As the marketing industry continues to evolve, the role that data plays is also changing.
Marketing data is key for targeting the right audiences and measuring campaign success. With the rise of regulations and consumer’s increased concern over privacy, it’s harder to obtain the right data. However, consumer information should be used to inform strategic decisions across the marketing landscape.
Today, first-party data collection allows marketers to personalize their marketing efforts toward their target audience without significant privacy concerns. As privacy laws become increasingly stringent, marketers must continue to find unique ways to market to their target audience.
How should you use your first-party data?
You’ll want to begin with a strategy for how data will be collected, what types of insights it can provide and how it can be used to improve marketing performance. Additionally, your strategy should be designed to scale as more data is collected over time. Read on to learn more about how you can make your first-party marketing data strategy work for you.
What is First-Party Data in Marketing?
As more companies focus on customer experience, there is an increasing need for high-quality customer data, or “first-party data.” First-party data is data collected by a company about its customers through its own channels and interactions. This data is usually more accurate and trustworthy than third-party data, which is data that a company collects about its customers from sources outside of the company’s direct interactions with them.
First-party data can be used to create a more personalized user experience. By understanding how your customers interact with your website, you can make changes that improve their experience and encourage them to come back.
First-party data can also inform your overall marketing strategy. By understanding the needs and wants of your target audience, you can make better decisions about what products to promote, what content to create and where to allocate your marketing budget.
Why is First-Party Data Important?
First-party data gives marketers a direct line of sight into the behavior and preferences of their target audience.
There also is a big privacy factor that makes first-party data essential: According to a recent Econsultancy report, 94% of marketers stated that privacy is significant in developing marketing strategies. Customers have fully consented to have their information collected with first-party data, which is essential in General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)-regulated spaces. As data privacy becomes increasingly crucial, first-party data will become more and more valuable to marketers. This is because first-party data is collected directly from customers and does not require cookies or tracking technologies.
Other Types of Data Collected
In addition to first-party data, there are two other types of data that marketers commonly use: second-party data and third-party data.
Second-party Data
Second-party data is data collected by one company from another company’s customers. Typically, both parties benefit from sharing this data with each other. While this type of data is usually less accurate than first-party data, it can still be used to segment audiences and create targeted marketing campaigns.
Third-party Data
Third-party data is data collected by a company from sources outside of its direct interactions with its customers. For example, this data can be sold to other companies for advertising uses and doesn’t come from a direct relationship. Instead, it comes from an outside source that has collected the data. This type of data is often less accurate than first or second-party data, but it can still be used for targeting and measurement purposes.
How Is First-Party Data Different?
- First-party data is different from second and third-party data in a few ways:
- First-party data is usually more accurate. This is because it is collected directly from customers, while second and third-party data are often collected from less reliable sources.
- First-party data gives marketers a direct line of sight into the behavior and preferences of their target audience. This type of data is essential for understanding how customers interact with your brand and what they want from your products or services.
- First-party data is owned by the company that collects it. This means that companies have complete control over how their first-party data is used and shared. Companies can choose to share their first-party data with other companies or keep it private.
- First-party data is collected with the customer’s consent. This is important in light of recent privacy regulations, such as the GDPR, which require companies to obtain consent before collecting or using personal data.
Benefits of First-Party Data for Marketing
How does first-party data help your business?
First-party data is based on actual interactions your target audience has with your brand at different touchpoints where you can learn more about the following:
- How your target audience behaves
- Where they are in the buyer’s journey
- The channels they utilize
- How they make sales decisions/what inspires them to act
- What their interests and needs are
By understanding these data points, you can create marketing campaigns that are more targeted and effective. Additionally, you can use first-party data to segment your audience into different groups to better target your campaigns.
There are many other benefits of first-party data as well, including:
Increased Accuracy
As we mentioned before, first-party data is usually more accurate than second or third-party data. This means that you can use first-party data to segment your audience and create targeted marketing campaigns that are more likely to convert.
Direct Line of Sight
First-party data gives you a direct line of sight into the behavior and preferences of your target audience. This type of data is essential for understanding how customers interact with your brand and what they want from your products or services.
Greater Control
First-party data is owned by the company that collects it. This means that you have complete control over how your first-party data is used and shared. Additionally, you can share your first-party data with other companies or keep it private.
