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Why Unified First Party Data Matters More Than Ever

Last updated: March 7, 2025

How Firecrown Unifies and Uses First Party Data to Win—with Insights from COO, Nicole McGuire

In a world of tightening privacy regulations and fading third-party cookies, unified first party data is more critical than ever. It gives brands a complete, accurate view of their audiences, enabling better personalization, smarter marketing decisions, and stronger audience relationships—all while ensuring compliance and long-term competitive advantage.

What is first party data and why does it matter?

First party data is information collected directly from your audience through sources like website interactions, purchase history, and email engagement. This data is highly valuable because it is accurate, privacy-compliant, and enables brands to deliver personalized experiences. Unlike third party data, which is gathered from external sources and often relies on cookies, first party data is more reliable and future-proof—especially as privacy regulations tighten and major browsers phase out third-party cookies.

Marketers are increasingly prioritizing first party data strategies to build stronger customer relationships, gain greater control over their data, and achieve better long-term ROI. By leveraging first party data, businesses can create targeted marketing campaigns, improve customer retention, and stay ahead in a privacy-first digital landscape. As third-party data becomes less accessible, focusing on first party data not only ensures compliance but also offers a competitive edge by fostering trust and delivering more meaningful customer experiences. Brands that invest in collecting and utilizing first party data have seen a 2.9X revenue increase and 1.5X cost savings, demonstrating its effectiveness in driving growth.

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The problem with disconnected audience data

Disconnected audience data is a major challenge for audience professionals and marketers, creating inefficiencies and missed opportunities. In our annual State of Audience survey, 53% named disconnected systems and workflows their top challenge for media businesses. When audience information is fragmented across fulfillment systems, customer data platforms (CDPs), and email service providers, maintaining accurate and consistent data becomes a time-consuming burden.

“We previously spent a considerable amount of time verifying data connections… After it [data] left one platform to the next, much got lost in translation.”
– Nicole McGuire, COO of Firecrown

Teams often spend countless hours verifying data as it moves between platforms, only to find that key insights are lost in translation. This fragmentation not only slows down operations but also limits real-time insights, making it difficult to deliver personalized experiences at scale.

Without a unified view of your audience, marketing teams are left flying blind—unable to target the right people with the right message at the right time. This lack of connection leads to generic campaigns, poor customer experiences, and reduced engagement. Additionally, when data is siloed, it becomes harder to identify patterns, track customer journeys, and optimize campaigns effectively. Today, personalization is key to competitive advantage. Disconnected audience data prevents brands from delivering the tailored experiences audiences expect. To overcome these challenges, businesses must invest in integrated systems that provide a holistic, real-time view of their audience. By breaking down data silos, marketers can work smarter—not harder—unlocking better targeting, improved customer experiences, increased subscriptions, better advertising opportunities, improved retention, increased revenue, and greater overall efficiency.

How Firecrown unified first party data across brands

Firecrown, a media company that caters to an affluent enthusiast market, has acquired dozens of brands over the past 4 years. They needed to unify their audience data and leverage it to drive significant subscription growth.

Firecrown’s approach: Connecting audience data across brands and platforms into a single source of truth on the Omeda platform.

Key steps they took:

• Integrated fulfillment systems, CDPs, and email platforms on the same Omeda platform.
• Implemented a universal behavioral script (via Omeda) to track users across brand sites.
• Built strategies to act on unified data in real-time.

Nicole McGuire on the impact:

“I can’t tell you how powerful it is to have the site behavior data living together with that first known party data. It just opens a lot of that opportunity. Any promotion can be informed by the same underlying data, which is a beautiful thing.”

What happens when your data finally works together

When your data is unified on a single platform, it unlocks powerful possibilities for marketing efficiency, personalization, and growth. One of the most significant advantages is personalization at scale—with a comprehensive view of audience behavior, teams can deliver highly targeted content and smarter cross-promotion.

