The past 12 months have been quite unpredictable for many businesses. The pandemic-hit industries are in an increasing need of better consumer’s data because of their dire need to understand changing customer preferences. Brands need to deliver experiences that are relevant, relatable, personal.
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While marketing and sales have first party, and third party data to cater to their need for better customer insights, with the increased competition, there is a rise of importance in ‘zero party data’, a term coined by Forrester. Zero party data is the data that has been willingly given by the customer and there is no compulsion on the same. The customer shares personal data on the websites or apps with the brand with an aim to improvise their shopping experience.
If we try to define zero party data, it would be summed up as: “It is the data that a customer proactively and intentionally shares with a brand, which can include any personal context, purchase intentions, preference center data and how the individual wants the brand to recognize him or her”.
There are various benefits of collection zero party data. Some of the notable ones are:
- Zero Party data is accurate because it directly comes from the customer. The brand can be certain about the customer’s preferences.
- The data is always relevant because the customer has directly added this info to the website.
- Collecting this data is inexpensive because the data collection tool already exists in your systems. Also, you do not pay for the zero party data because the customer is willingly adding it.
- The source of the data is always known and thus, risks are mitigated.
With increased competition, the upcoming end of the third-party cookies are driving marketers to come up with something that encourages the customers to give more data on their own. Of course, there is a tussle between first party data and zero party data – what should brands focus on and how do the brands achieve their end goals? Let’s explore a bit more:
New Regulations to end third party cookies
Today, marketers are under constant pressure from the customers as they demand more personalized online experiences. Personalization is not something that can be improvised, rather it is done properly with the help of in-depth knowledge about consumer’s preferences – timely knowledge and data is the key. Until now, third party data was the source, but from now on, Zero Party data will act like a magic bullet.
No Guessing with data – 2021 is the year of Zero Party data
Till now brands have been building their marketing strategies based on their probabilistic data. Now onwards, they will have accurate data about their customers as the customers will willingly add the data to the website. For most of us, the concept of zero party data seems confusing, but it offers the capability to transform how brands market their products and services to their consumers.
There is no need to guess, just ask the customer and know what they truly want. Zero Party Data is not collected by forcing the users to fill in the details, but it is done by creating a sense of trust. It is based on the concept of ‘give to get’ value proposition. It is about making consumers understand that the more they share their information, the better shopping experience they are going to have with the brand. They will have more customer content headed their way. When handled correctly, this data can act like a holy grail, and the companies need to start preparing for it now to master the workings.
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Implementing an effective “Zero party data” Strategy
Once brands start implementing Zero Party Data on their marketing campaigns, they will see a huge impact, but the question is – how do they do it?
Let’s not guess, and see the latest implementation of Zero party Data by popular lifestyle brand Lacoste, which carried forward their Zero Party data regimen in Japan.
The brand carried forward two digital campaigns namely,
- Vote for your Favorite Long Sleeve Polo Color
- New Outwear Collection for Fall/Winter 2020
With these two campaigns, the brand came to know about its audience’s preferences such as how do they prefer to wear clothes, which color they would choose out of the given options and so on. Lacoste took help of a popular marketing agency in collecting this data while adding an interactive experience for its customers. After the successful implementation of these two campaigns, the brand is likely to work on new methods to collect consumer data.
That being explained, here are some of the profound ways of Zero Party Data collection:
- Interactive Surveys
- Self-Serve preference Centers
To achieve success, one needs to adapt to new ways and be proactive about what is happening around. You can also launch your new data collection drive the way Lacoste did. It is time to bring in something new to your campaigns. What’s stopping you?
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