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• How to Implement Cross-Channel Analytics : A Guide for Marketers

  17 avril 2024, par Erin

  Every modern marketer knows they have to connect with consumers across several channels. But do you know how well Instagram works alongside organic traffic or your email list ? Are you even tracking the impacts of these channels in one place ?

  You need a cross-channel analytics solution if you answered no to either of these questions. 

  In this article, we’ll explain cross-channel analytics, why your company probably needs it and how to set up a cross-channel analytics solution as quickly and easily as possible.

  What is cross-channel analytics ? 

  Cross-channel analytics is a form of marketing analytics that collects and analyses data from every channel and campaign you use.

  The result is a comprehensive view of your customer’s journey and each channel’s role in converting customers. 

  Cross-channel analytics lets you track every channel you use to convert customers, including :

  • Your website
  • Social media profiles
  • Email
  • Paid search
  • E-commerce
  • Retargeting campaigns

  Cross-channel analytics solves one of the most significant issues of cross-channel or multi-channel marketing efforts : measurement. 

  Research shows that only 16% of marketing tech stacks allow for accurate measurement of multi-channel initiatives across channels. 

  That’s a problem, given the staggering number of touchpoints in a typical buyer’s conversion path. However, it can be fixed using a cross-channel analytics approach that lets you measure the performance of every channel and assign a dollar value to its role in every conversion. 

  The difference between cross-channel analytics and multi-channel analytics

  Cross-channel analytics and multi-channel analytics sound very similar, but there’s one key difference you need to know. Multi-channel analytics measures the performance of several channels, but not necessarily all of them, nor the extent to which they work together to drive conversions. Conversely, cross-channel analytics measures the performance of all your marketing channels and how they work together. 

  What are the benefits of cross-channel analytics 

  Cross-channel analytics offers a lot of marketing and business benefits. Here are the ones marketing managers love most.

  Get a complete view of the customer journey

  Implementing a cross-channel analytics solution is the only way to get a complete view of your customer journey. 

  Cross-channel marketing analytics lets you see your customer journey in high definition, allowing you to build comprehensive customer profiles using data from multiple sources across every touchpoint. 

  

  The result ? You get to understand how every customer behaves at every point of the customer journey, why they convert or leave your funnel, and which channels play the biggest role. 

  In short, you get to see why customers convert so you can learn how to convert more of them.

  Personalise the customer experience

  According to a McKinsey study, customers demand personalisation, and brands that excel at it generate 40% more revenue. Deliver the personalisation they desire and reap the benefits with cross-channel analytics. 

  When you understand the customer journey in detail, it becomes much easier to personalise your website and marketing efforts to their preferences and behaviours.

  Identify your most effective marketing channels

  Cross-channel marketing helps you understand your marketing efforts to see how every channel impacts conversions. 

  Take a look at the screenshot from Matomo below. Cross-channel analytics lets you get incredibly granular — we can see the number of conversions of organic search drives and the performance of individual search engines. 

  

  This makes it easy to identify your most effective marketing channels and allocate your resources appropriately. It also allows you to ask (and answer) which channels are the most effective.

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  Attribute conversions accurately 

  An attribution model decides how you assign credit for each customer conversion to different touchpoints on the customer journey. Without a cross-channel analytics solution, you’re stuck using a standard attribution model like first or last click. 

  These models will show you how customers first found your brand or which channel finally convinced them to convert, but it doesn’t help you understand the role all your channels played in the conversion. 

  Cross-channel analytics solves this attribution problem. Rather than attributing a conversion to the touchpoint that directly led to the sale, cross-channel data gives you the real picture and allows you to use multi-touch attribution to understand which touchpoints generate the most revenue.

  How to set up cross-channel analytics

  Now that you know what cross-channel analytics is and why you should use it, here’s how to set up your solution. 

  1. Determine your objectives

  Defining your marketing goals will help you build a more relevant and actionable cross-channel analytics solution. 

  If you want to improve marketing attribution, for example, you can choose a platform with that feature built-in. If you care about personalisation, you could choose a platform with A/B testing capabilities to measure the impact of your personalisation efforts. 

  1. Set relevant KPIs

  You’ll want to track relevant KPIs to measure the marketing effectiveness of each channel. Put top-of-the-funnel metrics aside and focus on conversion metrics. 

  These include :

  • Conversion rate
  • Average visit duration
  • Bounce rate

  1. Implement tracking and analytics tools

  Gathering customer data from every channel and centralising it in a single location is one of the biggest challenges of cross-channel analytics. Still, it’s made easier with the right tracking tool or analytics platform. 

