But first things first, let’s face the facts: digital advertising is more important than ever before. Digital advertising has been a steadily growing industry, and COVID-19 only accelerated that growth. The end of third-party cookies creates a huge hole in many marketers’ existing strategies.
Here are four simple, but not necessarily easy, steps your business can take to get ready for a cookieless future.
1. Find out where you’re currently using cookies
The first thing you’ll want to do is assess your current digital marketing platforms and strategies (e.g., PPC, social media, remarketing, etc.) and identify any that are currently using third-party cookies. If you’re unsure, reach out to a platform representative and ask the question.
Once you can pinpoint where in your marketing you’re currently relying on third-party cookies, you can better assess the potential impact of the upcoming changes and plan accordingly for the future.
2. Focus on the facts
For the last 20+ years, digital advertising technology has been powered by third-party cookies and mobile IDs. To understand what the future will look like without them, it’s important to focus on the facts and seek out educational resources.
The advertising industry is going to undergo a significant change and customer relationships will be key to continued success over the next several years as we all find our footing. Here at the Real FiG Advertising + Marketing, our digital marketers have attended a recent search marketing conference to help educate and navigate our team through the uncertain horizon.
We’re integrating the lessons we learned at the expo into what we do now and we’re patiently awaiting any new updates on things that remain uncertain.
3. Audit the technology you use and make appropriate changes
The next decade in digital advertising will be oriented around first-party relationships. Now more than ever, it’s important to find technology and tools that will help you build and maintain strong customer/client relationships.
Some technologies you may currently be using won’t be able to perform the same without third-party cookies. It’s important for your team to audit and investigate how your current tools will make the adjustment to working without any user-level identifiers. Understanding how they’re going to capture user consent will also be critical.
4. Focus on user experience to reduce frustration around first-party data collection
In previous years, you could simply buy third-party data and it would let you quickly understand someone you’ve never spoken to. But to build direct customer relationships, you’ll have to ask prospects to share information about themselves in order to provide them personalized content in return. Inherently, asking prospective clients to share something about themselves will create some level of user frustration.
Instead of simply putting up a generic consent form, think more about the user experience and the value you can bring them. Consider including discounts, loyalty offers, free content, or online exclusives in return for some personal information.
Learn more about how Denver ad agencies are preparing for the shift from third-party cookies
If you’re still feeling a little confused about the upcoming changes to third-party data, know that you are not alone. Google itself hasn’t even shared its full approach detailing how businesses can deal with it all. But to stay ahead of the curve, it may be time to reach out to Denver ad agencies and find a knowledgeable team to handle these upcoming ad tech changes.
Contact Real FiG Advertising + Marketing today if you’re interested in learning more.