With online privacy increasingly becoming a concern for users, third-party cookies are experiencing a slow but steady demise. Google intends to phase out third-party cookies in Chrome in the second half of 2024, while 42.7% of internet users worldwide aged between 16-64 use ad-blocking tools at least once a month.

Where does that leave marketers that rely on user data to reach, target, and acquire new customers? 

As consumers move into a more digitally-savvy, privacy-conscious, and cookieless world, ad tech is mobilizing itself towards first-party data. 

In this piece, we explain the growing importance of first-party data in digital advertising. We also look at how you can use this data to build better experiences across the customer lifecycle, from targeting to segmentation — and help your organization grow.

What are the different types of data?

Not all data is created equal. By understanding all forms of data, advertisers can grasp how each one can impact their business’s bottom line. We break down the different types below:

1. First-party data: It is collected with the knowledge of prospects or customers via your own channels, such as your app or website. For instance, using first-party cookies, or via lead generation. It comes from surveys, email subscribers, demographic data, purchase history, sales interactions, and customer feedback. Ultimately, first-party data is the most valuable, accurate, and high-quality. It offers an accurate view into the buyer journey that drives better personalization and integration at a lower cost. 
2. Second-party data: It is gathered from trusted media partners or purchased through data marketplaces. Like first-party data, it must be privacy-compliant, high-quality, accurate, and relevant. The data that media publishers sell to advertisers falls under this category. Hence, trust in your partners is a vital component to gaining reliable data that can help you increase your market reach by connecting to new audiences. 
3. Third-party data: It is anonymous data from companies that don’t have a direct relationship with customers. It is usually purchased programmatically via a demand-side platform (DMP) partner or vendor. As the data comes from different sources and is aggregated into a single dataset, it may not always be accurate. However, when combined with first-party data, it can hugely help broaden your audience and improve targeting. Third-party cookies fall under this category.

Why is first-party data essential for the future of online advertising?

With third-party cookies on their way out in 2024, there is no time to waste. Gathering first-party data is the future-proof solution to stay competitive.

Customers are inundated with choices. So, the brands that stand out and garner success in their omnichannel campaigns are the ones that speak directly to the consumer, offering a tailored user experience and well-crafted messaging.

That’s why knowing your customers is vital. Building a privacy-compliant detailed picture of your user persona enables better targeting, segmentation, and personalization — thus, improving the overall customer experience to increase revenue streams. ‍

How can you leverage first-party data in advertising campaigns?

Firstly, all types of data must be cleaned and validated before being used. Following that, the data can be used for targeting and messaging users.

Given that advertising based on third-party cookie technology is becoming less reliable, brands must find ways to source data differently. The success of your future advertising campaigns will depend on effective targeting based on proprietary first-party data. That’s what we offer on the ResearchGate platform.

You can leverage our first-party data to expand your reach, build brand awareness, and increase targeting opportunities – for example, by sending timely, personalized ads, and driving more qualified leads. Find out more below.

How you can maximize your advertising campaigns using ResearchGate

As an advertiser, teaming up with a specialized platform like ResearchGate enables you to benefit from behavioral data that is contextualized, detailed, and highly relevant to your industry. You can benefit from:

• First-party profile data: Our approach to targeting starts with a deep foundation of first-party, self-reported data that is privacy compliant. We collect it from researchers, who are encouraged to keep their profiles up to date. As a result, our data sets contain member-generated information such as name, role field, background, and seniority. They also include publication-based data like research activities, interests, and citations. 
• Our granular approach to targeting: We leverage these rich datasets — with profile, behavioral and contextual on-site data — to form a hypothesis about the broad audience segments that your message will most resonate with. We then refine the ad’s message and placement and the groups of researchers, as they use the platform for their research, to help you boost campaign performance. 
• Targeting users by Research Area and Method: Instead of targeting users with keywords and terms, you can select industry-specific targeting criteria. These include Research Area (including Biomechanics, Bacteriology, Cell Therapy, and many more), Method (3D printing, Vaccine development, etc), regions, country, industry, and career level.

The future of data for advertisers

You should constantly review and optimize how you collect, integrate, and utilize user data. And as we move into a first-party data-driven future, there is no better time to start preparing your strategy to leverage first-party data in your ad campaigns to reach your target audience and generate actionable leads.  

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Discover how profile, behavioral, and contextual targeting data can be leveraged to help you reach the right audience on our platform. Download our report here to find out more.