How to use first-party data and personalization to advance your business goals

You’re marketers. You’ve seen the headlines. We’re looking at the end of third-party data as we know it. What’s a marketer to do?

According to the Statista Research Department, the U.S. digital advertising industry, worth an estimated $152 billion, will lose access to most third-party data due to recent legislation intended to minimize the misuse and mismanagement of digital data. Under the new laws, businesses will need users’ permission to use data generated from their digital interactions and transactions.

New Laws

With new laws coming into effect in 2023, third-party methods of data collection that previously allowed advertisers to create customized content targeted to users will no longer be an option.

Marketers must now depend on their own first-party data, which presents a unique challenge for companies that built their entire data platforms around the use of third-party transactions and interactions.

What a bummer…or is it, dare we say, an opportunity?

Embracing the Challenge

Here at TimeZoneOne, we always strive to stay one step ahead, which is why we’ve teamed up with Fulcrum. Fulcrum is a forward-thinking, integrated data service that boosts conversions by connecting customers to brands using first-party data.

Recently, the Fulcrum team joined TZO at our Chicago office for an interactive Learning Lab. During this session, we explored methods for collecting first-party data and helping organizations use that data to enhance customer interactions through real-time personalized messages and recommendations.

Among the many learnings, Fulcrum’s personalization gurus demonstrated that by leveraging trusted first-party data sources for collection (think website forms, email, apps, point of sale, etc.), marketers can organize user data by interest, geography, behavior, demographics — the list goes on. And using that data, organizations can target users with personalized content in myriad ways.

What Does Success Look Like?

Though TZO’s personalization journey with Fulcrum remains in its early stages, our initial efforts have already delivered results for our clients.

Since June 2022, we’ve creatively leveraged the Fulcrum platform to personalize user engagement and increase key KPIs for the Illinois Office of Tourism on enjoyillinois.com, capturing valuable insights in the process.

When a user visits the website today, they’re presented with a sliding drawer featuring content that is personalized to them, based on — you guessed it — their first-party data. Previous and real-time user behavior dictate which visuals and CTAs a user will see.

And the beautiful thing about collecting hordes of data? Measuring performance is easy. Crunching the numbers, we now know that users served with the drawer convert on key KPIs at a significantly higher rate than users visiting the traditional website.

The verdict is in: first-party data offers better control over the customer experience — and it eases concerns around privacy and the usage and storage of data. Which, in turn, leads to greater trust between the consumer and the brand.

When it comes to personalization, this is just scratching the surface. The more data you collect, the more you can accomplish. The drawer we’ve built is just one of countless potential manifestations of personalization on a single channel. Depending on your business and your goals, the possibilities are endless.

We’re beyond excited to see where this journey with Fulcrum takes us — and our clients — in the months ahead.