Why the third-party cookie ban is good news for marketers

Plan ahead

What’s more, Sood explained that marketers now have a better opportunity to create a stellar first-party data strategy thanks to Google’s decision to delay its ban on third-party cookies until 2023. But she warned that marketers should harness that respite immediately.

“Get ahead of Google's deadline,” she said. “It gives you a lot of time to acclimatize to all those changes and the new approaches that you might have to render for these end users to have a personalized experience without third-party cookies.”

She added that not only will marketers then have a pre-determined plan of action, they will also have the ability to monitor and reflect on what is and isn’t working and iterate their first-party data strategy ahead of the deadline.

First-party data drives trust

Happily, Sood revealed that most marketers have always prioritized first-party data collection and so are beginning the transition to the ban on third-party cookies from a place of strength. “A lot of marketers really understand what first-party data can bring to the table – 88% say that collecting first-party data has been their priority,” she said. “And three in five marketers say that first-party data drives stronger ROI.”

She argued that marketers should now intensify their focus on acquiring more first-party data and building consumer trust via more transparent communications that provide a value exchange.

“Imagine that a customer signs up for your newsletter,” she said. “You promise not to spam them or share their email address and you tell them that they can unsubscribe at any time. That builds brand confidence.”

But Sood encouraged marketers to think beyond the first step of name and email address and instead ask users what else they wanted from them such as how often they want to be contacted and what topics they are interested in.

“Once you have that data, which consumers have opted into giving, you can analyze it,” she said. “You can see what they are telling you about what they want from you, you can analyze the trends and you can understand your demographics better”.

“Then, you can integrate this information with any of your customer data platforms or marketing automation systems or customer relationship managers, to essentially define a better strategy long term, so that your communication, outgoing or incoming, is very relevant. All because you've built that relation with this end user.”

Hand control to consumers

Sood also explained that leading organizations were getting ahead of the regulatory curve, and the increasing consumer demand for data control – heightened by the rise of web3 and the decentralized internet, in which the select few technology giants currently controlling the online space see that control diminished – by building online trust centres.

“A trust centre is a one stop privacy hub for the end user,” she said. “It gives your consumer the ability to set up their preferences, understand their rights and have access to your disclosure terms and privacy policy. You can also enable consumers to exercise their rights from the same experience.”

She added that she believed such a move was one of the best ways to shore up consumer loyalty. “The best way we can retain, or even source, more loyal engagements is by providing users with this one-stop shop to manage everything and make their life easy,” she said.

To watch the full session, click here.