Last updated on October 13, 2021 Table of Contents
First-Party Cookies
You must have heard of third-party cookies’ precursor; first-party cookies. First-party cookies are cookies generated by the website the user is on and remember the basics such as the users’ preferred language and what items they have added to the cart.
Also, first-party cookies require the user to agree that they have approved to share their personal information on the website for a better, much-improved user experience.
Third-Party Cookies
Third-party cookies, on the other hand, are web cookies that are formed by third parties to track the users’ purchasing behavior and preferences and allocate online advertisements accordingly.
However, since third-party cookies stealthily track and observe users’ online activity and personal information, they have faced backlash for stepping the line in the pursuit of controlling users’ personal data and violating their privacy for advertising purposes.
With consumer privacy standards in the digital marketing arena growing by the second, EU’s GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act) were put in place to monitor and regulate what sort of consumer’s personal information is being collected and stored by companies online.
Just in 2021, Apple joined the bandwagon of protecting consumers’ personal information by giving their users the option to opt-in or out of being tracked across the apps they use. This way, Apple ensured they didn’t come under fire for using consumer information without the consent of their users.
Google, too, has announced that from 2023, it will phase out third-party cookies from Chrome. Meaning, it will move into a data-collecting role as opposed to a data facilitator position, which, to translate in simple terms, means that it will use and rely solely on first-party data.
How Are Marketers Coping With The Death of 3rd Party Cookies?
Amid all the major changes heading in support of protecting consumer privacy, there are no doubt marketers and advertisers will bear the brunt of it the most. With now Apple giving consumers a choice to opt-in or out of being tracked, it is most likely 73% of consumers will choose to opt-out of having their personal data traced and stored, according to AppsFlyer.
For many years, third-party cookies were the bread and butter for marketers. It allowed them to track users’ online activity, improve their user experience, and most importantly, help marketers gather potent consumer data to curate personalized ads and target them effectively at the right audiences.
However, with the departure of third-party cookies, marketers are left stranded with very little to work with and have limited access to vital consumer data. These limitations and obstructions prevent the running of successful ad campaigns and lead to poor leads and conversions for businesses in the long run.
3rd Party Cookies Phase-Out History
The third-party cookies phase-out headlines aren’t a shocker for us, though. We’ve been closely following the latest tech updates since 2020 and aren’t surprised for third-party cookies to have met their end.
Last year February, Google released a statement mentioning the reasoning behind pivoting from third-party involvement. And the reason was understandable – even applaudable – stating that it wishes to protect their users’ privacy who were demanding not just that, but also transparency and control over how their personal data is to be used in the future.
But Google hasn’t been the only one to phase out from using third-party cookies. Mozilla (Firefox) and Apple (Safari) blocked third-party cookies back in 2013. However, what has, and is, taking Google time to phase out third-party cookies is saving online business advertising from destruction from a blunt and rather abrupt conclusion.
Why Marketers Loved 3rd Party Cookies?
Third-party cookieless tracking is a cakewalk if you see it from a user’s point of view. But it’s not all easy-breezy when you see it from a marketer’s perspective – marketers who heavily rely on extensive data provided by third-party cookies to reach their target audience and make improved, well-thought-out decisions.
Here’s why marketers loved third-party cookies:
- More than 40% of marketers believe that the death of third-party cookies will set them back from tracking the right data. Meaning, they won’t target a specific audience on multiple digital platforms but will instead have to make do with the scarce information at hand to a target audience who share similar behavioral profiles and demographics with other users.
- Marketers will now have to hike their spending on advertising by a whopping 5%-25% to reach the same goals.
- 23% of marketers have planned on investing in robust email marketing software ever since Apple’s announcement of their upcoming Mail Privacy Protection, which entails obscuring your IP address, thereby preventing marketers from tracking their users’ email open-rate data.
So What’s Next?
But alas, it’s not doom and gloom yet – here are some ways marketers can prepare for the demise of third-party cookies by implementing these best practices:
Go back to the basics; utilizing first-party cookies
We can’t cease the end of the third-party cookies reign, but what we can do is go back to the predecessor, first-party cookies.
Google’s customer match is an excellent tool where you can use the information shared by your customers to formulate targeted ads.
