Summing up Zero-party & First-party data.

Firstly, I wish you a very happy Diwali. May this festival of light bring love and light to you more than you wish for.

Hope you made full use of festive sales this year.

We saw many campaigns from Flipkart’s Big Billion Days to Amazon’s Great Indian Sale to many other campaigns done by various retailers.

While browsing these websites or while shopping from these websites or apps, have you ever wondered how important is the digital footprint you leave on these websites and apps?

It is an absolute goldmine of data. the more time you spend on a website or app, the more valuable the data is. Whether you shop or not. The data is valuable.

You may go on a Flipkart or Amazon with the intent to browse or buy but every action you take on their website or app is a valuable data point.

Because with the help of this data, these apps will circle back to you and will try to sell you something.

However, the rise of user privacy is contradicting this.

People want their online behaviour to be protected and not used by businesses to manipulate them into shopping.

Hence, the iOS 14.5 update had a major impact on Facebook ads.

And now Google is also planning on phasing out third-party cookies from Google Chrome.

First, let’s understand what are third-party cookies anyway.

Third-party cookies are generated and placed on the user’s device by a different website other than the one the user is visiting.

Simply put,

You open Google Chrome, go on Myntra, and see a pair of Sunglasses.

While you are at it Myntra places a cooking on your system to track your online behaviour along with a unique user ID.

You did not buy sunglasses from Myntra and closed the website.

Now you went on Forbes(.)com to read an article.

Because you are using the same browser, and based on the cookies placed from Myntra, Myntra will be able to show you the same sunglasses you were browsing.

Another example,

If a user plays an embedded YouTube video on a website, the YouTube server will set cookies on their device.

These cookies track user preferences and suggest similar videos when they visit YouTube.

A visual explanation of third-party cookies:

Now since Google is phasing out the capability of websites to place these third-party cookies, the capability of businesses to target, report and optimise campaigns will see an impact (similar to what happened when Apple launched iOS 14.5 update)

(If you do not fully understand cookies, iOS, and Google Chrome updates, you will struggle to grow your business or career going forward, I cover this topic in depth in the Dream Performance Marketing Masterclass, learning ‘data collection‘, ‘data protection’, ‘data utilisation’ and ‘data optimisation‘ will be the key for businesses going forward. So make sure you understand these topics fully. Since it’s Diwali today, I am giving a flat 10% off to people who are this far in the newsletter. You are an avid reader and learner, you deserve this, Use code LIVE10 to get 10% off valid till 13th Nov. This is a 10-seat-only masterclass, so make sure you book it before it is booked.)

Now since there is an increased focus on ‘User privacy’, and phasing out of third-party cookies will also happen sooner or later, you must understand what you can do to grow your business in the privacy-first world.

Well, it's not the end of the world. In fact, it’s an exciting opportunity to explore more ethical and effective ways of gathering customer insights. Enter zero-party and first-party data. Let's break these down in a simple, jargon-free way.

Zero-Party Data: The Gold Standard of Customer Data

Zero-party data is information that customers willingly and proactively share with us.

It's like someone telling you their favourite colour or their birthday.

Examples of Zero-party data include:

• Name

• Email and phone number

• Age

• Gender

• Location

• Occupation

• Income level

• Buying habits and other behaviours

• Interests and preferences

• Expectations from your brand

• Feedback about your brand and offerings

Imagine a customer filling out a survey on your website about their favourite types of products - that’s zero-party data in action.

You can win your customers over with efforts to collect zero-party data and show how you'll use that data.

Requesting zero-party data gives your brand the chance to display transparency that rivals your competitors' data collection efforts.

You can also direct customers to a privacy policy page to detail how you'll keep this provided information secure from prying eyes.

The advantages of Zero Party data are:

Trustworthy and Accurate: Since it comes directly from the customer, it's highly reliable.

Privacy-Friendly: It’s given freely by customers, aligning with privacy norms and regulations.

Highly Relevant: Tailored to individual customers, making it perfect for personalization.

First-Party Data: Your Treasure Trove

First-party data is what we collect directly from our interactions with customers.

Think of it like noting what a friend likes when they visit your home.

This includes data from website interactions, app usage, social media engagements, and purchase histories.

When someone browses through your online store, the items they view, the time they spend, and the purchases they make are all valuable first-party data.