Customer Consent
First-party data is collected with the customer’s consent. This is important considering recent privacy regulations, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which require companies to obtain consent before collecting or using personal data.
Privacy
As data privacy becomes increasingly essential, first-party data will become even more valuable to marketers. This is because first-party data is collected with the customer’s consent, which is especially critical considering recent privacy regulations.
Personalization
First-party data can create personalized marketing experiences for customers. By understanding the behavior and preferences of individual customers, marketers can create targeted campaigns that are more likely to convert.
Enhanced Customer Segmentation
First-party data can also be used to improve customer segmentation. By understanding the characteristics of different customer groups, marketers can more effectively target their campaigns and allocate their resources.
Measurement
Finally, first-party data can help measure the success of marketing campaigns. By tracking metrics such as website traffic and conversion rates, marketers can optimize their campaigns and ensure that they achieve their desired results.
Where is First-Party Data Collected?
First-party data is collected by the company that owns the customer relationships and customer interactions. First-party data can be collected through various methods, including website visits, online purchases, customer service interactions, offline purchases, loyalty programs and more, such as:
Lead Generation Forms
Lead generation forms can be an effective way to collect more first-party data that can be used to tailor messaging and sales calls. To use lead generation forms successfully, your team must have engaging content. Consider curating valuable news stories or licensed content from reputable publishers.
Offline
First-party data can be collected offline through in-store purchases and interactions with salespeople.
Website Visits
Many companies collect first-party data through their websites. For example, when a customer visits a website, the company can collect information about the visit, such as the customer’s IP address, the pages visited and the time spent on each page. Additionally, companies can use cookies to track customers across different devices and collect information about their online behavior.
Feedback Forms
Companies can also collect first-party data through contact forms and surveys. For example, a company might ask customers to fill out a form with their contact information and preferences. Additionally, the company might send out surveys to collect feedback about the customer experience.
Rewards
First-party data can be collected through loyalty and customer reward programs. For example, a company might offer loyalty points that can be redeemed for discounts or free products.
Email
Email first-party data can come from sign-ups, webinars, open rates, bounce rates, click rates or other conversion events tracked through an email marketing platform.
Mobile Apps
Mobile apps collect similar first-party data to websites. This data can come from a variety of sources such as:
- Device Information: Data about the device, such as the model, OS, IP address, etc.
- User Information: Data about a specific user, such as name, username, email address, etc.
- Location Data: Data about the user's current location.
- Usage Data: Data about how the user uses the app, such as session length, pages viewed, features used, etc.
Sales Management Software
Sales management software first-party data includes purchase history, what’s selling, what’s not, browser information and other data sets about your customers. All this data is generated from your company’s ecosystem and provides valuable insights into understanding and targeting your ideal customer.
Call Centers
Call center first-party data includes new accounts, common problems, etc. It's essential to have this data to understand why customers are contacting support, what kind of issues they're having and how often they're getting support. In addition, this data can be used to improve the customer experience by addressing common problems and making it easier for customers to find the answers to their questions.
Beacons
First-party data from beacons includes location-based customer data, time-series data and other contextual information specific to the customer. Beacons are generated when customers interact with an online service or application.
There are three primary ways that beacons can collect first-party data:
1. Online interaction: Customers generate beacons when interacting with an online service or application. This could include browsing a website, making a purchase or sharing content on social media.
2. In-store interaction: Customers can also generate beacons when they interact with a company’s brick-and-mortar store. This could include scanning items at a self-checkout lane, interacting with digital signage or using a loyalty card.
3. Mobile app usage: Beacons can also be generated through mobile app usage. This could include opening the app, using specific features or completing in-app purchases.
Why so many data points? First-party data is essential for understanding how customers interact with your brand and what they want from your products or services. You can glean a diverse range of information from this information to help you serve your customers better!
Examples of First-Party Data Marketing
How do you collect customer data?
There are many ways to use first-party data to create more targeted and effective marketing campaigns. Below are some of the most common examples of how companies tend to collect first-party data:
- Logging into a mobile app
- Signing up for an email newsletter
- Information collected from a sales call
- Website interactions
- In-app purchases
- Customer service interactions
- Loyalty program data
- Beacon data
- Offline purchases
Once you’ve collected first-party data, you can use it for marketing purposes in several ways. For example, you could use it to create targeted ads or personalized content. Additionally, you could use it to improve your understanding of customers’ needs and wants.
