If one thing is true of the changes that have taken place within the marketing industry, it is that data is
now currency. In today’s blog, I’ll be diving into one of the most valuable forms of data, how you can
obtain it, and how your business can leverage it in your campaigns. First-party data refers to data
derived directly from your customers, or your audience. This data can be collected in two ways
primarily, from your CRM/customer database, and from data providers.
Let’s dive into how you might leverage the data from your CRM. Let’s say that there are a certain
number of potential customers that have engaged with your business, but never purchased. If you have
the emails of those potential customers that you’ve collected through a newsletter, consultation, or
contact form, most CRM’s will allow you to segment that list of individuals in some way. Viola, you have
some first-party data that you can now leverage in your marketing campaigns. You can imagine there
are several other applications of this.
But what if you do not collect this type of information from your customers directly? This is where data
providers come into play. These are firms that allow you to purchase lists of individuals based on specific
parameters such as job title, geography, interests, income, etc. There are some important things to
remember when engaging with data providers, such as the validity of the data they provide. At
Corkboard, we work with firms that we know have a strong vetting process so we know that the data we
purchase to guide our client’s campaigns is as accurate as possible.
Let’s talk about how one might use this data in their marketing.
One of the easiest pieces of information for you to collect, or purchase from a provider, is email
addresses. By obtaining email addresses, you can easily deploy email marketing campaigns with that
data. One way to make these campaigns even more effective is to segment your data by parameters
that represent valuable differences. For instance, if your dataset includes both emails and job titles,
maybe you can solicit different position levels with different offers based on their specific needs.
Direct Mail
While email has largely replaced the traditional mailbox, sending physical pieces of mail can still yield
significant results. In order to execute a direct mail campaign, of course, you’ll need physical addresses.
If you collect these from your customers directly, then you can quickly deploy a direct mail campaign
where you solicit those customers for future business. If you are purchasing a dataset containing
physical addresses, you can send out a mailer introducing you and your services.
Programmatic or Social Campaigns
One of the most impressive things about modern ad platforms is their ability to match first-party data
with users in their environment. This is one of the most versatile uses of first-party data. Ad platforms
such as Facebook, Google Ads, and others collect a massive amount of data about their user set. When
you upload your dataset, these platforms match their user data with yours and produce an audience.
From there, you can show that audience compelling creativity with a specific optimization strategy that
fits your overall digital marketing objectives.
With the changes coming to IOS, and the global focus on privacy, the use of first-party data will continue
its rise in importance within the marketing industry. That’s why it’s important that your business
understands how to capture this data and use it effectively.