Using zero party data to influence consumer buying trends

The ability to analyze and act upon data is important to any business. Data is the most essential aspect of programmatic advertising. It helps find ideal customers on the web. It allows us to segment, target and buys the right audiences instead of mere placements. The more quality data a trading desk/agency can collect and aggregate – the better its results will be.

A new data strategy in Digital World is Zero party data.

Zero-party data (ZPD) is the information customers give intentionally with a business or brand, like whether they prefer an email or SMS, which products they want to know are in stock etc. This type of data is collected through explicit and direct interaction with customers.

ZPD provides businesses or brands with the data they need to create personalized experiences customers love. While at the same time ensuring customers are happy about how the data was collected and how it will be used.

Difference between First-Party Data and Zero Party Data.

Via First-Party Data: We get to know about the Website (or) app engagement, user email, phone number, email address, purchase history etc. First-party data gives us insights from analytics and user behaviours.

Via Zero Party Data: We get to know about the user communication preferences, product preferences, brand sentiment, feedback etc

Example of using zero-party data: A user visits an eCommerce website. Looking for a very specific Mobile Brand. In the search box, they type: “Redmi”

The search results show all the Models corresponding to these terms, but also a banner ad asking: “notify or alert or email when a new (or) this product is available?” or “Would you like to receive an SMS notification when this product is on sale?”

Customers that answer Yes to either of these questions are providing you with zero-party data. They are telling you about their preferences in a direct, intentional and proactive way.

The best way to collect zero-party data is to ask for information in exchange for something of value to the customer. This could be through a banner ad or message with a discount % on the product.

Zero Party Data can empower your Brand Strategy. Some of the Benefits are:

Notify customers about new products via SMS or email that you know would be interested.
Target your paid ads better based on a customer’s need.
Know which customers are more profitable for your business.

We should think about these data sources [First Party, Second Party, Third Party and Zero Party Data] as potential customers. For programmatic success, we should concentrate on the Current Database, Inventory, Technology and knowledge. Here, we are looking for the audience that we are trying to reach, for a given day, operating software, device, age, gender, browser, mobile device and recency time etc. By using all the above types of data and strategies, we can enhance programmatic tactics, pre and post-campaign more effectively.

About the author:

Uday Kumar Haliga, Programmatic Senior Trader, India & SAARC – MiQ Digital India