In the realm of data collection for marketing, a progression has occurred from third-party to first-party and second-party data. Now, there's an emerging category that's gaining attention: zero-party data. If you're working in marketing, you're likely already familiar with this term, which was coined by Forrester in 2017.

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What Exactly Is Zero-Party Data?

Zero-party data refers to information that customers deliberately and proactively share with a brand. This includes data from preference centers, purchase intentions, personal contexts, and preferences on how they wish to be recognized by the brand.

Typical sources of zero-party data are customer interactions with your brand’s preference center, or their responses to polls and quizzes on your website. Essentially, if your brand gathers insights through interactive elements like polls, quizzes, preference centers, or forms, you are collecting zero-party data.

Distinguishing Between Data Types

Zero-party data, unlike first-party data, comes directly from the customer without any intermediation. While first-party data might include passive data collection like web browsing patterns or app engagement, zero-party data comprises explicit customer declarations like survey responses.

Here’s how different data types compare:

• First-Party Data: Data collected directly by your brand through interactions on owned platforms like websites or apps.
• Second-Party Data: Essentially another company’s first-party data that you access through partnerships, often used for reaching broader audiences.
• Third-Party Data: Data collected by entities not directly related to your brand, often without explicit consent from consumers.

Why Prioritize Zero-Party Data?

Understanding your customers' preferences and needs is crucial for effective marketing. Zero-party data is invaluable because it's provided voluntarily by customers, offering clear insights into their preferences and intentions.

Given recent privacy regulations like GDPR and CCPA, and technological shifts like the phasing out of third-party cookies by major internet browsers, the importance of zero-party data is only growing. Companies are now recognizing the need to adapt their strategies to prioritize zero-party and first-party data.

Effective Strategies for Collecting Zero-Party Data

To gather zero-party data, engage customers through:

• Polls
• Quizzes
• Preference centers
• Forms
• Surveys

These tools can be integrated across various communication channels such as in-app messages, browser notifications, content cards, emails, text messages, and push notifications.

Utilizing Zero-Party Data

Marketers can leverage zero-party data to enhance understanding of both logged-in users and anonymous visitors. Encouraging anonymous visitors to participate in quick surveys or to subscribe to updates can significantly expand your customer insights, enabling more targeted and effective engagement strategies.

By focusing on zero-party data, brands can build more personalized marketing campaigns that resonate with their audience, ensuring compliance with privacy standards and enhancing customer trust.