You might have heard of third party data or first party data, but what the heck is zero party data, and why is it being considered a goldmine for marketers? 

What is Zero Party Data?

Zero party data is information a consumer shares directly and intentionally with a company or brand, and it typically includes personal preferences, emotional leanings, and lifestyle behaviors. 

When it comes to the future of marketing, successful consumer interaction will be more empathetic, purposeful, and customer-first. Zero party data helps brand marketers achieve this.

What is the Difference Between First Party and Zero Party Data? 

It might seem like many parties are going on here, so let’s review what each means. 

• First Party Data: This is behavioral data collected as you interact with a particular site or app, and it is entirely owned by the company or brand that runs that website (for now). It typically happens in the background through website cookies tracking on-page behavior or through profile information and transaction history. It can also be collected through loyalty program participation or digital marketing engagement, such as email opens and clicks.
• Second Party Data: This kind of data is essentially accessing another organization’s first party data. It involves direct communication where both companies agree on terms and map out the exchange of data. While second party data still puts a middle man between you and your consumer, the data is considered valuable as you have full visibility into where the data came from, but it must be continuously purchased from another organization.
• Third Party Data: When a bunch of websites take their first party audience data and package it to someone else through an aggregator, to that buyer, the data is now considered third party data. This data can then be used for advertising and targeting purposes. While third party data has been widely used, the buyer has no direct relationship with an individual consumer, which means data can become outdated and unreliable. Eventually, this impedes the effectiveness and quality of campaigns. 
• Zero Party Data: Unlike the passivity of first, second and third party data, zero party data is given by a consumer directly, and it usually relates to more high-order attributes like values, lifestyle, and preferences. It is unique access a consumer provides for how to interact and recognize them. This makes zero party data one of the most prized data sets. 

Why is Zero Party Data Important?

Marketers face two key challenges that make zero party data so important today. The first (and often most pressing) issue is navigating and maintaining market share in a cookie-less world. The second is the demand for personalized brand engagement to secure long-term loyalty. 

Ultimately, zero party data allows you to stop using guesswork to engage with consumers and drive real emotional loyalty that boosts customer lifetime value. This is why we’re seeing headlines like “Zero Party Data is the New Oil.” 

Navigating the disappearance of third party cookies with zero party data

We can all agree that limitless data collection has led to many innovative digital business practices over the past decade. Consumers benefited from more tailored messaging, and marketers enjoyed better targeting, higher conversion, and more reliable measurement. However, unchecked data collection has led to a flurry of privacy, security, and transparency concerns. 

Google shook the advertising world when it announced that it would do away with third party cookies. While it is approaching the change in a phased manner, recently delaying plans till 2024, it has still forced many brands to change their approach to advertising and overall consumer relationships. 

The disappearance of cookies will leave many brands blind to data-backed insights and will result in gambling with marketing dollars and risking customer loss. 

Google is just the beginning. Consumers are becoming well-informed about the uses of their data. They increasingly demand control and transparency, leading to legislation like the California Consumer Protection Act (CCPA) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) abroad. 

Marketers need to be prepared for a world where they won’t have the firehose of third party data made available to them. 

Marketers are turning to zero party data to cultivate direct relationships with prospective customers. In a recent study from Forrester, 90% of marketers are actively responding to data depreciation by capturing zero party data within the year. 

Using zero party data to meet the demand for personalized brand engagement that secures loyalty

When it comes to brand engagement, the marketing landscape is undergoing a paradigm shift. While content used to be “king,” today it is experiences that takes the crown. 80% of consumers are more likely to do business with a company that offers personalized experiences. 

Research from McKinsey found that personalization can deliver five to eight times the ROI on marketing spend and can lift sales by 10% or more. It is worth the investment to connect with consumers. 

It might feel like you are being asked to pull off a spectacular magic trick. The majority of consumers support data transparency and privacy. Still, they also want a customer experience rich with personalized interaction and convenience. 

That’s precisely why zero party data can be the ace up your sleeve. 

When collected and used with intention, zero party data can enable you to achieve a more holistic customer view and align your brand more authentically and meaningfully with consumers. 

This kind of data can fuel a replicating cycle of greater sharing and personalization, driving progressively higher levels of trust, insights, and loyalty while simultaneously helping you to “future proof” against widespread industry changes. 

How to Collect Zero Party Data 

It is vital to remember that consumers don’t automatically give up their data to brands. Something like a zero party email campaign doesn’t work, nor does traditional website data collection. And don’t even think about a zero party advertising campaign. 

Zero party data is best collected through engaging digital touchpoints that ask consumers directly for further information. It should be done progressively and accumulate over time. This fosters relationship building that secures consumer trust and delivers brand value. 

Amassing zero-party data should be a delicate dance of asking and receiving, and it only works when the consumers believe they are receiving something valuable in return. If you can adequately demonstrate value to customers, research has found that 79% of consumers would be willing to give you their information. 

One of the best ways to do this is through an >online brand community. 

Marketers must invigorate loyal customer communities and cultivate a living, breathing, consumer-facing world for zero party data to be collected and acted upon.

An online brand community integrated into the marketing strategy is a powerful way to connect data to the bigger picture and encourage consumers to participate in something they believe in. 

Zero party data can be collected through things like profile questions, surveys, polls, quizzes, or discussions. This differs from traditional market research or customer feedback because the right technology platform can append the data to an individual’s customer profile. 

For example, suppose you delivered a survey or lifestyle quiz asking consumers to share their hobbies, and a consumer identified they had an interest in photography. It’s important to find a technology partner that can help you “store” this information in the consumer’s profile so you can then deliver a relevant offer like a photo contest. 

Popular food delivery service, Grubhub, started its Tastemakers online brand community specifically to build a zero party data relationship with passionate diners and engaged college students. With always-on access to their TINT-powered online brand community, Grubhub can obtain predictive insights that make delivering relevant offers to college students easy, and most importantly, it is easy to scale. 

Data must be collected with intention, and you should plan strategically how each solicitation should be used to enhance the consumer experience. Otherwise, consumers will grow weary of giving and giving without anything of value in return. 

How to Use Zero Party Data 

Once you start collecting zero party data, the question becomes how best to use it to maximize consumer loyalty. Marketers should no longer view data as a passive activity happening in the background but as an active expression that a consumer knows and trusts you. 

Ultimately, data can be viewed as a currency of trust, which leads to lasting loyalty. Here are some keys ways to use it: 

Offer unique content and helpful resources

When you get a window into consumers’ interests and passions, you can offer branded content that is considered helpful instead of irrelevant and intrusive. 

For example, if a consumer tells you they frequently look at reviews while shopping in-store at Target, you can send them a link to your product’s online review page. 

Or, if your consumer said they were thinking about renovating their home soon, you might send them an article or video with idea boards and decor inspiration. This can also be used in creating a valuable ecommerce or app experience for them. 

A company like Yelp has created a preference center dedicated to acting on zero party data. To personalize recommendations, Yelp uses zero-party data to highlight restaurants’ attributes that align with customer preferences so customers can come to their own conclusions.

Invite targeted consumers to relevant brand experiences 

A brand experience can be anything from an interactive digital activity to a free product sample or attendance at a local event. You can invite consumers to engage with your brand online or offline when you have zero party data. 

It’s essential always to let consumers know that they are receiving this invitation because of the shared data and always to thank them. This helps reinforce the usefulness of sharing information. 

