Get More from Your First-Party Data

First party data is becoming more important as tech giants finally make good on their promise to get rid of third-party cookies. The good news is that you have complete control of your first-party data, the information that comes to you directly from potential customers. With the right tools, you can collect and use this data to make irresistible offers targeted to each shopper. More on that in a minute, but first, the bad news.

The bad news is that sometimes first party data is not enough. More accurately, sometimes you just don’t have enough first-party data to make informed marketing decisions.

If your customers are making considered purchases, you may be dealing with a small customer list that takes their time researching and making a large purchase. Their consideration set is probably small, but the time between their first and second purchase is likely to be long.

When you market only to customers that have already done business with you, the list erodes over time. Customers relocate, defect to other brands, or simply don’t need your product or service again for years. To keep your customer base strong, you need more than a basic customer list.

3 Steps To Making the Most of First-Party Data

Most merchants use some or all of the following strategies to collect and use their first-party data. These efforts can work, but they tend to be cost and labor intensive:

1. Invest in advertising to earn customers
2. Build look-alike audiences
3. Utilize 3rd-party data enrichment tools

Earned customers are what we traditionally think of when we think of first-party data. These are the audiences that find your site via search or advertising and convert in some measurable way. Maybe they fill out a form or make a purchase.

However, less than 5% of that traffic converts to a point of contact with sales. Unsurprisingly, customers won’t interact with sales until they’re ready to buy.

From the list of earned customers, many merchants create look-alike or modeled audiences. These can expand your marketing reach, but the loss of third-party cookies makes them less reliable. Many modeled audiences are also built from competitor data, and you may waste a lot of energy on people who will never convert.

Advanced identity solutions may eventually offer promise for the future. They could use geolocation data, public databases, or other alternative data. At the moment, these solutions are still being built and tested.

“Identity providers are having a heyday with creating solutions to fill in the gap that cookies will inevitably leave, spawning a number of ID solutions ranging from the Trade Desk’s Unified ID 2.0, LiveRamp’s RampID and Google’s PAIR and Privacy Sandbox.” Stirista, for Search Engine Land

Then there’s third-party lead generation, otherwise known as one of the most costly methods to drive new business. It also delivers a lower conversion rate than dealership website traffic. The ROI just isn’t there in most cases. Third-party lead generation may soon be a thing of the past anyway, since third-party cookies are disappearing amidst privacy concerns.

So what’s the solution? How can merchants make the most of first-party data without a massive increase in marketing spend?

Do More With Your Website Traffic Using Ignite

Do more with the traffic that is coming to your website. Whether you’re paying for ads or relying on organic search you can do more with your website traffic.

Every visitor that arrives on your site should become part of your first-party dataset — even before they fill out a form or make a purchase. With Ignite by Launchlabs, every shopper who visits your site is prompted to share their location. Geolocation data tells you more than where your customer is located. It also gives you the information you need to start showcasing exclusive deals, limited-time discounts, and personalized offers.

As the visitor moves through your site, their geolocation and activity information is added to their data profile, creating a robust first-party data set more relevant and recent than any alternative data you might pay for. This identity resolution process helps you meet customer expectations effortlessly.

How Ignite is Lighting the Way to Better Data

Eventually, one alternative ID solution will rise to the top and become the new standard. AI and big data solutions are in the works, but they still have some kinks to work out. In the meantime, don’t waste time and money testing sub-par solutions.

At LaunchLabs, we’re always working on new and better tools for audience identification. You can already use first-party marketing data gathered with Ignite to elevate sales opportunities through direct mail, SMS chatbots, ads and email.

Now we’re exploring more accurate ways to build modeled audiences off of first-party data rather than the third party data many current tools use. With first-party data you get a better audience match, which improves the efficiency of your marketing.

See how Ignite by LaunchLabs can build your first-party database and help you make the most of your first-party data.

Schedule a demo today

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