Introduction
In an era where digital footprints are becoming increasingly elusive, the deprecation of 3rd-party cookies in 2024 presents both a challenge and an opportunity for marketers. This pivotal change necessitates a deeper understanding of first-party data and the way it will revolutionize customer engagement from how we know it today.
First-Party Data: Myths and Realities
Gone are the days when basic data collection sufficed, as we relied on external sources which will no longer function starting this year. The spotlight is now on doubling down on your first-party data with innovative data collection capabilities – a resource more valuable than you imagine, yet it’s often misunderstood.
Marketers dream of harnessing this data to its fullest, envisioning a world where insights flow seamlessly and personalization reaches new heights, even on the unidentified users (>94% of users!). However, the reality is often more complex. Constraints in technology, budget, and varying levels of customer consent create a landscape where simply gathering the standard first-party data isn't enough.
The Limitations of Traditional Data Collection
Traditional methods of data collection focus largely on direct actions (a.k.a. click-stream), such as purchase history, cart additions, and most of all, on product page visits.
This approach, while partially useful, overlooks the rich tapestry of customer interactions that occur before these end-point activities (and with add-to-cart and purchases occurring only in ~7% of visits, which is too little to rely on). To truly understand your audience, it's essential to delve into the more subtle and sophisticated aspects of their online behavior.
1st-Party Predictive Enrichment and Segmentation: AI is changing the game
Predictive segmentation, powered by AI and machine learning, is transforming how we approach marketing strategies, and act upon them. This technology doesn't just analyze; it anticipates, offering timely-relevant predictions about customer behavior and preferences.
It's a leap from reactive to proactive user-understanding, enabling businesses to tailor their marketing efforts more effectively and efficiently. Above all else, this approach allows for precision in your strategy, while understanding which audiences are truly high intent & high value audiences, and then doubling down on them with your marketing spend (...while leaving out the low intent, low value audiences).
Uncovering the Layers of Customer Behavior
Modern marketing demands an exploration into the layers of customer interaction that goes beyond the surface. This includes analyzing Human-Computer Interaction signals - like the way a user interacts with a certain page, filters and swipes through products or zooms in on images. These nuanced actions provide a wealth of information about customer intent and engagement. Most marketers are not even aware that they can take advantage of this.
First Party Data Enrichment: Crafting a Comprehensive Customer Profile
Data enrichment plays a pivotal role in crafting a comprehensive customer profile. Once available by integrating in-house data with additional sources, marketers could paint a more complete picture of their audience to drive more revenue, with high value signals, such as intent, income levels, etc.
This enriched data fuels more efficient, personalized and relevant marketing campaigns, leading to better conversion rates, better customer experiences and enhanced brand loyalty. As one would expect, this data which was previously available only on the few identified users (who leave their email at some point), is now achievable with every user, within a few moments of interacting with the website, using Kahoona’s unique AI approach.
Adapting to a Rapidly Evolving Digital Landscape
The digital marketing realm is in constant flux, over the course of the last few years with the loss of user-identity, privacy changes, and especially this year with the shift into a cookieless world. Ensuring you don’t lag behind requires agility and foresight. Embracing advanced first-party data collection and AI-driven, instant user-understanding at scale, is crucial for businesses looking to thrive in this new era. The key is to continuously adapt strategies to align with consumer expectations, which demand a more personalized approach than ever before.
Conclusion
As we step into a post-cookie future in H1 2024, the importance of adapting more robust, data-driven approaches and capabilities cannot be overstated. By embracing AI predictive signals for our marketing activation, audience targeting and budget allocation, it's not a matter of analyzing better or worse, but the quality of the data we rely on to analyze and make strategic business level decisions.
We encourage you to explore how these novel approaches and solutions can be integrated into your marketing stack. Learn more about leveraging unique first-party data in innovative ways: book a time with one of our experts or visit Kahoona's website to discover more on what you’re missing today.