Regulations and the GDPR
In content marketing, you can’t underestimate the importance of data privacy.
In recent years, there’s been increased regulation and concern about consumer privacy, making it difficult to leverage data sources to create a more personalized customer experience under the GDPR.
What does this mean for your company?
1. The GDPR requires companies to get explicit consent from individuals before collecting, using or sharing personal data.
2. Companies must provide individuals with clear information about their rights under the GDPR.
3. The GDPR gives individuals the right to access, correct and delete their data.
4. Under the GDPR, companies must take steps to protect the personal data of individuals from unauthorized access, use or disclosure.
5. Companies must also ensure that personal data is accurate and up to date.
6. Finally, companies must ensure that personal data is deleted when it is no longer needed.
The GDPR imposes significant fines for companies that violate its provisions and has been praised by privacy advocates as a much-needed update to data protection laws. On the other hand, some companies have also criticized the GDPR as too burdensome and costly. Regardless of your take on the GDPR, regulations, particularly those concerning data privacy, are here to stay and require the utmost compliance — both for legal reasons and for the trust and safety of your consumer base.
Using Licensed Content to Build Your Database
If you're a marketer, you know that first-party data is essential for success. But building up a database of high-quality leads can be challenging.
One way to build your database quickly is to use licensed content or a type of content that can be used by anyone who purchases the license. Professional writers and publishers often create this type of content, and it can be a great way to quickly add high-quality content to your website.
There are a few things to keep in mind when using licensed content:
1. First, make sure that you have the rights to use the content on your website.
2. Second, ensure that the content is relevant to your audience and provides value.
3. Finally, make sure that you attribute the content appropriately so that readers can easily find its source.
By tapping into the power of well-respected brands, you can give your business an edge over the competition.
Getting Started With First-Party Data Marketing Strategy
Don’t already have a first-party data strategy in place? Now is the time to start developing one.
With the increasing importance of data privacy, first-party data will become increasingly valuable to marketers. How do you get started with first-party data marketing?
Build goals and objectives regarding collecting first-party data.
You’ll want to create customer personas and determine which data type is most important to your business. Once you understand what you want to achieve with first-party data, you can start collecting it. There are a few different ways to collect first-party data, including website forms, surveys and cookies.
Determine which sources you’ll be collecting data from.
When it comes to first-party data, there are a few different sources that you can collect data from.
These include:
Website Forms
Website forms are a great way to collect data from customers who are already interested in your product or service.
Surveys
Surveys can be an effective way to collect data from many people quickly. However, it’s imperative to make sure that the questions are relevant and that the survey is short enough so that people will actually take it.
Cookies
Cookies are data collected automatically when someone visits a website. They track information about the user, such as their browsing history or location.
Customer Loyalty Programs
Customer loyalty programs often require customers to sign up with their contact information to earn rewards.
Slowly integrate other data collections as a user interacts with your website.
You should start by collecting the most basic data, such as an email address. Once you have this information, you can slowly add additional data points as the user interacts with your website.
For example, if you run an e-commerce website, you might start by asking the customer for their email address. Once they provide their email address, you can ask for their shipping information. And once they provide their shipping information, you can ask for their payment information.
This gradual data collection process will help ensure that the user is comfortable with providing more and more personal information. It will also help to build trust between the customer and the company.
Use first-party data to create a more personalized experience.
First-party data can create a more personalized customer service experience. For example, if you have a customer’s contact information, you can reach out to them proactively if there is an issue with their order.
You could also use the data you’ve collected to personalize the content on your website. For example, if you know that a customer is interested in a specific product, you can show them related products on your website.
Analyze and measure the results of data collection.
It’s crucial to analyze the data that you’re regularly collecting. This will help you to ensure that the information is accurate and that it’s being used effectively.
You should also measure the results of your data collection. This will help you determine if the data is allowing you to achieve your goals.
Final Thoughts
First-party data can be a precious asset for companies. However, it’s essential to ensure that you collect and use the data in a manner that complies with data privacy laws. Additionally, you should make sure that you have a plan for how you will use the data. This might include using it for marketing campaigns or creating a more personalized customer experience.
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That's where NYTLicensing comes in. We can help you get your hands on the best content from The New York Times, one of the world's most trusted sources. When used correctly, licensed content can be a great way to add valuable content to your website.