Build a connection with other like-minded consumers 

We’ve all experienced clicking with someone by saying, “oh I love that brand!” Especially today, brands are a prominent backdrop for creating community connection. Zero party data is a great way to start a lively discussion thread on the most important topics to your consumers.

With other kinds of data, a baby brand might get behavioral information about moms buying diapers. You might even know the purchase frequency, the brands they buy, and which sites they frequent.

But with zero party data, that same baby brand can identify the moms in the trenches of parenting who are struggling with a diaper blowout from the baby while the toddler throws their food across the room and the dog throws up. This is emotional information that you cannot get from cookies, and it can create connection opportunities for people to vent, exchange tips and tricks, and express themselves to people who get it. 

Deliver tailored promotions and incentives 

One of the best ways to create value in consumer data sharing is through tailored promotions. Consumers can easily connect the dots when they receive a special discount code or coupon for their information. 

When you’re first building your zero party data engine, this is a great way to show value to consumers immediately. 

Arm & Hammer’s Cat Litter brand started its Kitty Krew community as a home for passionate cat owners. To boost the community’s launch and fuel zero party data collection, consumers were entered to win a special cat charm bracelet.

Customer Appreciation 

Sometimes, we can think of consumer data as a behind-the-scenes practice, but people notice when you’re paying attention to them. Zero party data can be used to build brand equity by simply showing that you care. 77% of consumers say they favor brands that ask for and accept customer feedback. 

Zero party data helps you go above and beyond in customer appreciation. It can be anything from surprise and delight moments, offering complementary products or services, personal notes, or even involving consumers in upcoming company decisions. 

Fast-growing condiment brand Sir Kensington’s often includes hand-written thank you notes and provides additional resources like nutritionists to its online brand community, Taste Buds.

How TINT Can Help with Zero Party Data  

TINT believes in empowering brands to take back their consumer relationships from third party sites. Our all-in-one, community powered marketing platform secures your consumer relationships, mobilizes your brand advocates, and captures zero party data to accelerate the speed to ROI of all your marketing efforts. 

Interested in more?

Sign up for a demo today.

The post What is Zero Party Data – Everything Marketers Need to Know appeared first on TINT.

On top of providing quality products, these brands are expected to deliver personalized, engaging content and create a solid emotional connection with consumers to secure long-term loyalty. This is all being managed alongside challenges with inflation, supply chain issues, changing consumer habits, and an explosion of consumer demand for online goods. It’s a taxing time to be a CPG marketer.

Thankfully, a new data channel is picking up massive steam in the marketing world. It presents a huge opportunity for CPG brands to maintain relevance with modern consumers while fostering the all-important brand love we feel toward CPG brands in particular. It also helps solve the marketing paradox of personalization vs. privacy and fuels consumer engagement, brand loyalty, and ecommerce conversion. 

Enter zero party data. 

What is Zero Party Data? 

Zero party data is information a consumer shares directly and intentionally with a company or brand, and it typically includes personal preferences, emotional leanings, and lifestyle behaviors. 

When it comes to the future of marketing, especially for highly experiential brands like consumer packaged goods, successful consumer interaction will be more empathetic, purposeful, and customer-first. Zero party data helps brand marketers achieve this.

Zero Party Data Quick Facts:  

• Personal information is voluntarily given to a brand 
• Typically concerns higher-order attributes such as lifestyle, hobbies, values, and behavioral preferences
• Is a strong indicator of trust in a brand
• Highly accurate since it comes from a direct source

Examples of zero party data include lifestyle and habits (hobbies, personal interests, values), life stage details, product affinity, shopping preferences, communication preference, emotional connection to the brand, Net Promoter Score, likelihood to recommend, and purchase intent.

Why Does a CPG Brand Need Zero Party Data?

Most marketers know by now that new privacy legislation is coming – big tech players like Google and Apple are moving away from intrusive advertising tracking like third party cookies. This effort is driven by everyday people demanding more transparency over who has access to their personal data and how it is used. 

One of the most significant challenges for brands with the decline of third party cookies is the loss of their ability to track and target consumers effectively. Utilizing third party cookies, you could track browsing behavior from other websites, allowing you to deliver and measure personalized advertising and content to individual consumers. 

A primary way to approach this new data era is by building up your own zero party data channels.

Beyond securing data ownership from third party gatekeepers and adapting to meet changing industry regulations, zero party data delivers key benefits to a CPG brand, including: 

• Personalization for Emotional Loyalty – Collecting zero party data opens new opportunities for transparent personalization that drives emotional connection. This includes delivering relevant content, offering individualized website experiences, interactive digital experiences, tailored email campaigns, and advertisements.
• Improved Digital Sampling Efforts – Product sampling is a time-honored marketing practice for CPG brands. Zero party data gives marketers the power to more effectively activate audiences for digital product sampling that boosts conversion and remarketing opportunities.
• Higher Engagement – With the right tools, CPG brands can collect and use zero party data to drive increased brand interaction. This includes interaction with brand content and fostering brand-related conversations with like-minded consumers. 
• Ratings & Reviews – Many CPG brands struggle to establish a steady stream of fresh, high-quality reviews. Cultivating zero party data enables you to identify brand advocates, promote product reviews, and drive new customer acquisition.
• Retail-Specific Insights – In a study from McKinsey, they found winning CPG companies are twice as likely to develop an “insights factory.” CPG brands will always rely heavily on retailer relationships for distribution. Capturing zero party data arms your team with proprietary information about your audience of shoppers, uncovering retail-specific insights and informing ecommerce strategies and go-to-market plans. 
• Product Feedback and Innovation – CPG is one of the most competitive product categories, and collected zero party data is an excellent source for new product ideas or to gut-check packaging ideas, marketing messaging, and brand creative. 
• Audience Insights and Optimized Advertising – Collecting zero party data is an excellent way to mine audience feedback. Zero party data also uncovers emotional profiling and psychographic data to optimize audience targeting and ad spending. 

How Can a CPG Brand Collect Zero Party Data? 

In a study by Forrester, a whopping 90% of marketers are actively responding to data depreciation by capturing zero party data, yet 42% admit they don’t know how to use zero-party data effectively.

Before brands can approach the question of how to use zero party data, they must collect it in the first place. How can a CPG brand collect zero party data, and who is doing it well? 

Registrations  

• Whether signing up for an ecommerce account or subscribing to your email list, any registration moment is a great time to collect zero party data.
  
• If you’re a food brand, this is an excellent opportunity to ask about flavor preferences or allergies.
  
• If you’re a skincare brand, this is your moment to ask about skin type and desired results. But be careful; asking too much information upfront could push consumers away. 

An Online Brand Community 

• An online brand community is a dedicated destination for consumers to connect with your CPG brand and other like-minded people.
• With the right technology, online communities are perfect for collecting and acting upon zero party data.
  
• Collection opportunities include surveys, polls, user-generated content (UGC) & product review campaigns, in-home events, discussion boards, and more. 

Additionally, because online communities are about connection and conversation, consumers are more willing to share broader, value-based information like personal interests, hobbies, and lifestyle behaviors. This kind of information can be a goldmine if you use it right.

SMS Polls

• SMS polls are an effective way to collect information about a consumer, making it quick and easy for them to participate.
• Eighty-five percent of smartphone users prefer mobile messages to emails or calls, and SMS boasts a 95% open rate and a 59% click-through rate.

