Cookie-Less Tracking: How Will It Impact Digital Advertising?

Apple and Mozilla have already phased out third-party cookies in their web browsers in the name of consumer privacy. Google also announced earlier this year that it will be joining both companies in getting rid of cookies and moving to more privacy-compliant alternatives by 2023.

This means that we will soon be living in a cookie-less world.  

As a result, it will be very difficult for advertisers and companies to understand consumer behavior, personalize their campaigns, and target the right people with the right marketing message.

However, since Google’s planned cookie phase-out won’t be taking into effect until 2023, you still have time to think and prepare on how you’ll approach digital advertising without third-party cookies.  

So, how do you get your business ready for marketing in a cookie-less world?

As your go-to digital marketing agency in Miami, we’ll help you figure out how you can continue to deliver relevant and effective marketing messages in the digital world.  

But, before we dive into that, let’s first discuss what cookies are and why they’re important.

What Are Third-Party Cookies?

Third party-cookies or website cookies track and remember every user’s action, so you don't have to perform certain tasks again and again - such as logging in to websites you frequently visit, remembering items you added to your cart or automatically filling out forms when necessary.  

In other words, third-party cookies help provide a better and more personalized user experience.  

What Are They Used For?

Third-party cookies are basically used for cross-site tracking, which describes your activities in detail.  

Advertisers can use this information to better understand consumer behavior, target the right audience, personalize campaigns, and measure ad performance.  

These cookies are also used for retargeting ads, meaning you can serve ads to users who have previously visited your site and showed interest in your products or services to increase conversions and sales.  

Advertising in a Cookie-Less World

In today’s digital world, it’s hard to imagine running successful advertising campaigns without the help of third-party cookies. By tracking browsing behavior, such as viewing a video, visiting product landing pages, and clicking links, advertisers can easily serve highly relevant ads to the right users.  

But, aside from behavioral advertising, there are other ways you can reach your target audience and serve them the right ads at the right moment.  

1. Use First-Party Data for Marketing

First-party data - such as such as digital interactions, purchase history, or preferences - is information, a business gathers directly from its customers and owns.  

Using these information helps you learn more about your target audience and segment them into smaller, more specific groups. You’ll be able to develop personalized messages and create relevant ads, increasing the effectiveness of your marketing efforts and reducing the need for other types of data.  

By analyzing web traffic and analyzing which pages your visitors spend most of their time on your site and how they move across it, you can build a more personalized user experience.  

This gives us hope that advertising in a cookie-less world is possible through proper first-party data management.

As the leading digital marketing agency in Miami, we’ll be sharing a couple of tips to help you use first-party data to deliver the right message and create a personalized experience to your audience:

• Use first-party data to get to know your website visitors and group them into smaller groups. You can use this information to create audiences.  

• Comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Always ask permission when gathering data and be transparent with regards to how you use the data you gather from your customers and website visitors.  
• Combine technology and data to look deeply into each user’s profile and create a full view of your customers.

2. Use Contextual Targeting to Serve Relevant Ads

Contextual advertising is the practice of putting ads on web pages based on their content.  

One example is running skincare ads on an article about beauty and wellness. Another is placing campaigns for smart speakers on a tech eCommerce site.  

Contextual targeting on an ad network allows you to use certain parameters, such as website topic or keywords, to position your ads in front of users who are most likely be interested in your products or services.  

Before deciding which websites you should place your ads on, you want to make sure that your products or services are related to the content of that page.  

Here are some contextual targeting tips you can use so your ads will be displayed to the right people at the right time:

• Avoid using the same ad groups for your search ads. Instead, create different ad groups for your contextual ads to widen your reach.
• Analyze your target audience to ensure your ads reach them at the right moment. Extract data you can use to identify which time slots your ideal audience is most active online.

• Use striking pay-per-click ad copies to grab the attention of your target audience so that they will still notice your ads even though they’re not getting the priority placement on a website.
• Study your competitors and see how they use contextual targeting to their advantage. Look at their ad copies and try to imitate the good and improve the bad.  
• Don’t run your ads on sites that don't generate many responses or clicks. Exclude poor-performing sites instead of negative keywords.
• Retarget contextual ads to convince web visitors to purchase the products they left on their shopping carts.  

3. Use Keyword Targeting for a Successful Advertising Campaign

If your products or services are something people typically do some research on before they purchase, then you should use keyword targeting to promote your company.

Keyword targeting is the practice of showing your ads to people who search for your keywords or visit sites that contain your keywords.  

Here's how it works: When someone types in a keyword in their search box, a search result page appears with organic listings and paid ads. When they click on an organic listing that has an ad widget, chances are, they're going to see your display ads on that website.  

It increases your brand exposure and helps you reach more audiences.  

Using keyword targeting costs less compared to paid search ads. Your ads aren’t  shown alongside your competitors' ads, and you don't have to compete against national brands for the same keywords.  

Are You Ready to Advertise in a Cookie-Less World?

If you own first-party data, you’re in a wonderful position to innovate and effectively engage with your target customers online.  

You can use the information you gather directly from your customers and web visitors together with other targeting techniques, such as contextual and keyword targeting, to effectively reach your ideal customers while respecting consumer privacy.  

Digital Resource is the leading digital marketing agency in Miami. We can help equip your business and your marketing team for the cookie-less era.  

Our team of digital marketing experts can help you transition with ease and make sure that you continue to serve highly targeted ads and marketing messages to your audience in this digital age.  

Contact us today to start equipping your company for success!  

‍