8. Transparency
9. Omnichannel activation
10. Usefulness

Choose the best data partner for your business needs

Ready to take the next step? This guide walks you through everything you need to know when selecting a data partner, from essential capabilities and value drivers to case studies, and even includes key questions to ask during the RFP process.

Download your step-by-step guide to get started today!

This guide was originally published in April of 2025 and has since been updated.