Stop guessing how to build relationships: build a First-Party data ecology
by Tim Nafziger
Image created by Mariano Avila using Dall-e text to image generator.
Stepping Up Engagement
You can’t expect people to go right from watching a show to becoming a member. Some might, but not enough for you to build a strategy around them. You need to get to know them based on how they interact with our communications–the more targeted and specific, the better. The information you collect is called ‘first party data,” but getting it is a process.
You first need to build a relationship with your fans through whatever form of communication they use to find you–social media, live events, broadcast content, your website, etc. On those platforms, provide easy steps for them to climb up your engagement pyramid (or ladder). Wherever they find you, use the specific show or topic to engage them. Once you’ve guided them into regular communication (ideally through email or SMS) you can start to lay the groundwork that inspires them to become a member.
Building long term relationships beyond broadcast listeners and viewers is a growing area for many in the Public Media community. Doing it through email products like newsletters is the primary trend.
Public Media Case Study
I recently spoke with a membership manager at a Public Media station. They only had one monthly email newsletter, same content for all members alike. As we talked, it became clear they had major untapped potential for growing beyond this single email product. For example, they have a popular music show featuring regionally famous musicians that is wildly popular among their listeners and viewers. I visited the music show’s website and the Calls to Action (CTAs) were all built around the conventional asks: watch, listen or buy tickets. Further down the page there was an option to become a member of the stations. But there was no invitation for fans of the show to sign up for ongoing communication via email or text about the music show schedule or interviews with the artist, nothing.
You can read more about CTA’s here.
Leveraging First-Party Data
Stated clearly, first party data is what you collect from your audience online when they interact with your app, your website, your emails, or other online campaigns. First party data is powerful for deepening relationships with your audience and growing donor revenue. When you send an email to an audience, you can immediately get data on how many people opened it and clicked on links. You can use this information to better understand what content will engage them. When people sign up to your email list, you can welcome them with drip campaigns that help you understand their interests. Read more about drip campaigns here.
When your content team has an inspiration about a topic to build a new email product around, those hunches can be tested. You can set up an a/b test and heatmaps to see what content your subscribers are most excited about. Read more about heat maps or a/b testing.
Once you’ve established a new email product built around a new audience, you can begin to learn more about that audience through how they engage with the content you send them and the cycle repeats. First party data can also be very valuable in launching new products to reach new audiences. Some of the most important first party data in your station lives in the heads of your staff.
I grew up listening to Morning Edition and All Things Considered, but Public Media can no longer rely on simply reaching listeners like me. I’m a progressive white male who grew up in a small town in rural northern Indiana that was deeply religious. The town had a mix of liberal and conservative white people as well as a rapidly growing community of immigrants from Mexico and central America. It took a long time for our local media to make space for non-white voices, stories, perspectives and Spanish language content.
Whether it is new rural audiences or reaching non-white listeners, building an audience requires careful listening to the community around you. The tools with which we listen may have changed over time, but the principles remain the same: invite engagement, share useful information with your audience and learn from their response.
First-party data takes the guesswork out of the equation and helps you focus on making sure you are communicating the most relevant information at the most opportune time about the content they value most. It enables you to build scalable, data-driven relationships with the communities around you.