Delivering personalized digital experiences is getting harder even as the technology to do so gets better. As the value of third-party data is steadily diminished or blocked because of consumer privacy concerns, organizations need to evolve their digital engagement strategy. The only way forward is to invest in the collection, management, governance, and quality of first party data.
What are first-party and third-party data?
First-party data is the information you collect directly from your customers. It includes data from behaviors, actions or interests demonstrated across your website or mobile app.
Third-party data is collected and sold to organizations by an organization that doesn’t have a direct relationship with the user. It may be collected from a variety of websites and platforms and then bundled together by the seller of the data.
Both first-party and third-party datasets can be used to orchestrate effective marketing and customer communication activities. However, first-party data is collected only after consent from your customer, whereas third-party data is collected without their consent or knowledge.
Using first-party data for customer engagement is the only path forward
Regulations like GDPR and CCPA have restricted the ways third-party data could be used, but 2021 has had some bombshell developments. Earlier this year, Google announced that third-party cookies will no longer be supported by the Chrome browser. Because Chrome is used by almost 65% of users, this change—along with the iOS 14 Privacy Updates—has diminished the value of using third-party data to engage with consumers for marketing activities.
Marketing teams need to connect with their customers and leverage first-party data for acquisition through targeted marketing activities. However, the benefits of first-party data go beyond marketing.
Organizations can also use that data to understand an individual’s demographics, preferences, and behaviors to fast-track commercial transactions as well as provide customer service that delights and encourages long lasting relationships. Using first-party data can ultimately drive lifetime value growth through higher customer satisfaction, loyalty, and advocacy.
The first-party data challenge
Many organizations operate with siloed first-party customer data, each focused on a specific part of the organization, such as website and mobile experiences, outbound communications, SMS messaging or customer service activities delivered by call center personnel and tools. These data silos hinder the process of combining what an organization knows into a more complete picture, gleaning deep, actionable insights.
In addition, the systems operating on these various first-party data often do not communicate with each other. This forces customers to provide their information in each interaction with a new team, information that logically is known to the business already, which leads to a diminished customer experience.
How can OpenText help?
Fortunately, it is possible to free your first-party data from silos and make it accessible and useful throughout your organization while remaining compliant with all appropriate regulations. The OpenText Experience Platform provides broad, flexible, and deep functionality across the customer journey through an integrated set of core technologies. These solutions make it easy to holistically compose, manage, deliver, and optimize digital experiences, communication, and customer service.
Leveraging our strategic partnership with Google Cloud, we can help organizations collect first-party data for known and unknown users from all their digital properties allowing teams to segment users based on their engagement behaviors and activate the first-party data within the Experience Platform to generate personalized experiences and communication.
Contact us today to learn more.
Author: Shabih Syed, Senior Principal Solutions Consultant
