How to win with first-party data in the cookieless future

In 2020, Google announced its plan to phase out third-party cookies, which will take effect at the end of 2024. Though Google’s elimination of third-party cookies has been postponed again, it’s coming. The pardon did little to allay the fears of company executives, publishers and marketers.

Despite the promised capabilities of Google’s privacy sandbox, many people are concerned about how the future without cookies will affect business models and marketing tactics, particularly around personalized digital experiences. But don’t be afraid of the inevitable changes because there is a better solution for your needs.

First-party data isn’t going anywhere, and marketing trends have already been moving in that direction. Now all you have to do is determine how best to collect and use all the consumer data you have.

Purchase history, website activity, email engagement, consumer interests, mobile app behavior and more can tell you a lot about your consumers. But many marketing decision-makers aren’t sure where to start, with 41% saying the biggest challenge will be tracking the right consumer data.

Why first-party data is more valuable in the long run

First-party data is your consumers’ data. Their collection, segmentation and use are entirely in your control, which means their accuracy and integrity are never questioned. Also, you have exclusive ownership, which can provide a great competitive advantage.

When used properly, first-party data also offers a unique opportunity to position your brand in a distinctive way, which can offer several benefits to you and your consumers, such as:

meaningful experience

When consumers share data, they tell you exactly what they want, often directly. So use first-party data to customize consumer experiences in meaningful and relevant ways. From initial discovery to actual purchase, make the journey as seamless and enjoyable as possible. Create useful content. Share it on all channels. Look for ways to continually add value to purchasing decisions.

In terms of meaningful experiences, the Disney Genie service offers just that for theme park visitors. Integrated into the My Disney Experience app, the service provides recommendations inspired by visitors’ interests. The app will continue to suggest new options throughout a person’s visit to ensure they have the best possible time at the park.

More personalization

First-party data enhances marketing initiatives by enabling you to personalize virtually every touchpoint along the consumer journey. Personalization can take many forms, but it often starts with dynamic audience segmentation and dynamic content. You can then explore customized product recommendations and messages. Sending personalized emails drives engagement, as does interacting directly with consumers across channels.

Amazon is a company that understands personalization. The company collects information from past purchases, TV shows and movies you’ve seen, and items you’ve looked at while shopping. They take that information and make personalized recommendations for what to buy or watch in the future.

brand loyalty

When you deliver personalized, relevant consumer experiences to your audiences, a level of trust begins to form. Trust is the basis of all long-term relationships, including brand loyalty. It’s about meeting consumers where they are, with the right messages at the right time, on the right channels, and that’s enabled by first-party data.

Brands with loyalty programs can create personalized offers based on consumer data. Data is the holy grail of any personalization program, and a loyalty program is the starting point. But while a loyalty program can be used to enable personalization, it does not automatically equate to personalization. Personalization drives brand loyalty because it enables consumers to form deeper connections with brands and vice versa.

Where to start collecting consumer information?

While it should go without saying, collecting consumer information starts with consent. After all, you’re collecting information from real people, and it’s important to be transparent about your first-party data collection practices. How will you use consumer data? How will you protect your information?

It is also important to incentivize data sharing. This is valuable information and consumers know it. You have to give to get – and I’m not talking about a weekly email with a few coupons. The incentive must be of real value to consumers.

At the same time, you need a means to not only collect first-party data, but also to analyze the information at scale. Otherwise, it’s almost impossible to extract actionable insights from consumer data to inform your marketing tactics.

But even then, different departments within companies often “own” their databases. When consumer data becomes siled within an organization, it doesn’t just create barriers to data access. Data quality begins to suffer as overlap can lead to inconsistencies and poor decisions. You may think you really know your customers, but in reality you only know part of their journey.

In other words, whatever data analysis solution you use, it must also offer the functionality to aggregate your first-party data from all your data sources. Only then can you identify where exactly you’re collecting consumer information and ensure it’s tagged correctly.

New ways to leverage first-party data for better results

Once you can trust the data you have at your disposal, you can focus on optimizing the consumer experience in new ways across countless channels.

Take something as simple as personalized product recommendations. Helping consumers quickly find the items they are looking for through contextual marketing increases the chances of conversions. It also increases the likelihood that consumers will return for more purchases, allowing you to collect even more data and build a more complete picture of your audience.

Dynamic audience segmentation, on the other hand, provides the functionality to automatically filter audiences based on their behavior. Instead of dividing consumers into 10 or 15 segments that best fit their personas, dynamic audience segmentation allows you to continually segment your audience. This means that consumers are constantly matched to the most relevant segments based on their current activity, context and historical data. Ultimately, this leads to continuous optimization of the consumer experience and improves marketing ROI.

First-party data also helps you enable predictive personalization to provide better customer experiences. Artificial intelligence and machine learning tools can match consumers with customized experiences based on unique characteristics, and then deliver content most relevant to their interests.

Let’s say a consumer recently looked at kitten food, small pet travel bags, and kitty-safe cat toys. Chances are they are either looking for a new kitten or have recently brought one home. The pet store that collected this data could then start providing content based on the different stages of the kitten’s growth.

Third-party data may still be available, and you can certainly continue to use that information to create personalized digital experiences. However, soon this option will be gone. So now prepare for a world without cookies. With first-party data powering your future marketing efforts, you can provide consumers with more personalized, safer experiences while still driving business outcomes.

Diana Keng is CEO and co-founder of Breinify, an AI and predictive personalization engine that helps brands curate dynamic, meaningful experiences for their consumers at scale.