Come September 2024, third party cookies are officially losing their spot in Google’s cookie jar. Having already commenced their eviction in January, Google’s decision to disable third party cookies for 1% of Chrome users in the first week of 2024 impacted a massive 30 million users. So, what’s the plan for marketers? First Party Data Strategies. With the GDPR and data privacy on everyone’s lips, first party data strategies are by far the most effective solution to this impending doom of third party cookies.
What’s more, it can do wonders for Account-Based Marketing (ABM). If you’re wondering why this article is for you, its because here, we discuss first party data, its role in ABM, what it brings to the table, and most importantly- strategies to supercharge your ABM!
Additional read: Google’s Third-Party Cookie Purge: It’s Time for Cookieless Marketing
Jump ahead to:
First Party Data: Explained
First party data is data that is collected from the customer themselves. For this reason, it is more accurate and updated over third party data that is collated from multiple sources. You can collect first party data from a number of sources, such as:
- Customer registration forms
- Customer surveys, quizzes, etc.
- Customer feedback forms
- Purchase history
- CRM system
- Social Media
What makes this far better than second, and third party data is the power it offers companies to learn more about their customers. You see, since you collect this data directly, you can source extremely precise data to better inform your marketing campaigns. For instance, let’s say you want to know how many of your customers prefer being contacted by email, phone, and social media. In such a case, you can add a column in your client registration forms, feedback forms, etc. regarding this.
Once your customer fills this, you’ll have real, dependable data to guide which platforms you should prioritize when reaching out to your customers.
It is this unique insight into your customers that makes 92% of leading marketers believe first party data is essential to driving growth.
Role of First Party Data in Account-Based Marketing
With the precision and granular insight that first party data offers, failing to utilize it in your ABM efforts is akin to turning your back on a winning lottery ticket.
You see, by leveraging the accurate first party data in your ABM, you can now design high-performing marketing campaigns that speak directly to your target audience. Here is why you should be integrating first party data into your ABM efforts:
- Offers Exclusivity
First party data is available only to you. This cannot be accessed by other brands from third party sources. In other words, the data that you have, your competitors don’t. And so, it gives you a competitive advantage over them.
- Provides Reliable Data
Since this data is collected directly from your customer, it’s more accurate than second and third party data. This is one of the most valuable resources you have at your disposal when it comes to ABM.
This is because, in addition to helping you truly know your, it also helps you track and monitor the effectiveness of your ABM strategy over time. We’ll be discussing this further in the article.
- Ensures Compliance with Privacy Laws
81% of consumers have concerns about their private information’s security, with 54% saying that transparency into how their information is being used would make them more trusting and loyal to the brand.
Because of this, GDPR, CCPA, and other such data privacy laws have been enacted to streamline data collection and use. With first party data, you collect data yourself, and since it’s not shared with other companies, the way it’s used remains transparent as well.
Additional read: How to use First Party data for your e-commerce brand
First Party Data Strategies to Drive Account-Based Marketing
Now that you know how precious first party data is to your ABM efforts, it’s time to discuss how to pair the two together. Here are five first party data strategies to help supercharge your ABM efforts:
1. Drive Segmentation and Targeting
Your ABM efforts are directly affected by the integrity of your data. To make the most out of your first party data, keep the following in mind when leveraging it:
- Create Your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)
Knowing who you’re marketing to is the first step. Have a clear idea of who your ideal clients are, their motivations, priorities, pain points, goals, etc. This allows you to understand how best to gain their attention and keep it, too.
Targeting your audience gets easier once you have a defined ICP.
- Segment Your Audiences
Categorizing your audience as different groups based on shared characteristics allows you to target them better. With first party data, you have all the information you need on your customer. Leverage it to segment your audience based on:
- Behaviour
- Customer
- Psychographics
- Demographics
- Firmgraphics
- Technographics
Target these individual segments with personalized campaigns, and your customer engagement and conversion rates are sure to rise.
- Score Your Leads
Lead scoring refers to assigning a score to leads based on how likely they are to become a paying customer. The higher the score, the higher the chances of them converting into a customer.
This preliminary process allows you to prioritize high-value leads and focus your marketing efforts more judiciously.
2. Improve Personalization
Personalization is key in the competitive landscape of marketing. Until and unless your content resonates with your audience, you can’t hope to make any progress with them.
With first party data, you get in-depth and accurate data on your customers, helping you create hyper-personalized customer experiences. This, in turn, will help you nurture deeper relationships with your target accounts and establish yourself as a reliable business partner.
3. Create Lookalike Audiences
Lookalike audiences are prospect groups that share a likeness to your current customers. You can create these audiences on platforms such as Facebook with customer lists and website tracking pixels.
What this does is help you focus your ABM campaigns on high-value customers. Since they share a likeness to your existing clients, chances are their struggles, goals, and priorities are similar to your customers. And if your customers have found your offering helpful, they will too.
Targeting these accounts will help you boost your engagement and conversion rates.
4. Measure Customer Engagement and Conversions
Tracking your engagement and conversion rates allows you to understand how well your ABM campaigns are performing. Engagement rate measures how often your customers interact with your brand, while conversion rates measure how often these interactions nudge customers to make a purchase.
You can measure site time, bounce rate, pages per visit, etc., to track the engagement rate. Similarly, track conversion rates by measuring purchase history, customer registration forms, newsletter subscriptions, etc.
By keeping an eye on these metrics, you’ll be able to effectively ascertain whether your ABM campaign is working optimally.
5. Evolve Your Strategy to Stay Ahead
Revisiting and reanalyzing your strategy from time to time is as important as creating one in the first place. This exercise helps you ensure your strategy is always with the times and one step ahead of your competitors. Evolving your strategy involves:
- Monitoring market changes and how your competitors are changing their strategies to adapt better
- Leveraging data reports to make necessary changes to your strategy
- Trying out new approaches and strategies, measuring their effectiveness, and tweaking your existing strategy if need be
- Engaging with stakeholders at each customer journey stage to identify areas of improvement
And that’s it. Keep the above four points in mind, and your first party strategy for ABM will always stay ahead of the curve.
Supercharge your First Party Data Strategies with EasyInsights
There’s no doubt first party data in account-based marketing can be a game-changer. This dynamic duo can help you connect, engage, and convert more customers without heavily impacting your marketing budget.
But, to gain every last ounce of value from this, you need to integrate a tool that can help you with data activation. EasyInsights is a marketer’s preferred tool that offers you a comprehensive platform to gather, store, and transform your first party data while furthering cross-channel marketing goals. EasyInsights composable CDP allows you to onboard only those capabilities that your current tech stack doesn’t offer, thereby providing an economical choice (over a standard CDP) and ensuring you don’t have an unnecessary tech overhaul. From ETL and Reverse ETL to identity resolution and Customer 360- EasyInsights can do it all!
To check out EasyInsights live, book a demo today!
Additional read: Choosing the Right Data Activation Platform for Your Business
