The previous post of innovative publishing technologies was about content analytics. Well, as already mentioned there, it is just the beginning. The revolution is way more profound and extended. And with that plethora of technologies in hand, today, its all about First-Party Data.
Just as the name implies, First-Party Data is the directly accumulated information of the audience by the publishers. Such data is considered as gold, especially for the marketers because they come directly from the audience without any middle man. And as we are talking about the future, it is going to be a significant game-changer.
In February 2020, Google announced about phasing out third-party cookies by 2022, which, till date, is one of the primary tools for advertisers to gather data on audience behavior. Its blogpost wrote, “Users are demanding greater privacy–including transparency, choice, and control over how their data is used–and it’s clear the web ecosystem needs to evolve to meet these increasing demands.” (https://blog.chromium.org/2020/01/building-more-private-web-path-towards.html)
The reason behind such measure is the concern of data privacy. Over the course of the last 5 years, several regulations for data protection have been created such as GDPR, CCPA, etc. And to safeguard the users’ truest for the browsing giants like Google, they have decided to let go off third-party cookies.
Even though it’s in the best interest of the audience, we cannot say quite the same for the marketers. With Safari and Firefox already restricting third-party, and Gooogle, being on the phaseput process, marketers had to make use of something relevant or more accurate. Because let’s face it; 64% of the online global browsing market is covered by Google, whereas, 19% and 4% are covered by Safari and Mozilla Firefox. And the end of third-party cookies mean losing 87% of this market.
That’s where First-Part Data comes to scene. It’s more precise, effective, and can be gathered in real-time. All you, as a publisher, need is the audience.
The Benefits of First-Party Data.
- No Filtration.
First-Party Data makes sure you gather information directly from your audience analyzing their content consumption behavior. Such collection, in the absence of any middle man such as Google or Facebook, build a deep relationship between you and the user. This insight allows you to deliver according to the user needs, be it the content or advertisement.
- Building Trust.
As mentioned earlier, data privacy is a major concern now. Yet, 83% of the audience are willing to share their personal information to brands they trust in order to have a more personalized experience. First-Party Data rules out the privacy concern as the users would only share information with you, and hence boost their loyalty and engagement.
- More Accuracy on the Part of Marketers.
First-Party Data allows marketers to reach to more targeted users, and it’s a significant for everyone. The more specific marketers can be, the more will be their conversion rates as scale is not a concern anymore. So, target only potential customers, promote ads that are only contextual and relevant, and build a safe environment for your brand – First-Party Data has you all covered.
The Challenges of First-Party Data.
- Choosing the Right Platform.
The most crucial part of acquiring First-Party Data is to integrate the most suitable data management platform chalked out with a data strategy. Although this choice would entirely depend upon your objectives, there are certain common factors that you should keep in mind, such as:
- It should support all your platforms;
- It should assist you with audience segmentation;
- It should provide you with the analytics for you to develop the insights; and
- The vendor should provide you with all the support you need.
- Quality & Transparency.
You would need to curate contents that are specifically targeted and high-quality to retain the audiences, else you will start losing data. Remember the more audience you drive in, the more data you can gather, the more will be your business growth. Moreover, to establish brand trust, you would need to keep the process transparent.
- Getting Past the Scale Bias.
Third-party cookies made marketers think about scale; the more audience Google or Facebook can target, the better. But with First-Party Data, scale is no more a factor. The number of audience has become more concentrated. And in such a scenario, it would be necessary for publishers to communicate the same with the advertisers and make them understand its potentiality – “quality of audience, brand safety and strong content.” It would call for a collaborative approach from both publishers and the marketers.
Top First-Party Data Collection Platforms.
- Permutive – It provides publishers with real-time data.
- OnAudience – It provides publishers with customized audience segments and rich data.
Daniel Gilbert, the Chief Executive of Brainlabs wrote an article on one of UK’s leading marketing magazines, Campaign, which read “Take control of your first-party data, or quit marketing.” He stated that he was quite surprised to see how marketers are not very much concerned about this new era where they can be independent of third-party cookies; because “First-party data equals better experiences, maximized lifetime value, and increased customer retention. We’re about to embark on a rapid evolution of business, media, and creative strategy.”
So, it’s high-time to focus on First-Party Data and before Google completely shuts down its third-party cookies, marketers should be all set to roll out with that.
In the next article, I will address paywalls and how its a major breakthrough for publishers.