Growth Strategies
06.07.2023
TLDR
The shift from third-party cookies is reshaping digital marketing for D2C brands. To thrive, focus on using your own data, diverse marketing channels, a strong brand, Customer Data Platform (CDP), contextual ads, partnerships, and varied marketing. Prioritize customer relationships and data privacy for success in this new era.
The digital marketing landscape is constantly evolving and in recent years, a seismic shift has been underway: the phase-out of the third-party cookie.
This shift poses both challenges and opportunities for Direct to Consumer (D2C) brands. But don't worry, your ability to reach, engage, and convert your customers needn't be compromised if you plan ahead.
Today, let's explore strategies you can adopt to not only survive, but thrive in the post-cookie era.
Before we do that, though, let’s break down the difference between first-party, second-party and third-party data.
In the realm of data-driven marketing, understanding the difference between first, second, and third-party data is crucial. Each offers unique benefits and limitations, and their strategic use can significantly influence your marketing outcomes. Let's delve into the specifics to help you make an informed decision on the type of data your D2C brand should focus on.
First-Party Data: Your Brand's Treasure Trove
First-party data is information you collect directly from your customers. This could be from their interactions with your website, responses to your email campaigns, purchases, or even data from customer feedback forms and surveys.
It's the holy grail of data because it's accurate, relevant, and, importantly, you have the consent of the users to use it. It helps in personalization, tailoring customer experiences, and creating targeted campaigns.
However, the challenge lies in its collection and proper use, requiring robust data infrastructure and a clear privacy policy.
This should have been your focus for a while now, but if it wasn’t, it’s a good time to start.
Second-Party Data: A Cooperative Venture
Second-party data is essentially another company’s first-party data that they share directly with you. It's collected in the same manner as first-party data, but the key difference is ownership.
You're gaining access to another company’s direct insights, often to access a larger or different customer base.
This type of data can be beneficial for expanding reach or understanding niche markets. However, ensure the data’s source aligns with your brand values and audience, as any discrepancies could lead to misguided strategies.
Brand partnerships and collaborations are a great way to get access to second-party data.
Third-Party Data: The Wide Net
Third-party data is collected by entities that don't have a direct relationship with the users. This data is aggregated from various sources and sold to companies to help them broaden their reach. It's like casting a wide net hoping to catch your target fish along with many others.
While third-party data can help scale your marketing efforts, it's often less accurate than first or second-party data. Moreover, with increasing data privacy regulations and the phase-out of third-party cookies, its utility is waning.
Each of these data types plays a unique role in your marketing strategy. While first-party data offers a deep understanding of your existing customers, second-party data can help broaden your horizon and third-party data can aid in mass outreach.
The right mix for your brand depends on your business objectives, budget, and data capabilities.
Remember, with great data comes great responsibility. Ensuring privacy compliance and ethical data handling practices is non-negotiable, irrespective of the data type you use.
In the back half of 2024 Google will kill the third-party tracking cookie in Chrome. With Chrome still having 62% market share, the third-party data market and associated industries like PPC advertising are going to get a shake up.
Here are some things you can do to prepare:
1. Diversify your Marketing Channels
If you're a D2C brand that's been leaning heavily on Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising, it's time to rethink your strategy. We’re not saying that PPC is going away completely but it is likely that your ROI will continue to fall, possibly quite dramatically.
Marketing magazine is out there touting ‘Brand is Back’. I don’t think it ever went away, but building a strong brand will be more important than ever.
The key is to start working on your chosen new channels before the changes come into effect so that you’ve already done your testing and know which one of the alternatives works best for you.
2. Embrace First-Party Data
With third-party cookies fading, first-party data is set to become the new gold standard. By collecting data directly from your consumers, you gain invaluable insights that can drive personalization, targeted campaigns, and enhance customer experiences.
Strategies to collect first-party data could include loyalty programs, newsletters, surveys, and gated content.
The key is to incentivize customers to willingly share their information. Building trust is crucial in this process - be transparent about how and why you're using their data.
3. Invest in a Customer Data Platform (CDP)
A CDP can be an effective tool to manage the vast amounts of first-party data you collect. These platforms unify a company's customer data from various sources into a single customer database. They offer a comprehensive view of customer interactions, which can drive personalized marketing initiatives.
Investing in a CDP could provide a competitive advantage in the post-cookie era. However, be sure to assess the potential return on investment and find a platform that best suits your needs.
4. Lean into Contextual Advertising
Contextual advertising doesn't rely on personal data. Instead, it uses the context of the webpage to display relevant ads. For example, a blog post about healthy eating might display ads for a local organic grocery store.
As privacy concerns increase, contextual advertising could see a resurgence. It’s non-intrusive, respects privacy, and when done right, can be incredibly effective.
5. Partnerships and Collaborations
Form strategic partnerships with brands that share a similar target audience.
Whilst this might sound complicated it’s simply about two or more brands working together for mutual benefit.
This could be in the form of joint promotions, affiliate marketing, sponsored content, joint events and webinars or even creating a co-branded product. If you have a physical retail location too, you could try out a ‘store within a store’ concept with some of your partner brands.
Such collaborations can increase your reach, generate valuable second-party data, and add value to your customers. They also allow you to share resources and costs and are often the highest ROI marketing tactic available to consumer brands.
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6. Experiment with New Formats and Channels
From podcasts to social media platforms, explore and test different channels to see what resonates with your audience.
Keep an eye out for upcoming trends as well, like Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) ads, which offer immersive experiences that could engage consumers in new ways.
7. Foster Strong Customer Relationships
More than ever, building and nurturing relationships with your customers is key. Enhance customer service, encourage feedback, and listen to your customers.
Engaging with them on a personal level will not only help with customer retention but also with word-of-mouth referrals, which are incredibly valuable.
8. Partner with Trusted Publishers
In the absence of third-party data, collaborations with trusted publishers who have a vast and loyal user base can provide a way to reach your target audience.
Such collaborations should be approached carefully, with a focus on maintaining your brand identity and values.
9. Advocate for Privacy and Transparency
Lastly, see this change as an opportunity to position your brand as a champion of privacy and transparency. Customers appreciate brands that respect their data privacy.
While the death of the third-party tracking cookie might seem daunting, it’s far from the end of the world. It’s an opportunity to rethink strategies, foster closer customer relationships, and champion privacy.
D2C brands are known for their agility and customer-centricity. These strengths, combined with the strategies we've discussed, will help you navigate and thrive in the post-cookie era.
Guest Author: Sven Radavics
About the Author
Sven Radavics is the Founder and CEO of Intribe, a platform that helps brands lower their CAC by making partnerships easier. Sven was head of Global Sales for fast growing Seattle startup Contour at the time brands first started selling DTC in competition with their retail partners. After navigating the complexities of the emerging changes in go-to-market for consumer brands he led Contour into the INC500 twice. The second time Contour was recognized as the 7th fastest growing company in the USA. When not working on intribe, Sven is an outdoor enthusiast and avid rock climber.