As a digital innovative agency that specializes in the customer experience, MYN follows marketing news, especially regarding the development of cookies. For the last 25 years, marketers have been using website cookies to track visitor behavior, improve the user experience, and collect data. Nearly all advertising and marketing platforms use cookies for targeting, retargeting, and marketing.
Recently, however, Google announced that the web browser Chrome will soon have a control that lets consumers block all cookies. Considering that Chrome accounts for 68% of the global desktop internet browser market share, this technology is widely considered to be the end of cookies.
The new privacy implementations force a fundamental shift in online advertising. Marketing to consumers will be more difficult if marketers can’t use data. These changes raise the challenges of monetization, advertising effectiveness, and personalized content. At a time when 52% of customers claim they’ll switch brands if a company does not personalize communications with them, personalization and customer data are more important than ever, despite the obstacles marketers are facing. In fact, 44% of advertisers say data privacy legislation is already a challenge they’re facing. To help, our MYN Group team has created a list of ways you can adapt to market as third-party cookies are being phased out:
Contextual Advertising: Contextual advertising is advertisements on a website that are relevant to that page’s content. In fact, 83% of advertisers say contextual advertising will become prominent in the advertising industry. Emma Newman, chief revenue officer, EMEA, PubMatic, claims that “contextual advertising fosters an omnichannel approach. Planning can become audience driven rather than having to be channel led, true attribution is possible and more effective campaigns can be measured and delivered.”
Surveying: 87% of survey takers want to have a say in a company’s future products and services, so consumers are happy to take surveys for brands. Not only do surveys help you understand your customers’ thoughts and desires, they also help you collect consumer data. This data generates new leads and helps you personalize content for your consumers.
CRM Software: CRM software is a system that gathers consumer data to improve the customer-brand relationships and interactions. Sometimes called CDP, continuous data protection), this technology consolidates your company’s data in one place. It helps personalize content, identify sales opportunities, and improve conversion. 74% of business managers say that CRM software has improved their access to customer data. As cookies are phased out, this data will be ever more difficult to obtain, so investing in a CRM software is an important start to gathering. Read more about CRM software in this article.
Brand Suitability: As brands use the ability to market with cookies, brand suitability will gain importance. 60% of advertisers say brand suitability will be equally or more important than brand safety in 2020. Brand suitability refers to a brand’s core values, goals, and messaging as a manner of creating deep connections between customers and the brand. Consumers will need incentive beyond just a product or service if marketing is less personalized.
People-Based Targeting: People-based advertising relies on people engaging with brands on platforms when they want to, rather than using third-party cookies to track users or gather data. For this method, you’ll need to identify and connect with customers on the appropriate platform and device. The goal is to ensure cross-device brand recognition for the consumer. People-based automation uses first party-based targeting, which will help your brand unlock a customer profile by centralizing his data.
Keyword Targeting: Keyword targeting relies on advertising based on the content a customer is looking at. Josh Kagan, VP of search at Cogniscient Media, says, “Years ago everyone discounted [keyword targeting] and we moved further and further away from keyword targeting, but now we’re going to have to go straight back to it.”
In terms of new priorities, 83% of advertising professionals say that verification solutions, such as brand safety, fraud mitigation, and viewability, will become more important to improving overall media quality this year. Marketers also expected that consolidation of digital performance and verification across channels will become increasingly important as cookies disappear.
With both personalization and privacy becoming more important to consumers, it’s important to find a balance between the two. Though the idea of advertising without cookies seems difficult now, marketers will evolve and find new, better ways to reach their customers. At MYN Group, we work with our clients to create a successful customer journey, converting at every stage of the funnel. Check out some of our work here. If you want to begin the transition away from cookies, please reach out to MYN.Group@MYNGroup.com to discuss marketing campaigns with us or read our article discussing the importance of influencer marketing.
Our #MYNHerd establishes sustainably agile, efficient ecosystems to build powerful consumer experiences that strengthen brand trust with ethical impact. Through this, first-party data, profile attributes, consumer feedback, and consumer insights are up to date through programmatic processes, automatically extending consumer lifetime value to discover the right customer exchange.