The Importance of First-Party Data in Marketing

Cookies. For many, it is a delicious treat. But for marketers, it has been the holy grail of data. ‍

 

Marketers have historically relied on cookies to track users and collect relevant data to serve up the best ads at precisely the right time. ‍

 

And for a good reason. Customers and site visitors want the improved site functionality and other benefits that data collection provides. Site visitors also want to ensure that they are not being tracked without their permission and that their data is safe once they opt into data collection on a specific website. ‍

 

However, data from cookies collected outside of your website -- third-party cookies -- have long been debated, from the ethics of this type of data collection to ensuring data privacy. With recent legislation and major platforms cracking down on third-party tracking, the landscape for data privacy in marketing has evolved significantly. ‍

 

It’s not a difficult line to toe for businesses and marketers collecting first-party data. However, for those businesses that have relied on third-party marketing tools and strategies, it becomes near impossible to deliver the data privacy customers desire.‍

 

Now, the only way for businesses to keep up with the ever-evolving data privacy and marketing landscape is to leverage the power of first-party data. Keep reading to learn more about how first-party marketing can help your business better serve your customers and bolster your marketing efforts.‍‍

 

Regardless of your industry, collecting, recording, and using customer data can help you better serve your customers. Better service can be anything from providing customers with updates when an item in their cart has gone on sale to post-sale follow-ups.‍

 

To provide these services, your business needs access to customer data. Historically, collecting and recording customer data has been done by third-party businesses. Third-party data collection through cookies is a cost-effective, efficient, and simple way to get the data you need without wasting time and resources collecting data in-house. ‍

 

However, the cookies-era is coming to an end. As major companies like Google and Apple take steps to limit customer tracking and give customers more control over their data, cookie usage is heavily regulated. Even governing bodies aim for the data collection industry, with California rolling out the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and the European Union enacting The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).‍

 

Despite a sweeping convergence of forces looking to decimate third-party cookies, one of the biggest reasons behind the decline of third-party data collection is marketers’ doubts about the information they received. Without insight into the data collection business’s sources, methods, and additional information, there’s no way to tell whether the information they receive is 100% accurate. ‍

 

Today, marketers and businesses alike are turning their sights inward to ensure they are getting accurate, validated first-party customer data. ‍‍

 

First-party data is, as the name suggests, data that comes from the primary source. First-party data is collected when customers opt-in to data collection to allow your website to collect and record vital information about a customer’s behavior, demographic information, and preferences. ‍

 

This data is primarily used to create hyper-targeted marketing and advertising strategies that can help to nurture leads and increase conversions. CMOs and marketing teams can use first-party data to support various marketing strategies, including:

 

 

As businesses are responsible for collecting first-party data, they have more control over the data collected and how it’s used. This allows businesses to maximize their data collection efforts to support and strengthen their strategies from a marketing perspective. ‍

 

Blustream helps marketers to collect first-party data by connecting directly with customers through purchased products, allowing for a deeper customer-brand connection following the sale. As the leading after-sale product engagement platform, Blustream helps businesses build consistent customer relationships long after customers have made their first purchase.‍

 

By focusing on collecting product data, Blustream enables businesses to leverage first-party data throughout the product lifecycle, from onboarding to maintenance and every stage in between. Once a customer opts-in and answers a few questions upon product purchase, data is collected and monitored through Blustream to trigger customized product engagement actions, what we call product touchpoints. These touchpoints can include push notifications with tips, maintenance advice, and additional purchase recommendations to ensure that customers enjoy their product to the fullest.