In CTV, retail media and emerging channels, third-party data is more important than ever

CTV ad spending is projected to reach $33.35 billion this year, while retail media’s 19.7% growth will be more than double the growth in overall digital ad spending (8.8%). At the same time, emerging opportunities in digital out-of-home and audio are gaining ground as marketers seek new ways to engage audiences during their daily lives.

Navigating these channels effectively requires more than showing up. Each environment presents its quirks — its own data needs, activation challenges and measurement hurdles. To harness these channels’ full potential, marketers need more than isolated pockets of first-party data or walled-garden insights. They need reliable, high-quality third-party data that helps unify targeting and measurement across platforms.

CTV needs scalable data infrastructure to reach its potential

CTV might be growing fast, but its fragmentation makes targeting complex. Streaming services span across countless apps and devices, and consumers bounce among them fluidly. For advertisers, this creates an imperative: Extend audience strategies into CTV without sacrificing precision or scale.

That’s where the right third-party data partner becomes essential. Working with a provider that can deliver quality data and enable activation across major buying platforms is key to making CTV part of a larger omnichannel effort.
For instance, Eyeota audiences, including those powered by Dun & Bradstreet and other branded partners, can now be activated in Google DV360 and Google Ad Manager using CTV IDs. That unlocks reach across 98% of CTV households — 5 billion hours of ad-supported viewing every month — within a trusted ecosystem. More importantly, it ensures advertisers can bring CTV data into their broader identity spine, improving targeting and performance across screens.

Retail media’s promise is clear: a direct line to shoppers, surrounded by real purchase signals. But its data challenges are mounting. Disparate first-party data sets, integration complexity and inconsistent quality are all making it harder for brands to scale campaigns and prove value.

Strong third-party data is essential here too — not just for campaign execution, but to help retailers and advertisers bridge gaps in their customer understanding. Without it, even the most promising campaigns can suffer from narrow reach, mismatched messaging or flawed measurement.
The most effective retail media strategies are grounded in unified data that blends B2C and B2B intelligence. Advertisers need to understand who their customers are, but also the roles they play in their households and workplaces. That level of insight requires a partner that can help consistently validate, enrich and activate person-level data across environments. This need becomes even more vital as powerhouse channels like CTV and retail media become more intricately entwined.

Emerging channels demand flexible, interoperable data solutions

As formats like digital audio and digital OOH become more integral to media plans, marketers are recognizing a familiar challenge: identity fragmentation. Each of these environments introduces new consumer behaviors, identifiers and context requirements. Tying them together requires adaptable infrastructure and a data partner that can keep pace.

High-quality third-party data helps normalize disparate signals and bring emerging channels into the fold. Whether activating near a retail location via digital signage or engaging consumers through a podcast app, advertisers need audiences built on reliable data that can carry across multiple identifiers.

This is where interoperability comes into play. From mobile advertising IDs and IP addresses to hashed emails and universal IDs, Eyeota has long prioritized compatibility across environments. Now, with CTV IDs joining that mix, advertisers have even more ways to reach the right people in the right context, across an increasingly complex media ecosystem.

Third-party data remains indispensable

As new channels gain traction, the limitations of first-party data become more visible. It doesn’t always scale, it doesn’t always travel and it rarely provides a complete view on its own. That’s why third-party data is more important than ever.

The ability to activate accurate, privacy-compliant data across emerging environments is what will separate today’s good media strategies from tomorrow’s great ones. Marketers need partners who understand that and are building for these environments, with support for the identifiers and platforms that matter now.

Third-party data remains the connective tissue of effective omnichannel advertising. And as CTV, retail media and new formats continue to reshape what that looks like, advertisers will need to be just as agile as the audiences they’re trying to reach.

Sponsored by Eyeota, a Dun & Bradstreet company

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