In today’s era of digital landscape, there are already in place several laws protecting users’ data that obliges companies to disclose data collection, data management as well as rejecting the usage of any unconsented data. For instance, there is PIPEDA in Canada, GDPR in Europe, CAN-SPAM in the US, and so on, as well as provincial and state laws such as Quebec’s Law 25. That being said, as further privacy regulations become stricter and tightened, it’s important for companies to primarily rely on their first-party data as opposed to any data that is unconsented whether it’s first- or third-party data in order to avoid any legal violation.
Aside from the legal aspect, first-party data provides the opportunity for companies to then start leveraging their owned data for analysis and performance purposes in order to generate the most optimal results from informed business decisions against the competition.
What is First-Party Data?
First-party data is user information that your company has collected directly through your own sources, and even better through explicit consent as a best practice, that is, for instance, on your company’s website from a lead form clearly detailing the purpose of collecting the user data as well as allowing the user for themselves to either voluntarily give their information or to refuse. In other words, it’s data that is generated from your own channels, such as from first-party cookies on your own website and it is data that is willingly given to you.
In contrast, third-party data is data that you accumulated from another source on your behalf. For example, a third-party cookie on your website such as a Meta Pixel or a Google Pixel. This type of data usually has not been consented by users to be collected. Also, the disadvantage of third-party data is that it’s aggregated and potentially irrelevant.
As a whole, first-party data is more precise and reliable because it’s generated directly from the origin, that is your target audience, as it clearly reflects your customers preferences and needs.
Why Do You Need First-Party Data?
As privacy laws become reinforced and harsher in the collection and management of data, your business needs to start investing in first-party data, because this data will be your main source in creating personalized marketing strategies as well as reaching directly your audience, especially as third-party data is currently becoming suppressed and/or deprecated.
For instance, for retargeting purposes in remarketing campaigns, your best approach is to rely on your own data in order to display ads to your most relevant audience, as opposed to depending on the native remarketing audiences from third-parties like Meta Ads and Google Ads. Also, with a large list of first-party contacts, this can provide opportunities to send personalized emails and SMS campaigns with the ultimate goal of achieving your bottom line.
In a separate scenario, ultimately, by building upon your own first-party data derived from a variety of internal sources, this will allow you to have a holistic view of your enterprise information under one roof in a data management system.
How to Collect and Store First-Party Data?
You can collect and store first-party data through platforms like HubSpot and Klaviyo that allows your team to create consented lead forms for lead generation as well as the ability to then house your contacts. For example, you can implement a custom form on your website in order to encourage users to sign up to your newsletters (as well as request consent for other marketing purposes). Another method in collecting contacts is through digital campaigns on Meta Ads and LinkedIn Ads, and then storing them in your CRM.
You can also go even further to store all of your enterprise data in a data warehouse such as BigQuery. Data generated and collected from your CRM, advertising platforms, analytics software, point-of-sale system, and so on, can then all be automatically imported by linking each entity or manually importing data files into a massive database for future use – e.i. into a single, comprehensive repository which permits your team to unlock powerful opportunities for data integration, analysis, and insight generation.
Advantage of First-Party Data Against Your Competitors
Companies that do not invest in their own first-party data are going to be the ones that will lag behind, because your data is what will allow you to accurately analyze and extract insights in order to be ahead of the competition – that is anticipating market trends and consumer behavior. In other words, by leveraging this valuable data through data-driven decision making, it will allow you to adapt and innovate quickly and precisely in your competitive environment against competitors who rely instead on less accurate data or none at all.
Furthermore, as mentioned above that first-party data provides precision and reliability in targeting and segmentation capabilities, this then allows you to better orient your brand messages and product offerings to your relevant audience more effectively. As a result, increasing engagement rate and conversion rate as well as ultimately boosting your return on investment, compared to competitors who might be using less targeted approaches.
Nevertheless, competitors depending on third-party data risk further challenges in regards to policy compliance, legal repercussions, and damaging their own brand because, as iterated earlier, this type of data tends to be unconsented compared to first-party that derives straight from consumers that is freely given to you.
Conclusion
Companies are facing a new challenge in regards to their data collection and management in today’s world of robust data privacy policies and legislations as well as the current uncertainty of the existence of third-party data. In order for you to thrive, it’s crucial for your company to invest in your first-party data because it’s a goldmine for gaining valuable insights and making data-driven decisions.
At Pertinence Media, we are a team of experts that can help you with the collection and management of your data through platforms like HubSpot and Klaviyo as well as the storage of your entire enterprise data in BigQuery. We are committed to assisting you all the way, so make sure to fill out our contact form to get started and/or to optimize your data.
