How media agencies can utilize first-party data to drive better results

Digital advertising is a field continuously changing. One of the most recent shifts being the decline of third-party cookies and rising privacy regulation. This in return will reshape how agencies can help their clients connect to their audience. As a media agency, understanding and making full use of first-party data is more important than ever before. 

First-party data, meaning data collected directly from audiences through their engagement with a brand, offers valuable insights for creating more personalized, effective campaigns and activities.

Here’s a guide on why first-party data matters and how your agency can work with it to drive better results for your clients.

Why first-party data matters for media agencies

The talk of the town has for a long time been when, and how, the cookies will disappear. The uncertainty might make it hard to create a long-term strategic plan for your clients. But, with first-party data, you’re not only relying on external factors. It is accurate, privacy-compliant, and directly related to a brand’s actual customers and prospects.

Having deep expertise in this field will not only equip agencies to build highly targeted, cost-effective campaigns and activities. It will also give both you as an agency, and your clients a competitive advantage. Agencies that prioritize this are better positioned to help clients navigate the complex digital landscape, delivering campaigns that drive real results.

Key benefits of using first-party data

During our long experience, we have identified several key benefits from using first-party data.

• Enhanced targeting and personalization: Unlike third-party data, first-party data allows brands to target known customers and prospects with personalized messages. This leads to higher engagement rates, as audiences see more relevant content.
• Improved ROI and efficiency: Since first-party data is derived directly from user interactions with a brand, it leads to more accurate targeting. This means less wasted ad spend and a lower cost per acquisition (CPA).
• Compliance and privacy control: First-party data is gathered with user consent, making it the safest and potentially the most compliant option in light of tightening privacy laws, such as GDPR.
• Building long-term customer relationships: By collecting and using data directly from customer interactions, brands can be more personalized and relevant. Which in return can lead to stronger relationships that drive long-term loyalty.

How media agencies can use first-party data effectively

So, now that we know more about the what and the why, here’s a step-by-step guide for how to actually integrate first-party data into your clients strategies:

1. Start with a data inventory

Begin by assessing the data your client already has. This might include data from their website, CRM systems, app interactions, social media engagement, and more. Often, brands are sitting on valuable data they haven’t fully utilized. An inventory will reveal these hidden insights and help you determine the best ways to use them.

2. Run campaign experiments

Use your client’s first-party data to create highly targeted test campaigns. For example, you can:

• Build lookalike audiences based on top customer profiles.
• Create cross-sell campaigns by targeting existing customers with complementary products based on their purchase history.
• Segment high-value customers and reward them with exclusive loyalty offers.

Running these types of smaller experiments will give you valuable insights into what drives your clients’ customer engagement, creating conversions.

3. Automation for increased efficiency

When you have identified the most effective campaigns, begin integrating automation wherever possible. Automating segmentation and campaign activation allows you to scale personalized campaigns across channels without any manual adjustments. Using a CDP (Customer Data Platform) or tools in the client’s current stack, such as Google Ads or Meta, can be useful here, simplifying the process of handling first-party data for campaigns of a larger scale.

4. Measure, refine, and scale

Follow the performance of the campaigns closely and focus on metrics such as CPA, customer lifetime value, and overall engagement. This will enable you to continuously improve your approach, making the client’s campaigns grow more effective over time. When gathering these insights, you can expand the most effective strategies to reach additional segments or channels.

Common challenges and solutions

There are still some challenges to look out for, but these do not come without possible solutions.

• Data quality and freshness: For first-party data to be useful, it must be accurate and up-to-date. Regularly clean, validate, and update client data to avoid targeting errors.
• Siloed data: Many organizations store data across different platforms (e.g., CRM, POS, web analytics). Work with your clients to unify these sources to create a single, comprehensive view of their customers.
• Customer centric focus: Change perspective from media channels to customers and business results across channels
• Measurement and reporting: As tracking methodologies and measurement using third-party data are deteriorating, using first-party data to add signals or measure uplift will make up for the loss of insight.
• Privacy and compliance: Ensure that all first-party data usage complies with privacy regulations. Agencies should be transparent about how they collect and use data and work closely with clients to build compliant data collection processes.

First-party data strategies for the future

As we all know by now, the digital marketing landscape continues to shift. This makes it even more important for agencies to stay ahead by maximizing the potential that first-party data can bring. We therefore suggest some forward-looking strategies:

• Personalized content and creatives: Use data insights to create content that speaks directly to different customer segments, making ads more engaging and less likely to be ignored.
• Cross-channel consistency: Aim to deliver consistent messaging across digital, social, and even traditional media. First-party data can help you achieve this by creating unified profiles that inform every touchpoint.
• Invest in data partnerships: For clients who lack sufficient first-party data (e.g. FMCG), consider partnerships that enable access to second-party data from trusted sources. This can enhance targeting capabilities without relying on third-party cookies.

Final thoughts

As a media agency, you cannot afford to view first-party data as a passing trend, it needs to be seen as one of the main cornerstones of future-proofed marketing strategies. By focusing on this data, you will not only be able to improve campaign performance, but also respect privacy regulations and achieve meaningful results for your clients. Start with small experiments, automate, and continuously refine and you will become a leader in this era of data-driven marketing.

Contact us if you want to know more, or partner up!