The concept of First Party Data has been trending in companies. The term has been searched on Google Trends over 50% more this year than prior years. We are experiencing impactful changes in the context, from the tendency of users for more privacy and transparency, the technological changes impacting third party cookies and data consent in iOS systems and also the existing regulations –GDPR, CCPA– that keep emerging in different territories. The First Party Data strategy is being positioned as a main ally to get ahead and better yet, continue stronger.
Although being a trending topic, there are many existing doubts concerning how First Party Data contributes to add value to a business. Will this trending strategy vanish or is it here to stay?
That’s why I’ve wanted to share just 5 ideas of why a first party data strategy allows us to reign in success.
1. The ROI of data based initiatives
When client relationship initiatives are based on First Party Data, outcomes tend to shine because of its presence. Recognizing our client base we can identify their preferences and we are able to deliver more relevant experiences, we are capable not only to influence our KPI but also improve satisfaction and fidelity indicators. With First Party Data our clients are recognized through unique and consistent indicators at each touchpoint and interaction that takes place in each channel. This client ID allows tracing each little piece of information that we receive from them in a transversal fashion, facilitating the work and accomplishing what other third party dependent businesses can’t.
Businesses that use First Party Data for marketing initiatives, reach –according to a consultant BCG study with Google– multiplying their income by a factor of 2 compared to the brands that don’t. Considering that First Party Data allows brands to be 60% more efficient than competitors that don’t employ the strategy, returns skyrocket.
2. Greater autonomy and less vulnerability at the availability of third party data
By 2023 Google Chrome is expected to give third party cookies –that allow advertisers and editors (publishers) to identify and trace the path of users navigating the web– the last nudge. This traceability is what allows us to perform remarketing or programmatic buys, amongst other marketing treats.
The apocalypse is near, and businesses have taken notice of this announced death which is just around the corner, with no clear alternatives that could be put to use in efforts to maintain reach and acquisition habits.
First Party Data is like the love that we never reciprocated, that was always there to reach but we chose to put it aside… until we discovered it and started to understand it. It turns out First Party Data is better than we thought… on top of allowing us to gain a deeper level of understanding of our clients, it is also immune to the short and midterm technological changes, amongst them, the disappearance of third party cookies. The development of a First Party Strategy associates our clients with unique and consistent IDs, granting us autonomy and control over them. So say goodbye to depending on vendor identifiers and external providers, who’s reliability has always been questioned. Did you know that AdBlockers are put to use by 42% of internet users on a global level? The user hero and vendor nemesis. Well, not only do these AdBlockers disable advertisements, they’ve also blocked third party cookies since the dawn of time (on a digital world scale). Cookies have always been fragile, but now they are at the brink of extinction… there is no point in latching onto them any longer.
3. Optimal Audience management cycle
The Customer Journey Map is like that one map from Mario Bros 3, going from one phase to the next via a pipe system, disappearing and appearing in another level. With difficulty increasing as you go through the levels. The degree of understanding that we obtain with each user follows the same footsteps, the more it advances to new superior relationship levels, the more data we can obtain to profile that client inside the audience that better represents the stage of the journey it’s in.
A First Party Data strategy, considers the obtainment of data from each channel with which our users interact. From the earliest dialogue stages to those where fidelity and recommendation surges. An optimal audience management cycle is one which uses data to create representative audiences of each stage in the journey, nurtures the audiences with each new interaction updating user profiles, activates audiences in relevant experiences and feeds them back from obtained knowledge as a result from those experiences.
When consulting businesses about how they manage their audiences, the answers tend to stay in the Customer Journey Map analysis, the definition of the Buyer Persona and the adaptation of products and communications based on those profiles. There’s no major update and none of the useful information obtained with each new stage of the cycle is fed back to the profile. What we knew about our clients is slowly turning obsolete, the reason being the missing dynamic audience management, nurtured at all times and applying that vitality in new and relevant dialogue proposals for our clients.
It’s like Elton John said in his song “The Circle of Life” but instead of lions or hyenas we have our clients, who we receive as puppies and grow to be the king of the jungle through this relationship with the brand, it’s like that… the client is king.
4. Greater percentage of users in compliance with and advocating consent of the use of their data
Privacy is trending. New beginnings are being conceived such as “Privacy by Design and by Default” changing the paradigm in which user interfaces are developed. Regulations such as the European GDPR and the United States CCPA set the bar high for businesses that want to obtain user data. Times have changed, the era of user data with no control is rapidly coming to an end… Does this mean that businesses won’t longer be in a position to gain a closer understanding of their clients? Absolutely not, if that were the case, the purpose of this article would be obsolete. Yes, First Party Data remains the answer, but some salt and pepper is added.
The new ingredients we’ll have to consider, a charming set of words that will have to be added to our vocabulary: consent, transparency and reciprocal value. The existing regulations put emphasis on always gaining user consent. Consent for generating the cookies that register their behavior on the website, consent for generating identifiers for advertising aspects, but also consent for using the data for distinct purposes.
Transparency refers to the requested consent describing clearly why it requires the data and furthermore, what the expected use of the data is. A big button that permits accepting all cookies, or the fallacy of “If you continue browsing it’s assumed you accept our cookies” does not cut it anymore. Now you tell me crystal clear and with no small text (and no white text over a white background… that’s quite rude don’t you think?)
The reciprocal value is the cherry on top, at least for the user. With every data petition, an incentive has to exist for the user to grant it. “Dear user, I’d like to get your demographic and preference data. With this I can provide recommendations and offers that are better adapted to your needs”, or the most popular: “register your email and you will get a 10% discount on your first purchase”.
At last, a First Party Strategy that is compliant with regulations achieves returning value back to the user in exchange for their data, is sustainable and generates competitive advantages over brands that don’t accomplish it –because of their organizational culture or there impotence to survive in this new stage–.
5. Centralized access, data availability and audience across the entire business
First Party Data is the democratization of data inside the business. It’s recognizing all the available interactions with our brand under the same user ID, for distinct marketing activities. It’s granting the whole organization audiences crafted and thought out for every step of the journey, and in this way becoming conscious of the communication with our clients, with no importance to which internal team is acting on it. This has been aforementioned in point three… now the idea is for this to flow, spill and become available.
How many businesses today recognize that they have acquired plenty of user data through different touchpoints, yet they are incapable of integrating it all in one profile. How do you achieve data unification when each team finds themselves recruiting audiences for their own purposes. First Party Data integrates and unifies the data in different IDs that can be shared, analyzed and activated under the same script, avoiding communication overlaps that are perceived as clumsy and redundant by clients.
With the emergence of First Party Data, new technologies have appeared facilitating the assimilation and centralization of information. Platforms such as CDP (Customer Data Platform) are technological solutions that integrate the cycle of First Party Data in a simple and practical way. Put together to assist in obtaining and unifying data sources, helping transform, enrich and moderate them. Possibly most importantly: they are integrated with the different communication platforms we have with our clients, to activate all the data and all audiences into more intelligent initiatives. The CDP therefore is one of the greatest allies when it comes to putting our First Party Data strategy on the table and arranging it for the whole organization.
At Multiplica we’ve achieved this centralization through work with our clients –like Google, Adobe or Tealium– with whom we integrate the data ecosystem of our clients to promote more relevant experiences.
What do you want to know about First Party Data for your company? Contact Richard Johnson, Global Knowledge Leader of Intelligence at Multiplica.