  The trick is to choose a platform that lets you measure as many of your channels as possible in a single platform. With Matomo, for example, you can track search, paid search, social and email campaigns and your website analytics.

  1. Set up a multi-touch attribution model

  Now that you have all of your data in one place, you can set up a multi-touch attribution model that lets you understand the extent to which each marketing channel contributes to your overall success. 

  There are several attribution models to choose from, including :

  

  Each model has benefits and drawbacks, so choosing the right model for your organisation can be tricky. Rather than take a wild guess, evaluate each model against your marketing objectives, sales length cycle and data availability.

  For example, if you want to focus on optimising customer acquisition costs, a model that prioritises earlier touchpoints will be better. If you care about conversions, you might try a time decay model. 

  1. Turn data into insights with reports

  One of the big benefits of choosing a tool like Matomo, which consolidates data in one place, is that it significantly speeds up and simplifies reporting.

  When all the data is stored in one platform, you don’t need to spend hours combing through your social media platforms and copying and pasting analytics data into a spreadsheet. It’s all there and ready for you to run reports.

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  Get the web insights you need, without compromising data accuracy.

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  1. Take action

  There’s no point implementing a cross-channel analytics system if you aren’t going to take action. 

  But where should you start ?

  Optimising your budgets and prioritising marketing spend is a great starting point. Use your cross-channel insights to find your most effective marketing channels (they’re the ones that convert the most customers or have the highest ROI) and allocate more of your budget to them. 

  You can also optimise the channels that aren’t pulling their weight if social media is letting you down ; for example, experiment with tactics like social commerce that could drive more conversions. Alternatively, you could choose to stop investing entirely in these channels.

  Cross-channel analytics best practices

  If you already have a cross-channel analytics solution, take things to the next level with the following best practices. 

  Use a centralised solution to track everything

  Centralising your data in one analytics tool can streamline your marketing efforts and help you stay on top of your data. It won’t just save you from tabbing between different browsers or copying and pasting everything into a spreadsheet, but it can also make it easier to create reports. 

  Think about consumer privacy 

  If you are looking at a new cross-channel analytics tool, consider how it accounts for data privacy regulations in your area. 

  You’re going to be collecting a lot of data, so it’s important to respect their privacy wishes. 

  It’s best to choose a platform like Matomo that complies with the strictest privacy laws (CCPA, GDPR, etc.).

  Monitor data in real time

  So, you’ve got a holistic view of your marketing efforts by integrating all your channels into a single tool ?

  Great, now go further by monitoring the impact of your marketing efforts in real time.

  

  With a web analytics platform like Matomo, you can see who visits your site, what they do, and where they come from through features like the visits log report, which even lets you view individual user sessions. This lets you measure the impact of posting on a particular social channel or launching a new offer. 

  Try Matomo for Free

  Get the web insights you need, without compromising data accuracy.

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  No credit card required

  Reallocate marketing budgets based on performance

  When you track every channel, you can use a multi-touch attribution model like position-based or time-decay to give every channel the credit it deserves. But don’t just credit each channel ; turn your valuable insights into action. 

  Use cross-channel attribution analytics data to reallocate your marketing budget to the most profitable channels or spend time optimising the channels that aren’t pulling their weight. 

  Cross-channel analytics platforms to get started with 

  The marketing analytics market is huge. Mordor Intelligence valued it at $6.31 billion in 2024 and expects it to reach $11.54 billion by 2029. Many of these platforms offer cross-channel analytics, but few can track the impact of multiple marketing channels in one place. 

  So, rather than force you to trawl through confusing product pages, we’ve shortlisted three of the best cross-channel analytics solutions. 

  Matomo

  

  Matomo is a web analytics platform that lets you collect and centralise your marketing data while giving you 100% accurate data. That includes search, social, e-commerce, campaign tracking data and comprehensive website analytics.

  Better still, you get the necessary tools to turn those insights into action. Custom reporting lets you track and visualise the metrics that matter, while conversion optimisation tools like built-in A/B testing, heatmaps, session recordings and more let you test your theories. 

  Google Analytics

  

  Google Analytics is the most popular and widely used tool on the market. The level of analysis and customisation you can do with it is impressive for a free tool. That includes tracking just about any event and creating reports from scratch. 

  Google Analytics provides some cross-channel marketing features and lets you track the impact of various channels, such as social and search, but there are a couple of drawbacks. 

  Privacy can be a concern because Google Analytics collects data from your customers for its own remarketing purposes. 

  It also uses data sampling to generate wider insights from a small subset of your data. This lack of accurate data reporting can cause you to generate false insights.

