The First-Party Data Playbook by MarTech360 examines why first-party data has moved from a contingency plan to a core marketing strategy as third-party signals become less dependable. The report provides a practical framework for building a data asset that organisations can collect, govern, activate and measure directly.
The briefing explores the changing data landscape following Google's decisions around third-party cookies and Privacy Sandbox, while examining how marketers can build more durable customer data capabilities through consent, identity resolution, activation and privacy-safe measurement.
Based on research from Salesforce, BCG, Google, DLA Piper, IAPP and other sources, the report highlights the gap between first-party data adoption and the ability to effectively unify and activate it.
Inside the report, you will discover why:
- 84% of marketers report first-party data among their top data sources, yet only 31% are fully satisfied with their ability to unify customer data.
- 61% of marketers still use third-party data, down from 75% in 2022.
- Digitally mature brands using first-party data across advanced activations have reported revenue uplift of up to 2.9X, based on BCG research of Asia-Pacific brands.
- Only 1% of marketers surveyed deliver a fully cross-channel customer experience, while fewer than one-third can integrate data across online and offline channels.
- Cumulative GDPR fines reached approximately €7.1 billion as of January 10, 2026.
The report presents a four-part playbook covering how organisations can collect consent-based first- and zero-party data, unify it into a governed customer or account profile, activate it for targeting and personalisation, and measure performance without depending on cross-site tracking.
It also introduces a five-level maturity ladder, moving from fragmented data collection to unified profiles, activation, privacy-safe measurement and ultimately a compounding data asset where every interaction improves the organisation's ability to create relevance and earn customer trust.
The report concludes with an 18-month outlook covering the growing importance of identity resolution, zero-party data, server-side measurement, marketing mix modelling, retail media and expanding privacy regulation.