Cross-site personalization for increased engagement

For example, Firecrown uses unified data to recognize user interests across different sites. As Nicole McGuire explains, “We have this universal behavioral script that comes with Omeda, that allows us to recognize an individual across multiple sites. So cross promotion within our own database becomes much more effective… If a user likes flying-related content but is on a space website, you could still offer flying-specific content.” This kind of intelligent cross-site personalization increases engagement by delivering the right message, even when users navigate across different areas of your ecosystem.

Win back more subscribers

Another example: Winning back lost subscribers. As McGuire explains, “We’ve had a ton of success actually just targeting prior subscribers. I would call it low hanging fruit, but frankly before having our data together, we were never really even able to [take] action on the low hanging fruit.” The Firecrown team identifies and segments prior subscribers that are still going to the website, reading articles, opening and reading newsletters. They also know if they are subscribing to a sister title. “We’ve been able to target them on the website when they’re there and deliver messaging that’s unique to them through a popup or what have you. We’ve seen really strong conversion on that and frankly, I think that supported a lot of our growth in the second half of 2024.”

Consistency and faster reaction times

Beyond personalization, unified data drives faster, more reliable marketing campaigns. With consistent data flowing across systems, marketing teams no longer waste time second-guessing data accuracy or reconciling conflicting reports. This streamlined approach allows campaigns to launch quicker, react to trends in real time, and make data-driven decisions with confidence. Accurate, connected data reduces errors and ensures that every marketing touchpoint is informed by the latest audience insights.

Personalized upsell opportunities

Finally, when your audience data works together, it reveals new product and revenue opportunities. By understanding audience behavior across brands and platforms, you can identify emerging trends and develop products that meet real needs. Whether it’s recognizing a new service demand or creating personalized upsell opportunities, connected data empowers companies to innovate and grow. In today’s competitive landscape, brands that harness the power of unified data can deliver better customer experiences while driving long-term business success.

The tools behind a successful first party data strategy

It’s not just about having data—it’s about having the right tools to act on it.

What worked for Firecrown:

• Customer Data Platform (CDP) – centralizes audience insights. Omeda’s unique audience-centric CDP enables Firecrown to understand their audience across all of their brands. It’s a 360-degree view of their audience across channels, multiple revenue streams, and diverse brand portfolios. They can build highly targeted segments for marketing and activate across channels.
• Universal tracking scripts – connects audience behavior across all brand websites.
• Automation tools – to execute personalized campaigns.

Nicole McGuire’s insight:

“You can have a wonderful CDP, but if it doesn’t have the tools to [drive] action… it just wasn’t working.”

Investing in the tight tech stack is non-negotiable for first party data

To unlock the full potential of first-party data, investing in the right tech stack is essential. Without integrated tools, valuable audience insights remain trapped in silos, limiting your ability to personalize experiences and drive informed decisions. A modern tech stack—combining customer data platforms (CDPs), analytics, and marketing automation—ensures data flows seamlessly across systems, providing a unified view of your audience. This not only improves data accuracy but also enables real-time insights and better targeting. As privacy regulations evolve and third-party data declines, having the right infrastructure is crucial to turning first-party data into a competitive advantage.

Why first party data is the future

As privacy regulations tighten and third party data becomes harder to access, first party data is emerging as the foundation for future-proof marketing. Brands that collect and own their customer data—not relying on external sources—are better positioned to deliver personalized experiences while staying compliant.

But first-party data isn’t just a buzzword—it’s a powerful tool for driving customer engagement and increasing revenue. Firecrown’s success demonstrates that businesses investing in unifying and activating their data today will lead the market tomorrow. By leveraging first-party data, brands can build deeper customer relationships, improve marketing efficiency, and stay ahead in an evolving digital landscape.

Would you rather waste hours wrangling data—or use it to drive growth? Talk to one of our experts to find out how Omeda can support your first-party data and revenue goals.

Interested in learning more about how Firecrown succeeds with Omeda? Check out these videos:

Connecting the Dots: How Firecrown Unified Audience Data to Drive Subscription Growth

Two feet on the gas: How Craig Fuller has grown Firecrown into a high-flying media business

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