Geography Data for Politics & Advocacy Clients

Three Types of Geography Data 

Our Politics & Advocacy clients will see three types of Geography data in their Resonate accounts:

1. Region and State from our research data that is self-reported
2. DMA® data from the L2 voter file
3. State, DMA® and Congressional District from our deterministic observed geography data 

1. Region and State will continue to come from our research data, which is based on a survey question asking people where they live. Region and State will live in the Resonate Elements taxonomy under Demographics - Demographics - Geography. 

2. You will also have access to DMA® level data from the L2 voter file. It's important to understand that the data in the L2 voter file comes from L2, and is appended to our survey respondents. When you build audiences with this data, you will see a projected adult population number, but the projected size may be off compared to what you know to be true. For example, if you use the L2 voter file DMA® attribute for Atlanta, you'll see a projected audience size that may be lower than expected.  Keep in mind that this first comes from L2, and their numbers may be a bit off, and then that data is appended through our research panel providers to our survey respondents.  

3. State, DMA® and Congressional District comes from the Geography data type, which is based on location data. State, DMA® and Congressional District will live in the Additional Data taxonomy under Geography. When viewing insights, you'll be able to see State, DMA® and Congressional District as insights.

Why the Three Types?

There are a few reasons we're providing more than one type of Geography data for politics & advocacy clients:

1. One is that we recognize that it's important for politics & advocacy clients to understand where their audience lives and therefore votes. The DMA® data does not provide this because the DMA® data is observed vs self-reported.   
2. Region and state from the Resonate Elements taxonomy will give you a projected count of how many people are in that region or state when added to your audience definition in the audience builder. Again, since DMA® data is observed, vs the self-reported survey data which is weighted, we cannot provide a projected count of how many people are in a DMA®. You will see the Estimated Targetable ID number, which is the estimated available number of IDs within Resonate’s ID Graph that can be activated for an audience
3. Another reason for the three data types is that with our research data, we are not able to provide granular geographic insights for Connected Profile audiences. When we observe geographic location, we're able to provide insights on more granular geographic data through observed behavior. So that is why we are also providing politics & advocacy clients with DMA® and Congressional District data from the new Geography data type which is based on location. 

When to use Which Data Type

Use the region and state attributes from the Resonate Elements taxonomy when:

• You want to build an audience based on where people live and vote. 
• You want to see a projected size of how many people live in a region or state.
  • Find region and state in the Resonate Elements taxonomy in Demographics - Demographics - Geography.

Use the DMA® and congressional district attributes from the Additional Data taxonomy when:

• You want to see DMA® and congressional district level insights against your audience to understand where they're located. This can help determine where you should focus your spending or targeting budget.
• You want to build an audience of people located in a specific DMA® or congressional district and view insights about them.

Use the L2 DMA® data from the Resonate Elements taxonomy when:

• You want to get counts for registered voters in specific DMAs®.  This will be more accurate in terms of voter counts than the Geography data found in "Additional Data" because it will be based on where individuals are registered rather than where we observe them. 

Here's an xls that breaks down further use cases.  

Pro Tip: If you want to target your audience by location, we recommend you use the geo-targeting capabilities in your advertising platform for the most timely geo-targeting.

Limitations to Three Types of Geography Data

When working with these three data types, keep in mind that they come from different sources, so they may not always "add up" against each other. For example, if you look at several DMAs® in a certain state against that state's attribute, the numbers may look a bit off. Keep in mind that DMAs® can span two or more states, but primarily keep in mind that these three data types come from different sources. 

Understanding the New Geography Data

Resonate's Premium Geography Data, based on location data that is updated nightly, enables you to:

• Understand where your audiences are at the Congressional District level
• Build or segment audiences by DMA® and Congressional District
• Tailor your messaging, creative, and more by specific geographies

Benefits:

• More Granular Geography Data
  • The Geography data from our anonymous behavioral data stream is more granular, a more recent observed location and more useful for marketers than our modeled survey data
  • Updated nightly based on the most recent observed location
• Build Better Audiences
  • Build audiences down to the DMA® and Congressional District level
  • Combine Geography data with Resonate Elements, tag, and behavioral data.
• See more granular Geography Insights
  • View insights down to the DMA® and Congressional District level

*The DMA® information is used pursuant to a license from The Nielsen Company. Any use and/or reproduction of these materials without the express written consent of The Nielsen Company, is strictly prohibited. The DMA® information is valid for the period 2022 - 2023.