First-party data is data collected directly from your own customers. Unlike with second and third-party data, you are the first business to use it – hence the name “first-party.”
But first-party data is becoming increasingly important in both marketing and the wider business. That’s because a “cookieless world,” where major browsers, like Google Chrome, limit or phase out third-party cookies entirely, will limit what kind of data marketers can gather and leverage.
First-party data doesn’t have any of those issues.
First-party data is the most accurate and reliable type of data. It provides insights into your customers and how that data is stored and used is largely up to you, so long as you comply with local and regional data privacy laws.
So, how do you go about gathering this digital gold? Here’s a quick look at how to collect first-party data.
Methods for Collecting and Managing First-Party Data
First-party data can be collected from various sources — essentially, any platform or tool you use to interact with your customers. Here are the most popular collection methods.
CRM Systems
A customer relationship management system, more commonly known as a “CRM,” is software used to manage customer data. Almost every business uses a CRM system to track and update customer details and interactions.
Often, this means CRM systems contain a wealth of first-party data relating to:
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- purchase activity
- customer lifetime value (CLV)
- customer preferences
- contact information
- demographics
- customer interests
However, first-party data doesn’t just appear in a CRM. It needs to be collected. Often, this is done through a variety tools.
Marketing automation platforms, or MAPs, are one example. MAPs are useful for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is the ability to create forms or “gates” at scale. These are the forms visitors fill out to gain something from a brand, like an e-book they’re interested in or to register for an upcoming event, like a webinar.
When integrated, MAPs and CRMs work very well together. The MAP gathers the data and the CRM sorts it out so sales and customer support teams can pitch, support and convert.
But CRMs aren’t limited to MAPs. You should also consider integrating your CRMs across all digital touchpoints — from email marketing and social media to chatbots, webinars and website analytics platforms — to ensure consistent coverage and up-to-date data.
By centralizing data from multiple sources in one place, you can view it on a “per customer” basis and develop a comprehensive understanding of cross-channel behavioral insights.
Traditionally, CRM systems were updated manually but these days, the process of aggregating data from almost every platform into your CRM can be automated using APIs or the platform’s in-built integration capabilities.
For example, the ON24 Intelligent Engagement Platform seamlessly integrates with CRMs and other business intelligence tools to send prospect engagement scores straight to your sales and marketing teams.
Surveys and Polls
Surveys and polls are a great source of qualitative data. They offer your customers the chance to tell you their needs, interests and opinions, rather than you having to deduce this information from their behavior.
One way to collect first-party data through surveys and polls is to incorporate them into a webinar or virtual event. Doing so can result in high levels of participation because attendees are already actively engaged.
Offering incentives in exchange for filling in a survey can sometimes work, but also risks encouraging false answers. A better tactic is to state clearly that survey responses will be used to improve the customer experience. This might result in fewer responses, but they will be more reliable and therefore of higher value.
When creating surveys and polls, the number one thing to remember is that they should be short and focused. Concise, targeted questions offer fewer barriers to participation than lengthy surveys that try to do too much.
Customer Feedback Tools
Customer feedback is one of the most valuable types of first-party data available. It’s a direct line to a customer’s true feelings about your business and helps deepen your understanding of who your audience is and what they want.
Direct interactions with customer service or sales teams can be a fruitful source of customer feedback. Just make sure that team members log all customer complaints, questions and suggestions in your CRM so that they’re accessible across the business.
Other feedback mechanisms include reviews and targeted forms, which you can prompt customers to fill in at different journey stages. Finally, don’t forget about the information stored in your customer preference center — this can tell you how individual customers prefer to be contacted and what they want to be contacted about.
Best Practices for Data Collection
To earn and maintain customer trust, some best practices should be followed when collecting first-party data. The same goes for ensuring data accuracy, quality, and reliability.
Compliance with privacy laws
First-party data should always be collected in accordance with applicable privacy laws, which may require user consent.
Data Accuracy and Quality
First-party data, or any data for that matter, is worthless if it’s not accurate or reliable. To ensure data quality, make sure that you are:
- regularly cleaning and validating data to remove duplications, errors and inconsistencies
- updating data in real-time so that it always reflects the most accurate information available
- periodically encouraging customers to update their information if it has changed
Future Trends in First-Party Data Collection
First-party data collection is constantly developing, with emerging tools, technologies, and regulations all impacting how the practice works for businesses worldwide.
Advanced Data Collection Tools
Given its growing importance in the broader data landscape, lots of businesses are developing new ways to collect, manage and analyze first-party data. New data collection tools focus on making it easier to gather first-party data seamlessly and offer critical insights that can steer strategy.
These tools are emerging across different technology sectors. CRMs, for instance, are increasingly offering more ways to collect and utilize first-party data, including built-in web forms and survey features.
They also offer new ways to analyze data from different platforms in one simple hub. The performance analytics features found in the ON24 platform, for example, allow you to get insights from live, on-demand and simulive experiences in one place. That provides a fuller picture of how your audience interacts with your content, which you can use to improve your future marketing approach.
Integrating AI and Machine Learning
Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning are two of the most exciting technological developments, potentially increasing efficiency and performance in diverse operational areas.
AI technology has plenty of perfect applications in the context of first-party data collection. It’s well-suited to handling large data sets, which’ll help you process vast amounts of data with better accuracy and efficiency than ever before.
Natural language processing (NLP) capabilities allow AI tools to speed up qualitative data analysis. For example, they can “read” customer feedback collected through surveys and extract the most useful parts.
It can also help with customer segmentation, allowing you to get deeper insights from your data by analyzing it based on audience demographics, interests, or behaviors. The best part about AI is that machine learning technology will only get better with time. The more data it processes, the better it will get at processing data.
A Note on Privacy Laws
Privacy laws are always evolving, and new laws are being adopted. It is important to stay current with how they impact your existing data collection tools. Changes to the way Google’s cookies work, for example, will affect the data you see in Google Analytics.
Stay knowledgeable and compliant as privacy laws evolve. Consult with your legal or privacy team or advisors to ensure you have a firm understanding of how to handle data correctly.
