How to Collect First-Party Data
Chapter 3 in our Data-Driven Marketing Guide
Abby FieldsWelcome to chapter three, data guru.
Learn how to collect first-party data with these three first-party data collection techniques:
1. Implement lead generation forms
One of the easiest ways to collect first-party data is to implement lead generation forms that will help you collect valuable information about the users interested in your products and services.
Lead generation forms can be contact forms or free quote forms and can help you gather essential information about your audience.
But how can you create effective lead generation forms that collect the first-party data you need instead of causing users to back out? With our top tips, that’s how!
Check out these three tips for maximizing this first-party data collection technique:
Think about which information is the most important
It’s essential to include the right amount of required fields in your forms to encourage users to complete them. If you request too much information from your leads, it might cause them to back out, leaving you without that valuable data.
That means you’ll want to think about which information is the most important for your business to collect. Keep in mind that you can always follow up with your leads later to collect even more details.
For example, you can ask users about their:
- Demographics, such as location and age
- Email address
- Job position
- Name (or company name if you use a B2B model)
- Budget
- Products and services they’re interested in
- And more
You can also leave an optional comments field where your leads can add any other information they might want to share.
Make certain fields optional
Now that you have an idea about the information you want to collect from your audience, you might want to consider which fields can be left optional. Some of your fields might not relate to all of your leads, or users might not want to spend a lot of time answering questions.
For example, if a lead is at the top of your sales funnel and is only interested in learning more about your business and the products and services you offer, they might not want to give details about their business or budget. And you don’t want that to prevent your leads from contacting you.
So by leaving some of your fields optional, you can encourage more users to complete your lead generation form, allowing you to collect more first-party data as a result.
Run A/B tests
The best way to find out if your lead generation forms are effective is to run A/B tests. A/B testing can help you test multiple versions of your form so you can learn which ones perform the best with your audience.
A/B tests can help you determine how many fields users are willing to fill in and which questions might turn them away. Plus, you can create more effective lead generation forms that boost your leads and conversions and help you gain essential information about your target audience.
2. Use data tracking tools
First-party data collection enables you to learn more about your audience’s behavior on your website, such as how much time they spend on certain pages and whether they are a new or returning visitor.
Fortunately, there are plenty of data tracking tools available to help you collect and analyze valuable first-party data about your website visitors, like Google Analytics.
Google Analytics is a popular web analytics platform that gives you access to real-time data about your website and audience. You can use Google Analytics to access a plethora of data and reports about your web pages and the users that visit them.
With Google Analytics, you can:
- View the sources of your web traffic and leads
- View how users interact with your content
- Learn characteristics about your audience, such as their demographics
- See how and which users convert into customers
- View which web pages are the most popular
- Track how many new and returning users visit your site
- See what type of device your website visitors are using
- View how much time users spend on your website
- Analyze essential metrics, such as your bounce rate
- And much more!
For Google Analytics to work, you’ll need to add a snippet of JavaScript code to your website to start tracking valuable data about your site. Then each time a user visits a page on your website with that code, Google Analytics will begin tracking valuable data and information that you can use to implement data-driven marketing strategies in the future.
3. Promote your brand on multiple channels
If you want to collect first-party data from your audience, you’ll need to get them to notice your brand in the first place. And promoting your brand on multiple online channels can help you increase your online visibility, drive more traffic to your website, and earn more leads for your business in the process.
Plus, many channels, like social media platforms, come with their own targeting options so you can get your business in front of the consumers who are most likely to show interest in your products and services.
Here are just a few channels you can use to promote your business:
Search engine optimization (SEO)
With more than 70% of users researching businesses, products, and services online, SEO is an excellent way to boost your brand awareness and encourage more leads for your company.
To ultimately earn more data about your audience, getting more users to visit your website and learn more about your brand and the products and services you offer is essential.
An SEO strategy can help you appear at the top of the search results each time a user searches for keywords that relate to your business. As a result, you can outrank your biggest competitors and drive more web traffic and leads for your business.
Pay-per-click (PPC) advertisements
PPC ads are another excellent way to generate more leads, web traffic, and conversions for your business. Plus, with PPC ads, you can target your advertisements based on the keywords your audience is searching for online.
With PPC ads, you can conduct keyword research to identify the best keywords related to your business.
You can then bid on these words and phrases for your advertisement. With a successful bid, plus a high Quality Score and Ad Rank, your ads can appear at the top of the search results each time a user searches for keywords related to your business.
As a result, you can increase your brand awareness and encourage more users to check out your website and the products and services you offer, enabling you to gain more information and data about your audience in the process.
Social media
You can also promote your business on multiple social media platforms, such as:
Plus, you can take advantage of their targeting features to get your products in front of high-quality consumers who are most likely to purchase your products and services.
Not only can you advertise on social media, but you can also communicate and engage with your audience. For example, you can ask for feedback and conduct polls to learn more about your customers.
As a result, you can collect first-party data about your customers and improve your marketing strategies for the future to reach more members of your target audience.
FAQs about first-party data collection
Get answers to your first-party data collection questions with these FAQs:
What is first-party data?
First-party data is data collected by your organization from its audience. You can collect first-party data via website forms, website analytics tools, social media profiles, customer relationship management (CRM) software, and more.
Why collect first-party data?
With the phase-out of third-party cookies on the horizon, it’s essential to start evaluating other options to gather information about your audience to create data-driven marketing strategies.
Luckily, first-party data collection is the perfect way to learn more about your audience, so you can create personalized and targeted advertisements that drive impressive results for your business.
Collect more first-party data to maximize your strategies with WebFX
Collecting first-party data is becoming more and more essential as third-party cookies begin to phase out. If you’re ready to start collecting valuable first-party data for your business and need some help getting started, WebFX has got you covered.
WebFX is an industry-leading digital marketing agency, specializing in using data to inform your marketing and advertising campaigns.
We can help you track and analyze essential first-party data about your audience with our top-tier digital marketing services. And we’ll use that data to create effective data-driven marketing strategies that will help you achieve the highest possible return on investment (ROI) for your business.
Are you ready to take your business to new heights? Speak with one of our strategists today by calling 888-601-5359 or contact us online to learn more about we can help drive more revenue for your company.