Is there any connection between a marketer and a 4-year-old kid?
Guess what? They both love cookies.
Marketers have been tracking website visitors, logins, shopping carts, and more with these cookies. But lately, cookies, these tiny text files with small pieces of data, are in real danger. Google announced the end of third-party cookies on its Chrome browser. Many marketers have shown worry about the same message.
To set the record straight, Google won’t replace third-party cookies with new individual user tracking, and it also intends to remove support for third-party cookies. For years, marketers have been using cookies for efficiency and productivity. But when Google announced its plan to cut out the third-party cookies from the Chrome browser by 2022 — it came as a shock to many.
Privacy protection and anonymity are the two main reasons for this step. It wants to deliver results for advertisers and marketers while shielding customer’s data.
Although Google Chrome isn’t the first to step out of the third-party cookie system, it’s the most influential one since it owns more than 56% of the web browser market, half of the total global traffic.
The basics you can expect
This pressing issue hasn’t been received well by marketers, ad tech companies, agencies. Top executives and VPs gave an array of impromptu responses. But the real question is, is there something marketers should be afraid of?
The truth is, Google Chrome’s privacy efforts can have a significant impact on the marketing world. To be clear, a third-party cookie system would be hardly familiar to anyone. There will be no personalization of ads or monetization on web pages. This will lead to the disruption of an entire ecosystem of marketing and advertising.
While the absolute truth is in front of your eyes, still there’s always a silver lining in every difficult situation. Well, we are talking about the shift—the significant shift in the consumer market. You can see the drastic changes in the future, and the best way to prepare for it is to “embrace change.”
Markets change faster than marketing. The one thing we can do is reinvent and come together as a consumer brand. This pivot is helping you to adjust. Ultimately, you can come up with new alternatives and navigate through this change.
The truth behind the cookie crumble
Here are few truths behind the cookie change which marketers should know:
● Marketers are convinced that Google will stop investing in tracking apps. But it will invest in other alternatives. Google has already made its first move with its new Privacy Sandbox, technologies that track groups of people rather than individuals.
● Not all cookies are getting banned. If you’re thinking all your cookie-related marketing campaigns are going in vain, that isn’t the case. Google’s 2021 announcement was focused mainly on first-party relationships. This means any first-party data you obtain from your website remains autonomous. You can track your website visitors’ data without relying on any external cookies.
● It will open many new doors for innovation in the advertising and marketing world. The cookie disintegration news has astounded many marketing peeps. Still, we cannot ignore the fact that creating alternative tools even in a time of fewer options is like cracking the magic code of marketing. As a marketer coming up with innovative ads, pop-ups, and other creative ways to gain traction is part of our job. This new cookie challenge will help us to use creative muscles efficiently in our brand. In a nutshell, now is the time to innovate, create, and expand.
● More than the elimination of third-party cookies, marketers are concerned about the reason behind the phase-out. The reason being, with Google Chrome’s first-party cookies, you will be able to leverage the Google ads function fully. You can also use tools like Privacy Sandbox. This will be able to take a massive hit without any support from Chrome.
How to prepare for the cookie apocalypse
This shift can be a real deal within the advertising world, while we don’t know the answer to every question. We do know that a significant change of wave is coming. Yes, it’s hard but not impossible to fine-tune a few strategies and adjust.
Since you’re looking actively for intelligent solutions. Here are five ways you can prepare and stay ahead of your competitors even in this chaos:
● Invest in a first-data strategy
In a cookie-free world, organizing your first-party data is the key. As discussed before, the first-party information is like a treasure that you can shove from your audience. Your audience will respect you for this gesture. While many brands are already aiming for the same, it’s crucial to develop new creative ways to invest in the first- data strategy.
You can collect data in compliance with GDPR for targeting your audience without relying on any third party. It also helps you to generate new revenue streams with the help of segmented user data. Platforms like CRMs, C.D.P.s (customer data platform), and billing systems are best for this purpose.
Recent stats by eMarketer mention that 85% of US marketers stated that improving their first-party data usage is a huge priority.
● Building your audience never gets old
People want brands and companies to be more accountable for their privacy and data. Start building your audience with trust and credibility. You can start collecting the information you genuinely need and leave the rest.
We all know, in recent years there is a big shift towards marketing automation, and statistics say 92% of marketing investments are going towards automation, this helps businesses to understand their customers better and serve their audience with most relevant media and this is not going anywhere. You can build audiences in DMP (data management platforms) and ensure audience enrichment. With the power of content and media activation, you can start from scratch.
There’s no silver bullet to succeed in building a loyal audience. All you can do is re-examine your strategy and manage, unite and analyze consumer’s data. In the last, it can be connected to only one single identifier like a simple email for convenience.
● Be as transparent as you can
In a world full of diluted content, stand out by being transparent to your customers. You can overcome setbacks by being honest in the eyes of your audience. Showcase behind the scenes. Also, you can share their data you are handling to generate trust and reliability.
This enhances relationships between your brand and audience.
For example, please take a look at Evian pop-up cookie banners and the way they adjust cookie preferences by being transparent. They offer comfort to their customers by being transparent.
● Access your techie side with a new perspective
Gaining the knowledge of how collected data can impact your new marketing strategies is essential.
The impact of cookie depreciation can help you navigate multiple tech solutions. Even for different channels like Facebook, Google; it allows you to brainstorm new ideas.
As you can guess, Google and Facebook don’t plan to limit their future revenue opportunities with this new cookie change. If you are trying multiple tech solutions, the connectivity test will be more significant but not impossible.
To keep your brand safe from any kind of legal repercussions, go back to the fundamental strategies. Use hyper-targeted ads, PPC ads, and brainstorm how you can reach your audience without cookies.
● Prioritize customer experience
We are entering a private world where customer’s demands and satisfaction are paramount. From asking for consent to building up new campaigns, it’s essential to keep customer experience always on the top of your mind.
Customer experience plays a different role in leveraging your brand. It can help you to assess your prospective audience and define different touchpoints.
The hunger to be the best in terms of customer satisfaction is there for all brands and companies. No matter how well your new strategies are received. Still, creating a scalable environment that fulfills your customer’s needs and aligns content to the consumer’s goals is essential.
In short, avoid falling into clickbait conventions, articles, or any other form of content.
Conclusion
The quest for a more consumer-friendly ecosystem can be quite challenging in the future. As marketers, we always look for positive ROIs, and the natural way to achieve it is to have a healthy relationship with your audience.
Trust and reliability can overcome any challenge both for brands and for consumers. The result will be an ecosystem that serves everyone — consumers, marketers, and advertisers.
Companies have already started to prep and learn the new game rules to break them later.
Now the question is: Are you ready to take a 180-degree turn in your marketing strategy?