Take the Guesswork Out of Creating a Better User Experience

With zero-party data, know exactly what your customers want and expect.

We know that what customers need, want, and expect is important regardless of the industry, and creating customer-centric communications should be a priority for any brand.

But, how do I know what my customers want?

Easy. Your customers tell you. And if you’re not leveraging zero-party data, you may not even realize it.

Zero-party data consists of any data a customer deliberately shares with your business — and unlike first-party data, zero-party data allows customers to share their preferences for your brand’s services or products, giving you critical insights into wants, needs, interests, and purchase intent, all while saving you from having to cobble together implied or modeled preferences from behavioral interactions.

We’ve talked before about how brands can set up a value exchange to get zero-party data by offering special discounts or tangible rewards. However, you don’t always need to give something away to encourage consumers to provide data. Simply offering a more seamless user experience in exchange for data is often enough — and in our opinion, is one of the best ways.

Are there advantages to using zero-party data for customizing the user experience?

Yes! In fact, four major advantages of using zero-party data or any other type of customer data include:

1. One-to-one conversations.

When customers share insights and then see them reflected in communications, the interactions feel more personal. And this more personalized messaging feels more like it’s being sent by a human than a bot from a faceless company. The result is a more engaged customer who is more personally invested in a brand that feels authentic, that listens, and talks with them versus at them.

2. No guessing.

If you love complex analyses and intricate algorithms, you’ll be saddened to know that with zero-party data, you can eliminate the guesswork. It really is as simple as customers telling you exactly what they want right now as well as for the future.

On the bright side for data scientists, zero-party data represents rich survey data that you can use to segment customers, gain insights, and engage in a relevant way. And for the inevitable cohort of customers who haven’t or won’t answer the questions, you can leverage lookalike modeling to infer their zero-party segment or responses to individual zero-party questions and develop the same relevant communications.

3. Definite hand-raisers.

Customers who are willing to engage with your brand by taking the time to share their preferences are proactively invested. Identifying this distinctly active group among your consumers gives you the unique opportunity to create a genuine and more engaging experience.

4. Transparency is key.

Being upfront with your customers about how you plan to use their data encourages engagement and loyalty. In fact, 78% of customers “are more loyal to companies that are transparent about how their data is used.”

But be careful.

Namely, stay away from over-asking. Lightly prompt your customer to share but don’t be pushy and clearly lay out the value-exchange upfront. Tell your customer what they should expect if/when they do share their zero-party data.

Ready to get started with zero-party data? Get in touch with us at hello@havashelia.com.