Micro-Experiences, Interactive Content, and Giveaways 

• Any entertainment is a great way to collect zero party data. This can include product finder quizzes, creative contests, AR/VR engagements, and much more.
  
• Transparency is always important in these kinds of campaigns, so consumers don’t feel like they’re being tricked by participating.  

Loyalty & Rewards Programs

While most loyalty programs are transactional by nature, there are opportunities to collect information beyond purchase history or demographic information, especially regarding rewards they find most appealing. 

• Loyalty programs often present a straightforward ask/receive pattern.
• While this makes building emotional connections tough, it can make data collection easier.
• You can offer points, discounts, free shipping, free trial, brand swag, and VIP access in exchange for providing zero party data. 

Examples of CPG Brands Using Zero Party Data

Hero Cosmetics 

Fast-growing cosmetic and skincare brand, Hero Cosmetics, collects zero party data through its online brand community, the Hero Skin Squad. 

This dedicated destination cultivates passionate consumers and strengthens brand relationships while taking sampling to the next level and driving influential reviews and valuable insights. 

Upon joining, consumers can participate in surveys, promotional offers, and lifestyle discussions – all personalized based on zero party data. 

Ben & Jerry’s

Cult-favorite ice cream brand Ben & Jerry’s collects emotion-led information through their quiz “What Ben & Jerry’s Flavor Are You?” on their brand website. 

While the quiz seems playful and lighthearted, it gives the brand a huge opportunity to understand lifestyle-related information. They ask questions about fans’ favorite weekend activities, music genre, and subjects in school. It’s an appealing way to provide helpful  product recommendations while collecting key zero party data.

Sir Kensington’s 

Unilever’s fast-growing brand, Sir Kensington’s, is a challenger brand in the condiment space that competes against established players like Heinz. They started their Taste Buds online brand community to connect with consumers more meaningfully. They do this by collecting zero party data, delivering personalized engagement, and mining audience insights. 

Pampers  

Procter & Gamble’s diaper brand, Pampers, uses its Pampers Club Rewards app to allow consumers to earn points every time they buy Pampers products, including diapers, training pants, and wipes. The points can be redeemed for product coupons, discount codes, personalized gifts, magazine subscriptions, baby toys, charity donations, and prizes.

Upon signing up, a consumer can share information about themselves, and Pampers will offer interactive experiences like a free Sleep Training assessment, baby name generator, and parenting resources.

How TINT Helps CPG Brands Collect Zero Party Data

• TINT believes in empowering brands to take back their consumer relationships from third party sites and build always-on, owned data engines.
• Our all-in-one online brand community platform secures your consumer relationships, mobilizes your brand advocates, and captures zero party data to accelerate the speed to ROI of all your marketing efforts.

Request a TINT demo

The post Ultimate Guide to Zero Party Data for CPG Brands appeared first on TINT.

Fast forward to today, and you’ll see the marketing landscape has been transformed by headlines like “Zero Party Data is the New Oil” and “Why Zero Party Data is the New Secret Weapon for Brands.”

Undoubtedly, marketers are trying to figure out how to get their hands on this highly prized data set and collect zero party data. 

What is Zero Party Data? 

Zero party data is information a consumer shares directly and intentionally with a company or brand. It typically includes personal preferences, emotional leanings, and lifestyle behaviors.

Why Do You Need Zero Party Data? 

Modern consumers expect a different relationship with brands today. There is increasing demand for engagement which requires personalization data, but also a need for data privacy. 

To meet the needs of the moment, it might feel like you’re being asked to pull off a magic trick. That’s why zero party data is the ace up your sleeve.

As data deprecation and shifting privacy legislation jeopardize marketing effectiveness, marketers are turning to zero party data to create direct consumer relationships. 

Zero party data is a way to show consumers that you know them while proving that you are responsible with the information they give you. 

Some of the key benefits of zero party data include the following: 

• Personalization for Emotional Loyalty – a solutions that collects zero party data opens new opportunities for personalization that drives emotional connection. This includes delivering relevant content, offering individualized website experiences, tailored email campaigns, targeted ads and advertisements.
• Brand Resilience and Data Ownership – zero party data is owned data that insulates your brand from industry shifts like the disappearance of third-party cookies and continued gatekeeping from social media sites. 
• Higher Engagement and Advocacy – with the right tools (like an online brand community platform), brands can collect and use zero party data to drive increased brand interaction and advocacy. You can identify brand advocates, promote social sharing, and drive new customer acquisition.
• Audience Insights and Optimized Advertising – collecting zero party data is an excellent way to mine audience insights, uncover emotional profiling, and collect psychographics data to optimize audience targeting and ad spend. 

Put simply, when it comes to the future of marketing, successful consumer engagement will be more empathetic, purposeful, and customer-first. Zero party data helps brand marketers achieve this.

What is the Difference Between Zero Party Data and First Party Data? (and Second and Third Party Data, For That Matter) 

There are a lot of parties going on here, so know you’re not alone if you’re a little confused. 

Broadly speaking, zero party data and first party data can be considered “owned” data, while second and third party data can be considered “rented” data.

There are many differences between zero party data and first party data, but the bottom line distinction is that one is proactively shared data (zero party data), and the other is passively shared data (first party data). 

Zero Party Data Quick Facts:  

• Personal information is voluntarily given to a brand 
• Typically concerns higher-order attributes such as lifestyle, hobbies, values, and behavioral preferences
• Is a strong indicator of trust in a brand
• Highly accurate since it comes from a direct source
• Examples include lifestyle and habits (hobbies, personal interests, values), life stage details, product affinity, shopping preferences, communication preference, emotional connection to the brand, Net Promoter Score, likelihood to recommend, and purchase intent.

First Party Data Quick Facts: 

• Data collection happens in the background by a brand observing consumer behavior 
• Typically collected by tracking site-wide, app-wide, or on-page behaviors (clicks, session context)
• Broadly transaction-based
• Accurate data given from a direct source but will miss valuable contextual information
• Examples include purchase history, clicks, time spent on page, scroll depth, email engagement, demographic information, and social data. 

What About Second Party Data and Third Party Data? 

In addition to zero and first party data, there are also third party and second party data. To put it all in context, let’s revisit the overall digital landscape.

Third Party Data Quick Facts

• Third party data has been one of the most widely used sources for advertising campaigns and audience optimization.
• When a bunch of websites take their owned first party audience data and package it to someone else through an aggregator, the data is now considered third party data to that buyer.
• The buyer has no direct relationship with the individual consumer, which means data can become outdated and unreliable. Eventually, this impedes the effectiveness and quality of campaigns. 

Third party data has been one of the most widely used sources for advertising campaigns and audience optimization. 

The buyer has no direct relationship with the individual consumer, which means data can become outdated and unreliable. Eventually, this impedes the effectiveness and quality of campaigns. 

There’s more bad news with relying on third party data: tech giants are doing away with third party cookies, and new privacy legislation that will limit advertisers’ access to consumer data is on the horizon.

Second Party Data Quick Facts

• Second party data is similar to third party data, but it directly accesses another organization’s first party data.
• Second party data requires explicit communication where both companies agree on terms and map out an exchange of data.
• While second party data still puts an intermediary between you and your consumer, the data is considered valuable as you have complete visibility into where the data came from.
• Still, second party data is leased – it must be continuously purchased from another organization. 