Examples of first-party data

Through your website and various tools, you can collect different types of first-party data, such as:

• Web or mobile app behaviour, such as page views and session duration

• Purchase history

• Preferences indicated

• Loyalty status

• Interactions with customer service reps

The advantages of first-party data are:

Controlled and Safe: It's collected and managed by you, so it's more secure.

Rich Insights: Offers a comprehensive view of customer behaviour on our platforms. Various segmentation and targeting logics can be applied

Cost-Effective: No need to buy this data from third parties – it’s all organically gathered.

The process of gathering Zero-party or First-party data can be slow especially if you are just getting started, but it is the most valuable asset or moat to your business.

Some tools used to collect these data points are Google Analytics 4, Omniture, Clevertap, Webengage, Moengage etc.

If I give you a drill-down version of the difference between First-party and Zero-party data, then it would be this:

Some examples of:

How to collect Zero-party data:

Quizzes and polls

One of the most effective ways to gather zero-party data and give your customers something in return is to issue quizzes or polls.

Pop-ups

The right pop-ups can also help rather than annoy your customers.

A valuable pop-up on your website could ask visitors a couple of key questions.

As an example, a company might ask what product categories interest the visitor the most. Or give them a discount code or offer in return for getting their email.

Surveys

After customers buy from you, it's good to find out how that customer feels regarding their experience with your brand.

What did that customer enjoy or dislike about your offerings or the customer experience? What are some areas of improvement that the customer would like to see?

By asking these and other questions in a quick survey, customers can provide valuable input that helps you determine what's working and what isn't.

You can then take steps to encourage this and other similar customers to make future purchases and keep them coming back.

Be sure to offer a small reward in return for completing the survey.

This can include a coupon code.

Product onboarding

Offering a great onboarding experience will give you another opportunity to collect zero-party datasets.

After initially converting leads into customers, start building a deeper experience with your products by ensuring customers get what they want from them.

For example, a software company can ask new customers what they specifically want to achieve with the software based on their goals.

The customer can then provide answers and, in turn, benefit from a personally tailored experience.

As a result, the software company can get a better feel for the different use cases for their software.

How to collect first-party data

User Registration

When bringing new customers on board, you can begin by collecting their data through a user registration process.

In addition to zero-party data that users provide, such as their names and emails, you can collect data through the customer profile.

From there, you'll be able to see what products interest your users, how they navigate your website or app, and what products they order.

Signups through other platforms

When encouraging new users to sign up on your website or app, consider giving them the option of signing up through other platforms, such as Google or Facebook.

This not only simplifies the signup process for new users to encourage more user registrations, but it can also give you access to data on these other platforms.

Emails and SMS

You can also gain some insight into customers' preferences and interactions by looking into the analytics for your email and SMS text efforts.

Some of this data could include clicks, opens, views, spam reports, and unsubscribed.

These can help you determine how people are connecting (or disconnecting) from your brand.

Event-based tracking

Using certain types of analytical tools such as Google Analytics 4 or Clevertap, you can track people based on their interactions and gain a better understanding of their behaviour.

One way to use event-based tracking is to conduct an in-depth funnel analysis.

This would help you map out events to see which sequence leads people down the funnel to conversion.

Event-based tracking can also help with segmentation.

You gather data that allows you to effectively compare various events and users.

Depending on how people interact with your products, you can group them into specific segments.

Content sharing

If your website or app features highly shareable content, ensure that people can share it on social media and other channels.

This content could include potentially viral videos that reach many audiences.

This enables you to use analytical tools to measure views and other engagement metrics to advise your content strategy.

Based on what content performs best, you can better determine which types of content are most valuable and redirect your funds and efforts to generate more.

You should start collecting and using First-party and Zero-party data for your business to be ready for the privacy first-world.

The sooner you start this, the better position you will be in.

This is what the future of Performacne marketing will be.

And to be future-ready, learn more such fundamental ways to grow a business in depth with the Dream Performacne Marketing Masterclass.

The value this masterclass will provide:

• All the sessions are LIVE.

• All the sessions are recorded and shared with the participants

• Updated curriculum, you will be future-ready.

• Limited seats masterclass (10) so the quality of interaction is very high.

• You learn performance marketing while doing it. LIVE projects.

• Post-class support.

• An opportunity to work with me on an International project.

I hope to see you on 4th Jan’24 for the next batch (we are booked before that)

That’s all for today, folks!

Cheers,

Apurv