The false sense of relief should not be mistaken for a permanent solution. While the topic has been discussed ad nauseam, as the digital advertising landscape continues to evolve, advertisers must adopt proactive and strategic approaches to prepare for an infinite lack of (3rd party) cookies. Understanding the distinction between third-party and first-party cookies is essential to this preparation.
Just to recap, let’s draw up a quick reminder of definitions between the eradication of different digital biscuits. Some are here to stay, but some may have passed their expiry date.
Firstly, first-party cookies. These are created and stored by the website a user visits directly. These cookies help website owners provide a better user experience by remembering user preferences, login details, and shopping cart contents. Perfect, no problem here. As they are set by the domain the user is visiting, first-party cookies are generally considered less invasive in terms of privacy.
The far more insidious version (according to Google and privacy regulations) are third party cookies. Third-party cookies are set by domains other than the one the user is visiting. These cookies are typically used by advertisers and data brokers to track users across multiple sites, collecting data on browsing habits and preferences. This information allows advertisers to deliver targeted ads based on a user’s behaviour, but it also raises significant privacy concerns, leading to increased regulatory scrutiny and efforts to phase out third-party cookies. Cue adtech panic.
So with third-party cookies on the chopping block, advertisers must rethink their strategies. At Charlie Oscar, we believe there’s a few crucial steps an advertiser must take to navigate this transition effectively, with a focus on incremental measurement and marketing mix modelling (MMM).
Like with all big changes, it’s best to know what you’re up against early on. “What is the likely damage going to be to my digital approach?”
Conducting a thorough audit of your current operations to identify dependencies on third-party cookies will help guide the rest of your actions. This involves examining current targeting and personalisation strategies, ad delivery systems, and data management practices. Metrics to consider include the percentage of ad spend reliant on cookies, the volume of data sourced from third parties, and the performance metrics of cookie-based campaigns. By understanding these dependencies, advertisers can prioritise areas that need the most attention and are critical to the business’s success.
Seeing as we’re losing sight of a lot of data as third-party cookies phase out, first-party data becomes increasingly valuable. Advertisers should strengthen efforts to collect and leverage data directly from consumers, who provide consent of course, and feed this back into their ad campaigns. Email addresses, for instance, emerge as a strong identifier in a cookieless world. Unlike cookies, which track browsing behaviour, emails offer a direct connection to users and are typically more permanent, adding longevity to your investments in this space. Be careful to avoid the banana skin of incorrect personal data handling however and fall foul of the GDPR police... To encourage users to surrender their personal data (in this case email addresses) in a persuasive manner, marketers can offer incentives such as exclusive discounts, early access to content, and loyalty programs.
The digital world is moving from a place of precision to that of prediction, and we predict that’s going to be an issue for a lot of marketing teams. To overcome the loss of targeting and performance reporting, advertisers should integrate Marketing Mix Modeling (MMM) as a fundamental pillar of their media planning and reporting. While there is no silver bullet, MMM enables advertisers to measure the incremental impact of various marketing activities on new customer acquisition. By analysing historical data and isolating the effect of different marketing channels, MMM provides insights into which strategies are driving real value and which are not. This approach helps in making informed decisions about budget allocation and optimising the marketing mix for better performance. At Charlie Oscar, we use COmpass, our bespoke data suite based on a modern day MMM approach to setup, run and measure all campaigns on true incrementality.
As per the aforementioned lack of marketing silver bullets, a prudent modern marketer should be investigating a plethora of options. Relying on a single solution to replace third-party cookies is risky. Universal IDs, contextual targeting, and other identity solutions have all been touted as the potential sequels, however none in isolation cover the gaping cookie chasm. Given the nascent stage of many proposed identity solutions, it's vital to conduct tests to evaluate their effectiveness, as one size never fits all and everyone's individual requirements may vary. Testing should be done over a considerable period, at least a quarter, to identify trends and validate results against predetermined criteria. Having a comprehensive approach will help advertisers find the best mix of solutions tailored to their specific needs and objectives.
With privacy concerns leading to stricter regulations, contextual targeting presents a viable alternative. Now contextual targeting is nothing new, it has been around in various forms for years, but let's just say there’s contextual targeting, and then there’s contextual targeting. Matching your creatives as closely with the surrounding content as possible is the way to win in this game, with creative variation and testing being essential to success. There’s a variety of providers in the market, ranging from simple topic matching down to serving a specific item of clothing referenced in the article on the page. Privacy centric, cookieless dynamic creative based on hyper relevant context? What's not to like?
In a barren, cookie-less wasteland of an internet, there will be a necessary shift in emphasis towards building stronger, more direct relationships with customers. This means enhancing the user experience, providing value through personalised content and offers, and maintaining transparency about data collection and usage practices. Trust and loyalty will become critical differentiators for brands, making it essential to focus on customer engagement and satisfaction. Plus giving a customer a great experience is an ideal way to have them knocking on your website door again soon.
Staying on top of the digital advertising landscape is like trying to finish a Rubik's Cube where the colours change every 10 seconds, bon chance. The landscape is rapidly evolving, and staying informed about the latest developments is difficult, meaning advertisers should remain agile, continuously monitoring regulatory changes, technological advancements, and industry trends. Being adaptable will allow them to pivot strategies quickly in response to new information or shifts in the market. For most advertisers, this will mean an element of treading water until the dust settles and unfortunately investing valuable resources in different options.
One to remember: the more you know the less you fear.
Google’s delay in deprecating third-party cookies is a temporary respite that should not lull advertisers into complacency. Combining the above steps will put your business in as strong a position as possible when armageddon beckons, boiling things down to privacy safe measurement and targeting. Collaborating with industry partners such as Messrs, Google and Meta can always keep you abreast of the latest developments in solutions, and with some elbow grease, you will be on the way to future-proofing your business. The goal is to ensure that when third-party cookies finally disappear, advertisers are not just ready to adapt, but are positioned to thrive in the latest version of our industry.
