As the internet begins to migrate away from third-party cookies, here are three common barriers your business might face while integrating first-party-only data.

Common Challenges to First Party Data Only Integration | Union

3 Common Barriers to First-Party-Data Integration

We’re in the midst of a data revolution. We know that cookies will not be the basis for how brands track their customers and potential customers in the future. Over the next year, <a href="https://signal.co/resources/value-of-first-party-data-strategy/">82% of marketers</a> strongly agree that they will increase their first-party data integration. Unfortunately, almost <a href="https://www.iab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/IAB_Ipsos_State_Of_Data_2021-03.pdf">40% of marketing data leaders</a> expect to spend significant time on the challenges they have in migrating away from third-party cookies.
Making the shift to first-party data will be a challenge for brands of all sizes – one that all brands will need to overcome to continue to drive success in the cookieless world of the future. At Union, as we’ve guided first-party data transformations, we’ve discovered three core barriers that keep companies from moving toward first-party data.

From the C-suite down to your newest hires, a lack of internal knowledge around the changing data landscape is one of the first barriers brands need to overcome. Without internal buy-in, it can be hard to get the budget or internal resourcing necessary to transition. 
Or, it could be an internal lack of actionable knowledge. For example, how, exactly, is your company going to make the shift away from its reliance on third-party data?
In both instances, education is key to success. Brands will either need to train existing staff, hire new team members that have the required skills, or partner with <a href="https://union.co/services/data-brand-strategy/data-science-analytics">an agency that has the necessary expertise</a>.

Barrier 1: Internal team knowledge

Creating a plan to address, collect and store first-party data requires upfront investment in tools, systems and human expertise. As many marketing budgets are set a year (or several) in advance, resourcing may not be available to make these investments in real-time as they are needed.
An additional struggle? Even if your brand has the capital available, you may not yet know the best way it should be deployed. Should you put the money into a new cloud-based system? Better cyber security? New data-collection methods?
Finding the right partner can help limit your risk of spending your dollars ineffectively.

Barrier 2: Monetary investment

The third most common barrier to a successful data migration is the lack of a working plan. Brands have the desire, knowledge and resources to transition to first-party-data-only campaigns, but they don’t know where to begin. 
Our recommendation? Start with an audit of your existing data sources and how your data is being used to support your campaign efforts. 
Use this audit to get a clear understanding of how you’re currently leveraging third-party data and what systems/campaigns will be most affected by the transition to a first-party-data-only environment. 
From there, you can identify the new software and tools you’ll need to invest in to support this switch to first-party data, as well as an implementation roadmap to guide your migration.

Barrier 3: Putting the right systems and plans in place

We’ve laid out even more best practices and recommendations (including five steps to preparing for a cookieless world today) in our newest white paper. Download your copy of Preparing for A Cookieless World: How To Transition to First-Party Data-Only Marketing Campaigns That Drive Performance by <a href="https://union.co/white-papers/preparing-for-a-cookieless-world-whitepaper" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">clicking the link here.</a>

The end is here for third-party data. Is your brand ready?

Union is a creative &amp; performance marketing agency that creates omni-channel campaigns, unleashing creativity on a data-driven world, helping brands produce memorable, measurable and repeatable results. Obsessed with data-driven performance, we believe every marketing dollar should be viewed as an investment. Our clients expect a meaningful return and we prove the ROI of our work with quantifiable data.