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PoliciesKeep calm and cookie on
Brands that are reliant on third-party cookies have less than a year to plan for a future without them. Here’s how to do it.
This week we sink our teeth into cookies, what they are, and how to future-proof your marketing strategy when third-party data takes its final bow.
Clint Bauer
Technology
Technology
6 minute read
Google has decided to kill third-party cookies in Chrome by 2022. It’s the final nail in the coffin for this intrusive tracking technology. But online advertising is so reliant on it; where to now?
It’s time to curate and take control of your own zero and first-party data and work together with customers to create a powerful ecosystem that:
It’s time to curate and take control of your own zero and first-party data and work together with customers to create a powerful ecosystem that:
- Delivers a more valuable, contextually sensitive, coherent brand experience;
- Gives users more control and respects users’ privacy, consent, and anonymity;
- Ensures greater transparency and regains users’ trust.
In short
- With the demise of third-party data, it’s time to rebuild consumer trust.
- Zero and first-party data are central to achieving this.
- New technologies can create more effective, consent-driven communication ecosystems.
Cookies in a nutshell
Before we launch into the fundamentals of future-proofing your cookie plans, here's a look at their varied 'flavours'.
"New innovations wisely used will give you the power to communicate the right message at the right time."
Get the foundations right
Understanding and connecting customer data across multiple channels and touchpoints is a challenge. So it pays to invest in a consent-driven, high-quality CRM database to collect and master zero and first-party customer data. It provides a full view across marketing, product, customer service, sales and other touchpoints.
This lets you innovate and constantly improve your customer experience, creating a true and reciprocal value exchange, which is the foundation of a long term, trusting customer relationship.
This lets you innovate and constantly improve your customer experience, creating a true and reciprocal value exchange, which is the foundation of a long term, trusting customer relationship.
Create a ‘walled garden’
These are closed media ecosystems; proprietary publishing platforms where the owner controls the publishing of and access to applications, content and media within its environment. Think Google, Facebook, and (the new) Amazon advertising.
They won’t be as impacted by the move away from third-party cookies, but they’re not a fix-all because they don’t allow brands to take any data back into their own business. So if you serve an ad via a walled garden and want to follow up with your prospect on another channel, you won’t be able to do that in a data-driven way. That’s why it’s important to use this tool alongside your own zero and first-party data.
They won’t be as impacted by the move away from third-party cookies, but they’re not a fix-all because they don’t allow brands to take any data back into their own business. So if you serve an ad via a walled garden and want to follow up with your prospect on another channel, you won’t be able to do that in a data-driven way. That’s why it’s important to use this tool alongside your own zero and first-party data.
Get contextual
Contextual targeting uses keywords and content on the visited webpage to place relevant and compelling ads, instead of relying on user data. It has clear advantages:
With AI and its subsets of machine and deep learning, this can be taken even further. You can now analyse image, video and text content on a site then match it to advertiser requirements so the right content appears at the right time.
- It doesn't rely on third-party cookies;
- It mitigates privacy and governance risk;
- It improves ROI on advertising spend.
With AI and its subsets of machine and deep learning, this can be taken even further. You can now analyse image, video and text content on a site then match it to advertiser requirements so the right content appears at the right time.
Fill in the gaps
Predictive analytics is fast becoming a critical component of data-driven marketing. It consolidates and simplifies data, providing valuable customer insights.
Since data sparsity will soon be the norm, we’ll need machine learning to fill the gaps. With a proper data strategy, predictive techniques, and AI-derived insights, you can make the marketing landscape more vivid and readable.
Since data sparsity will soon be the norm, we’ll need machine learning to fill the gaps. With a proper data strategy, predictive techniques, and AI-derived insights, you can make the marketing landscape more vivid and readable.
Build your in-house
Traditionally, most brands outsource their performance media to external media agencies and technology vendors. But many have a reputation for not providing full visibility and transparency into their marketing practices, data collection methods, performance metrics and analytics.
With accountability top of mind, in-housing core data, governance and media functions like customer analytics, media strategy and buying can be a smart move. This could mean hiring full-time employees or partnering with companies who work with an agile in-housing model.
With accountability top of mind, in-housing core data, governance and media functions like customer analytics, media strategy and buying can be a smart move. This could mean hiring full-time employees or partnering with companies who work with an agile in-housing model.
Not a setback, but a massive opportunity
This is a constantly changing market landscape with a looming scarcity of quality audience intelligence. But new innovations wisely used will give you the power to communicate the right message to the customer at the right place and time, while building customer relationships founded on trust. There’s every chance this new era can be better than the last.
on performance metrics
In a post-cookie world, be open to new techniques and metrics to measure your campaign’s success. But remember: when you experiment with a hypothesis, you should only change one variable and run one test at a time. Otherwise, you won’t be able to identify exactly which factor has caused the performance outcome.
Explain like I’m five: Cookies
Despite their deliciously simple name, cookies can be a hard concept to grasp. That's why we tracked down the nearest child (okay, we couldn't find a five year old so settled for someone 12) and explained it to them. Here's how it went:
Words: Kevin, Strategy
Pictures: Charlie, Creative
Pictures: Charlie, Creative