  With Google Analytics, you’ll also need to subscribe to additional tools to gain advanced insights into the user experience. So, consider that while this tool is free, you’ll need to pay for heatmaps, session recording and A/B testing tools to optimise effectively.

  Improvado

  

  Improvado is an analytics tool for sales and marketing teams that extracts thousands of metrics from hundreds of sources. It centralises data in data warehouses, from which you can create a range of marketing dashboards.

  While Improvado does have analytics capabilities, it is primarily an ETL (extraction, transform, load) tool for organisations that want to centralise all their data. That means marketers who aren’t familiar with data transformations may struggle to get their heads around the complexity of the platform.

  Make the most of cross-channel analytics with Matomo

  Cross-channel analytics is the only way to get a comprehensive view of your customer journey and understand how your channels work together to drive conversions.

  Then you’re dealing with so many channels and data ; keeping things as simple as possible is the key to success. That’s why over 1 million websites choose Matomo. 

  Our all-in-one analytics solution measures traditional web analytics, behavioural analytics, attribution and SEO, so you have 100% accurate data in one place. 

  Try it free for 21 days. No credit card required.

  Try Matomo for Free

  21 day free trial. No credit card required.

  
  

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• The Only 7 Lead Generation Tools You Need in 2024

  7 mars 2024, par Erin

  If you can’t get leads, you can’t get customers. To ensure you always have a steady stream of new customers (and revenue), you need to equip yourself with lead generation tools.

  Lead gen software does the heavy lifting for you so you can focus on providing great products and great services. With it, you’ll be able to turn more strangers into customers and grow your business.

  And you don’t need a ton of tools to get the job done, either. Consolidating your tech stack to a few select tools will help you get more done in less time (and with less confusion).

  In this article, we’ll analyse the top seven lead generation tools to help you grow your business in 2024.

  Let’s dive in.

  What is a lead generation tool ?

  A lead generation tool is software you can use to turn strangers into customers. It helps you draw customers into your sales funnel by learning their contact details, like their email address or phone number.

  

  Lead generation tools are great levers you can pull to drive high-quality leads. They remove the grunt work by automating the lead generation process. 

  Whether it’s through creating lead magnets, offering conversion rate analytics, helping you create high-quality forms or automating the lead follow-up process, lead generation tools can bring in new customers to grow your business.

  The top 7 lead generation tools in 2024

  To land more leads, you need to ensure you’re leveraging the right software. With so many to choose from, here’s just a handful of the best ones available :

  

  1. Matomo : Best conversion optimisation tool

  Matomo is an open-source website analytics tool dedicated to protecting user privacy and data. Trusted on over 1 million websites, the platform offers in-depth insights into your web traffic, including conversion data.

  

  Why Matomo ? Matomo is trusted by over 1 million websites, including the United Nations and the European Commission, making it the leading choice for privacy-focused web analytics.

  It comes equipped with a suite of conversion optimisation features to help you generate more leads. You can easily analyse your target audience’s behaviour while also respecting users’ privacy.

  Standout features : In-depth visitor tracking, From Analytics, Session Recordings, A/B Testing, Heatmaps Marketing Attribution, roll-up reporting (pulling data from multiple sites), Google Analytics importing. and more.

  Integrations : Cloudflare, WooCommerce, Squarespace, Shopify, Drupal, Magento, Vue, SharePoint, WordPress, Wix, Webflow, GoDaddy, Jimdo, Joomla, Kajabi. and more.

  Pricing : Starts free for Matomo On-Premise and increases to $23/month for Matomo Cloud (which includes a free 21-day trial with no credit card required).

  Pros

  • 100% accurate data with no data sampling
  • Leading web analytics tool for respecting visitor privacy
  • Compliant with the strictest privacy laws, like the GDPR
  • No need for cookie consent banner (except in the UK and Germany)
  • Wide range of advanced features to optimise your website and increase conversions
  • Cloud hosting and on-premise options for flexibility

  Cons

  • Matomo On-Premise requires technical expertise (but for the less technical, the Cloud option works instantly)
  • On-Premise plugins are an additional cost

  Try Matomo for Free

  Get the web insights you need, without compromising data accuracy.

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  2. HubSpot : Best all-in-one CRM for organising leads

  HubSpot is a customer relationship management (CRM) and marketing software with over 194,000 customers worldwide. This user-friendly platform is dedicated to helping businesses of all sizes manage leads and customers.

  

  Why HubSpot ? HubSpot Marketing integrates seamlessly with the HubSpot CRM to help with everything from lead capture to conversion. The platform also features a free version — a great starting place for lead generation and management.

