First-party data: Your eight-point checklist to building, implementing and refining your strategy

When it comes to privacy online, customers are no longer living in the dark ages.

More than ever, they understand and care about their digital data privacy, including who is accessing their data and for what reason. In fact, research shows 81% of surveyed Australians are concerned over the collection and use of their personal data on the internet.

Governments, tech giants and corporations are listening to and acting on these concerns. Even social media companies are rethinking their data collection policies and how they are maintaining relationships with their users. 

Enter the debate around third-party cookies and their looming demise in the digital space. 

Cookies — the small blocks of data created by a web server while a user is browsing a website — have been a staple of the marketer’s diet since the World Wide Web entered our daily lives via the crackle and beeps of a dial-up connection. Today, 51% of marketers say they are almost entirely reliant on third-party cookies to reach their customers.

Google plans on ceasing third-party cookies in 2024, challenging the foundations of targeted online advertising. 

Research shows that cookie deprecation will impact 77% of websites, 82% of digital ads and 83% of marketers. And more than two-thirds of marketers (70%) believe that digital advertising will take a step backwards as a result of cookie deprecation. 

But rather than resist change, brands now have a unique opportunity to innovate and improve the way they do marketing by investing in one of their most valuable assets: their own (first-party) data, which is fuelled by deep and enduring customer relationships. 

Transparency and giving consumers the power to choose their privacy journey should help brands build a more loyal customer base. While cookies are convenient, they offer limited reach across the boundaries of walled gardens and on the open internet. 

With a solid first-party data strategy, marketers can emerge from the demise of third party cookies with a more accurate view of their customers, which will enable them to not only navigate but thrive in the post-cookie world.

In its purest form, first-party data is information that companies obtain directly from consumers with whom they’ve built relationships. It can include transaction history, browsing behaviour and engagement patterns with brands. First-party data can help marketers gain a better understanding of their most valuable customers, and help brands target and engage these customers (and people who are similar to them) in an effective and cost-efficient way. By leveraging first-party data, marketers have the opportunity to build stronger direct, consent-based relationships with customers and work to improve reach with an identity-based approach. 

A successful first-party data program is a long-term investment and, if done well, it can strengthen marketing strategies and, at the same time, help to enhance customer experience touchpoints to develop a long-term, customer-first approach. 

The most successful businesses innovate and adapt to the changing world around them. A post-cookie world shouldn’t be scary for marketers. It’s an opportunity.

Steve Jobs, founder and former CEO of Apple, said getting close to customers was the key to good business: “[Get] so close that you tell them what they need well before they realise it themselves.”

First-party data can help achieve that goal and is the tool that businesses should consider for long-term success. 

With this eight-step checklist, you can get started on building, implementing and refining your first-party data strategy. Download the full guide here.

Download the full guide here

1. The first-party data playbook

1. Define

   A first-party data strategy doesn’t work in isolation, it is a long -term business plan. It’s critical that your plan is aligned to your business goals, focusing and guiding the type of data you are going to collect and measure.

2. Design

   By understanding who your consumer is, how they engage with your category and your brand, you can then design the guidelines to the type of data you will need to collect.

3. Acquire

   You can collect first -party data through your owned (online and offline) and paid channels. From discovery to purchase, you should acquire data throughout your full customer journey. Not only will it allow you to discover your customer and their behaviour, but you will be acquiring data that is precise, recent, and cost -effective

4. Unify

   To bring your first-party strategy together, you must bring your data together. This is the step you unify your data and get a single view of who your customer is.

5. Enrich

   You now know the basic characteristics and behaviours of your customer; next you need to enrich and deepen what you know to accurately personalise your advertising

6. Activate

   Now you know who you want to target and how, it’s time to activate your first-party strategy. You are ready to take your campaign live.

7. Analyse

   What is your campaign data telling you? Data is only as powerful as the information and the insights you analyse from it.

8. Optimise

   Don’t stop learning now. The best first-party data plans are regularly optimised. Accurately attributing success to the right mix of drivers allows you to build a deep understanding of what works for your customers, and what doesn’t. These insights won’t only optimise your current campaign but builds the foundation for future campaigns.