First-party data is arguably the best data most companies can get their hands on, and when that data is verified as accurate, it’s invaluable.
One of the most ideal ways to collect verified, first-party data is through gated, exclusive offers. For example, you can post an exclusive student offer, require students to share their first-party data to redeem it, and then use a verification platform to verify the data is accurate.
Some brands opt to use third-party affiliate providers to also verify consumers for their exclusive offers, but affiliates siphon off the data they collect, which undermines your strategy.
Here’s why you should avoid using an affiliate verification provider and opt for an open, white-label verification provider.
Your Data Can be Used Against You
When a closed, third-party affiliate verifies your customers, it co-owns the data it collects. This means it can use the data from consumers who are interested in your offers for its own purpose.
Since affiliate sites have many brand partners, often including your competitors, they can promote a competitor’s offer alongside your offer to your customers. And your competitors can pay the affiliate to get better placement and ensure their brand is seen before yours.
Now the affiliate and your competitors are pilfering money off the customer data that your offer generated. That’s revenue that would—and should—be coming to you.
You’re Putting Your Customer at Risk
To verify customers, closed affiliate providers often collect sensitive, personally identifiable information (PII), such as social security numbers. Most consumers don’t want to provide this information, and with good reason. Hackers are looking for PII, and when an affiliate collects it from your customers, it makes them vulnerable to a security breach.
Your Offer Draws Customers to Your Competitors
When your offer appears in an affiliate’s marketplace, all the consumers who visit the website see it. But they also see offers from your competitors, and a consumer might decide they like one of those better.
If that happens, you forfeit both the purchase and the customer data you could have used to build brand loyalty. Losing revenue damages your bottom line in the short run, but the inability to nurture CLV is a loss that reverberates for years.
Time Becomes Your Enemy
Affiliate providers may give you some customer data, but it’s probably not streamed instantly to your CRM/CDP. This means your ability to leverage the data is delayed, hampering your efforts to retain your new customers.
Customers give you their data because they want personalized marketing, and you should start delivering it as soon as they complete their verification form. It’s not only good for business, it’s what they expect.
The Solution: Open Verification
You can bypass all these issues if you verify your exclusive offer with an open verification platform. This will enable you to:
- Fully own the customer data.
- Avoid collecting PII.
- Secure the data in your own database.
- Instantly stream it to all your martech platforms to create personalized marketing and optimize your campaigns.
To see how an open verification platform can help you harness the power of first-party data, watch our two-minute product video.
