I Have First-Party Data – So Much Data. Now What?
Online privacy tools and ad blockers have been around for over a decade and the general public is now aware of these tools. So, how do you get to know your audience if you don’t get data from a third party? Simple: get the data yourself.
But how? Well, we’ve covered that previously. Basically, first-party data is collected any time that you ask for it in an email newsletter signup, company surveys, and/or upon sales of your product or service. If you have an app, this data may be more comprehensive and have more points of interest including, but not limited to, favorite products, past sales, and other apps your users have on their phones.
Your first-party data lives in one or more databases. Hopefully, that data will be easily accessible to other marketing tools.
“Technically, these data types are collected via our web analysis tools, enabling a connection between marketing and sales through web analysis and our CRM system. “ AWI
First-party data informs your audience personas, clarifies your buyers' journeys, and sheds light on how to reach potential buyers. First-party data is the intelligence successful marketing strategies are built upon.
First-Party Data Creates Accurate Audience Personas
Audience personas are a marketer’s favorite tool. They construct a fictional person, Alice, who is 35, just got her first promotion, moved to the City recently, and is subscribed to Hulu, Prime, and uses her CashApp Card when clubbing. See? That only took 30 seconds. The problem with “Alice” is that she is based entirely on presumptions.
“Alice” is a prejudicial, biased, stereotype. Do we even know an Alice? Is Alice really our customer? Do we think Alice will buy our online medical subscription? Maybe. Maybe she’ll want to receive her monthly birth control pills and prophylactics in a discrete package. Maybe she’s dating but doesn’t want to have a baby. And the likelihood that Alice actually exists is high. But we don’t really know. That is, unless we have the data.
So, let’s say you are a medical subscription company focused on women’s (or men’s) health and sexual positivity. Hims & Hers, Alpha Medical, and Roman all exist with plenty of competitors. With your in-app data, you know that Liz is 27. She is single, buys birth control pills from your service, and is also interested in beauty creams based on the clicks she makes on in-app ads.
You also know Liz is on Bumble, has the State Farm auto app, and has renter’s insurance. But she has also signed up for Rocket Money and her credit score is 690 – above average. Take all of your customers and start categorizing them into Liz, Alice, Brittany, and Doug. Don’t forget James and Felipe. They may be buying for their wives or girlfriends, or frankly, for themselves.
Now your company can write audience personas derived from your first-party data. Your marketing team is empowered to write articles, create videos, and post engaging posts that relate to and help your actual customers.
What a fantastic way to build brand loyalty and increase your CLV.
“Permission-based research is the key to ascertaining human-centered insights.” Isaac Rogers
First-Party Data Improves Buyers’ Journeys
Buyers’ journeys, when created from personas are inherently flawed. If you read the paragraph above, you can see how obvious it is. But, when you analyze your in-app or website data, you can backtrack from the click. The sales click. What page were they on before? How many times were they on your website before they purchased? Did they download the app before buying or were they just googling?
Depending upon your tracking methods, software, and ad campaigns, you may even know which campaign brought in the customer. If your company is more B2B, you can inform the salesperson of the campaign that caused the appointment to be set or the phone number to be dialed.
Understanding how users interact with your software or website is the key. It takes time. It takes patience. It takes both an experienced UX and UI expert to parse out and test. But once you nail down the journey, you have reduced sales friction. That’s gold.
“According to a study by Boston Consulting Group, marketers that use first-party data see a lift in marketing efficiency, generating nearly double the revenue from a single ad or placement.” Neil Patel
First-Party Data Expands Consumer Outreach
With your accurate personas and journeys, you can now create a model. That model allows you to predict behavior based on past behavior.
You know how to market to Felipe now. He visited your website from a TikTok ad. Since you want to grow your customer base like Felipe, you’re more inclined to add TikTok Ad budget along with organic content.
You don’t have to do the modeling yourself, though. Data can literally be like looking for a Felipe in a haystack.
Partnering with AWI’s Model Fuel, for example, allows you to:
Decrease the timeline for critical time-sensitive marketing initiatives
Fuel your analytics and data science teams' quest for more data
Low-cost entry based on actions that drive revenue
Accurate demographics Annual updates
Monthly new customers
Choose The Proven First-Party Data Solutions Leader
The future of first-party data is combining it with data append services like ours. With data-driven project requirements, Andrews Wharton is the proven direct-response solutions provider with a long-standing reputation for solving your toughest marketing challenges. Are you ready to get started?
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