  Standout features : A robust set of no-code lead gen tools, like ads, forms, customisable landing pages, lead capture templates for potential customers, email campaigns, analytics dashboards and a free CRM to track leads.

  Integrations : Google Ads, WordPress, Jotform, Facebook Ads, Magento, Shopify, Weebly, WordPress, Zapier and Drupal.

  Pricing : Starts free for anyone and increases to $800/month for a professional plan.

  Pros

  • User-friendly interface
  • All-in-one lead management solution
  • Easy integration with HubSpot CRM
  • Simple analytics for beginners
  • Includes landing page tools
  • Offers email marketing tools to nurture leads

  Cons

  • Free version has limited functionality
  • Expensive jump to paid plans

  3. Leadfeeder : Best for finding warm B2B leads

  Leadfeeder is a business-to-business (B2B) marketing tool that shows B2B brands which companies are visiting their websites and gives them contact information to reach out to the right decision-makers.

  

  Why Leadfeeder ? Leadfeeder simplifies outreach for B2B organisations because it shows you what businesses are interacting with your website. Rather than trying to reach out to completely cold leads, the tool highlights brands that are already checking out your content and offerings.

  Standout features : Many account-based marketing (ABM) tools enable you to discover B2B accounts with insights into when you should contact them after they visit your site, as well as their job titles. The platform also includes a range of features that notify you and your sales team when qualified B2B leads come to your site so that you can move to capture them quickly.

  Integrations : Zoho, Google Chat, Pipedrive, Salesforce, Google Looker Studio, ActiveCampaign, HubSpot, Mailchimp, Microsoft Dynamics and Slack.

  Pricing : Starts at $139/month (includes a 14-day free trial).

  Pros

  • Easily find prospective customers
  • Track website visitors and potential customers freely
  • Simple filtering capabilities

  Cons

  • Few integrations available
  • Can be difficult to contact customer support

  4. OptinMonster : Best all-in-one lead generation form tool

  Founded in 2013, OptinMonster has over 1.2 million users worldwide. It offers a wide range of lead gen tools led by robust form tools that turn your target audience into leads.

  

  Why OptinMonster ? The platform is one of the most reputable lead generation platforms available. With nearly 100 lead capture templates, it’s highly customisable to almost any business looking to begin capturing leads with different forms.

  Standout features : 95 customisable form templates, drag-and-drop builders, onsite retargeting, segmentation, A/B testing and exit-intent popups that present forms when a user is about to leave the site.

  Integrations : Constant Contact, ConvertKit, ActiveCampaign, Salesforce Pardot, Campaign Monitor, HubSpot, Jilt, Keap and Mailchimp.

  Pricing : Starts at $16/month (no free trial offered).

  Pros

  • Easy drag-and-drop form-builder
  • Wide range of form templates
  • Customisable forms for any business
  • Simple A/B testing to help optimise form performance

  Cons

  • No free trial available
  • Growth features, like onsite retargeting, are only available on higher-tiered plans

  5. Intercom : Best live chat tool for capturing leads

  Intercom is one of the top live chat tools for helping businesses maintain solid communication with their customers. Founded in 2011, this live chat platform serves over 25,000 users around the world with a simple, sophisticated experience and seamless lead generation features.

  

  Why Intercom ? Intercom is a live chat tool first. But many people don’t know it’s also a simple lead capture tool. When people think of lead generation, they think of static or popup forms. But Intercom allows you to capture forms directly within a live chat conversation.

  Standout features : Lead generation via live chat that allows you to naturally capture potential customers’ information to turn them into a lead. The tool also comes equipped with chatbots that can automate the communication and lead gen process on autopilot.

  Integrations : Pipedrive, Typeform, Google Analytics, Zapier, Calendly, Salesforce, Stripe, Campaign Monitor, Clearbit Reveal and HubSpot.

  Pricing : Starts at $39/month (with a 21-day free trial).

  Pros

  • Live chat lead gen capture
  • Chatbot lead generation automation
  • Wide range of integrations and apps
  • User-friendly interface

  Cons

  • Fairly expensive for small businesses
  • Customer support isn’t the fastest

  6. Callingly : Best for making inbound calls with leads

  Callingly is a sophisticated call software that lets you get the most out of every inbound call you get from leads. Founded in 2019, this software company gives valuable insights into your inbound call leads, pulling information from various integrations and forms.

  

  Why Callingly ? Callingly is a robust call software that gathers lead information through forms, lead magnets, landing pages and forms. The software also has intelligent routing, which sends a call to the most relevant salesperson.

  Standout features : Advanced lead routing ensures inbound leads are directed to the most appropriate sales rep based on their unique needs and geographic location. The tool is also equipped with call tracking, analytics, lead source tracking and more to help personalise the experience for quick capture and conversion of leads.

  Integrations : ClickFunnels, Pipedrive, Salesforce, Drip, Aircall, HubSpot, Jotform, OptinMonster, Unbounce and Zapier.

  Pricing : Starts at $49/month (with a 14-day free trial).

  Pros

  • Instantly see robust caller information based on previous interactions
  • Intelligent routing places leads with the right sales reps
  • Call recordings to capture data and transfer it into your CRM
  • Voicemail and caller ID capabilities
  • Reporting and analytics for performance tracking

  Cons

  • Doesn’t include lead segmentation
  • Limited customisations
  • No email integration

  7. Notion : Best for creating informational lead magnets

  Notion is one of the most popular collaboration tools on the Internet. Founded in 2013, the platform has over 35 million users worldwide. While it’s known primarily for its advanced note-taking capabilities, Notion is also a simple tool you can use to create informational lead magnets.

  

  Why Notion ? Notion is a simple yet powerful tool you can use to create almost anything. If you want to generate more leads, then creating a free info product with Notion is a simple and effective way to do that. It enables you to create ebooks, digital courses and video courses without having to rely on expensive software.

  Standout features : Documentation tools, note-taking, collaborative documents and duplication capabilities. It’s simple to create a high-value informational product, like an ebook or course with multiple chapters.

  Integrations : Audienceful, Miro, Momentum, Slack, ChatGPT, Clockify, Desktop.com, SureTriggers, Trello and Google Drive.

  Pricing : Starts at $8/month (no free trial available).

  Pros

  • Easy to create a digital product or lead magnet
  • Leads have access with a simple link
  • Lead magnet can be updated in real time
  • AI writing assistant
  • Drag-and-drop functionality
  • User-friendly interface
  • Low-cost pricing plans

  Cons

  • No free trial available (though there is a free version)
  • Search function could use some improvement
  • Performance isn’t the fastest

  Use Matomo to generate more leads

  If you want more leads, then you need to start tracking your website’s forms.

  With Matomo, you get access to features like Form Analytics, A/B Testing, Heatmaps, and Session Recordings to help with conversion rate optimisation.

  Recently, Concrete CMS leveraged Matomo’s funnel analysis feature to improve its lead capture. The CMS was then able to identify bottlenecks in user onboarding. Matomo’s insights showed that users were getting stuck at the address input stage of the form.

  By tweaking their form, Concrete CMS tripled their leads in just a few days.

  If you want to improve your lead generation, then get started with Matomo’s 21-day free trial today. No credit card required.

  Try Matomo for Free

  21 day free trial. No credit card required.

  
  

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• First-party data explained : Benefits, use cases and best practices

  25 juillet, par Joe

  Third-party cookies are being phased out, and marketers who still depend on them for user insights need to find alternatives.

  Google delayed the complete deprecation of third-party cookies until early 2025, but many other browsers, such as Mozilla, Brave, and Safari, have already put a stop to them. Plus, looking at the number of data leak incidents, like the one where Twitter leaked 200 million user emails, collecting and using first-party data is a great alternative. 

  In this post, we explore the ins and outs of first-party data and examine how to collect it. We’ll also look at various use cases and best practices to implement first-party data collection.

  What is first-party data ?

  First-party data is information organisations collect directly from customers through their owned channels. 

  Organisations can capture data without intermediaries when people interact with their website, mobile app, social media accounts or other customer-facing systems.

  For example, businesses can track visitor behaviour, such as bounce rates and time spent browsing particular pages. This activity is considered first-party data when it occurs on the brand’s digital property.

  Some examples include :

  • Demographics : Age, gender, location, income level
  • Contact information : Email addresses, phone numbers
  • Behavioural insights : Topics of interest, content engagement, browsing history
  • Transactional data : Purchase history, shopping preferences

  A defining characteristic is that this information comes straight from the source, with the customer’s willingness and consent. This direct collection method is why first-party data is widely regarded as more reliable and accurate than second or third-party data. With browsers like Chrome fully phasing out third-party cookies by the end of 2025, the urgency for adopting more first-party data strategies is accelerating across industries.

  How to collect first-party data 

  Organisations can collect first-party data in various ways. 

  Website pixels

  In this method, organisations place small pieces of code that track visitor actions like page views, clicks and conversions. When visitors land on the page, the pixel activates and collects data about their behaviour without interrupting the user experience. 

  Website analytics tools

  With major browsers like Safari and Firefox already blocking third-party cookies (and Chrome is phasing them out soon, there’s even more pressure on organisations to adopt first-party data strategies.