Now that we know which party means what, let’s talk about how to collect zero party data for your brand. 

How to Collect Zero Party Data

In a study by Forrester about zero party data, a whopping 90% of marketers are actively responding to data depreciation by capturing zero party data, yet 42% admit they don’t know how to use zero party data effectively.

Before brands can approach the question of how to use zero party data, they must collect it in the first place – but not all collected data will be relevant data.

With this in mind, the real question marketers should be asking is, “How do I collect zero party data in a way that is valuable for my business?”

While it might sound challenging to get consumers to share their data proactively, most people are willing to share if they know there is value in return. Research has found that 80% of consumers are willing to share data in exchange for more value and a better experience. 

There are numerous touchpoints in your brand’s digital ecosystem where you can collect relevant zero party data. 

Registrations  

Whether signing up for an ecommerce account or subscribing to your email list, any registration moment is a great time to collect zero party data. 

For example, if you’re a food brand, this is an excellent opportunity to ask consumers about dietary preferences in their households. 

Look at the brand Care/of, which has built its entire business model on offering personalized vitamins. Upon visiting their website, the first thing potential consumers are prompted to do is to take a quiz. 

Once users click to get started, they agree to spare a few moments to answer simple yet probing questions about demographic, lifestyles, interests, and feelings associated with specific medicinal approaches.

Questions like:

• “Are you a skeptic when it comes to vitamins?”
• “Are you curious, or are you an expert?”
• “Are you open to trying new things?
• “Are you only going to listen to a Harvard trained primary care?”

Based on a consumer’s answers, they are delivered further relevant questions. For example, if you select that your top health goal is “immunity support,” you’ll be asked questions about current health conditions or exposure to others through things like public transportation.  

One significant step Care/of takes is adding a “Why We Ask” button to each question. This is important because it offers consumers transparency into why certain information is being collected. 

Gone are the days of brands hoarding as much data as possible from consumers without an explanation as to why. Adding transparency into your data collection process helps instill confidence in a consumer that you are responsible with their data. 

Profile and Preference Centers

Brands want to be careful about asking for too much information upfront. This could cause a consumer to turn away from the brand entirely. 

• One way to collect zero party data beyond registration is through a profile or preference center.
• This helps build a progressive profile for each consumer with an always-on, evergreen approach that stores information in small intervals over time.

• Preference centers usually address notification opt-ins and email frequency, but you can add additional areas to address lifestyle, hobbies, values, and more.
• With the right tools, you can use new profile information to deliver automated engagement that helps you achieve 1:1 messaging at scale. 

Take a look at Le Creuset’s email preference center. They don’t just ask which emails consumers would like to receive; they take the opportunity to learn color preference, cooking abilities, and what kind of cookware they currently own. The messaging is pulled together to feel warm and genuine, and to provide value to the consumer. 

An Online Brand Community 

An online brand community is a dedicated destination for consumers to connect with your brand and other like-minded people. With the right technology, online communities are perfect for collecting and acting upon zero party data. 

Additionally, because online communities are about connection and conversation, consumers are more willing to share broader, value-based information like personal interests, hobbies, and lifestyle behaviors. This kind of information can be a goldmine if you use it right.

• Unilever’s fast-growing brand, Sir Kensington’s, is a challenger brand in the condiment space that competes against established players like Heinz.
• They started their Taste Buds online brand community as a place to connect with consumers more meaningfully.
• They do this by collecting zero party data, delivering personalized engagement, and mining audience insights. 

Using an online community supplies numerous opportunities to collect zero party data. This includes surveys, polls, UGC & product review campaigns, in-home events, discussion boards, and more. 

For example, upon signing up for the community, Sir Kensington’s delivers a “Getting to Know You Survey” and a welcome activity for new members to get acquainted. 

Sir Kensington’s uses their owned brand community to collect information related to flavor preferences and shopping habits. However, they also ask how their community members would like to be engaged as a consumer. This creates trust and shows that they will listen to them when they share feedback.

Micro-Experiences Such as Interactive Content, Giveaways & Contests  

Another way to collect zero party data is through interactive content. Any entertainment is a great way to collect zero party data. However, transparency is always important in these kinds of campaigns so consumers don’t feel like they’re being tricked by participating.  

MAC Cosmetics launched a product sampling program with augmented reality, where consumers participate in a product-matching, virtual try-on experience. 

• After the automatic shade match, the customers claim their sample.
• The experience combines A.R. try-on and personalized A.I. shade matching with the convenience of physical product sampling.
• This type of campaign allows the brand to collect zero party data that can be used in later remarketing campaigns while also engaging the consumer in a product trial.  

Loyalty & Rewards Program 

While most loyalty programs are transactional by nature, there are opportunities to collect information beyond purchase history or demographic information, especially regarding rewards they find most appealing. 

• Loyalty programs often present a straightforward ask/receive pattern. While this makes building emotional connections tough, it can make data collection easier.
• You can offer points, discounts, free shipping, free trial, brand swag, and VIP access in exchange for providing zero party data. 

Sneaker brand, Skecher’s, created their Skechers Plus loyalty program through which members can earn points and redeem them for reward certificates and other offers. They can earn points through purchases as well as provide personal data to the brand. 

Information is collected digitally by answering surveys and participating in quizzes. Upon signup, a new loyalty member can answer questions about shoe size and where they will most likely wear their Skechers. 

How TINT Helps Brands Collect Zero Party Data

• We empower brands to take back their consumer relationships from third party sites and build always-on owned data engines.
• Our all-in-one, online brand community platform secures your consumer relationships, mobilizes your brand advocates, and captures zero party data to accelerate the speed to ROI of all your marketing efforts.

Interested in more?

Request a demo today.

The post How to Collect Zero Party Data – Complete Guide appeared first on TINT.

But first, what is zero party data, and how do you collect it? And finally, how do you use zero party data to deliver on key business objectives? Let’s talk about it.

What is Zero Party Data?

Zero party data is information a consumer shares directly and intentionally with a company or brand. It typically includes personal preferences, emotional leanings, and lifestyle behaviors.

Zero party data is often associated with first party data, but there are key differences between the two. The bottom line difference is zero party data is proactively shared data, while first party data is often passively shared and mostly related to behavioral site metrics.

Why is Zero Party Data Important?

Today’s consumers expect brands to cater to their needs, so marketers need to have strategies in place to collect personal information that builds accurate customer profiles.

From this, brands can understand purchase intentions and deliver high-quality customer experiences and product recommendations.

Although many consumers are agreeable to giving up their data in exchange for a better experience, there are growing privacy concerns, and consumers are becoming pickier and pickier with whom they share their information.

Data also unlocks a powerful way to secure long-term emotional loyalty from consumers by delivering personalized engagement. Research has consistently shown that emotionally-connected consumers are more than twice as valuable as highly satisfied customers on a lifetime value basis. Emotionally connected consumers buy more products, pay more attention to communication, and recommend your brand to others.

Marketers can no longer rely on just demographic information or transactional data to create personalized marketing that emotionally resonates.

A zero party data strategy solves the paradox of designing an effective strategy that builds emotional loyalty while also creating owned data channels that respect consumer privacy and doesn’t rely on third parties.

Put simply, when it comes to the future of marketing, successful consumer engagement will be more empathetic, purposeful, and customer-first. Zero party data helps brand marketers achieve this.

