Digital Privacy

Predictions: First-Party Data, Personalization, and Curated Marketplaces

Share this:

Each month, Street Fight sources expert insights from the businesses in our ecosystem on our theme. This month’s theme is 2022 predictions, and our experts share their takes on first-party data, personalization, curated ad marketplaces, and retail media.

Dee Anna McPherson, CMO, Invoca

In 2022, everyone in the organization will have access to their customers’ calls. First-party data is the future of marketing — but how should brands make first-party data work for them? Customer feedback by way of calls and communication is an underinvested area of first-party data but has a direct correlation to driving revenue if brands are actually listening to their customers.

However, this data will be dependent on the brand-customer relationship and providing enough content. When customers tell you what they want, in real time and in their own words, they expect you to act on it. Humanizing first-party data by listening to and analyzing customer call data will be an important data strategy for both B2B and B2C brands in 2022.

Kristina Goldberg, SVP of Media Services, Adswerve

In 2022, marketers will face a more immediate need to transition to clean data strategies and come up with new ways to create more personalized experiences, especially if they want to retain customer loyalty. The pushback from consumers on what brands do with their information will continue, requiring brands to become more transparent and conscious about their collection and use of first-party data. The answer to creating truly personalized experiences and gathering insightful analytics is through data organization and activation. 

Next year, we can expect to see brands leveraging data organization and activation tools to eliminate disconnected silos and better organize consumable and comprehensive information onto platforms. This strategy ensures that marketers are able to interpret the most accurate data points and effectively assess performance and opportunities. 

The clock is ticking, and the end of cookies will be here before we know it. The pressure will be on in 2022 to transition to first-party data and leverage data organization and activation tools. Brands looking to resonate with audiences and build their rapport with consumers will be put to the test.

Drew Stein, CEO, Audigent

The countdown to the cookieless future continues in 2022. In effect, the next 12 months will bring two major dominant trends – the move toward cookieless identity and dynamic identity platforms, and the move away from open exchange inventory and toward curated marketplaces and exchanges where premium data drives value and performance through the supply path.

This significant shift from open exchange inventory to curated marketplaces will be enabled by stakeholders with incredible first-party data who are allowing data to be actioned through the supply path — not just in private marketplaces, but true curated marketplaces across partners, inventory, and media channels. This move toward robust curated marketplaces with premium data partners offers opportunities for exciting activations, which will drive value and performance in the ecosystem.

My hope is that as the cookie disappears, the advertising industry will prioritize privacy-centric ways of activating data and not just privacy-compliant data collection.

Jehan Luth, CEO, Banyan

1. Consumers will continue to rule. Consumers will continue to drive discussions in marketing areas such as privacy and convenience. At this point, it’s not enough for retailers to claim they are privacy-compliant and customer-centric. Businesses will need to be transparent with data sharing practices, deliver products and services on time, and enable technology to work as intended and advertised.

In addition, consumers will not tolerate being asked to do the work. For example, they have no interest in tedious processes. Instead, they want seamless digital experiences. Retailers and banks are already responding and beginning to build systems and processes which will be essential to succeed in 2022 and beyond.

2. Open Commerce will move to the forefront. We are entering an age of open commerce. Similar to the open banking revolution that upended how consumers bank in the US and globally, retailers will innovate customer solutions to unbundle functions that were historically vertically integrated. There will be a lot more of this in 2022.  

3. Retail media will create more disruption. Personalized interactions will matter more than ever. In an era where online tracking and cookies will disappear, retailers will gain a meaningful advantage if they know and understand their customers. Retail media solutions will continue to increase in importance, and retailers’ ability to interpret and understand their customers will drive innovation, revenue, and new value streams for the industry in 2022.

Tags: