Pro Tips
First Party Data Strategy: Winning in a World Where Cookies are on Life-Support
Jun 2, 2025
Introduction: The Decline of Third-Party Cookies
The third party cookies that once powered precision targeting are fading fast. Browser restrictions, privacy concerns, and tightening data privacy laws have put life-support machines around the old model. Marketers who cling to third party data alone risk seeing their campaigns grow steadily less effective and more expensive. The antidote? A resilient party data strategy rooted in the company’s first party data and, crucially, zero party data.
Companies collect first-party data directly from users through their websites and apps, marking a shift away from reliance on third-party sources and enabling more transparent, privacy-compliant interactions.
As organizations adapt, responsible data practices become essential for building trust and ensuring compliance in this new era of data strategy.
Why Party Data Is the Future
Zero party data refers to the information customers intentionally volunteer: preference center data, purchase intentions, personal context, and communication preferences, while first party data captures on-site behavior, purchase history, and customer interactions. Understanding customer behaviors through first- and zero-party data enables brands to deliver more relevant customer experiences. Blending these data types inside a privacy-first framework creates the competitive advantage brands need in a cookieless world.
Defining the Data Types: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and Zero Party
First party data is information a company collects directly from its customers through owned channels and interactions. Second party data is another company's first party data that you gain access to through trusted partnerships. Third party data comes from data brokers or external sources and is typically aggregated without explicit consent. Zero party data is shared data that customers willingly provide in exchange for a clear value exchange—think quizzes, surveys, preference centers, and loyalty-program questions.
The First Party Approach and Why It Matters
A first party data strategy (note: you only need to mention this exact phrase once) ensures high data quality while reducing reliance on data provider networks. Collected data from first-party sources can be used to personalize experiences across channels, tailoring content and interactions to individual preferences. By integrating first party data across your customer data platform and customer relationship management tools, you create personalized experiences that predict customer behavior and improve marketing efforts by analyzing collected data.
What Is a First Party Data Strategy?
At its core, a data-first strategy means your analytics, segmentation, activation, and measurement all start with the data collected directly from your customers as your company’s first party data.
You supplement it with valuable data from trusted sources, such as second party data and zero party insights, but you never depend on opaque third party cookies.
Zero Party Data FAQs
What is zero-party data vs first-party data?
Zero party data is voluntarily given; first party data is observed. Both live under the same privacy-first umbrella, but zero party offers direct answers to what customers desire.
Are surveys zero-party data?
Yes, surveys are one of the most effective zero party data collection tools when combined with proper value exchange.
How Zero Party Data Is Collected
Brands collect zero party data by encouraging customers to intentionally share their preferences, interests, and needs. Collecting zero party data starts with transparency: tell shoppers precisely how their answers will be used to create personalized experiences. Tactics include post-purchase surveys, interactive product finders, and loyalty dashboards where customers set explicit consent switches for topics they care about.
Zero party data is customer intentionally provided through interactive experiences such as quizzes, preference centers, social media polls, and personalized surveys, where customers willingly share information for more relevant marketing.
Surveys, Preference Centers, and Beyond
Preference centers are prime examples of non-routine data collection methods that go beyond the standard pop-up form, as they are specifically designed to collect user data beyond just basic information. They let customers configure communication preferences, declare purchase intentions, and outline personal context, turning passive profiles into valuable insights.
By collecting user data through these tools, brands can better understand and act on customer preferences, enabling more personalized recommendations and targeted marketing efforts.
Capturing Zero Party Data in the Customer Journey
Mapping zero party data collection to customer journeys ensures data is gathered at key moments: onboarding quizzes reveal user preferences, “back-in-stock” alerts capture purchase intentions, and exit surveys surface personalization clues late in the customer journey.
Analyzing customers interactions at each touchpoint allows brands to collect valuable first-party data and optimize personalized experiences throughout the journey.
Collecting First Party Data Without Compromise
Marketers collect data through various methods such as website behavior tracking, registration forms, and surveys. Collecting first party data (page-views, clicks, purchase history) remains fundamental, but marketers must also respect privacy concerns.
It is important to use responsible data practices when you collect first party data, ensuring compliance with privacy regulations and building customer trust. Balance every data request with a fair value exchange such as faster checkout, loyalty points, or richer personalized experiences.
The Role of Second Party Data in a Holistic Mix
Second party data (shared directly via data exchange platforms) fills gaps in your own channels without the opacity of third party aggregators. Retail media networks are a timely example, giving CPG brands aggregated but essentially first party data straight from a retailer’s customer data.
Party Data Strategy Framework
Map data type to use-case.
Audit existing party data assets.
