26. Online Quizzes for E-Commerce with Ben Parr, President & Co-founder of Octane AI

Ben Parr of Octane AI joins this episode of E-Commerce with Coffee?! appropriately caffeinated and energized to talk about zero-party data. This is the “future of e-commerce,” he assures us, and brands who don’t take action within the next year to year and a half will pay the price.

Ben makes a compelling case for the critical importance of zero-party data. Zero-party data, or data the brand collects directly from the consumer, will not only improve marketing but bring a better customer experience for consumers, too. Listen to this great episode for Ben’s insights!

What to listen for:

• Ben starts the interview by telling the story of how his company got started. Back in 2016, they were well ahead of the curve, and many companies came to them later for advice. The biggest lesson he learned early on, he said, was how to build relationships and brand culture.
• Ben also makes a pitch for what brands must do to attract the best talent. “The best talent is looking for flexibility,” he says, referring specifically to remote work. “The world has changed, and the only question is what companies have changed to meet them.”
• “The world of e-commerce has fundamentally changed this year,” Ben says, moving on from hiring to behind-the-scenes e-commerce sales strategies. Privacy changes have defined this shift, with 96% of iOS users opting out of tracking when the new iOS 14 was launched. The platform update took a new spin on privacy, and as a result, third-party cookies are phasing out fast.
• On third-party cookies, Ben elaborates: “third-party cookies are going away. E-commerce was built by companies just buying that data, but that won’t happen anymore.” Zero-party data is the new way—and now, essentially the only way—for brands to collect consumer data like preferences, interests and behavior.
• For a brand getting started now with their own zero-party data collection, “start with a conversational pop-up over a quiz,” Ben suggests. For one, it’s easier to build out. What’s more, the data collected from those questions and answers helps a brand decide what questions need to be on a quiz later.
• What’s a brand to do with that zero-party data once they have it, anyway? In the second half of the interview, Ben digs into this in detail. “Number one, number two, number three: connect it to your email.” Listen to the full episode for examples of what that looks like.
• Whether or not brands act on this now, they will be impacted for better or worse. Today’s ad strategies based on cookies will be totally broken before long. “If you’re too reliant on ads and third-party data right now (and don’t change that in the next year or year and a half), you’re scr*wed." Consumers don’t want more choices, they want better choices. Zero-party data is how brands will deliver on that.
• It turns out you can take a quiz on Ben’s website to get started yourself, too! Be sure to listen to the full episode for even more insights.