Five Recommendations Before The Disappearance of ‘Cookies.’

This is, according to this expert, what brands should take into account:

Prepare To Meet The Challenge.

“There is no doubt that it is a challenge. Digital marketing has relied on cookies for years, so continuing to be efficient requires change. Perhaps a change in method, processes, suppliers and scope. Ensure that your new parameters are well defined, the environments in which the brand appears, how you will measure the success of your actions, review your segmentation needs, classify them into sociodemographic variables, interests, intention, etc. Be flexible. Try to test and learn from it.”

Reorganize The 1st Party Data Strategy

In terms of collection and use, most of the 1st party data rely heavily on cookies and will be deleted. Despite the expected reduction in volume, paradoxically, it will become a cornerstone, and it is worth focusing on continuing to use it, although in a different way. Two points to consider:

Use your data beyond standard Targeting, using it for direct messages or looking for lookalikes. Evaluate according to priorities how you can use it in one of these two ways: 

• To support planning and decision-making without cookies. The data you have from your consumers will help you in the transformation. For example, you can use it to analyze which contexts define your best customers. Knowing what type of content has the greatest presence among your customers in each market or for each brand or segment will help you determine your initial contextual targeting strategy as an alternative to traditional Targeting with cookies.
• To support your measurement needs. The campaign performance and effectiveness do not need to cover the entire delivery. Could it be enough to measure a representative part? Use your 1st party data to measure the efficacy where possible (e.g., collecting online/offline signals from visits to your properties).

Make proper management of data privacy. Review all your data collection and use channels, assess how to map your users based on persistent logins/identifiers for future use. By the time publishers have a significant volume of unique IDs on the open web, you’ll want to be able to use them. You will also have to make sure that you are correctly managing your users’ data (consent, right to access and delete data, etc.), not only for regulatory reasons but also for a correct relationship with your users.

Ensure The Ability To Segment Audiences In The Future

Realistically, despite our wishes, there will be no single solution to replace cookies. There will be different approaches, which we will need to understand in-depth, test, and combine to maintain advertising effectiveness levels. Keep up to date with the various initiatives in the industry, try, learn, get involved. The current ones are:

• Privacy Sandbox. The first tests are expected to occur in the first half of 2021. Find out more here.
• Real-time profiling. Create profiles in real-time using other relevant signals (not cookies) to generate segments (e.g., Contexts, devices…)
• 1st-party data from Publishers: Make a list of publishers with relevant data for your target. This option is an opportunity, and it also has its limitations, understand both before embarking on it.
• Unique ID: It’s basically about using a registration/login. Publishers are progressively integrating more login solutions. Analyze its scope and start testing it when feasible and has sufficient volume (medium/long term).

Discover The Power of Content

Contextual Targeting is not a plan-B, it offers a viable media strategy, and we have been testing it with multiple brands in different markets. The challenge of advanced contextual Targeting at scale is to understand its value. Learn to plan properly with this alternative: What contexts are available? How and when can I use them? Use your 1st party data to determine which contexts to use, when and how. 

Investigate how you can personalize creatives based on the context in which they appear to increase the impact of the message. Compare the results of contextual Targeting with those of your current targeting strategy.

Also Read: The Five Keys To The Success of Your Digital Marketing Strategy

Don’t Get Lost On The Way

As you move forward in your adaptation to a world without cookies, you will face different challenges that you can anticipate.

• Proper attitude: Not using cookies in advertising has a significant impact, and the digital marketing department must understand the consequences to address it.
• Concentrate efforts: Define and plan. What, how and when will you need to test? You don’t have to try every ad solution from a tech provider just for the sake of it.
• Get in touch and participate in working groups. Share your results: Share the best results obtained with the industry and learn from the experience of other brands and their points of view. This challenge is for everyone. Collaboration in the industry is the ally to obtain better results.