A well-executed first-party data strategy can significantly improve your paid media and channel activation efforts. But what results should you expect? We have gathered a range of benchmarks and case studies to help you better understand the field. This in return will help you set more realistic targets, build a business case, or challenge your existing level of performance.
Brands using first-party data see an 8x ROI, over 25% lower CPA, and up to 2.9x revenue growth. Personalization driven by this data increases customer retention, cuts costs, and delivers experiences that consumers now expect. Success stories—from Pets at Home to L’Oréal—showcase its impact on sales, engagement, and efficiency. Whether you’re boosting CTR by 33% like Bol.com or increasing offline revenue by 220% like Pandora, first-party data is the key to driving measurable results while staying privacy-compliant.
All of these numbers and additional insights can be found in the text below. Keep on reading to learn how first-party data can transform your business.
Paid media activation
- Customer retention impact: Improving customer retention by just 2% can have the same financial benefits as reducing costs by 10%, emphasizing the critical role that first-party data plays in retention strategies and driving long-term profitability (source: Think with Google).
- App user value from first-party data: Users engaging through apps show 33% higher purchase frequency and 3-5x greater lifetime value while being twice as likely to share first-party data (source: Think with Google).
- Increased revenue and efficiency: Linking all of your first-party data sources can double incremental revenue per ad and improve cost efficiency by 1.5 times compared to companies with limited data integration (source: BCG).
- ROI from first-party data: Research has shown that brands integrating first-party data into their ad targeting strategies saw an 8x return on marketing spend (source: Deloitte).
- Sales growth with first-party data: Leveraging first-party data in advertising strategies can help brands achieve a sales increase of at least 10% (source: Deloitte).
- Lower CPA: Companies that differentiate strategies for new and existing customers using first-party data (e.g., CRM) and deploy tactics like retargeting and lookalike audiences see over 25% reductions in CPA (source: BCG).
Cross-channel personalization
- Impact of personalization on revenue: Brands using first-party data in advanced marketing activations saw revenue uplifts ranging from 1.5x to 2.9x higher (source: BCG).
- Consumer expectations: Research shows that 71% of consumers expect personalized interactions from companies, and 76% become frustrated when those expectations aren’t met (source: McKinsey).
- Revenue uplift from first-party data: Studies reveal that businesses that master personalization earn 40% more revenue from these efforts than their competitors (source: McKinsey).
- Cost savings through relevant experiences: Companies delivering personalized experiences can see cost savings of up to 30% and revenue increases of up to 20% (source: Teradata).
Customer lifecycle marketing
- Behavioral data usage: Adopting a behavioral approach to first-party data collection boosted performance marketing for 56% of marketers (source: Emarketer).
Privacy and compliance benefits
- First-party data reliance: 75% of marketers still rely on third-party cookies, highlighting a pressing need for strategies based on first-party data to stay ahead (source: Adobe).
- Plans to increase first-party data focus: 65% of respondents to a survey conducted by Deloitte plan to focus more on first-party data to offset lost customer insights from declining consent and the end of third-party cookies (source: Deloitte).
- Privacy impact mitigation: 73% believe first-party data can help mitigate the impact of rising privacy concerns (source: Deloitte).
Examples of first-party data success stories
You can read more about the results of customer cases originating from Avaus here. But, some other great examples are:
- Audience reach and CTR improvement: By leveraging first-party data through Hightouch, Bol.com increased audience reach by 109% and boosted click-through rates for brand ads by 33% (source: Hightouch).
- Ad match rate and campaign efficiency: By leveraging Snowflake, Hightouch, and Iterable, The Zebra boosted Facebook ad match rates by 170%, reduced campaign creation time from 3+ months to days, and increased click-through rates by 70% on key email campaigns (source: Hightouch).
- First-party data impact: Integrating first-party sales data with store sales measurement drove a 220% increase in offline revenue and 77% growth in total Google Ads revenue in 2023, enabling Pandora to identify and scale incremental opportunities effectively (source: Think with Google).
- Using first-party data to drive growth: Using integrated first-party data and automated strategies, Interflora boosted revenue by 30%, increased purchase frequency by 22%, and cut customer acquisition costs by 32%, showcasing the value of data-driven marketing (source: Avaus).
- Match rate improvement: By implementing first-party data, W for Woman saw a significant increase in audience match rate from 20% to over 80%, a 30% boost in ROAS, a 20% uplift in incremental revenue, and a fourfold increase in conversion rate (source: Netscale).
- Data-driven revenue growth: Using first-party data integrated with BigQuery and predictive analytics, L’Oréal achieved a 2.5x increase in offline revenue and a 2.2x improvement in ROAS through targeted campaigns (source: Netscale).
- Increased brand awareness: By leveraging first-party data, Glossier achieved a 17% increase in open rates, a 4% click-through rate, a 2.5% uplift in conversion rates, and a 3.2% ROAS, demonstrating the power of personalized marketing to drive engagement and sales (source: Netscale).
- Customer value growth: By implementing first-party data strategies, Pets at Home increased average customer value by 5.7% and achieved a 5.1% YoY revenue growth, reaching £1.5bn from 2023 to 2024. Personalizing ads based on pet type and brand preference also boosted re-engagement and cross-sell efforts (Source: Audiences).
- Paid social performance: A travel company enhanced their paid social campaigns using first-party data and lookalike audiences. From January to May 2024, they achieved a 39% increase in CTR and a 65% cost reduction in key campaign metrics for one offering, and a 63% CTR increase with a 45% cost decrease for another (source: Audiences*).
- Cost efficiency and revenue growth: A telecom company utilized first-party audiences across Meta and Google, achieving a 24% reduction in CPA with lookalike audiences and a 57% reduction with targeted campaigns. They also generated £370K in incremental revenue from exclusion strategies (source: Audiences*).
- Cost efficiency and performance improvement: By leveraging a customer data platform (CDP), a company reallocated 100K+ SEK in media spend through exclusion segmentation across Meta and Display, achieving a 28% better CPA with CDP-derived lookalike audiences compared to traditional targeting. This initiative also drove an annual uplift of over 3 MSEK in media use cases (source: Avaus*)
Do you want to contribute with your own benchmarks, insights, or case studies? Share your results with the community and help fellow marketers understand what’s possible with first-party data. Email business@avaus.com to be featured and join other industry leaders in building the most comprehensive collection of first-party data activation benchmarks.
*If you want to know more about these references, email jens.hard@avaus.com for additional information.