How to win with first-party data in the future without cookies

In 2020, Google announced its plan to phase out third-party cookies, which will take effect at the end of 2024. While Google’s elimination of third-party cookies has been pushed back again, it’s coming. The delay hasn’t done much to allay the fears of business leaders, publishers and marketers.

Even with the promised capabilities of Google’s Privacy Sandbox, many people are concerned about the impact of the cookie-less future on business models and marketing tactics, especially 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 are already moving in that direction. Now it’s just a matter of determining how best to capture and use all available consumer data.

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 don’t know where to start, with 41% saying: biggest challenge will be the ability to track the correct consumer data.

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

First-party data is the data of your consumers. Its collection, segmentation and use are complete inside you check, meaning its accuracy and integrity are never compromised. In addition, you have the exclusive ownership, which can provide a great competitive advantage.

When used correctly, first-party data also offers the unique opportunity to position your brand in distinctive ways, which can deliver several benefits to you and your consumers, such as:

Meaningful experience

As 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. Make the journey as seamless and enjoyable as possible, from initial discovery to actual purchase. Create useful content. Share it on different channels. Look for ways to continuously add value to purchasing decisions.

In terms of meaningful experiences, Disney Genie Service does just that for theme park visitors. The service, built into the My Disney Experience app, makes recommendations inspired by what visitors want to do. The app keeps suggesting new options during a person’s visit to ensure they have the best time possible in the park.

More Personalization

First-party data enhances marketing initiatives by allowing 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. Then you can explore custom product recommendations and messages. Sending personalized emails encourages engagement, as well as direct interaction with consumers through various channels.

Amazon is a company that understands personalization. The company collects information from users’ past purchases, TV shows and movies they’ve watched, and items they’ve watched while shopping. They take this information and provide personalized recommendations on what to buy or watch in the future.

Brand Loyalty

As you deliver personalized, relevant consumer experiences to your audiences, a level of trust begins to develop. Trust is the foundation of all long-term relationships, including brand loyalty. It’s all about meeting consumers where they are with the right messages at the right times on the right channels, and that’s made possible with first-party data.

Brands with loyalty programs can build personalized offers based on consumer data. Facts is the holy grail of every 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 promotes brand loyalty because it enables consumers to develop a deeper connection with brands and vice versa.

Where to start collecting consumer information?

While this should go without saying, collecting consumer information starts with consent. After all, you are collecting information from real people and it is essential to be transparent with your first-party data collection practices. How will you use consumer data? How are you going to keep their information safe?

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

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

Even then, different departments within organizations often ‘own’ their data assets. When consumer data gets locked inside a business, it doesn’t just create barriers to data accessibility. Data quality begins to suffer, as overlaps can cause inconsistencies and lead to poor decision-making. You may think you really know your consumers, but in reality you only know part of their journey.

In other words, whatever data analytics solution you come across must also provide the functionality to collect your first-party data from all your data sources. Only then can you identify where exactly you are collecting consumer information and ensure it is tagged correctly.

New ways to use first-party data for better results

Once you can trust the data available, you can turn your attention to 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’re looking for through contextual marketing will increase your chances of conversions. It also keeps consumers coming back for additional purchases sooner, allowing you to capture even more data and create a richer picture of your target audience.

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

First-party data also helps you enable predictive personalization to deliver better consumer experiences. Artificial intelligence and machine learning tools can assign consumers individual experiences based on unique characteristics and then deliver content that most closely matches their interests.

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

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

Diane Kengo is the CEO and co-founder of Breinify, an AI and predictive personalization engine that helps brands build dynamic, meaningful experiences for their consumers at scale.