Ways to Collect Zero Party Data

Take a look at your overall digital presence, and you’ll see many opportunities to collect zero party data. Here are a few:

Site Registration – Whether signing up for an ecommerce account or subscribing to your email list, any registration moment is a great place to collect zero party data. For example, if you’re a skincare brand, this is an excellent opportunity to ask consumers about skin type. But be careful; this is not the time to push for much more, or you could risk a consumer abandoning registration altogether. Make sure any data you collect is intentional and relates directly to your brand.

Online Community – An online brand community is a dedicated destination for consumers to connect with your brand and other like-minded people. With the right technology, online communities are perfect for collecting and acting upon zero party data. Additionally, because online communities are about connection and conversation, consumers are more willing to share broader, value-based information like personal interests, hobbies, and lifestyle behaviors. This kind of information can be a goldmine if you use it right.

Interactive Content – According to the Content Marketing Institute, 87% of marketers agree that interactive content grabs attention more effectively than static content. This can be anything from lifestyle and product quizzes to augmented reality filters or even interactive digital sampling like Walmarts Wonder Lab, where consumers can “play” with toys online before purchasing. Interactive content is fun for consumers and beneficial for collecting data.

Surveys and Polls – Surveys can offer consumers a way to provide feedback to a brand, but also, with the right technology platform (ahem, TINT), it can be used to create a progressive consumer profile. As with any kind of data collection, it’s important to specify how you’ll use it. If a consumer completes a survey and identifies as someone who loves online shopping, let them know you’ll use that information to send more online-based offers.

How to Use Zero Party Data

Encourage Opt-in and Conversion

While ultimately all marketing activities should lead to conversion, zero party data collection is a great mechanism to generate sales immediately with consumers.

Clothing retailers can present surveys to learn more about their shoppers’ style preferences and then guide them to items they like best. You can see this happening with companies like Stitch Fix, which prompt visitors to take their style discovery quiz. Taking the quiz requires creating an account.

Or take a look at shoe brand Brooks Running, which uses a science-backed Shoe Finder quiz that captures information like running habits, injury history, foot position, balance, and much more to offer personalized product recommendations. Brooks is transparent about why each piece of information is used and includes popups explaining how they use it.

Deliver Personalized Engagement

Zero party data is also important to relationship-building by delivering engagement tailored to each individual. This can be especially important for staying top-of-mind in between purchases.

For example, suppose you delivered a lifestyle quiz, and a consumer identified that they have a graphic design interest. With the right platform, this data should be used to deliver a relevant offer like an art contest or a survey asking for feedback on a logo redesign. When this process becomes automated, executing personalized engagement at scale becomes achievable.

ARM & HAMMER’s timeless Baking Soda brand is widely known and has been a go-to cleaning solution for generations. When they started their Simple Solutions online community, they aimed to increase household penetration by collecting information about a consumer’s lifestyle and then offering relevant educational tips on the many uses of Baking Soda. For parents, this could include science experiments and craft ideas. For people with an active outdoor lifestyle, it could be tips on using Baking Soda in skin remedies like bug bites.

Drive Emotional Loyalty

One of the reasons zero party data is so valuable is because it often allows you to understand the values most important to your consumer. This empowers you to highlight your own brand values and create an authentic connection between your brand and your audience.

Fast-growing chocolate-covered yogurt brand, Clio Snacks, created its Clio Cravings Club as an owned channel to collect information about consumers and market to them in a meaningful way. Rather than focusing solely on transactional behavior, an online community is designed to deliver engagement and foster loyalty that galvanizes consumers to act.

Mine Audience Insights

Zero party data allows businesses to dive deeper into how consumers think and understand how they can create the best possible customer experience. It removes the guesswork and empowers your brand to make smarter decisions.

Popular food delivery service, Grubhub, started its Tastemakers online brand community specifically to build a zero party data relationship with passionate diners and engaged college students. With always-on access to their Vesta-powered online brand community, Grubhub can obtain predictive insights that make delivering relevant offers to college students easy, and most importantly, it is easy to scale.

How TINT Can Help with Zero Party Data

TINT believes in empowering brands to take back their consumer relationships from third party sites and build always-on owned data engines. Our all-in-one, online brand community platform secures your consumer relationships, mobilizes your brand advocates, and captures zero party data to accelerate the speed to ROI of all your marketing efforts.

Interested in more?

Sign up for a demo today.

The post How to Use Zero Party Data appeared first on TINT.

The past decade will likely be regarded as the wild wild west of data collection. In fact, so much data was freely available that whole industries sprouted to help marketers tackle their “Big Data” problem. 

There were, of course, many advantages to a firehose of information. Countless digital advancements were developed, consumers benefited from more relevant marketing, and marketers finally had some real transparency for measurement. 

And while data is certainly not going anywhere, the way we collect, track, and use consumers’ personal information will change dramatically in the next decade. Marketers will need to be more intentional and strategic with their sources of data and how they use it, prioritizing security, trust, and value. 

Two of the most potent data sources are zero party data and first party data. Let’s go over what you need to know about each and how they can best serve your business goals. 

In this post you will find:

• What is the difference between first party data and zero party data?
• What is an example of zero party data?
• Ways to collect zero party data
• Ways to collect first party data
• How can marketers use zero party data?
• How can marketers use first party data?
• Biggest data mistakes to avoid
• How TINTcan help with zero party data

What is the Difference Between First Party Data and Zero Party Data? 

Before we jump into the differences between zero party data and first party data, let’s revisit the overall digital landscape. In addition to zero and first party data, there are also third party and second party data. 

Broadly speaking, second and third party data can be considered “rented” data, while zero and first party data can be regarded as “owned.” 

When a bunch of websites take their owned first party audience data and package it to someone else through an aggregator, the data is now considered third party data to that buyer. 

Third party data has been one of the most widely used sources for advertising campaigns and audience optimization. However, the buyer has no direct relationship with the individual consumer, which means data can become outdated and unreliable. Eventually, this impedes the effectiveness and quality of campaigns. 

Second party data is similar, but it is essentially directly accessing another organization’s first party data. It involves explicit communication where both companies agree on terms and map out an exchange of data. 

While second party data still puts a middleman between you and your consumer, the data is considered valuable as you have complete visibility into where the data came from. Still, it must be continuously purchased from another organization. 

Marketers face challenges today that have dramatically increased the value of zero party and first party data. Essentially, marketers are stuck in a paradox of solving the personalization needs of consumers while also respecting privacy concerns. They must also consider increased government regulation and browser features like the disappearance of cookies. 

This is why many brands are investing in owned data like zero and first party data. But it’s important to remember that each source provides specific information to your brand. 

Zero Party Data 

• Personal information is voluntarily given to a brand 
• Typically concerns higher-order attributes such as lifestyle, hobbies, values, and behavioral preferences 
• Collected through fill-in forms, online communities, quizzes, interactive games, surveys
• Is a strong indicator of trust in a brand 
• Highly accurate since it comes from a direct source 

Examples include lifestyle and habits (hobbies, personal interests, values), life stage details, product affinity, shopping preferences, communication preference, emotional connection to the brand, Net Promoter Score, likelihood to recommend, and purchase intent.

