How to Use First Party Data to Drive Business Growth

First party data is a powerful way for marketers to collect and analyze data from their audiences. With this deeper understanding of their targets, they can develop improved marketing strategies and campaigns to increase revenues and audiences, thereby driving business growth. Here’s a guide on how to achieve this successfully. 

How to Use First Party Data

First party data is the information you collect from your audience first hand. It is consensually provided and when properly managed, can provide marketers with a wealth of insights. There are many ways to collect this information, including:

• Subscription lists
• CRM systems
• Websites
• Social media platforms
• Customer feedback
• Surveys

Since you know the source of this information, you can rely on it as high-quality data that is exclusively available to you. With that in mind, it's time to get to the crux of this article: how to use first party data.

In the simplest of terms, you’re going to use this information by applying it to your marketing strategy. If we were to whittle down the information from this data, there are two stand-out bits of information collected: information about who your audience is, and what their interactions with your business have been. With this in mind, we can identify some of the most prominent ways your business can use first party data below.

First Party Data for Improved Buyer Personas

A buyer persona is a representation of your customer, based on information collected about them. These are essential to marketers as they refer to them when developing marketing campaigns and strategies. It enables you to know who you’re talking to, what makes them tick, and what they want. The data you collect can improve these buyer personas, since the information collected can provide you with more in-depth and accurate information to work with. Better marketing means improved performances and ultimately success for the business. 

Better Advertising Using First Party Data

When marketers collect information regarding a customer's interactions with their business, they’ll be able to identify this person's interests and buying patterns. With this, you can create advertising campaigns that are targeted to niche audiences, thereby improving the success of these. You can also utilise this data to retarget people, based on the interest that they’ve shown in a particular offering you have. 

Create Personalized Experiences Using First Party Data

With more information at your disposal, you can provide customers with personalized experiences. People today want more than their name at the top of an email when dealing with businesses. This is where CRM systems come in handy for first party data, since you can collect the data, and then build customized customer journeys depending on the actions taken on your website. In short, you can tailor what a person sees on your website, based on their preferences and interests which you have identified. This creates an improved buyer experience with your brand, and one which can improve relationships with your customers, which results in your business growing.

There are a number of ways that first party data can be used. Knowledge is power and applying it throughout your marketing strategy will be beneficial to your business. It can also show you what not to do, ways to improve your brand, and ways you could be filling gaps in the market, for instance.

How First Party Data Drives Business Growth

Improved customer insight will lead to improved marketing performance. Better marketing will in turn drive business growth. Using the information you’ve collected, you can be more direct in your marketing efforts. You’ll be able to develop better strategies and make more accurate predictions to lead your campaigns.

It can reveal information that provides you with new ways to appeal and target your buyer personas, which will also be richer and more developed with the addition of this precise information. 

For example, you can provide personalized service to your customers with retargeted ads and relevant marketing communication. Since this is more aligned to their needs, they’ll be more likely to make repeat purchases and remain loyal to your business.

Since business today is led by data, and customers seek to build relationships with those they support, you’ve got to tap into the information that they provide you with. It will drive your business’s growth, and if left unchecked, will result in your customers shopping with your competitors who can better connect with them and provide for them.

Improve Your Marketing to Grow Your Business 

It is clear to see that marketers will benefit from all of the research and insights they can get their hands on. By utilising first party data, you’ll be accessing information that is provided to you by existing audiences and customers. With this, you can grow your business by improving your marketing in a comprehensive and targeted manner. 

Speak with us at Nexa about your marketing needs - we can help you use your first party data and grow your business the right way.