Commentary

When Cookies Turn To Toast: First-Party Data Will Be The New Jam

Marketers claim they are prepared for the cookieless future, according to Deliver A Modern Digital CX: A Guide For Marketing Innovators, a global study of brands and consumers by Acquia. 

Of the companies polled, 87% say they are ready. And that’s good, because 81% of consumers believe their data will be more private when cookies are phased out. Moreover, 40% do not trust that all brands will handle their personal data properly in any event. 

Google has delayed the pullback from cookies, but it is coming. 

How do brands plan to cope with these challenges? By relying on first-party data — that collected directly from consumers themselves and from interactions on websites and in other digital channels.  

Of the marketers polled, 33% say the ability to gather enough data to create compelling digital experiences has been particularly important for them over the past 18 months. 

But many are held up by their own technology: 67% say their marketing tools prevent them from being innovative. And 73% say their martech stacks keep them from delivering creative digital experience for their customers.  

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And 83% struggle to create content that can be rapidly deployed across all of their digital platforms. 

The study prescribes three strategies:

- Customer Data: Brands need to better understand what makes an individual customer open an email, respond to an offer or otherwise engage with them. That will require first-party data.  
- Content Marketers will need low-code or no-code tools to create, test and deliver personalized digital experiences across channels.
- Privacy mindset:  Marketers must track consumers’ comfort levels about sharing personal information and continue to respect customer data privacy. 

Then there is personalization, a capability that has helped brands accomplish these improvements in 2021: 

  • Increased engagement with our brand — 54% 
  • Increased conversions — 48%
  • Better response to discount offers — 47%
  • Increased email open rates — 41%
  • Increased clicks per emails — 41%  

Personalization has had a particular impact in the education field (66%), technology (62%) insurance (61%) and healthcare (56%).

Among all marketers, 94% have their digital CX strategy over the past 18 months, largely in response to COVID-19. For example, 49% have created more content to meet new customer behaviors and 52% have prioritized a focus on consistent branding across channels.  

In addition, 48% have diversified the types of channels they use to reach customers, and 48% have attempted to unify the digital experience across channels. 

As for consumers, most don’t seem willing to share data for a better personal experience. For what it’s worth, U.S. consumers are most agreeable: 

  • U.S. — 28%
  • Brazil — 24%
  • U.K. — 19%
  • France — 17% 
  • Japan — 14% 
  • Australia — 13%
  • Germany — 13%
  • Singapore — 13%

Acquia worked with Vanson Bourne to survey 800 marketers and 8,000 consumers across Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Japan, Singapore, the UK and the U.S. from July to August 2021. 

1 comment about "When Cookies Turn To Toast: First-Party Data Will Be The New Jam".
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  1. Phil Rist from Prosper Insights & Analytics, November 3, 2021 at 10:47 a.m.

    Related research from Dr. Martin Block, professor of Integrated Marketing Communications at Northwestern University

    https://www.forbes.com/sites/garydrenik/2021/10/29/new-research-proves-accurate-targeting-models-are-still-possible-in-todays-privacy-focused-market/

     

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