As big data continues to shape our world, it is important to highlight the continuing importance of people-based panel methodology. In this blog, we will highlight 3 key strengths of people-based panels. We'll explain how these population samples help you target more effectively, maximize reach and thrive in the post-cookie world.
1. Improve targeting
In the fast-paced world of media, understanding how devices are used is paramount. While first-party, device-centric data aids in the strategic planning, buying, and selling of ads, it does not provide a complete picture of the true audience. It doesn't show who is watching, if there are many viewers, or if one person is using different devices. This information is essential for deciphering how many unique people are being reached by your advertisements.
Data from ad servers, streaming services, and automatic content recognition (ACR) on smart TVs offer great insights, yet they lack in-depth demographic information. Personal devices like smartphones usually have one main user, but shared devices like TVs can often have different users depending on the content and time of day. This variability can result in inaccuracies when trying to understand your target audience.
This is where panels play a crucial role. Panels are built in a structured manner to reflect the population. They track users who have given consent across various devices, providing verified demographic, lifestyle, and behaviour data.
This turns device data into people data and streaming data into viewer data. This people-based approach provides rich, valuable insights that help companies maximize their advertising efforts.
When it comes to watching TV, it's not always just one person per screen. Often, families and friends gather around to enjoy the same shows together, so it's more than just a one-to-one relationship. If we don’t use panel data, we miss out on these extra viewers, making it hard for media planners to target them and for media owners to sell ad space effectively.
Our tools use Numeris’ people-based panel (TAM) and show that co-viewing is very common. For example, two thirds of the viewing to game 7 of the 2024 Stanley Cup finals, was in groups of 2 or more.
While there’s plenty of data about which devices are being used, it doesn’t tell us who is actually watching. That’s where demographics and panel data come in. To make the most of any ad campaign, you need to know how many people see your content across different devices without showing it to the same person too many times.
2. Enhance first-party data
As audiences continue to fragment across a wide range of platforms and services, it is becoming more difficult for brands to get a clear picture of where their targets are and what they're watching.
Innovations such as using big data from cable or satellite operators and CTV technologies like ACR and return-path set-top box data help expand audience data, making it easier to understand audience volume.
However, panels play an essential role in calibrating and enhancing big data. They provide a comprehensive view of the market that goes beyond individual first-party data. Panels add in the missing demographic element and ensure that the data is representative of the entire population.
The Numeris Enhanced TAM data is a perfect example of this. The current TAM panel has been combined with set-top box return-path data from participating BDU's to provide a more robust audience dataset. It provides more precise and stable audiences and allows for program-level audience estimates for niche stations that aren't currently available. By reporting data from US spill and unencoded stations that were previously not captured it also gives us a more complete picture of the TV viewing landscape in Canada.
3. Thrive in a post-cookie world
The slow demise of third-party cookies leaves advertisers and agencies with a challenge: how to understand consumer journeys and target the right people at an appropriate frequency.
Audience measurement panels are stepping up to fill this gap. Unlike cookies which focus on devices, panels focus on people. They can track all their relevant activities across different devices, both shared and personal. This people-centric approach is becoming crucial in the post-cookie world.
In today’s privacy-first environment, combining first-party data, panels, and other data sets is essential. Panels are inherently privacy-conscious as participants are fully informed and consent to the use of their data. This focus on consent is key, especially with strict laws protecting personal information.
Privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs) are also helping. These include data encryption, keeping targeting data on users’ devices, data aggregation, and more.
Panel exchanges, like data clean rooms, are emerging as important tools. They allow data sets to be matched and analyzed securely without leaking personal information. These innovations are helping brands, advertisers, and researchers make the most of their data while keeping privacy intact.
Incorporating people-based panels into media planning and buying processes provides a wealth of benefits. These panels offer deep insights into audience behaviour and preferences, enhance targeting accuracy, inform creative development, optimize media mix, and enable real-time feedback and adaptation.
We understand the importance to the industry of using the most reliable data and this is why we've chosen to incorporate Numeris' VAM dataset into our newly released Video Planner solution. VAM is comprised of Numeris' TV audience people-based panel fused with their digital panel, ensuring comprehensive and accurate data for our clients. Learn more about Numeris' VAM dataset or the Video Planner.