It's no secret brands are at the forefront of data usage and capture, especially those with an eCommerce element in their businesses. eCommerce is an industry built on data — a working ecosystem where data is the pivotal point of everything — so it's understood that eCommerce is considered one of the savviest sectors when it comes to data usage.

The data architecture within an eCommerce company is a firm framework guiding data-driven decision-making. But consumer opinion — what people think and feel — can provide invaluable insights about consumer behaviours that businesses may not get from metadata's tracking and clicks. Collecting thoughts and feelings goes a long way to achieving real connection between a brand and a human — while also painting a more holistic picture of a consumer's needs.

When implementing omnichannel marketing, it's important to consider exactly how media and online tracking can really measure whether a brand has made an emotional connection with its target market. One way to bridge this gap is collecting insights from real consumers through market research. First-party data insights provide consumer sentiments, experience and feedback to brands — enabling them to better understand their customers and the overall market landscape, to build stronger connections with their customers, and forge stronger customer loyalty through smarter business decisions.

A cookie-less world is coming

As we all know, third-party cookies soon will end in 2023 — and afterward, brands and eCommerce companies will find it difficult to track customers across websites outside of their own. It'll be challenging for digital advertisers to build consumer profiles to target audiences with precision.

Whoever owns first-party data will own the future. What will matter more than ever to brands? Having easy access to real people's opinions, uncovering those insights, and connecting data for smarter decisions, campaign activation, reporting and measurement. Brands must understand their customers holistically — serving them what they need, when they need it.  Consumers are smarter and more empowered than ever, they want more control, better personalisation and impenetrable privacy security.

By leveraging first-party insights and overlapping them with other data sources in the business, companies will be in a prime position to better understand their customers, competition and market landscape — all without the need for cookies.

Brand tracking

Today's consumer also has a lot to consider when deciding whether a brand resonates with them. Constant online access to brands and product information, costs and attributes of products and services, comparisons between brands and what they offer, feedback from the brand itself, family and friends on social media, influencers and more.

In this complex and constantly evolving landscape, brand health and performance tracking are critical. Brands need to stay in touch with their consumers using more agile and engaging approaches, fully understand the connections between consumer intention and actions in the marketplace.

Brand tracking allows companies to understand their brand and customers over time — how customers think, feel, buy and use their products or services — and how they are positioned relative to competitors. These insights help companies not only manage and improve performance, but also to drive growth.

High-quality data delivers better decisions — more connected data drives better outcomes

In the ever-changing, fast-moving marketplace, it's invaluable to have a complete picture of our position as a business compared to competitors. Eliminating knowledge gaps also can remove the guesswork and risks from decision-making and, ultimately, delivers profits.

Research and reliable, high-quality data help brands at every stage of the marketing continuum. Businesses can maximise value with connected data and actionable insights via data matching, modelling and scaling capabilities. Knowing their target audience — including what they like and how they like it delivered to them — businesses can activate their marketing campaigns with confidence, measure performance and produce reporting with higher accuracy and deeper insights. Not only can you optimise your campaigns, but you're also improving cost and time efficiencies along the way. Accurate insights are critical for data-driven decisions — and it all starts by using high-quality first-party data and a reliable data partner.