  Website analytics tools like Matomo help organisations collect first-party data with features like visitor tracking and acquisition analysis to analyse the best channels to attract more users. 

  Multi-attribution modelling that helps businesses understand how different touchpoints (social media channels or landing pages) persuade visitors to take a desired action (like making a purchase). 

  

  (Image Source)

  Other activities include :

  • Cohort analysis 
  • Heatmaps and session recordings 
  • SEO keyword tracking
  • A/B testing 
  • Paid ads performance tracking

  

  Heatmap feature in Matomo

  Account creation on websites

  When visitors register on websites, they provide information like names, email addresses and often demographic details or preferences.

  Newsletters and subscriptions 

  With email subscriptions and membership programs, businesses can collect explicit data (preferences selected during signup) and implicit data (engagement metrics like open rates and click patterns).

  Gated content

  Whitepapers, webinars or exclusive articles often ask for contact information when users want access. This approach targets specific audience segments interested in particular topics.

  Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems

  CRM platforms collect information from various touchpoints and centralise it to create unified customer profiles. These profiles include detailed user information, like interaction history, purchase records, service inquiries and communication preferences.

  Mobile app activity

  Mobile in-app behaviours can assist businesses in gathering data such as :

  • Precise location information (indicating where customers interact with the app)
  • Which features they use most often
  • How long they stay on different screens
  • Navigation patterns

  This mobile-specific data helps organisations understand how their customers behave on smaller screens and while on the move, insights that website data alone cannot provide.

  Point of Sale (PoS) systems

  Modern checkout systems don’t just process payments. PepsiCo proved this by growing its first-party data stores by more than 50% through integrated PoS systems. 

  Today’s PoS technology captures detailed information about each transaction :

  • Item(s) sold
  • Price (discounts, taxes, tip)
  • Payment type (card, cash, digital wallet)
  • Time and date
  • Loyalty/rewards number
  • Store/location

  Plus, when connected with loyalty programs where customers identify themselves (by scanning a card or entering a phone number), these systems link purchase information to individuals. 

  This creates valuable historical records showing how customer preferences evolve and offering insight into :

  • Which products are frequently purchased together
  • The time of the day, week, month, or year when items sell best
  • Which promotions or special offers are most effective

  Server-side tracking 

  Most websites track user behaviour through code that runs in the visitor’s web browser (client-side tracking). 

  Server-side tracking takes a different approach by collecting data directly on the company’s own servers. 

  Because the tracking happens on company servers rather than browsers, ad-blocking software doesn’t block it. 

  Organisations gain more consistent data collection and greater control over their customer information. This privacy-friendly approach lets companies get the data they need without relying on third-party tracking scripts.

  Now that we understand how organisations can gather first-party data, let us explore its use cases. 

  Use cases of first-party data 

  Businesses can use first-party data in many ways, from creating customer profiles to personalising user experiences.

  Developing comprehensive customer profiles

  First-party data can help create detailed customer profiles. 

  Here are some examples :

  • Demographic profiles : Age, gender, location, job role and other personal characteristics.
  • Behavioural profiles : Website activity, purchase history and engagement with marketing campaigns that focus on how users interact with businesses and their offerings. 
  • Psychographic profiles : Customer’s interests, values and lifestyle preferences.
  • Transactional profiles : Purchase patterns, including the types of products they buy, how often they purchase and their total spending.

  The benefit of developing these profiles is that businesses can then create specific campaigns for each profile, instead of running random campaigns. 

  For example, a subscription service business may have a behavioural profile of ‘inactive users’. To reignite interest, they can offer discounts or limited-time freebies to these users.

  Crafting relevant content

  First-party data shows what types of content customers engage with most. 

  If customers love watching videos, businesses can create more video content. If a blog gets more readership for its tech articles, it can focus on tech-related content to adjust to readers’ preferences. 

  Uncovering new marketing opportunities

  First-party data lets businesses analyse customer interactions in a way that can reveal untapped markets. 

  For example, if a company sees that many website visitors are from a particular region, it might consider launching campaigns in that area to boost sales. 

  Personalising experiences

  89% of decision-makers believe personalisation is key to business success in the next three years. 

  First-party data helps organisations to tailor experiences based on individual preferences. 

  

  For example, an e-commerce site can recommend products based on previous purchases or browsing history. Shoppers with abandoned carts can get reminders. 

  It’s also helpful to see how customers respond to different types of communication. Certain groups may prefer emails, and some may prefer text messages. Similarly, some users spend more time on quizzes and interactive content like wizards or calculators. 

  By analysing this, businesses can adjust their strategies so that users get a personal experience when they visit a website.

  Optimising operations

  The use cases of first-party data don’t just apply to the marketing domain. They’re also valuable for operations. When businesses analyse customer order patterns, they can spot the best locations for fulfilment centres that reduce shipping time and costs.

  For example, an online retailer might discover that most customers are concentrated in urban areas and decide to open fulfilment centres closer to those locations.

  Or, in the public sector, transport companies can use first-party data to optimise routes and fine-tune fare simulation tools. By analysing rider queries, travel preferences and interaction data, they can :

  • Prioritise high-demand routes during peak hours 
  • Adjust fare structures to reflect common trip or rider patterns
  • Make personalised travel suggestions based on individual user history.

  Benefits of first-party data 

  First-party data offers two significant benefits : accuracy and compliance. It comes directly from the customers and can be considered more accurate and reliable. But that’s not it. 

  First-party data aligns with many data privacy regulations, like the GDPR and CCPA. That’s because first-party data collection requires explicit consent, which means the data remains confidential. This builds compliance, and customers develop more trust in the business.

  Best practices to collect and manage first-party data 

  Though first-party data comes with many benefits, how should organisations collect and manage it ? What are the best practices ? Let’s take a look. 

  Define clear goals

  Though defining clear goals seems like overused advice, it’s one of the most important. If a business doesn’t know why it’s collecting first-party data, all the information gathering becomes purposeless. 

  Businesses can think of different goals to achieve from first-party data collection : improving customer relationships, enhancing personalisation or increasing ROI. 

  Once these goals are concrete, they can guide data collection strategies and help understand whether they’re working.

  Establish a privacy policy

  A privacy policy is a document that explains why a business is collecting a user’s data and what it will do with it. By being open and honest, this policy builds trust with customers, so customers feel safe sharing their information. 

  For example, an e-commerce privacy policy may read like : 

  “At (Business name), your privacy is important to us. We collect your information when you create an account or buy something. This information includes your name, email and purchase history. We use this data to give you a better shopping experience and suggest products that you’ll find useful. We follow all data privacy laws like GDPR to keep your personal information safe.” 

  For organisations that use Matomo, we suggest updating the privacy policy to explain how Matomo is used and what data it collects. Here’s a privacy policy template for Matomo users that can be easily copied and pasted. 

  For a GDPR compatible privacy policy, read How to complete your privacy policy with Matomo analytics under GDPR.

  Simplify consent processes

  Businesses should obtain explicit user consent before collecting their data, as shown in the image below. 

  

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  To do this, integrate user-friendly consent management platforms that let customers easily access, view, opt out of, or delete their information.

  To ensure consent practices align with GDPR standards, follow these key steps :
  

  GDPR-compliant consent checklist
  ✅ State the purpose clearly	Describe data usage in plain terms.
  ✅ Use granular opt-ins	Separate consents by purpose.
  ✅ Avoid pre-ticked boxes	Active choices only.
  ✅ Enable easy opt-out	Simple and accessible withdrawal.
  ✅ Log consent	Timestamp and record every opt-in.
  ✅ Review periodically	Audit for accuracy and relevance.

  Comply with platform-specific restrictions

  In addition to general consent practices, businesses must comply with platform-specific restrictions. This includes obtaining explicit permissions for :

  • Location services : Users must consent to sharing their location data.
  • Contact lists : Businesses need permission to access and use contact information.
  • Camera and microphone Use : Users must consent to using the camera and microphone 
  • Advertising IDs : On platforms like iOS, businesses must obtain consent to use advertising IDs. 

  For example, Zoom asks the user if it can access the camera and the microphone by default.

  Utilise multiple data collection channels

  Instead of relying on just one source to collect first-party data, it is better to use multiple channels. Gather first-party data from diverse sources such as websites, mobile apps, CRM systems, email campaigns, and in-store interactions (for richer datasets). This way, businesses get a more complete picture of their customers.

  Implementing a strong data governance framework with proper tooling, taxonomy, and maintenance practices is also vital for better data usability.

  Use privacy-focused analytics tools 

  Focus on not just collecting data but also doing it in a way that’s secure and ethical. 

  Use tools like Matomo to track user interactions and gather meaningful analytics. For example, Matomo heatmaps can give you a visual insight into where users click and scroll, all while following all the data privacy laws.

  

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  What is second-party data ? 

  Second-party data is information that one company collects from its customers and shares with another company. It’s like “second-hand” first-party data because it’s collected directly from customers but used by a different business.

