Customer Data Platform (CDP) and First-Party Data are a few terms you’ll likely see appear when considering the future of online marketing- but what do they mean and how can CDPs benefit your business?
We break down the current ‘cookie crisis’, explore how first-party data is more efficient at collecting user information than third-party, and explain how upgrading to Sitecore through Sagittarius can revitalise your user experience.
Third-party cookies have been the foundation of digital advertising since the early ’90s, with most businesses’ advertising and lead generation tactics heavily reliant on third-party data.
However, Google has recently joined the ranks of other tech giants announcing its withdrawal of third party cookies from its web browser and across its suites of dominant marketing tools. This spells trouble for marketers who rely on third-party cookie data collected by the host of Google suites (Google Analytics, Google Ads) to execute, measure and target strategies and personalised ads.
With the end of third-party data collection appearing ever closer, many marketers and companies are scrambling to understand the impact of cookieless browsing. This is where first-party data and CDPs come into play.
First-party data is gathered by companies through their online or offline sources, collected in the same way as third party data is. This includes visited URLs, timestamps, localisation, IP address, browser’s language that you’d need. But the key difference is that first-party data is data the customer chooses to share about themselves.
CDPs offer businesses the opportunity to use first-party rather than third party data in a seamless way, provided by platforms such as Sitecore. For an in-depth dive into what CDPs are, click here.
But why collect first-party data through the use of a CDP?
The extraordinary volume of data gathered by businesses through their multiple outputs (social media, website) presents an opportunity to understand the customers’ needs and wants. However, collecting, sorting and analysing the data from various sources can be a minefield for marketers. An interconnected, headless CDP enables the collection and analysis of all first-party data from various corresponding sources, tracking the entire customer journey into a single source of truth.
For example, insights from first-party data can power the personalisation of an eCommerce site and connect one user’s journey through multiple devices by allowing the system to send push notifications and highlight the product within the “Customers who bought” widget. Reducing abandoned baskets, this creates engaging customer experiences that convert.
The data captured by the CDP delivers analysis and understanding of content/products users have viewed, taken action on and/or left, and highlights additional relevant content based on their previous actions throughout their journey.
First-party data enables businesses to understand the entirety of the customer journey from beginning to end, detailing what elements of their digital offering are performing best and the personalisation of overarching touchpoints. This method of data collection from CDPs will facilitate businesses to optimise their user experience generously.
Retaining masses of data on customers can be a significant position to be in for any brand. However, many fall foul by not understanding how the data can be further utilised.
Combining tracking through an integrated customer data platform delivers comprehensive data visibility, facilitating the broader understanding of high performing and underperforming activity, encouraging further buy-in from C-suite.
CDP consent and data management preference capabilities can help brands put customers in control of their data, as well as engaging on their preferred channels and addressing data privacy regulations.
As the use of cookie-driven data comes to an end, marketers must adopt a system that will bridge the gap and forge a new path. By utilising first-party data, a business will further optimise and personalise customer journeys throughout the overall customer life cycle.
Are you ready to forge a new path in the cookieless world and adopt an intelligent way of utilising your user’s first-party data? Get in touch with us today to discuss how we can use the Sitecore CDP platform to streamline your online experiences.
