Types of Customer Data and What They Mean 

Third party data is aggregated Data From Various Sources

Data collected by an entity that doesn’t have a direct relationship with the visitor or consumer. This data generally consists of behavioral or demographic data of large audiences aggregated from many different sources (that aren’t owned) This data is not from your actual customers and is also made available to your competitors.

Second Party Data is From Partnerships / Purchased Data

Data collected (bought directly from the source) from another ‘trusted’ organization / partner with aligned interests - essentially that company’s first-party data. This is normally done when the data and insights are mutually beneficial to both businesses.

First Party Data is From a Brand's Audience

First party data is data passively collected from customers via a brand’s owned properties - social, point-of-sale, website /app visitors and the information that aggregates into your CRM to use for re-targeting. Customers implicitly provide consent to this type of first-party data collection as they directly engage with a brand.

Zero Party Data is Data That a Customer Proactively Shares

A term coined by Forrester Research and is defined as "Zero-party data is that which a customer intentionally and proactively shares with a brand. It can include preference center data, purchase intentions, personal context, and how the individual wants the brand to recognize [them]." This data is especially valuable as the customer trusts a brand enough to provide really meaningful data.

While all these types of data are collected & analyzed for trends and patterns in customer behavior for further segmentation and personalization, first and zero-party data allow for better audience retargeting, forecasting future trends and overall more intelligent decision making.