Last week Google announced that it will again delay its replacement of third-party cookies— a practice long used by advertisers. The company said feedback has shown that advertisers need more time to transition to Google’s cookie replacement. Regardless of the decisions behind the delay, Google’s plan to remove cookies will have a significant impact on brand strategies, especially considering Chrome represents more than half of global web traffic. Brands often use cookies—blocks of data a web server generates when a user browses a site—to learn about their customer and (hopefully) improve their digital experience. Cookies can inform everyday functions like product recommendations and e-commerce shopping carts.
The “demise” of cookies means brands no longer have individual consumers’ data at their fingertips and they need new ways to collect and sort this valuable information. But the decline of cookies isn’t new and isn’t “news”. What this delay allows is for brands to review their current data strategy and prepare for a new world. Loyalty programs are a great place to begin. If your brand has a loyalty program then you are already collecting data, you just need to determine how to use it. No single marketing strategy is a perfect substitute for third-party cookie tracking. However, investing time, money, and talent into your data collection strategy enables you to identify the right mix of tools and methods that supports your business objectives. Strategies like zero-party data enable marketing teams to turn data into actionable insights across the customer journey. That’s why loyalty is a perfect home for all of this activity to reside.
When all your customer engagement information is being pulled together first-hand, you’re able to create a real-time profile to help you meet your customers where they are. No more marketing products they just purchased, no more inviting them to join programs they just quit. You will be engaging with them about the things they care about now, on the channel they are currently using.
To create lifelong brand ambassadors, you need to know your customers intimately. Loyalty data allows you to know which specific products from your inventory they like, which ones they would like, and how they want to find out about them. This isn’t possible when using generic third-party data. It’s only possible by creating a united platform solely related to your customers and their engagement with your brand.
And obviously, the more you know your customer and their preferences for your specific brand, the better you will be able to market your brand to them in a way that feels authentic and true. In today’s customer-centric world where repeat sales and customer loyalty matter more than ever, this ability can’t be overlooked.
Any enterprise can use its martech stack to send its customer a notification about a new program, service, or product. But in today’s modern digital journey, that’s not true engagement. At Kognitiv, we believe that engagement means creating a deeper connection with your customers about the products and programs that are relevant to them. Engagement builds trust. It builds real relationships. And that’s what will keep your customers coming back for more, regardless of what Google decides to do with third-party cookies.
ray.chelstowski@kognitiv.com
