There has been a lot of focus on first-party data recently. When Google first announced its plans to deprecate the third-party cookie in 2020, brands started to ramp up their first-party data strategies. Since Google kept pushing back the cookie depreciation date, it gave brands more time to solidify their plans. Although Google announced in July 2024 that it was abandoning these plans, businesses are still pushing to use first-party data.
Why? Largely, first-party data is more privacy-safe than third-party data. First-party data is any customer information collected directly by a business. It includes everything from basic demographic information to purchase history to interests. Because it comes from the source, it’s often considered one of the most reliable data types.
This data type is collected with the user’s consent, meaning browsers know when they give their data to a company. The pop-up box you quickly click out of when entering a new website is your consent acknowledging that the brand is collecting your data. Brands have more control over first-party data so they can test and experiment with different strategies more easily.
Using first-party data and other tactics that rely on this data source, such as commerce media, can strengthen your targeting efforts. You’ll know exactly who you are targeting and can personalize your messaging to these audiences. But first, you must take the time to analyze the data! Doing so will help transform the collected data into actionable audience insights.
1. Personalize Campaigns
Buyers today are seeking personalized advertising. They expect brands to know what they want when they want it. It’s a lot to ask of businesses! However, personalized campaigns are easier than ever to create thanks to first-party data.
After going through your first-party data, you can start to segment your audiences into smaller groupings. These groups should be based on shared characteristics, such as demographics and purchase behavior. Start with a wide scope, looking at characteristics such as gender and then get more granular as you learn about your audiences. With each grouping, provide campaign messaging they’ll find most relevant and interesting to them. For example, those who have purchased clean beauty face wash are likely more attuned to non-hypoallergenic makeup as well.
Campaign personalization can increase consumer engagement, leading to higher click-through rates and conversions. It can also build customer loyalty as consumers will appreciate when they see ads that are relevant to them. This will give you a competitive advantage over your competitors as you’ll be seen as the brand that truly understands your buyers’ needs.
2. Create Lookalike Audiences
Once you have a few audience segments in place, you can begin to create lookalike audiences. This is a targeting strategy that allows a brand to reach individuals who are similar to existing audience segments and customers. When an individual takes action, such as buying a product or signing up for a newsletter, a “seed” is dropped. This seed can be tied back to the buyer, but only by general characteristics; it doesn’t know that Isaiah Smith made the purchase, just that this seed bought a new water bottle at this date and time. This keeps it privacy-safe, while also providing relevant insights to brands.
Having these seeds allows brands to build lookalike audiences. As the name suggests, lookalike audiences are representative of other known audiences. When creating a lookalike audience, you can decide how closely you want them to match existing segments. The more focused you go, the narrower the segment becomes.
Lookalike audiences can be used across several platforms, including Facebook and Google Ads. For marketers, lookalike audiences can be beneficial in reaching a wider pool of interested audiences. This can increase brand awareness and lead to better engagement and eventually better conversions.
3. Recommend Related Offerings and Predict Behaviors
With first-party data, you’ll know what matters most to your audience. You’ll have a sense of how they behave and what they like. This knowledge can inform the types of messaging that you show them across various channels. After a consumer makes a purchase, send an email once the item arrives with related offerings. Someone who just purchased a sleeping bag may be interested in a travel-sized pillow as well.
Amazon provides browsers with recommendations based on browsing history. Every Amazon Prime user’s homepage is personalized based on what they have recently searched and purchased. Netflix also recommends TV shows and movies based on prior watching behaviors. If an individual is watching a reality series like “Love is Blind,” they may also enjoy a related show like “Selling Sunset.”
First-party can also help brands predict future behaviors. You can better anticipate your customer’s needs and enhance their overall experience. If a consumer has purchased an electric toothbrush with two head attachments, they’ll most likely need new attachments within the next 2-3 months. Sending a friendly email reminder to repurchase the heads along with another tool, like a floss pick, can boost sales and brand loyalty.
Conclusion
First-party data is a powerful tool for advertisers. It can help with reaching and targeting your core audience in new, engaging ways. Adopting this type of data collection can help establish meaningful, long-lasting connections with your consumers.
