How to collect first-party data with walker.js

How can companies customize their products and services?

Any effort without data is nothing more than a chance. However, no company can afford to leave their business to chance. That is to say, they need data about their customers to make point shot decisions.

They try to learn about customers by collecting feedback and analyzing their behavior and needs. This lets them create personalized customer experiences. And, this leads to higher customer satisfaction and loyalty.

The more data, the better personalized campaigns. Therefore, the higher customer satisfaction and loyalty, and the higher sales.

However, there is a problem. Companies must obtain customers’ consent to collect and use data. Otherwise, it can result in legal and financial consequences for companies.

What is first-party data?

First-party data refers to the data that companies collect directly from their customers or website visitors. This may include information such as email addresses, purchase history, and website interactions. This process make it more valuable, accurate and reliable than third-party data. Furthermore, this data is only stored and used by the company.

Advantages of using first-party data

GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act) compliant data collection

If you collect data yourself, you can obtain the necessary permissions to use audience data for marketing purposes. Using first-party data segments for targeting is considered a safer approach because you know exactly the source as well as the method of data collection.

Data use allowed in all browsers

The entire digital marketplace is waiting for Chrome to block third-party cookies. Safari and Firefox browsers have already blocked these cookies. It means that publishers can target segments generated from their own data. So collecting data from your digital assets is very important now.

Creating custom segments

You can create target groups tailored to your needs by getting help from your own data. For example, those who visit your product websites, store most often, or purchase over a certain amount.

What is third-party data?

Third-party data is information collected by companies that don’t have a direct relationship with consumers. Data includes demographic data, interests, and online behavior. Sometimes companies prefer to buy data from these vendors to improve the customer experience. However, the data can’t be reliable as first-party data because it comes from multiple sources. Besides, it may be outdated or inaccurate.

Why is third-party data going off?

A growing number of consumers are uncomfortable with how their data is shared. They’re demanding transparency, choice, and control over data use. Then, the European Union has regulated the data privacy and security for its citizens. That’s why, some companies have started using third-party cookies only with users’ permission. Others have started turning third-party vendors off and looking for new solutions, like walker.js.

Read more to learn about The Schrems II Decision.

What is the GDPR?

The GDPR is a regulation to protect data privacy and security of European Union citizens. It sets the standards for data collection, storage, and processing.

Therefore, companies must get users’ permission to collect and use their data. Customers can also have the rights to stop the company from collecting and using their data.

In addition, the GDPR has more impact on third-party data. As we mentioned above, third-party data providers don’t have direct contact with users. Therefore, these companies must inform users about the collection of data and its purpose. They must also guarantee that they’re collecting the data lawfully and using it only for the stated purposes.

How to collect first-party data with walker.js

With third-party data concerns and law changes, companies are going toward collecting first-party data. Hereby, many tools collect first-party data in compliance with the law, but most of them can still store the data themselves. However, the data you collect with walker.js, an open source library, is all yours. That means data is collected wherever you want it, without a third-party vendor. It allows companies tracking user behavior on a website, such as clicks, scrolls, and form submissions.

The GDPR requires companies to document what information they collect and how. This is easy to explain if you manage this process yourself.

With walker.js, it’s possible to implement cookie-free tracking by collecting anonymized session IDs or campaign-based associations without collecting personal data. Cookie-free tracking allows you to measure key campaign performance without associating that data with an individual user.

Advantages of using walker.js instead of tools

• Less likelihood of sensitive data being accidentally captured
• Less risk of losing important information
• Allows for more focus on user activities

First-party data tracking with Google Tag Manager & walker.js

To use walker.js with GTM (Google Tag Manager), you must first include the walker.js library in your website.js. Then, create custom HTML tags to run the walker.js code on specific pages or events in GTM. The data collected by walker.js can then be sent to Google Analytics or other analytics tools using the tag templates built into GTM.

Using walker.js with Google Tag Manager can provide a more flexible and customizable tracking solution than relying solely on the standard Google Analytics tracking options. Plus, GTM lets you easily manage and update your tracking tags without having to make any changes to your website’s code.

Pricing & costs

Neither GTM nor walker.js are paid, but when GTM is used, a Google Cloud project is automatically created for the server container.

In this cloud run configuration, each server costs about $45 per month. And each server is a Cloud Run instance with 1 vCPU and 0.5GB memory using the CPU always allocated pricing model.

Trouble to set up your own solution?

Don’t have a developer in your marketing team and struggling to make walker.js work? We can do that for you. If you’re interested, feel free to contact us. We’re here to help you.