The term ‘Zero Party Data’ has been around the digital marketing traps since the last few years. However, most of us are still unclear as to what it actually is. Whether it is the same as first-party data, or if it has characteristics of its own, whether it’s another category of data to be focused on by marketers. 

 Privacy and value are two key points of focus when grasping the concept of Zero Party Data. 

Google analytics only uses first party data or cookies to acquire website data from its web visitors. Zero Party Data is information that a customer voluntarily and knowingly provides with a company, such as preference centre data, purchase intents, personal context, and how the customer wants the company to recognize them. This is not the same as first-party data, mainly because this is data owned by the brands whereas zero party data is not owned by them. Rights are granted by the customers for brands to use the data and they cannot be used without consent. 

This reflects individuals’ desire for more control over their data in return for improved personalisation or a reward. One example of Zero Party Data is the poll feature on Instagram which allows companies to interact and create engagement with their customers or followers in creative ways, this also enables a collection of valuable and zero party data. 

For data-driven digital marketing, such tracking techniques are good practices to collect consistent and reliable data which can be used to boost your marketing power. Zero party data can pose as a great advertising tool as they have been used by several big brands to directly interact and communicate with their customers. If the right questions are asked, this opens up communication and builds more meaningful relationships. In comparison to previous consented models, such data delivers greater value exchange.