First Party Data

• Data collection happens in the background by a brand observing consumer behavior 
• Typically collected by tracking site-wide, app-wide, or on-page behaviors (clicks, session context) 
• Broadly transaction-based 
• Accurate data given from a direct source but will miss valuable contextual information

Examples include purchase history, clicks, time spent on page, scroll depth, email engagement, demographic information, and social data. 

The bottom line difference between the two is that one is proactively shared data (zero party data), and the other is passively shared data (first party data). 

Even if they don’t know the term “zero party data,” consumers are always aware and consent to provide that information. Conversely, they are not always aware of first party data. Most consumers these days are mindful that companies track their activity, but it’s not something they actively think about while browsing. 

When brands use zero party data, a consumer is more likely to experience a relieving feeling of “you know me” versus with first party data, which may leave a consumer with a creepy feeling of “how did you know that?” 

As industry regulations such as GDPR and the CCPA emphasize safeguarding consumer privacy, marketers are placing a more significant premium and reliance on data that their audiences knowingly and voluntarily give them. Not having this information will result in gambling with marketing dollars and risking customer loss.

Furthermore, marketers know that the future of marketing will rely on more empathetic, purposeful, and customer-first content. Owned data helps achieve this. 

Senior Director of Marketing at Microsoft Advertising John Cosley said, “Zero party data is the foundation for a relationship built on trust and a value exchange. For consumers, it holds the promise of a personalized and more relevant experience with brands. In return, brands and businesses receive better insight and a longer-term relationship.”

While first party data is often used to provide clues as to what a consumer thinks or feels, zero party data is straight from the horse’s mouth. It provides invaluable context and gives a more holistic profile, which, as we know, leads to better targeting and higher conversion rates. 

What is an Example of Zero Party Data? 

Identifying Shopping Habits

We all know how much shopping patterns have changed over the past few years. As a frozen food brand, Veggies Made Great, prioritizes its understanding of in-store retail spending. 

They created the VegHead Community as a gathering place for consumers passionate about Veggies Made Great products, while also collecting key information surrounding shopping habits. This helps them understand the who, what, where, when, how and why of their consumers’ buying decisions that is not easily accessible in other channels. 

Veggie Made Great’s “Plant a Coupon” campaign identified targeted shoppers at specific retailers like Target to “plant” discount coupons in stores nationwide, then spread the word on social media. 

Understanding Consumer Lifestage(s)

This involves collecting data regarding a particular direction in a consumer’s life that they are either heading towards or fully immersed in. Some of the most recognized life stages include big moments such as marriage, parenting, and retirement. Still, it could also be life stages like a career change, moving schools, pursuing a healthier lifestyle, and much more. 

Baby stroller brand, Mockingbird, knew collecting zero party data sometimes means playing the long game to avoid annoying consumers. After entering an email address for baby strollers, the company asks for baby due dates. Mockingbird’s email frequency and content changed as the due date approached. 

Early on, emails are less frequent and mostly showcase positive customer reviews. Later in the pregnancy, emails become more frequent, as the company knows customers need to make a decision soon, and they highlight strollers’ specific features and benefits. This method shows an understanding of customers individually, while the company gets relevant, timely information to help personalize emails and offer product recommendations.

Gathering Flavor Preferences 

While flavor preferences are geared toward food brands, profiling consumer’s desired qualities is a great way to use zero party data. Preferences are complex and nuanced and best collected straight from the source. 

Unilever’s fast-growing condiment brand, Sir Kensington’s, collects zero party data through their online brand community, the Taste Buds. With more than 35,000+ survey responses, they were able to develop distinct “evolved eater” profiles that help them better understand their audience and anticipate product needs. 

Beyond identifying bold flavor seekers, those pursuing a clean diet, or those looking to indulge, the brand has also been able to tap into its community to collect feedback to optimize product performance, conduct competitor research, hone brand positioning and more. 

By involving its consumers every step of the way, from crowdsourcing new ideas to optimizing creative concepts, Sir Kensington’s ensures it stays aligned with constantly evolving tastes and remains true to its mission to elevate the ordinary.

Assessing Product Needs 

Instead of trying to guess what problem your consumer is looking to solve, sometimes you can simply just ask them. But this information must be used wisely.

If your consumer shares a challenge they face and you change the topic or ignore them, they will be rightfully annoyed and likely disengage with your brand. 

The Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) deploys surveys strategically and effectively. New visitors to the bank’s website see a one-question study (“What’s your business goal?”), prominently incorporated into the hero area near the top of the site. Options include “managing my cash flow,” “finding the right loan,” and “getting new customers.”

How visitors respond dictates what they see next, with BDC immediately presenting content and solutions that map to each person’s stated needs. For example, a visitor who chooses “finding the right loan” will see the content on how to get financing.

Ways to Collect Zero Party Data

Now that we understand the benefits of zero party data, what is the best way to collect it? Consumers have consistently said that they are willing to give information to a company if they feel it’s going to add value to their experience. 

When considering your overall digital presence, there are several places you can collect data while offering value.

Surveys and Polls 

Many consumers appreciate sharing their feedback and opinions with a brand. With the right technology platform (ahem, TINT), it can be used to create a progressive profile of consumers using zero party data.  

Online Communities

In an online community, consumers can give up their information in exchange for a valuable engagement from the brand. These engagements could include participating in a discussion forum of like-minded consumers, trying a free sample of the product, hosting an in-home event sponsored by the brand, or special promotion. 

Quizzes & Interactive Games 

Any kind of entertainment is a great way to collect zero party data. Transparency is always important in these kinds of campaigns, so consumers don’t feel like they’re being tricked by participating. 

Loyalty & Rewards Programs

While most loyalty programs are transactional by nature, there are opportunities to collect information beyond purchase history or demographic information, especially when it relates to rewards they find most appealing. 

Ways to Collect First Party Data

Collecting first party data is a more straightforward process and is largely reliant on the type of technology analytics you have access to. Here are the top ways to collect first party data: 

Site Registration / App Downloads 

This information can include name, email, age, gender, location and social connections. 

Email Newsletter Signup 

Similar to registrations or downloads, an email signup is first party data and includes email opens, clicks, shares, and conversions. 

Ecommerce activity 

First party data is collected through tracking online purchases as well as browsing. This can include products saved or favorited, idea boards, cart adds, or shared items.   

Accepting Cookies

You’re likely familiar with “accepting all cookies” on websites now, and this should be standard practice for collecting first party data. This helps you collect all the behavioral activity happening on your website including which pages they’re browsing, scroll depth, conversions, and much more. 

How Can Marketers Use Zero Party Data?

Personalized Engagement

Engagement is designed to be a two-way dialogue between you and your audience, and zero party data is a pivotal way to deliver engagement tailored to each individual. For example, suppose you delivered a lifestyle quiz, and a consumer identified that they have a photography interest. With the right platform, this data should be “stored” in the consumer’s profile and used to deliver a relevant offer like a photo contest. When this process becomes automated, executing personalized engagement at scale becomes achievable. 

Emotional Loyalty 

Today’s consumers are highly interested in brand value alignment, and zero party data is a great way to illuminate the values that are of highest priority. Some consumers will strongly value caring for the environment, while others won’t consider it as important. This kind of information helps you laser focus your sustainability message on an audience where it will most resonate and create meaningful connections. 

Emotional Profiling and Audience Insights 

In today’s competitive marketplace, consumer insights often determine success and can offer critical differentiation for your brand. Overall, zero party data allows businesses to dive deeper into how consumers think and understand how they can create the best possible customer experience. It removes guesswork and empowers your brand to make smarter decisions.

How Can Marketers Use First Party Data? 

Targeted Advertising

For a consumer who is not quite ready to share more about themselves, acting on first party data is a great way to entice further interaction. While we’ve all groaned from being “followed” online by a particular brand, there are also times when we’ve all appreciated a good ol’ fashioned well-targeted ad. 

Customize a User’s Website Experience 

Using behavioral tracking, you can offer the most enriching navigation experience to a current or prospective buyer. This is especially relevant in ecommerce where you can customize product recommendations and offers created based on website activity. 

Audience Insights 

First party data is foundational information that can be built upon with zero party data. Companies analyzing their first party data are casting a wide net on factual information to gauge traits, explore new markets, and offer comparisons with competitors and industry standards.  

Biggest Data Mistakes to Avoid 

Asking for Too Much, Too Soon

We’ve all taken one look at a web form, winced, and said “nah.” With data that is intentionally shared, it’s important to remember there is extra workload and trust involved. Asking for too much can prevent consumers from sharing anything and they could abandon interacting with your brand entirely. Gathering irrelevant information is also a deterrent to consumers. 

Zero party data and first party data collection should accumulate over time and balance between giving and receiving to secure consumer trust and deliver value. When consumers believe they are receiving something valuable in return, they are more likely to share. 

Disconnected Data Between Channels 

Disconnected data has been a long-standing challenge in marketing. And nothing will frustrate a consumer more than feeling like the information they share with you is ignored. Having an omni-channel understanding of a consumer is no longer a nice-to-have but a requirement. 

The best way to combat disconnected data is choosing the right platforms and partners to enhance, not complicate, your overall marketing tech stack. 

Poor Data Ethics 

Gone are the days of sitting idly while you hoard data. While big data can be mined for information and used in predictive modeling, consumers expect a positive feedback loop and transparency for how their data will be used. In fact, 72% of US shoppers would be less likely to buy again from a brand who they felt had not been responsible with their data. 

Data is an undeniable part of our lives now. Take a stand on how your brand believes data plays a role in your business practices. Consumers want to know not just what data you’re collecting but also why you’re collecting certain data. Why does your brand believe cerrtain data is helpful? How does the data you collect fit in with your unique value proposition as a brand? 

How TINT Can Help With Zero Party Data

TINT believes in empowering brands to take back their consumer relationships from third party sites. Our all-in-one, online brand community platform secures your consumer relationships, mobilizes your brand advocates, and captures zero party data to accelerate the speed to ROI of all your marketing efforts. 

TINT’s platform engages millions of consumers, collecting valuable zero party data that can be used in personalized engagement and driving ratings & reviews. 

Interested in more?

Sign up for a demo today.

The post What is the Difference Between Zero Party Data and First Party Data and Why it Matters appeared first on TINT.

By Susan Frech, CEO and Co-Founder

Entering a new decade is often a time to reflect on the preceding one and to brand them as “eras.” I believe the 2010s will be remembered as the wild, wild, west of data collection. In that new frontier of data, consumers were relatively unaware and free with their information and companies were all too happy to take it.

Now in many ways, it was a win-win scenario for all parties. Limitless data collection led to innovative digital business practices. Consumers benefited from receiving more relevant messaging and marketers could enjoy better targeting, higher conversion, and more reliable measurement. Not to mention the benefits to the explosion of ad tech providers. However, unchecked data collection has led to a flurry of privacy, security, and transparency concerns. It’s safe to say, we’re entering the hangover phase.

In January 2020, Google announced its plan to phase out support for third-party cookies in Chrome within the next two years. Apple’s Safari, which represents nearly 52 percent of mobile share, has already implemented similar measures to prevent tracking users all over the web. And Apple’s impending IDFA changes, which will prompt users to allow or block the data that apps collect on them, continues the march toward restricted access to data for brands.

Consumers have become well-informed about the uses of their data and are increasingly demanding control and transparency, leading to legislation like the California Consumer Protection Act (CCPA) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) abroad. Marketers need to be prepared to face a world where they won’t have the firehose of third-party data made available to them.

Consumers support data privacy regulation, but they also demand that companies deliver personalized experiences. Because of this, brands need to evolve their data strategy from relying heavily on third-party data to focusing on zero- and first-party data and to do so without disrupting consumer experiences. Here are three tactics we recommend.

Build a Zero-Party Data “World” for Your Brand

Marketers are used to dealing with “Walled Gardens” when interacting with juggernauts like Google, Amazon or Facebook. This moment in time presents an opportunity for brands to build not just their own version of a walled garden, but a world unto themselves for data collection. Zero-party data is one of the most prized data sets for marketers. It is given by a consumer directly, and it usually relates to more high-order attributes like values, lifestyle, and preferences.

Consumers don’t automatically give up their data to brands. Something like a zero-party email campaign doesn’t work, nor does traditional website data collection. And don’t even think about a zero-party advertising campaign. Brands must build a living and breathing, consumer-facing world for zero-party data to be collected and acted upon. Marketers must invigorate loyal customer communities and encourage social interaction. An online brand community, integrated into the marketing strategy, is a powerful way to connect data to the bigger picture and encourage consumers to be a part of something they believe in.

Create a Positive Value Exchange for Data

There must be a clear and concise value exchange between the data given and the experience received. When done right, personalized messages can drive real revenue. Research from McKinsey found that personalization can deliver five to eight times the ROI on marketing spend and can lift sales by 10% or more. It is worth the investment to connect with consumers.

Data must be collected with intention and marketers should plan strategically for how each solicitation should be used to enhance the consumer experience, not the marketer’s PowerPoint deck for management. Consumers will also appreciate when you bring them along for the ride. Is a consumer sharing their geographic location? Make sure to send them localized experiences. Is a consumer letting you know they have children? Offer experiences that fit into a parent’s life. This also applies beyond personal profile information and extends to their thoughts, opinions, and actions. Are you soliciting their feedback about the brand? Make sure to follow up with them about how their opinion mattered in shaping a new initiative.

Create a Mission Statement on Data Collection

Research shows that 79% of consumers will leave a brand if their personal data is used without their knowledge. The typical consumer has likely been blind to the fact that turning on cookies meant they were agreeing to share their information with not just the site they were browsing, but potentially hundreds of partners. Consumers want to know not just the who, what, where and how of data collection, but they will increasingly want to understand the “why.” Why does your brand believe data is helpful? How does it rhyme with your brand story and your unique value proposition? Data is an undeniable part of our lives now. Take a stand on how your brand believes data plays a role.

For many marketers, Google’s news was looked upon with doom and gloom. I urge brands to embrace this evolution as a positive instead. Consumers today realize that their data has incredible value and therefore they will be more selective with whom they choose to share it. Marketers should no longer view data as a passive activity happening in the background, but as an active expression that a consumer knows and trusts you. Ultimately, data can be viewed as a currency of trust which leads to lasting loyalty.

Interested in more?

Check out this infographic to understand how online communities can generate consumer engagement and critical zero-party data for your brand.

The post As seen in Loyalty360: When the (Data) Cookies Crumble appeared first on TINT.

Prognosticating about the future is always a tricky business. To quote baseball-playing philosopher, Yogi Berra, “It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.” But experience teaches us to identify shifts that inform how the market could evolve.

