Audit existing first-party data sources across web, app, email, loyalty and point-of-sale systems for coverage gaps.
Marketing & Sales
Building First-Party Data Strategy for Cookieless Advertising
Learn to build a first-party data strategy that replaces third-party cookies, covering data collection, consent, identity resolution and activation for cookieless advertising.
🗓️Duration5 training days
📚Content4 modules · 8 sessions
🎓On completionAccredited attendance certificate
About the programme
Course Overview
Browser restrictions and privacy regulation have removed third-party cookies as a reliable way to identify and retarget customers, leaving marketing teams that built years of targeting and measurement on borrowed data with no direct replacement. This course builds a first-party data strategy from the ground up: auditing what customer data already exists across web, app, email, loyalty and point-of-sale systems, then designing zero-party data capture through preference centres and interactive content that customers complete willingly. You will configure consent management aligned to lawful basis requirements, apply deterministic and probabilistic identity resolution to unify records into a single customer view, and activate that first-party data into advertising platforms through hashed matching and data clean rooms. The course also covers governance: retention rules, access controls and documentation that let the resulting customer profile withstand both a regulator's questions and a colleague's audit. The outcome is a phased roadmap that sequences collection, consent, unification and activation so targeting keeps working without third-party cookies.
Expected Learning Outcomes
Design zero-party data capture through preference centres, quizzes and account creation flows that customers willingly complete.
Implement consent management that records lawful basis and preference choices in a way that is usable by activation systems.
Apply identity resolution rules to match and merge records into a unified customer profile across devices and channels.
Activate first-party audiences into advertising platforms through hashed identifiers and platform-native data connections.
Use data clean rooms to run joint analysis with partners and platforms without exposing raw personal data.
Build a first-party data roadmap that sequences collection, consent, unification and activation work across quarters.
Who Should Attend
Marketing technology managers planning the transition away from third-party cookie-based targeting.
CRM and loyalty marketing managers who own significant first-party customer data assets.
Digital marketing leads whose retargeting and lookalike audiences depended on third-party cookie data.
Data privacy and marketing operations teams jointly responsible for consent management.
E-commerce and DTC brand marketers building direct customer relationships without retailer or platform intermediaries.
Customer data platform administrators tasked with unifying records for marketing activation.
Course Modules
Select any module to see its sessions and points.
01Assessing First-Party Data Readiness
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Auditing Existing Data Sources
- Inventory first-party data captured across web analytics, mobile apps, email platforms, loyalty schemes and point-of-sale systems.
- Assess the identifiers available in each source, distinguishing hashed emails, device IDs and account-based logins.
- Identify data silos where customer records cannot currently be linked across systems or business units.
- Score data quality on completeness, accuracy and recency to prioritise which sources need remediation first.
Session 2Setting First-Party Data Strategy Objectives
- Define which marketing use cases, such as retargeting, personalisation or suppression, the strategy must support first.
- Set collection targets for known customer coverage across key channels within a defined planning period.
- Map dependencies between the first-party data roadmap and existing customer data platform or CRM investments.
- Secure executive sponsorship by linking the first-party data roadmap to measurable marketing efficiency outcomes.
02Collecting Zero-Party and First-Party Data
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Designing Zero-Party Data Capture
- Build preference centres that let customers state channel, content and offer preferences directly.
- Design interactive content such as quizzes and product finders that capture stated intent as a natural part of the experience.
- Incentivise account creation and loyalty sign-up with value exchanges that customers see as fair for the data shared.
- Design progressive profiling that collects additional data fields across multiple visits rather than one long form.
Session 2Consent Management and Lawful Basis
- Configure a consent management platform to capture and store consent status against each data use purpose.
- Map consent choices to the lawful basis required for each marketing activity under applicable privacy regulation.
- Synchronise consent status changes across connected systems so withdrawn consent is honoured everywhere data flows.
- Audit consent records periodically to confirm activation systems are respecting current customer preferences.
03Unifying Records Into a Single Customer View
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Identity Resolution Techniques
- Apply deterministic matching rules using verified identifiers such as email or logged-in account ID to merge records.
- Apply probabilistic matching where deterministic identifiers are unavailable, and set confidence thresholds for merging.
- Resolve identity conflicts such as shared devices or household accounts that risk merging distinct individuals.
- Maintain an identity graph that links resolved profiles back to their original source records for auditability.
Session 2Governing the Unified Customer Profile
- Set data retention rules that remove or anonymise records once they no longer serve an active marketing purpose.
- Define access controls so only authorised teams can query sensitive fields within the unified customer profile.
- Reconcile the unified profile against source systems periodically to catch synchronisation errors.
- Document the data lineage of the unified profile for internal audit and regulatory enquiry.
04Activating First-Party Data Without Third-Party Cookies
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Platform Activation and Matching
- Upload hashed first-party identifiers to advertising platforms for matched audience targeting and suppression.
- Build lookalike or similar audiences from high-value first-party segments within platform-native tools.
- Set match rate expectations and troubleshoot low match rates caused by identifier format or hashing inconsistencies.
- Sequence first-party activation migration by channel, starting where cookie deprecation has the most immediate impact.
Session 2Clean Rooms and Partner Data Collaboration
- Explain how a data clean room allows joint analysis with a media partner without either party accessing raw records.
- Design a clean-room use case such as overlap analysis or joint frequency capping with a publisher or platform.
- Set contractual and technical controls over what aggregated outputs can leave a clean-room environment.
- Evaluate clean-room results against first-party performance data to confirm activation is reaching genuinely new customers.
What the participant receives
4 course modules
A structured syllabus
8 training sessions
across 5 days
32 detailed points
Applied, detailed content
Accredited attendance certificate
On completing the programme
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