Transforming first-party data into meaningful experiences with customer data software
The value of first-party data is the topic on every marketer’s mind at the moment, as the customer experience sector adapts to the loss of cookies and looks for new ways to guide meaningful relationships with customers.
And, when it comes to primary data marketing, it pays to be prepared. Leveraging customers’ consented data is a must for businesses today, with McKinsey predicting that the marketers who don’t cement or grow their first-party data access will need to pay up to 20% more to achieve the same results.
Yet, it’s not just about obtaining first-party data that counts – it’s how you use it to engage your customers with personalized, timely, and contextually relevant conversations. For this, smart customer data software is the key ingredient.
First-party data: An untapped resource for understanding your customers
Traditionally, marketers have turned to second- and third-party data sets to learn more about their customers – from their motivations to their buying behaviors and beyond. But, cookies are crumbling, and customers are becoming increasingly protective of their data and how it’s used.
Additionally, third-party data sets are segment-based, and don’t allow marketers to deliver individually tailored engagements to customers. The problem? This individual approach is what customers have come to expect in order to feel valued in the brand-customer relationship. With a primary data marketing strategy, however, you can deliver this expected level of personalization with a detailed and more holistic view of your customers.
After all, by aggregating and analyzing first-party data with customer data software – i.e. an advanced customer data platform (CDP) – you can begin to build a picture of the relationship between you and your audiences. From figuring out how your customers view your website (for instance, their device preferences) to what marketing strategies they most engage with (such as loyalty programs), you can tap into data sets that your competitors don’t have access to. This gives you a competitive edge from the get-go when it comes to making your customers feel seen and heard.
Leveraging first-party insights with an advanced CDP also enables you to orchestrate consistently rewarding customer journeys – those that increase retention rates and turn customers into real advocates of your brand. By determining the next best experience for your customers based on their historical and real-time data, you’ll always be equipped to meet their future wants and needs.
Building trust and transparency through primary data marketing
In the world of customer experience, however, you can’t just prioritize personalization. You need to focus on privacy, too.
Establishing greater levels of trust and transparency with your customers is key, and using first-party data is an effective way to get started. As you’ll own the data, you’ll have full insight into which sets your customers are willing for you to use, and crucially, their consent around how you use it.
Once you’ve aggregated first-party data, the next challenge is to make sure you’re using it responsibly and creating experiences that are worth sharing data for – in the eyes of your customers. This will simultaneously create value and generate trust, ultimately driving loyalty and customer lifetime value.
Interestingly, research shows that “privacy actives” (i.e. consumers who proactively protect their data privacy) are twice as willing to share their data in exchange for personalized products and services than non-privacy actives. This highlights a need for businesses to develop a more detailed understanding of their customers’ attitudes towards consent and control, and to create first-party data strategies that align with them. For instance, by only using data sets that customers have consented to sharing and delivering individualized experiences in return.
Identifying these data sets (and learning from customer feedback to deliver the rewards and experiences they deem worthy in exchange) requires smarter customer data software – specifically, an advanced CDP. Our Intelligent Engagement Platform is designed to equip you with the right insights at the right time, enabling you to engage customers with the most contextually relevant communications and deliver truly strategic marketing campaigns.
Leveraging first-party data with the Intelligent Engagement Platform
By integrating the Intelligent Engagement Platform into your existing customer data software stack, you can tap into the potential of first-party data for meaningful customer experiences – all while respecting the individual consent settings of each customer.
It centralizes the most relevant insights into an always optimized Customer DNA™, creating a more holistic view of your customers based on mature data. Advanced analytics that update in real-time ensure you’re always on the ball, allowing you to target customers with the products, services and communications that carry the most meaning at that moment.
By using our CDP to leverage first-party insights, you can develop a customer-centric campaign that remains smart, scalable, and sustainable in a shifting data landscape, and which provides value to customers in exchange for the data they have provided.
To learn more about how our Intelligent Engagement Platform can help you with your primary data marketing objectives, get in touch or request a free demo.
