Zero-Party Data Collection Via Referrals: Tools to Get Insights With Ease

By Dan Barraclough — September 16, 2025

In a digital landscape shaped by regulations, uncertainty around cookies, and increasingly data and privacy-conscious consumers, the rules of engagement have changed. Today’s customers expect more than just clever campaigns: they want meaningful, personalised experiences and full control over their data. That’s where zero-party data comes in.

Zero-party data is willingly shared information - things like preferences, intentions, and motivations - that customers provide directly. Unlike third-party data (which is bought or collected from other sources), it’s explicit, accurate and built on trust. In fact, according to a 2023 Statista survey, 60% of UK consumers likely feel at ease using a website that collects zero-party data.

Referral marketing is a highly effective but under-appreciated way to collect zero-party data. When someone refers a friend, joins your influencer programme or claims a reward, they’re not just spreading the word. They’re telling you who they are, what they care about, and how they want to engage with your brand.

In this article, we’ll explore how to collect zero-party data through referrals, the platforms and features that support it, and how brands like yours can use it to deliver richer, smarter, more personalised marketing.

What is Zero-Party Data?

A term coined by Forrester Research, Zero-party data refers to information that consumers voluntarily share with brands, typically in exchange for a more personalised customer experience. We're talking about things like marketing preferences, purchase intentions, and how they want to be seen by you. You don’t have to speculate, guess or infer zero-party data - it’s taken straight from the source, your customer, with their consent.

Defining Zero-Party Data

In the context of digital marketing, think of zero-party data as the most direct and transparent form of communication between brands and consumers. It’s when a customer says, “Here’s what I like. Here’s what I want. Here’s how I’d like to be treated.”

In other words, zero-party data is shared deliberately and proactively with your brand. Unlike first-party data, which observes how customers behave and interact with your brand through apps, websites, and social media, zero-party data listens to what they say. And unlike third-party data, which is collected or purchased from sites or sources that you don’t own, it is given freely and directly by your customers.

Benefits of Using Zero-Party Data

Why guess when you can just ask? Zero-party data allows you to source clear, reliable insights from the people who matter most, your customers. It means fewer assumptions, better targeting, and experiences that actually feel personal. Here are the benefits of using zero-party data:

Straight from the source – zero-party data is freely and intentionally shared by your customer, offering clear and accurate insights into their preferences, habits, and intentions. No guesswork needed.
Personalisation that fits – instead of relying on assumptions, you can tailor experiences based on what customers directly tell you they like, want, or need. According to McKinsey, 71% of consumers expect to have personalised interactions, while 76% are frustrated when they don’t.
Control stays with the customer – users decide what to share and when. This transparency builds trust and encourages richer, more meaningful engagement.
Goodbye, sinister marketing – because the data is willingly provided, personalisation feels natural, not invasive.
Privacy-first by design – zero-party data is collected with consent, aligning with GDPR, CCPA, and the growing global demand for ethical data use.
A smarter, more cost-effective strategy – collecting insights via quizzes, surveys, and sign-up flows is far more relevant and scalable than relying on inference or third-party sources.
Omnichannel consistency – zero-party data allows you to personalise experiences across every touchpoint - email, web, app, and even in-store.
Better data = better business – when you act on what customers tell you, you drive higher engagement, improve retention, and boost ROI.
It's what customers expect – today’s consumers want tailored experiences and full control over their data. Zero-party data delivers both.
Trust becomes loyalty – meet a customer’s expectations and you earn trust. If you can exceed them, you can build long-term loyalty.
Get ahead (or fall behind) – brands embracing zero-party data gain a competitive advantage. Those that don’t risk becoming irrelevant in an increasingly privacy-conscious market.

Referrals as a Source of Zero-Party Data

Referral marketing isn’t just great for acquiring new customers - it’s also a goldmine for zero-party data.

When someone refers a friend or shares your brand on social media in exchange for a reward, they’re not just spreading the word - they’re telling you something about themselves. What their preferences are, who they trust, and how they like to engage with brands. And because this data is offered willingly, it’s accurate, actionable, and rooted in real customer intent.

Why Referral Marketing is Ideal for Zero-Party Data Collection

Let’s face it - people trust people more than ads. Referral marketing taps into this trust by encouraging customers to recommend your brand to their friends, in return for something of value.

And because referrals rely on voluntary participation, and provide clear incentives and transparency, it motivates customers to share their genuine preferences. The result? Zero-party data that’s relevant, accurate and of the highest quality.

Referral programmes also encourage continuous engagement, making it easy to gather ongoing, up-to-date insights about customer preferences, motivations, and networks without the guesswork associated with inferred data.