  Companies purchase second-party data from trusted partners instead of getting it directly from the customer. For example, hotel chains can use customer insights from online travel agencies, like popular destinations and average stay lengths, to refine their pricing strategies and offer more relevant perks.

  When using second-party data, it’s essential to :

  • Be transparent : Share with customers that their data is being shared with partners. 
  • Conduct regular audits : Ensure the data is accurate and handled properly to maintain strong privacy standards. If their data standards don’t seem that great, consider looking elsewhere.

  What is third-party data ? 

  Third-party data is collected from various sources, such as public records, social media or other online platforms. It’s then aggregated and sold to businesses. Organisations get third-party data from data brokers, aggregators and data exchanges or marketplaces. 

  Some examples of third-party data include life events from user social media profiles, like graduation or facts about different organisations, like the number of employees and revenue.

  For example, a data broker might collect information about people’s interests from social media and sell it to a company that wants to target ads based on those interests.

  Third-party data often raises privacy concerns due to its collection methods. One major issue is the lack of transparency in how this data is obtained. 

  Consumers often don’t know that their information is being collected and sold by third-party brokers, leading to feelings of mistrust and violation of privacy. This is why data privacy guidelines have evolved. 

  What is zero-party data ? 

  Zero-party data is the information that customers intentionally share with a business. Some examples include surveys, product ratings and reviews, social media polls and giveaways.

  Organisations collect first-party data by observing user behaviours, but zero-party data is the information that customers voluntarily provide. 

  

  Zero-party data can provide helpful insights, but self-reported information isn’t always accurate. People don’t always do what they say. 

  For example, customers in a survey may share that they consider quality above all else when purchasing. Still, looking at their actual behaviour, businesses can see that they make a purchase only when there’s a clearance or a sale.

  First-party data can give a broader view of customer behaviours over time, which zero-party data may not always be able to capture. 

  Therefore, while zero-party data offers insights into what customers say they want, first-party data helps understand how they behave in real-world scenarios. Balancing both data types can lead to a deeper understanding of customer needs.

  Getting valuable customer insights without compromising privacy 

  Matomo is a powerful tool for organisations that want to collect first-party data. We’re a full-featured web analytics tool that offers features that allow businesses to track user interactions without compromising the user’s personal information. Below, we share how.

  Data ownership

  Matomo allows organisations to own their analytics data, whether on-premise or in their chosen cloud. This means we don’t share your data with anyone else. This aligns with GDPR’s requirement for data sovereignty and minimises third-party risks.

  Pseudonymisation of user IDs

  Matomo allows organisations to pseudonymise user IDs, replacing them with a salted hash function. 

  

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  Since the user IDs have different names, no one can trace them back to a specific person.

  IP address anonymisation

  Data anonymisation refers to removing personally identifiable information (PII) from datasets so individuals can’t be readily identified.

  Matomo automatically anonymises visitor IP addresses, which helps respect user privacy. For example, if the visitor’s IP address is 199.513.1001.123, Matomo can mask it to 199.0.0.0. 

  It can also anonymise geo-location information, such as country, region and city, ensuring this data doesn’t directly identify users.

  

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  Consent management

  Matomo offers an opt-out option that organisations can add to their website, privacy policy or legal page. 

  Matomo tracks everyone by default, but visitors can opt out by clicking the opt-out checkbox. 

  Our DoNotTrack technology helps businesses respect user choices to opt out of tracking from specific websites, such as social media or advertising platforms. They can simply select the “Support Do Not Track preference.”

  These help create consent workflows and support audit trails for regulators. 

  Data storage and deletion

  Keeping visitor data only as long as necessary is a good practice by default. 

  To adhere to this principle, organisations can configure Matomo to automatically delete old raw data and old aggregated report data. 

  Here’s a quick case study summarising how Matomo features can help organisations collect first-party data. CRO:NYX found that Google Analytics struggled to capture accurate data from their campaigns, especially when running ads on the Brave browser, which blocks third-party cookies.

  They then switched to Matomo, which uses first-party cookies by default. This approach allowed them to capture accurate data from Brave users without putting user privacy at stake. 

  The value of Matomo in first-party data strategies 

  First-party data gives businesses a reliable way to connect with audiences and to improve marketing strategies. 

  Matomo’s ethical web analytics lets organisations collect and analyse this data while prioritising user privacy. 

  With over 1 million websites using Matomo, it’s a trusted choice for organisations of all sizes. As a cloud-hosted service and a fully self-hosted solution, Matomo supports organisations with strong data sovereignty needs, allowing them to maintain full control over their analytics infrastructure.

  Ready to collect first-party data while securing user information ? Start your free 21-day trial, no credit card required.