You begin first by creating and uploading a list of contact information your customers have shared with you. Then, you create a campaign to target your customer match segment effectively. Lastly, you spread the targeted ads across the search network, Gmail, YouTube, and shopping tab, which your users will be able to see whenever they log into their Google account. This approach is a great way to target new customers who share similar interests with your existing users.
Facebook’s Custom Audiences is another nifty tool in your marketing toolbox. It enables you to target your existing audience on Facebook with the help of utilizing its customer lists and app or web traffic to create tailored ads for your audience who have engaged with your brand.
Encourage users to share personal data with you
Since using third party cookies is out of the question, here are ways you can maximize your first-party cookies by encouraging your users to share information with you:
- Use a registered form for online and offline events to pull in your target consumers. A registration form will help you gather valuable information which you can add to your current list.
- If you are an e-commerce website, one critical element to add is the subscription pop-up on the landing page of your website. Say you have a clothing or online jewelry store; you can offer your users a 10% or 15% discount on their first order – an offer your users most likely won’t refuse. By doing so, you get their primary data such as name, email address, location, etc., which can be used to create tailored ads in the future.
- Newsletters are another great way to obtain data. You can offer straightforward choices to your users as to what they would like to be informed, therefore giving you a clear idea about their preferences. For example, as a clothing store, you can provide choices to your users for them to select from. Would they like to be informed about men’s clothing or women’s clothing? Would they want to be notified on the new arrivals or only discounted items? You get the gist.
Use what you’ve got
When it comes to collecting data, the goal is not only to achieve quantity but also quality. Instead of stressing over the data you don’t have, you want to divert your energy and efforts to work with the data you do have.
Working with the right people who will comb through your current data and refresh it to optimize your marketing strategy is critical. They will not only regularly refresh your contact list to ensure you don’t have redundant, futile contacts but will also create an automated system where contacts that haven’t responded to your emails, messages, or campaigns for some time are deleted.
And although the idea of consumers having the option to opt-out of subscriptions seems dismal, it’s a relief to know that the ones who opt out weren’t contacts you needed to begin with.
However, those who opt-in are the contacts you want to cling on to as they will consent to the usage of their personal data and meet the terms of the data protection legislation. These are the contacts who will improve and maintain your database’s quality.
Not All Cookies Are Being Banned
As mentioned earlier in the blog, third-party cookies stand as a threat, not first-party cookies. So yes, you can rejoice to know your cookie-centric marketing strategies won’t be thrown out the window after all!
Google is only planning to bring an end to gathering third-party cookie data, meaning using first-party cookies to track essential user data is safe and, as Google announced in 2021, ‘vital’ to continue carrying out online business advertisements.
Google Isn’t Going To Stop Tracking People.
Although Google has made it clear that it won’t be tracking users on an individual level, that’s not to say that it won’t be tracked at all. Google has extracted incredible results from FLoC (Federated Learning of Cohorts), a web tracking system that groups users into cohorts based entirely on their browsing history.
How Digital Advertising Can Still Work Without Cookies
The world luckily isn’t over with the departure of third-party cookies. The question that begs to be asked is; what can be used in replacement for tracking cookies while connecting with your target audience? Here’s one tactic:
People-Based Targeting
Since most mobile devices and apps don’t accept cookies, using cookies as a marketing tactic has become a bit of a challenge. This is true when a user switches from using their work computer to their mobile or even when they switch from browser to browser on the same device, leaving the retargeting trail to go cold. This is where people-based targeting comes in handy.
People-based advertising targets the user and not the device and allows marketers to reach users across multiple channels and devices using first-party cookies.
Final Thought
Much like everything else around us, the digital landscape is no exception to change. And with change comes the ability to adapt and prosper or deny submission to change and face dissolution – it is simply up to marketers which path they prefer to walk on.
The death of third-party cookies will unreservedly bring about drastic, even uncomfortable, changes that marketers won’t be able to ignore.
The best solution in dealing with third-party cookies’ departure is first to accept first-party data and use it to its full potential to create personalized content without violating consumer privacy. This will allow marketers to obtain fruitful, staggeringly high ROI without transgressing users’ privacy.
Lastly, remodeling marketing tactics and implementing them as soon as possible will better prepare marketers to triumph in a privacy-first world.
Keep yourself updated with the latest buzz in the digital arena and get the best marketing solutions for your business at NX3 Corporation today. Not to mention we have plan B ready for the worst possible marketing calamities that your Business fears the most.