First-Party Data Strategies for Mobile Marketing

First-party data—information you collect directly from your users—is the most valuable and privacy-safe data asset for mobile marketers. As third-party data becomes less available, building a strong first-party data strategy is essential.

What is First-Party Data?

First-party data is information collected directly from your customers and prospects through your owned channels—your app, website, CRM, and direct interactions.

First-Party Data Types

• Behavioral: In-app actions, purchase history, usage patterns
• Declared: Information users provide (preferences, profiles)
• Transactional: Purchase amounts, frequency, products
• CRM: Email, phone, support interactions

Building Your Data Foundation

Data Collection

• Implement comprehensive event tracking
• Capture user preferences through progressive profiling
• Integrate all customer touchpoints
• Maintain clear consent management

Data Infrastructure

• CDP: Customer Data Platform for unified profiles
• Data warehouse: Central storage for analysis
• Identity resolution: Connect cross-device/channel
• Activation pipes: Send data to ad platforms

Activating First-Party Data

Lookalike Modeling

Use your best customers to find similar prospects:

• Build seed audiences from high-LTV users
• Create tiered lookalikes (1%, 5%, 10%)
• Refresh seeds regularly with recent data

Suppression

Avoid wasted spend by excluding existing customers:

• Exclude all installers from acquisition campaigns
• Exclude recent purchasers from retargeting
• Exclude unsubscribes from win-back

Personalization

Use first-party data to customize experiences:

• Dynamic creative based on user preferences
• Personalized offers based on purchase history
• Custom landing pages by segment

"The companies winning in the privacy-first era are those who built direct relationships with customers and collect first-party data with clear value exchange."

Privacy-Compliant Collection

Consent Best Practices

• Clear, specific consent requests
• Easy opt-out mechanisms
• Transparent data usage explanations
• Honor preferences across channels

Value Exchange

Give users reasons to share data:

• Personalized recommendations
• Exclusive offers and rewards
• Improved app experience
• Relevant content and features

Measuring First-Party Value

• Match rates: % of users matchable to ad platforms
• Audience size: Usable audience segments
• Performance lift: First-party vs. third-party targeting
• Data completeness: % of profiles with key attributes

First-party data is your competitive moat. Invest in collecting it ethically, organizing it effectively, and activating it strategically—and you'll outperform competitors relying on deprecated third-party data.