We’ve watched brands evolve from chasing likes to seeking authentic relationships with consumers. Our company has helped brands evolve with the last decade and we plan to do the same with the next decade.

In our new content series, we’re sharing the six trends we believe marketers can’t ignore in the 2020s and how they can prepare.

#1 Making Transparency a Huge Priority

Transparency was a popular buzzword in the 2010s. A company or brand was considered “transparent” when there was an abundance of information accessible to the public. People could examine how a company is run, a product is manufactured or a service is performed. We saw younger consumers especially concerned with corporations’ ethical practices and the overall footprint they left on the planet.

Today, “transparency” has evolved to focus on privacy, and we believe this doctrine will carry into the new decade. The 2010s will be known as the wild wild west of data collection. Consumers were willing to give it and companies were eager to take it. In the 2020s, brands will be pushed not just by consumers, but also by governmental regulators to make data transparency and privacy an integral part of any interaction a company has with its audience.

What can you do to prepare?

1) Create a Brand Mission Statement on Data Collection

Consumers want to know not just the who, what, where and how of data collection, but also the “why.” Why does your brand believe data is helpful? How does it rhyme with your brand story and your unique value proposition? Data is an undeniable part of our lives now. Take a stand on how your brand believes data plays a role.

2) Solidify Your Zero-Party Data Strategy

Restricting passive data collection will be the first order of business when consumers start taking control of their information. We believe there will be an enormous shift from relying on third-party data to zero-party data. Zero-party data is intentionally shared by a consumer with a company and it is essential for creating personalized experiences. Zero-party data thrives on capturing insights beyond standard demographics like values, preferences, and behaviors.

3) Actually Study New Regulations

New security and privacy regulations will no longer be legalese relegated to the legal department to decipher. With the recent launch of the CCPA, we’re already seeing this rollout. The marketers of the 2020s will need to understand data regulation as competently as they do advertising jargon.

Stayed tuned for our next prediction…

In the 2010s, we heard the phrase “content is king.” In the 2020s, “experience” will take the crown.

The post Six Trends Marketers Must Prepare for in the 2020s appeared first on TINT.

Yep, that’s the one. This graphic began in 2011 with only 150 companies and has since grown to around 5,000 technologies – and it’s not stopping there. One look at this graphic and it’s clear that endless options exist for marketers who are looking to make their lives easier and their performance better.

The mix of marketing technologies a team uses is called a Marketing Stack. According to Optimizley, a marketing stack is “a grouping of technologies that marketers leverage to conduct and improve their marketing activities.” Many times, the goal of a marketing stack is to make processes more efficient and to measure the effectiveness of current marketing campaigns.  

However, for your marketing stack to be successful in driving the overall effectiveness of your marketing campaigns, your team must choose the right technologies to utilize. Traditional marketing stacks have typically involved the following areas: Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Insights and Analysis, Experience Optimization, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Advertising Technology.

For marketers looking to the future, there’s one more critical tool to add: an online brand community. Read on for four ways an online brand community enhances your marketing stack.

1. Consumer Relationships are No Longer a One-Way Email Push

There’s no doubt that a CRM is an essential tool in the marketing toolbox, tracking the consumers who opt-in to your communications. However, although many brands have huge databases with regularly scheduled email campaigns, these emails are often a one-way push to consumers – the brand isn’t receiving anything in return. In fact, research from eMarketer says only 30 percent of US email subscribers actually make purchases from the brand’s list they are subscribed to. Even when consumers are engaging with emails from brands, most interactions are simply a transactional experience, lacking the crucial component that delivers long-term loyalty and advocacy. Or even worse, a CRM simply becomes a behind-the-scenes database desert with no engagement.

When marketers create an online brand community, they create a social CRM, turning their communication with consumers into a two-way relationship. Like a CRM, consumers are opting-in to a online brand community – they want to hear from the brand, engage with the brand and advocate for the brand. Housing consumers in an online brand community allows you to ask consumers: What do you want to hear about? How often do you want to hear from us? Brands can then send more personalized communication and consumers can provide feedback to the brand.

2. Insights & Analysis Turned into Enhanced Experience

The ability to measure marketing campaign activity is crucial for any brand, and most teams have third-party technologies dedicated specifically to uncovering this data such as Google Analytics or HubSpot.

But when a brand creates an online community, third-party data becomes zero-party data – given directly by willing consumers and taking only days to gather results, not weeks or months. This means brands can optimize their marketing campaigns more efficiently and make business decisions even quicker.

For example: if you’re launching a new product and you need ideas on which packaging to choose, you can turn to your community of consumers, who represent your target audience and ask their opinion. Using the data from your online community will enable you to ensure a successful user experience in the market.

Enhancing user experience, however, goes far beyond packaging. Today’s consumers are looking for an enhanced experience through personalized communication and offers from a brand. In fact, our research shows that 90 percent of consumers are willing to share personal information with a brand in exchange for personalized communication and are more likely to engage with a personalized offer.

Many marketers say the biggest challenge to delivering personalized content is gaining the right insights about their consumers. Experian says that 40 percent of marketers can’t gain insights quickly enough and 39 percent of marketers don’t have enough data.

Choosing an online community management software that consistently builds out members’ profiles through their responses to surveys and actions taken in the community allows marketers to segment members through both demographic and psychographic data. Creating these micro-audiences ensures that each member sees personalized and relevant content.

3. Optimized Ad Spend With Ideal Target Audiences

Advertising is a key customer acquisition technique, and it’s not slowing down anytime soon: Magna, the research arm of IPG Mediabrands, says digital ad spending will grow 13 percent in 2018 to $237 billion. That’s a lot of spending, which is why most marketers use third-party technologies to monitor the efficiency of these campaigns and marketers are always looking for ways to optimize their spend.

Enter: an online community. Cultivating an online community helps marketers refine their audience targeting for more effective media spend. After all, what better lookalike audience is there than your most ardent community advocates?

An online brand community that uncovers granular data to identify your most engaged members allows marketers to create ideal lookalike audiences and retarget existing, highly-engaged members to enhance engagement and ROI.

4. Using an Online Brand Community to Boost SEO

It’s  2018, and we all understand the continued importance of SEO: HubSpot says “61 percent of marketers say improving SEO and growing their organic presence is their top inbound marketing priority.” As SEO trends are constantly changing, online brand communities are a surefire way to ensure authentic and quality user-generated content.

Building a community of people who love your brand allows you to easily activate consumers to produce fresh and unique user-generated content, leading to an ongoing portal of content – this is helpful for both getting new eyes on your products.

Forty-eight percent of consumers say user-generated content is a great way to find new products, and 25 percent of search results for the world’s 20 largest brands are links to user-created content. This is exciting news for marketers. Not only does content your advocates create hold a higher probability of showing up in search engines, but it also ensures the first thing consumers see is content they will trust.

Ready to get started on your own online brand community? Give us a shout. TINT’s online community platform allows you to mobilize and activate your brand’s advocates. Through TINT, brands can easily create a branded online community to generate engagement, collect feedback and spread content across social media – driving awareness, loyalty and advocacy, all with always-on audience segmentation, comprehensive analytics, and insightful visibility.

Interested in more?

Sign up for a demo today.

The post 4 Ways an Online Brand Community Enhances Your Marketing Stack appeared first on TINT.