Unlocking The Power Of First Party Data

Over the last year, we have seen a huge change in the way we live our lives. There has been a marked shift to an even more digital world; from Zoom calls to online shopping and new ways of working, we have all spent more time online than ever over the last 18 months. In fact, internet usage doubled! 

For many businesses this huge shift has been hard to keep up with. First party data provides an amazing opportunity for businesses to capitalise on their customers’ data and enhance their digital marketing strategies. 9 in 10 marketers say first party data is important to their digital marketing programmes. 

What is first party data?

First party data is the information that businesses gather about customers from their own sources. For example from their website, app, Google Analytics, CRM, surveys or social media platforms. This information could include:

• Demographics
• Purchase history
• Website visits
• Interests
• Social media interactions

First party data is a powerful tool in the world of marketing and can be one of your businesses most valuable assets. 

The benefits of first party data

1. Personalised experiences

First party data gives you a wealth of knowledge about your customers and this allows you to split your audiences out into targeted groups and segments. With first party data you can get to know your users and what motivates them, meaning you can easily create separate groups of customers based on interests. This is a great way to target your products and services at specific users, allowing you to cater your digital marketing efforts based on interests. By delivering highly personalised and targeted marketing campaigns, you are much more likely to see a high ROI and drive conversions. 

2. Audience Insights

Not only does first party data enable you to make personalised campaigns, it also gives you the data needed to understand your audience. You can build up a picture of your customer base and understand their location, age, gender, interests and so much more. By gaining a clear understanding of why customers do what they do, and, at what points of the customer journey things happen, you are able to make highly informed business decisions. This data is invaluable to businesses and can shape their marketing strategy going forward.

You will be able to see what products certain customers are drawn to, what websites people visit after leaving your site, what likes and dislikes your customers have. You can look deeply into your users profiles and get to grips with what they are looking for. 

How to leverage first party data

Companies have to keep engaging with their new online users and build a long term and lasting relationship with them. When collecting data, customers need to feel like they are being valued too. A value exchange is the process where customers give over their data and information in return for fair rewards. This could take the form of new information, access to exclusive content or an offer. Customers will be more incentivized to share their data if there is a clear reward for doing so and if they feel valued in giving over information. 

It is also important to ensure that your company is acting responsibly and following GDPR and data protection regulations. Businesses need to be transparent and clear about their data usage and ensure they don’t breach any data protection regulations. 

When used in a responsible way, first-party data is a great way for businesses to keep up to speed with the changing consumer landscape. You can drive better business decisions and deliver great experiences to your customers. Get in touch with us today if you need any help with all things digital.