On top of that, referral programmes are easy to embed across your full marketing journey, which makes data collection seamless and rewarding.

Types of Data You Can Obtain Through Referrals

Referral programmes open the door to a rich vein of valuable information. Referral marketing isn’t just about getting new customers - it’s about learning more deeply about the ones you already have. After all, who better to tell you about your customers than the customers themselves?

Who do they trust? - ever wonder which relationships really matter to your customers? Referral data tells you exactly that, highlighting who they trust enough to share your brand with.
Preferred communication channels - do your customers share via LinkedIn, Slack, WhatsApp, or good old-fashioned email? Referral links reveal their true digital hangouts, so you’ll never waste effort on channels they never use.
What motivates engagement? - are your customers incentivised by discounts, early product access, exclusive content, or maybe something entirely different? Referral rewards provide a clear picture of exactly what drives action.
Social influence and advocacy levels - referrals show you who's just casually spreading the word, versus those die-hard advocates who’d stake their reputation on your product. Could there be a better sign of brand loyalty?
Preferences and interests - if someone’s sharing your referral link after buying a specific product or service, that reveals genuine enthusiasm. That enthusiasm gives clues about what resonates most strongly and why.
User intent and behaviour - forget guessing why someone made a particular purchase. Referral marketing combined with post-referral surveys allows you to ask directly, for example: are they buying your trainers because they’re running marathons or are they just wearing them to lunch?
Feedback on your offering - after referring friends, users are more open to answering surveys or quizzes. Want honest opinions about your products, onboarding process, or customer service? Ask the referrers.
Creating ideal customer profiles - every referral is like a mini vote that says, "My friends would love this too!" It's insight into your customers' networks, helping you sharpen your ideal customer profile.

Tools for Collecting Zero-Party Data Through Referrals

To truly unlock its true value you need to understand how to collect zero-party data through referrals. The best tools and methods can help you automate, integrate, and personalise every touchpoint in the referral journey. For example:

Surveys - use tools like Typeform, GoZen Forms AI, JotForm, or Google Forms to directly ask customers for detailed feedback, opinions, preferences, and personal details, providing precise insights.
Quizzes - encourage users to share their preferences, needs, and interests in a fun and interactive way using platforms such as GoZen Engage AI or Typeform quizzes.
Interactive elements - GoZen Engage AI also offers interactive elements such as polls and games, which you can use to capture customer likes and dislikes while creating memorable experiences.
Events and contests - when you host virtual events or contests, you can collect demographic data, company roles, motivations, and interests through registration forms.
Social media interactions - leverage built-in social media features - such as polls, question stickers, and live video sessions - to efficiently collect real-time insights into customer interests and preferences.
Webinars and Q&As - Platforms like Zoom facilitate interactive sessions that allow you to address specific customer problems, capture feedback, and deeply understand your customers at a deeper level through live polls and Q&A sessions.

Key Features to Look Out for in Referral Marketing Tools

Not all referral platforms are created equal. Here’s what to look for when choosing one to support your zero-party data strategy:

Automation and integration - choose tools that automatically send invites, track referrals, and deliver rewards. Seamless CRM and e-commerce integration ensures your referral data flows straight into your systems, with no manual effort required.
Analytics and reporting - real-time referral tracking, sales attribution, and performance dashboards are essential. A platform that offers A/B testing for rewards and messaging is also incredibly valuable.
Customisation and flexibility - look for white-label options so you can tailor the referral experience to your brand, which will help to maintain trust with your customers. Flexible incentives and the ability to scale across campaign types are also a must.
User-friendly design - it should be incredibly simple for customers to refer friends and for your team to run the programme. Complicated systems and journeys are likely to result in missed opportunities.
Security and support - the platform must have strong data protection and be compliant with GDPR to ensure you and your customers are protected against cyber threats
Optimised for mobile and social - social sharing and mobile browsing are essential to the customer experience, so ensure your referral journeys work perfectly on any platform and device.

Recommended Referral Tools

Choosing the right referral tool can significantly enhance your zero-party data strategy. Here are five excellent options tailored to businesses focused on gathering rich customer insights:

Mention Me - the market's most complete referral platform, providing powerful analytics, seamless integration and impressive testing tools, ideal for brands that want comprehensive insights from customer referrals and detailed behavioural tracking.
Friendbuy - offers highly customisable widgets, extensive A/B testing, and detailed analytics. It’s most suited to enterprise-level brands looking to ramp up their referral and loyalty programs.
Talkable - a referral marketing platform that incorporates tools for campaign management, A/B testing, and user-generated video referrals.
Referral Factory - provides a drag-and-drop referral program builder with premade templates and automated analytics. It’s ideal for businesses seeking rapid implementation and quick insights without requiring too much technical complexity.
Extole - a platform targeted at enterprise-level clients that helps to launch personalised referral programmes across multiple channels, with built-in tools for optimisation and analysis.