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Top Data Strategies for a Post-Cookie World
12/20/2023
Introduction
In an era where digital footprints are becoming increasingly elusive, the deprecation of 3rd-party cookies in 2024 presents both a challenge and an opportunity for marketers. This pivotal change necessitates a deeper understanding of first-party data and the way it will revolutionize customer engagement from how we know it today.
First-Party Data: Myths and Realities
Gone are the days when basic data collection sufficed, as we relied on external sources which will no longer function starting this year. The spotlight is now on doubling down on your first-party data with innovative data collection capabilities – a resource more valuable than you imagine, yet it’s often misunderstood.
Marketers dream of harnessing this data to its fullest, envisioning a world where insights flow seamlessly and personalization reaches new heights, even on the unidentified users (>94% of users!). However, the reality is often more complex. Constraints in technology, budget, and varying levels of customer consent create a landscape where simply gathering the standard first-party data isn't enough.
The Limitations of Traditional Data Collection
Traditional methods of data collection focus largely on direct actions (a.k.a. click-stream), such as purchase history, cart additions, and most of all, on product page visits.
This approach, while partially useful, overlooks the rich tapestry of customer interactions that occur before these end-point activities (and with add-to-cart and purchases occurring only in ~7% of visits, which is too little to rely on). To truly understand your audience, it's essential to delve into the more subtle and sophisticated aspects of their online behavior.
1st-Party Predictive Enrichment and Segmentation: AI is changing the game
Predictive segmentation, powered by AI and machine learning, is transforming how we approach marketing strategies, and act upon them. This technology doesn't just analyze; it anticipates, offering timely-relevant predictions about customer behavior and preferences.
It's a leap from reactive to proactive user-understanding, enabling businesses to tailor their marketing efforts more effectively and efficiently. Above all else, this approach allows for precision in your strategy, while understanding which audiences are truly high intent & high value audiences, and then doubling down on them with your marketing spend (...while leaving out the low intent, low value audiences).
Uncovering the Layers of Customer Behavior
Modern marketing demands an exploration into the layers of customer interaction that goes beyond the surface. This includes analyzing Human-Computer Interaction signals - like the way a user interacts with a certain page, filters and swipes through products or zooms in on images. These nuanced actions provide a wealth of information about customer intent and engagement. Most marketers are not even aware that they can take advantage of this.
First Party Data Enrichment: Crafting a Comprehensive Customer Profile
Data enrichment plays a pivotal role in crafting a comprehensive customer profile. Once available by integrating in-house data with additional sources, marketers could paint a more complete picture of their audience to drive more revenue, with high value signals, such as intent, income levels, etc.
This enriched data fuels more efficient, personalized and relevant marketing campaigns, leading to better conversion rates, better customer experiences and enhanced brand loyalty. As one would expect, this data which was previously available only on the few identified users (who leave their email at some point), is now achievable with every user, within a few moments of interacting with the website, using Kahoona’s unique AI approach.
Adapting to a Rapidly Evolving Digital Landscape
The digital marketing realm is in constant flux, over the course of the last few years with the loss of user-identity, privacy changes, and especially this year with the shift into a cookieless world. Ensuring you don’t lag behind requires agility and foresight. Embracing advanced first-party data collection and AI-driven, instant user-understanding at scale, is crucial for businesses looking to thrive in this new era. The key is to continuously adapt strategies to align with consumer expectations, which demand a more personalized approach than ever before.
Conclusion
As we step into a post-cookie future in H1 2024, the importance of adapting more robust, data-driven approaches and capabilities cannot be overstated. By embracing AI predictive signals for our marketing activation, audience targeting and budget allocation, it's not a matter of analyzing better or worse, but the quality of the data we rely on to analyze and make strategic business level decisions.
We encourage you to explore how these novel approaches and solutions can be integrated into your marketing stack. Learn more about leveraging unique first-party data in innovative ways: book a time with one of our experts or visit Kahoona's website to discover more on what you’re missing today.
