What Is First-Party Data and Why Is It So Important?

When it comes down to it, a marketing campaign is only as good as the data behind it. Being a premier military marketing company for over 20 years, we have established an expansive audience and a massive reach within the military community, while acquiring more than decades worth of first-party data. Here at VIQTORY, we combine the knowledge of our subject matter experts with the clean and relevant data that only we have access to. 

What is first-party data?

So what is first-party data? It’s information that you collect directly from your audience or customers when they interact with your company website. This is done by placing a pixel on the site, which is the tool used to collect the data from behaviors, actions or interests demonstrated across your website. First-party data is also collected through interactions on your social channels, newsletter subscriptions, survey completion, and more. 

This information is the go-to tool in any marketer’s work belt. Unlike second and third-party data which are purchased, first-party data is being collected by the company or organization whose website is actually being trafficked. When purchasing 2nd and 3rd-party data, you run the risk of getting inaccurate, outdated information that could cause some immediate bottlenecks in the recruitment process. Simply put, if you’re collecting the data yourself, then you know that it’s clean, accurate, and exclusive to you, making it an invaluable marketing asset now more than ever with the phaseout of Google’s third-party cookies.  

Now that you have nice clean marketing data to work with, you can get to know your audience better and get them segmented into appropriate groups based on their activity. When recruiting candidates for open positions it’s important that you personalize the experience and tailor your messaging to a specific audience, ensuring that your marketing budget isn’t being wasted serving ads to the wrong, uninterested individuals. 

One of the primary applications for first-party data is for retargeting. Here’s a retargeting example. Say you visit the website for Callaway Golf and browse around looking for a new set of clubs but don’t end up buying anything and go to a different website. If you start to see banner advertisements for golf clubs and related items while you browse other websites, you are being retargeted. It’s safe to say that we’ve all been retargeted, more than a few times. The reason this is so valuable to marketing teams is they are able to learn a user’s behaviors, interests, and tendencies, allowing them to predict the user’s future behaviors and serve them ad accordingly. 

For VIQTORY, between our G.I. Jobs, Military Spouse, and Military Friendly brands, we’ve collected the first-party data from our military audience through decades of email newsletter subscriptions, magazine subscriptions, surveys, social interactions, and more. That data is then used as the cornerstone for any and all of our marketing campaigns, regardless of a client’s needs, to help them expand brand awareness, serve digital impressions, and recruit top military talent from the military community. 

Fill out the form below if you’re interested in learning more about how you can leverage our first-party data to target our audience of transitioning service members, military spouses, and military veterans.

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