Just like a good first date, a first-time customer will leave you wanting more.
Loyal customers are the hallmark of a thriving brand. They’ve got unlimited lifetime value potential, and they’re your best resource for organic referrals, ambassadorship, and feedback. They know your brand, and they don’t need to be persuaded.
So, how do you lock them down?
- Lead with transparency
- Consider their preferences, needs, and interests
- Engage meaningfully to build a deeper, more authentic connection
That’s where zero-party data comes in: data that customers willingly and actively provide.
The benefits? It’s privacy-compliant, nuanced, and accurate because you’re hearing it from the customer themselves and not from their digital footprint. It’s the type of information that enables a more personalized, valuable, and elevated experience for MVP customers.
Octane AI’s Accounts & Partnerships Lead, Aoife Teagues, calls it “speaking to customers with the information that they’ve told you.” She discusses the major role zero-party data plays in engaging, converting, and retaining loyal customers with experts from Because, Triple Whale, and Loyalty Lion here:
3 Steps to Using Zero-Party Data to Build Loyalty
In the webinar, Aoife breaks down how to use zero-party data from product finder quizzes to bring back your first-time customers and turn them into loyal fans.
If you’re here for the recap of the webinar, here’s Aoife’s POV:
1. Learn About Your Customers’ Lifestyles
Quizzes that ask customers about their preferences, needs, and habits provide unmatched insights into who your customers really are and why they’re shopping with you. And when you want to strengthen that connection with a personalized approach, you have the information to speak back to your customer in a way that resonates.
Health supplement brand TB12 nails this strategy. Their quiz asks customers about their dietary goals, their health goals, and what their workout routine looks like. After collecting email and phone numbers, they send their quiz takers a personalized supplement routine.
Not only does TB12 have the advantage of knowing their recommended products and upsells are in line with what each customer is already looking for, but they also use this as an opportunity for further brand education.
How?
Each personalized supplement routine comes with a downloadable ‘playbook’ with health tips and product information, adding further value for the potential customer.
2. Make It Effortless to Engage
One of the biggest perceived hurdles to using zero-party data for personalized marketing is access. Customers must choose to opt in and engage for it to work.
And what makes strategies like TB12’s successful is value-driven engagement and ease of access: customers want to take part in the survey because it’s easy and useful. TB12 immediately offers an opportunity for a personalized experience from the moment a user visits their website.
Location is everything; the navigation bar is by far the strongest placement for a quiz, which is exactly what TB12 does with a dedicated section that says, “Take our quiz.”
Also consider secondary placements on product pages, blog posts, and in your email flows.
3. Personalize Every Interaction
Effective survey data management makes all the difference in creating tailored campaigns. And it all starts with a powerful integration—like with Klaviyo, Yotpo, Postscript, or Attentive, where you can sync survey data as custom properties and build segments around quiz responses.
Once customers willingly share their zero-party data, there’s a general expectation that it’ll be reflected in their experiences and interactions with the brand.
They want targeted recommendations, expert tips, and offers that align with their specific interests. Whether it’s personalized product guides, recommendations, or tailored blog content, there is an opportunity to provide additional value and re-engage customers from every data point.
Using customer data, you can craft dynamic emails, SMS campaigns, and website experiences that speak directly to each individual. When done right, it feels less like marketing and more like a conversation building trust, loyalty, and long-term relationships.
Go Beyond Zero-Party Data: Integrate First-Party Insights
Integrating zero-party data with first-party behavioral data is a powerful strategy for driving retention. By combining what customers explicitly share with their engagement patterns, brands have the additional context they need to determine what is relevant and valuable to each customer.
One simple way to leverage first-party data is by instantly sending quiz results to customers via email or SMS. These results act as a bookmark, making it easy for customers to revisit their personalized recommendations when they’re ready to buy, whether that’s on payday, after finishing a current product, or simply when the time feels right.
From there, the approach shifts based on the customer’s behavior. If a shopper took a quiz and their results didn’t inspire a purchase, follow up with educational content, suggest complementary products, and showcase customer reviews to build trust.
For TB12, they suggest following them on social media, where shoppers can continue engaging with the brand and their content.
If data reveals the customer later made a purchase, follow up to integrate them into your loyalty program, send replenishment reminders, and share more about your brand’s mission to maintain engagement.
Do you see how everything starts to work together?
Final Thoughts
Creating thoughtful experiences that are meaningful and rewarding is foundational to building lasting customer loyalty.
Offering customers a simple way to share their perspectives through quizzes paves the way for personalized interactions that make them feel truly valued.
It’s this connection, nurtured through ongoing personalized engagement, that transforms one-time shoppers into life-long supporters of your brand.
