Why You Should Prioritize First-Party Data Collection & How a CDP Can Help

Poppy Boyd
by Poppy Boyd
October 25, 2021 0

Knowing the value of first-party data and prioritizing it is what will set you apart from the competition. Accepting that not all data is created equal and acknowledging that first-party data reigns supreme is essential. Here’s why.

First-party data holds a lot of value, growing increasingly crucial as we consider the addition of new privacy laws and the subsequent demise over time of the third-party cookie (by 2023). It’s qualitative and accurate, meaning it’s incredibly relevant to your business. What’s more? You own the first-party data you’ve collected. It allows you deeper insights into your audience members, so getting to know them is a lot easier.

Here are just a few things you can do with first-party data:

  • Gain additional insights on your audience
  • Improve targeting and retargeting strategies across multiple channels
  • Create personalized messaging that converts

First-party data is more coveted than ever. As privacy laws continue to evolve, it’s going to be increasingly crucial to collect first-party data and store it in CDPs. When we can’t convert unknowns into knowns, we can’t personalize messages. We can’t segment and target as accurately. So it’s important to strategically incorporate campaigns to convert unknown users into known ones in order to own more first-party data and drive revenue.

How Does a CDP Collect Data?

Data and our access to it has changed drastically over the years and how you choose to proceed will have major impacts. Without the right data collection strategy in place, you’re bound to run into silos, inaccuracies, and engagement issues.

At its core, a CDP keeps track of your data. Not only that, it continuously optimizes it and adds to the existing data, ultimately building individual customer profiles that reflect the living, breathing people that they are. It pulls in data from multiple sources, cleans it up, and restructures it so the data can be used by other engines. And that’s where the magic happens.

As you can imagine, without a robust system the CDP provides, data can quickly become fragmented, duplicated, messy, and cause serious problems. CDPs break down silos allowing for higher productivity internally, and creates more efficient marketing opportunities.

This deeper level of data collection allows you to talk to your audience as individuals. You begin to appeal to their unique likes while avoiding their dislikes based on their past behaviors. You can target where you communicate, how you communicate, and even when you communicate, leading to more efficient and effective audience interactions.