Back to Basics: Data Tracking 101

Introduction

If there's one term that can make a difference in scaling your business, it's 'data tracking'. Still, many questions remain on this subject. In this blog, we take you back to basics so you know exactly what data tracking is all about, what makes it challenging nowadays and how TrackBee helps you tackle the problem around data tracking.

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What is Data Tracking?

At its most basic level, data tracking is like a digital footprint. Imagine: every time someone visits your website, views a product, clicks on a link, or even just scrolls, they leave behind little 'footsteps'. These steps are super valuable as they tell us about visitor behavior and preferences.

Data tracking is about capturing these footsteps. But that's just half the story. Once collected, this data is analyzed to identify patterns and trends. You might notice that visitors often drop off at a specific page or that a certain ad converts well.

These insights help you better understand what interests your audience, where they might experience frustrations, and what steps you can take to improve user experience. In short, data tracking gives you a deeper insight into your visitors' online journey, allowing you to act more strategically and strengthen your digital presence.

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The Big Four: Understanding Consumer Data Types‍

But not all data is the same. Before we dive into how to get the most out of your ad campaigns, let's break down the four main types of consumer data you'll encounter. Understanding these categories can make a world of difference in your targeting.

• Zero-Party Data
  This is the information folks happily hand over to you, like their email or phone number.

• First-Party Data
  This is what you gather yourself when people interact with your brand online, all above board with consent.

• Second-Party Data
  It's data you get from a partner. Think of it this way: someone enters a giveaway, agrees to the terms and conditions. Without knowing it, they agree to give away their data. They get emails from companies they didn't expect.

• Third-Party Data
  Third-party data refers to personal details that are provided to organizations chiefly for the aim of specialized advertising campaigns. Such data has been a key factor in enhancing the accuracy and revenue-generating potential of advertising models like those employed by Facebook.

By leveraging third-party cookies, the Facebook pixel is capable of amassing a wide range of behavioral metrics and data attributes, not only from Facebook users but also from internet users at large.

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What Makes It Challenging in 2023?

With ongoing updates in privacy legislation making the old pixel no longer work and changes in platform algorithms, tracking accurate data has become more challenging. Cookies are fading, users want their privacy, and big players like Apple are prioritizing privacy. So, what are the biggest obstacles?
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• ‍Cookieless Tracking
  ‍Traditionally, we used third-party cookies to track user behavior across various sites. But privacy laws like GDPR and technological changes are making this increasingly difficult. In the past, it was easy to track which campaigns were successful through attribution. Now it's much harder. Personalizing content and ads is also challenging without cookies. As a result, people see less relevant ads, affecting your campaign's effectiveness. And we haven't even mentioned retargeting yet. That was always an efficiant way to bring back people who had shown interest. Without cookies, it's a hassle. Finally, aggregating data, collecting and understanding user behavior, also becomes a challenge. The overall picture only gets blurrier.

• Client-side Tracking
  In the past, client-side tracking was the go-to method; data was sent directly from the user’s browser to the tracking tool. It was simple, direct, and did exactly what you needed. But then complications arose. People started using ad-blockers. These small programs are designed to block all kinds of tracking, including client-side tracking. So, the data you could once effortlessly collect is now disappearing. Furthermore, it turns out that client-side data is not always reliable. Because it comes directly from the user, there can be some 'creative adjustments.' Result? You end up with data that may not even be accurate.

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What Every Advertiser Needs to Know

Through implementation of IOS 14.5 and the rise of cookie blockers/ad-blockers, the old way of tracking started hurting results and making it extremely difficult to predict where your sales are coming from. Consequently, Facebook started flying blind using machine learning models to give you estimated results of your sales, instead of precise customer knowledge.

This is not only the case at Facebook, but across all advertising platforms due to their reliance on client-side tracking and third party cookies. Imagine client side tracking as if you would look over the shoulder of your customer to see their actions on your website. This is the most easy way to track results but also the easiest to be blocked by browsers or ad blockers. 

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So what’s TrackBee’s solution to this?

At Trackbee we use the most advanced data collection techniques: server side tracking, client side, first-party data and data enrichment models to get the best data set possible. Beyond simply collecting your ad data, TrackBee also sends it back to advertising platforms like Facebook, optimizing their AI algorithms. This more accurate data allows Facebook to better identify your target audience, leading to more targeted ads and improved results. We are the only party in the world that enriches your data and sends it back to ad platforms, thereby optimizing the ad algorithms. 

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To sum it up

• Direct Connections: We specialize in tracking online ad data from platforms like Facebook and Google. Instead of relying on cookies, we make direct connections through API integrations, keeping us a step ahead in the data game.
• AI-Power: We use unique data enrichment techniques to send all the data we collect enriched back to the ad platforms. The result? Targeting that is perfectly tailored and ads appear exactly where they're effective.
• Your Data's Secure: Your data, and even your customers' data, are our top priority. We take data protection seriously. Using the best security protocols, we ensure that both your and your customers' data is stored and processed safely.

So, if you're aiming for data-driven success, make sure your data tracking game is on point! Got questions or facing challenges? Our support team is here to help. Shoot us a WhatsApp message!