Define zero party data collection goals.
Build preference centers and surveys.
Integrate first party data into the CDP.
Orchestrate marketing campaigns with explicit consent parameters.
Value Exchange: Why Customers Willingly Share
Customers are motivated to share data in exchange for a personalized experience, such as bespoke product recommendations, early access drops, or tailored loyalty rewards. Make the value exchange obvious and measurable.
Understanding personal contexts (like preferences, purchase intentions, and how customers want to be recognized) enables brands to tailor rewards and recommendations more accurately, further enhancing the personalized experience.
Personal Context and Predicting Customer Behavior
When you layer personal context (style, diet, location) over behavioral first party signals, and begin utilizing zero party data, you can predict customer behavior with surprising accuracy and ensure that marketing strategy aligns with customer desires, not assumptions.
This approach leads to a more satisfying customer's experience by allowing brands to tailor interactions and offerings based on explicit preferences and feedback.
Data Privacy Laws and Compliance
From GDPR to CCPA, data privacy laws prescribe explicit consent and purpose limitation. A robust party data strategy must weave compliance checkpoints directly into data collection flows.
Consent, Preference Centers, and Explicit Consent
A modern consent management platform should let users toggle topics, ad formats, and communication preferences in real time. Explicit consent toggles are the difference between compliant personalization and reputational risk.
Customer Relationship Management and CDPs
Feed zero party data, first party data, and second party data into your customer data platform. Then connect that unified profile to your CRM so sales and service teams can create personalized experiences across every channel.
High Data Quality and Data Governance
High-quality data beats sheer volume. Standardize data type definitions, create regular data quality audits, and document data privacy concerns in a single governance playbook.
Integrating First Party Data Across Own Channels
Email, SMS, push, and on-site banners are own channels that turn integrating first party data into direct revenue. Match preference center data with purchase history to segment audiences and fuel marketing campaigns that feel handcrafted.
Personalised Experiences Powered by Zero Party Data
Leverage zero party data to tailor dynamic product grids, swap hero banners, and even reshuffle navigation: all in real time, and all driven by customers’ explicit answers.
Marketing Strategy in a Cookieless World
Your marketing strategies must evolve to prioritize valuable data collected directly from customers, assuming that third party cookies will vanish entirely. Focus on collecting zero party data and strengthening first party assets while using second party data to round out customer profiles.
Leveraging valuable data from direct customer interactions enhances marketing effectiveness by enabling greater personalization and more refined marketing strategies.
Case Study: Retail Brand Using a Customer Data Platform
A European fashion retailer unified overall customer data and analyzed data collected at checkout by implementing capturing zero party data. The result: a 27 % lift in click-to-purchase rate and a 19 % gain in average order value, proving that customers intentionally share when the payoff is immediate.
The collected data was then leveraged to personalize marketing strategies and improve customer experience, leading to better marketing outcomes.
Google Topics API and the Privacy Sandbox
Third party cookie deprecation ushered in the Privacy Sandbox. The Topics API clusters consumer data into broad interests stored locally, offering anonymized targeting: useful, but nowhere near the precision of zero party data.
Choosing Data Exchange Platforms and Providers
When market research companies or social media platforms offer audience extensions, vet the data provider’s methodology, certification, and privacy practices. Shared data must meet your data quality bar or it’s simply noise.
External Sources Versus Your Company’s First Party Data
External sources can enrich segments, but never trade away the trust embedded in first party data. Make shared data additive, not foundational.
Competitive Advantage Through Party Data
Brands that center their marketing efforts on party data gain an early-mover edge as privacy rules tighten. Competitive advantage follows companies that integrate first party data with zero party insights and discard opaque data brokers.
Measuring Marketing Campaigns and Efforts
Tie conversion metrics to specific zero party fields: seasonal interest, purchase intentions, or preferred content formats—to see which value exchange resonates.
Future Trends: AI and Predictive Analytics
AI models trained on high quality zero party data predict customer needs more accurately than models stuck in third party data mud. Expect advanced identity resolution, next-best-offer models, and hyper-personalized experiences to surge.
Zero Party Data Strategy Checklist
Define zero party data KPI targets.
Map zero party data collection to key touchpoints.
Embed value exchange headlines.
Store in the customer data platform with data quality controls.
Activate across own channels.
Iterate, measure, and refine.
Conclusion: Gain Access to a Sustainable Future
Cookies are on life-support, but customer relationships are healthier than ever: so long as you respect privacy, offer transparent value exchange, and anchor every marketing campaign in zero party data, first party data, and well-governed second party data. The result is a resilient, future-proof strategy that wins trust today and revenue tomorrow.