Zero-Party Data

Zero-party data is information customers share with a business deliberately and on their own initiative, such as their preferences, purchase intentions or how often they want to hear from you. Unlike observed behaviour, it does not have to be interpreted first.

What is zero-party data?

The research firm Forrester coined the term in 2018. Forrester describes zero-party data as data a customer shares with a brand intentionally and proactively. That includes preference-center settings, purchase intentions, personal context and how the person wants the brand to recognise them.

Typical zero-party data are answers to questions like: what are you interested in? How often would you like to hear from us? Who are you shopping for? The customer provides it themselves, in a form, a survey or a chat.

Zero-, first-, second- and third-party data

  • Zero-party data: given by the customer, deliberately, for example "I prefer white wine".
  • First-party data: data you collect about customers in your own channels, mostly observed behaviour such as purchases, clicks or read messages.
  • Second-party data: another company's first-party data that you receive through a partnership.
  • Third-party data: data collected and sold by others, with no direct relationship to the customers.

Not everyone draws the line between zero- and first-party data in the same place, and some count zero-party data as part of first-party data. What matters is the difference between what a customer tells you and what you infer from their behaviour.

Zero-party data and the GDPR

Volunteered does not mean unregulated. Zero-party data is usually personal data under the GDPR. You need a legal basis, must be transparent about what you use the information for and may only use it for that purpose. Marketing on WhatsApp also needs an opt-in that you can prove. Only ask for what you will actually use.

Why zero-party data matters

  • Relevant offers: when you know what a customer is interested in, you send relevant offers instead of mass mailings, and relevant messages are more likely to be read and less likely to be unsubscribed from.
  • More accurate data: what customers tell you is more reliable than a guess based on their clicks.
  • Less dependence: many browsers block third-party cookies, which makes information you ask for directly more valuable.
  • Trust: customers see what they share and get a clear benefit in return.

This information is the basis for clean segmentation.

Practical example

A wine shop has been sending the same newsletter to everyone. New WhatsApp contacts now get a short flow: preferred wine colour, price range per bottle and how often they want offers, plus an opt-in for offers on WhatsApp. The answers land in the contact profile as fields and tags. Anyone who picks "white wine" and "once a month" gets exactly that from now on, instead of the general newsletter.

Capturing zero-party data with SendSeven

With WhatsApp Flows (beta) you ask for zero-party data right inside the chat. For each input in the builder you choose where the answer goes: nowhere, kept with the response only, a contact field, a custom field or a tag. A flow can also tag the contact on completion, and SendSeven saves the consent text with every opt-in.

Answers are type-checked before they are saved, and an answer that doesn't fit never overwrites contact data. Sensitive fields are masked. You can then use the fields and tags for segments, campaigns and automations.

WhatsApp Flows is in beta. What a sent and a completed flow cost is explained in the WhatsApp Flows entry.

GDPR-compliant, EU-hosted. 14-day free trial.