How to Effectively Implement Referral-Based Zero-Party Data Collection

Referral marketing isn’t just a growth tactic - it’s a strategic way to gather valuable, willingly shared customer data. When done right, it helps you understand what your customers love, how they communicate, and what motivates them to engage.

Step-by-Step Guide

This step-by-step approach will ensure your referral-based zero-party data collection works like a charm:

Define your goals
What do you want to learn from your referral data? Whether it’s product preferences, location insights, or buying intent, be clear on what you’re aiming to collect.
Choose the right platform
Pick a referral tool that integrates with your CRM, automates tracking and rewards, and captures zero-party data through forms, quizzes, or social sharing.
Identify and activate advocates
Use your existing customer data to find high-value advocates—those with a strong brand connection and positive experience. Personalise outreach to encourage participation.
Create engaging referral journeys
Make the process fun and valuable. Embed personalised quizzes, ask simple preference questions, or reward users for sharing reviews or completing surveys.
Track, analyse, optimise
Monitor referral activity, data quality, and conversions in real time. Use A/B testing to refine rewards, messages, or targeting for better engagement and insight collection.
Loop data back into your strategy
Feed the collected zero-party data into your CRM or personalisation tools to enhance targeting, tailor future campaigns, and deepen customer relationships.

Best Practices for Maximising Data Quality

Incorporate these practices into your collection efforts to maximise data quality:

Be transparent - let users know why you’re asking for information and how you’ll use it. Clarity builds trust and encourages more accurate sharing.
Keep it light and relevant - ask only for what you need - and tie questions to what matters to the customer. Instead of “favourite colour?”, try “Which product styles do you like most?”
Offer real value in exchange - make the reward worth it. Discounts, early access, exclusive content or loyalty points all help motivate customers to share thoughtful, accurate data.
Use micro-interactions - pop-ups, chatbots, and social polls are low-effort ways to capture quick preferences and insights during the user journey.
Don’t overwhelm your customer - avoid lengthy forms or overly complex questionnaires. Keep it conversational, optional, and friction-free - especially on mobile.
Validate and clean up your data regularly - ensure your systems are set to filter duplicates, flag suspicious entries, and keep your referral data fresh and usable.

How Mention Me Can Help You With Zero-Party Data Collection Through Referrals

Mention Me is more than just a referral platform - it’s a great way to collect zero-party data. By enabling customers to refer friends or join influencer programmes, brands gain access to willingly shared, high-quality insights about their audiences.

Whether it’s through refer-a-friend campaigns, trackable influencer initiatives or personalised reward journeys, Mention Me empowers brands to gather rich, self-reported data at key customer touchpoints. This zero-party data can feed directly into your CRM and marketing stack - fueling smarter personalisation, segmentation and targeting.

What’s more, our powerful testing tools remove guesswork from the equation, while Predictive Segmentation and Sentiment Analysis help you target the right customer with the right offer and understand exactly why they’ve referred your brand.

And because Mention Me acts as a data processor for its clients, you stay in control while we support the secure collection, management and activation of insights that truly move the needle.

Challenges, Pitfalls, and Ethical Considerations

Zero-party data collection through referrals offers huge potential, but it’s not without its challenges. Ethically and securely collecting this data means respecting the customer’s intent. Make sure the process is secure, opt-in, value-driven, and fully aligned with privacy regulations.

Here are the challenges, pitfalls and ethical considerations you should keep in mind:

Over-asking for data can create friction - if customers feel interrogated or as if their privacy is being breached, they may drop off or disengage.
Offering rewards can skew data accuracy - if users are only sharing to earn incentives, the information may not be fully reliable.
Be transparent - asking users for personal information without clear, honest messaging can undermine trust and harm your brand’s reputation.
Data protection and compliance must remain a top priority - even willingly shared data should be handled with care, in line with GDPR and other privacy laws.
Poor UX can kill engagement - if your referral or influencer journey isn’t seamless - especially on mobile - you’ll lose valuable insight and advocacy.

Roundup

Referral-based zero-party data collection marries brand advocacy with deep consumer insight. When customers willingly share their preferences, habits and intentions, you gain data that’s not only more accurate - but more actionable.

Mention Me helps you unlock this potential through trusted, rewarding referral journeys that drive both growth and personalisation. And with our secure, scalable platform, you can build deeper relationships, reduce your reliance on third-party data, and future-proof your marketing in an increasingly privacy-conscious world.

In short: better data, happier customers, and a smarter brand strategy - all from a simple recommendation.