What is proprietary data, and why is it so important for your brand in 2021?

As we begin a new decade, one thing is certain—humanity has no shortage of data. The real question B2B marketers must ask themselves is how to leverage data to differentiate their products, services, and brands. Proprietary data is an indispensable tool for doing these things successfully.

In fact, some of the most common questions we hear from our visitors and contacts are about this very subject. Questions like “What does proprietary data mean?” and “How do you define proprietary data?” are most often what drive visitors to rand&rand’s website.

What is Proprietary Data?

Proprietary data is your data, defined and retrieved by you and your teams. This contrasts with data you and your teams have leveraged from some other, third-party source.

I’ve personally written dozens of articles that leveraged data from reputable sources like Forrester, Gartner, McKinsey & Company, and others. But none of that data belonged to rand&rand—rather, I used that data to reinforce an argument I had made in my writing. This is generally accepted in professional writing if referenced correctly; however, I did not shape the effort in collecting that data, nor did I define its original purpose.

What Does Proprietary Data Mean for Your Brand?

In terms of your brand, the advantage of proprietary data is in your ability to shape the types of data you collect, and how it is collected. Let’s consider a hypothetical use case.

Assume you represent a company that makes mobile communication tools for restaurant industry employees. Assume also that you are hoping to publish a series of blog posts with real data about the industry, illustrating a real need for your product in an objective way while providing some value to your readers.

You could search reputable sources online for third-party data about communication issues in the industry as a starting point. You might find a reputable source that provides some relevant data you can use in your content. For example, you might write:

“According to Deloitte, nearly a quarter of consumers (23%) say their more frequent use of takeout and delivery will be permanent. This puts a strain on restaurants who struggle to manage digital communications that make takeout and delivery service successful.”

The argument here is reasonable, but it’s tangential to what you’re truly trying to say in your content: Restaurant employees need better digital communication tools.

Now imagine if you conducted a survey of 100 restaurant industry leaders about the state of their businesses and employees. Imagine if you asked the multiple-choice question, “How concerned are you about your employees’ ability to communicate effectively when it comes to the following tasks?” Imagine you came away from that research effort with a statement like the following, among others:

“In December 2020, 57% of senior U.S. restaurant leaders were ‘deeply concerned’ about their employees’ ability to communicate effectively when providing curbside pickup services.”

Since your team was able to shape the nature of the questions, you were better able to align the data with the value proposition of your brand. Even so, the data remains part of your objective research—it is valuable competitive data for your customers in and of itself.

Proprietary Data is a Boon to Content Marketers

Perhaps the best quality of proprietary data is how much value it provides your content marketing efforts. When you own your data, your team can leverage that data for eBooks, guides, research reports, blog posts, and social media content, as much and as often as you like.

Proprietary data has a pretty sturdy shelf life, also. 2020 was an unprecedented year, but under most circumstances, industry data that is no older than one year (i.e., 12 months) is still accepted as relevant data in the business world. Conducing similar studies year after year allows you to compare year-over-year data as well, which makes it even more valuable.

Contact rand&rand to Get Started

We help brands get started on their data journey, affirming their place as thought leaders in the minds of their customers and prospects. Contact us to explore ways you can shape and take advantage of your proprietary data and start enhancing your brand message today.