Google Is Getting Rid of Third-Party Cookies. What Does This Mean for Marketers?
Cookies. Consumers are confused by them, but marketers love them.
Marketing professionals have always used cookies to shed insight into the customer journey. They remember who visited your website, what products or services they interacted with the most while they were on your site, and how they’ve engaged with your brand in the past. The data we collect through cookies is a treasure trove of information. This data should inform the customized ads we send to specific customer groups, as well as influence how we improve the user experience.
One of the most exciting parts of being in marketing is that it’s one sector that is constantly in flux. This can be exciting, as it provides you with new marketing tactics and tools to use to increase sales and grow your brand. However, there can be a downside to this. If certain changes could render your current marketing strategy less effective, this becomes problematic. Until you course correct, you could end up losing valuable customers.
This is what’s happening right now, as Google announced its plan to phase out cookies in response to consumers demanding more privacy and greater control over their personal information.
But before you panic — here are a few things you should know about this phase-out.
It’s not all cookies (for now)
So far, Google is only planning to ban third-party cookies on its browser. In other words, the first-party cookies you use to obtain information about your customers are safe (for at least the near future). You can still use the customer data you discover through your cookies to help inform your marketing strategies, but you might have to rethink this strategy if Google ever comes for your first-party cookies.
This isn’t a complete surprise for most marketers
Government agencies around the world have been cracking down on privacy issues for quite some time now, so no one should be completely caught off-guard that Google is starting to phase out its cookies. In 2019, the GDPR ruled that it wasn’t just enough for brands to notify consumers that they used cookies, they actually had to have visitors click ‘accept’. In response to these changes and the inevitable ban of all cookies, data management firms and marketers are working to find alternative solutions to collecting information that are more transparent and less intrusive.
A demand for more innovation
While the phase-out of cookies should cause marketers some concern, it’s just another challenge that brands must face. Success here will depend on a brand’s innovativeness and resilience. As marketing professionals look to the future, they should be mindful any time hyper-targeted technology that is being used in their marketing strategies. Privacy and data regulations will only continue to increase, so it challenges marketers to uncover information about their target audience without being too invasive.
Part of being in marketing is to be flexible, adaptive, and creative. It’s these strengths that will ensure your marketing strategies remain strong no matter what comes your way.