Can marketing survive without cookies?

For years, marketers have tracked and followed online users through cookies. Now, the end of third-party cookies is upon us. However, it might not be all bad news for marketers. The digital advertising industry has relied on data derived from third-party cookies as its standard. It’s no surprise that their removal is causing a lot of chaos and confusion for marketers. One of the main issues with third-party cookies was the lack of privacy. Without cookies, marketers must find a way to collect data from their audience in a transparent way.

Goodbye third-party cookies. Hello transparent data!

We now have the opportunity to build a sustainable ecosystem that allows retailers and other advertisers to achieve their marketing goals, with user privacy as a priority. This would increase the need for brands to have open communication when collecting consumer data.

Consumers can feel confident that  their personal information is being used in a way that they feel comfortable. With such transparency, consumers will have the option to avoid sharing their information with certain brands.

This transparent way of collecting data will not only benefit the user but brands themselves as well. The brand gets to build an even deeper connection with its customers while bringing new strategic partners into its network. Working with publishers directly, for example, creates a much cleaner supply chain and reduces the risk that the brand’s data to be shared with unwanted suppliers. Recently, first-party consumer data has become more common than ever. Throughout the pandemic, marketers have had an opportunity to collect a lot more first-party since shopping has gone entirely online for some.  

A research study Forrester conducted for Permutive found that 41% of marketers still rely exclusively on third-party data. Marketers’ anxiety surrounding the end of third-party data is understandable considering they have relied on that for so long. However, a cookieless world isn’t all that scary if brands take control of their data on their own data practices.

Carolina Macedo, the author, is Project Coordinator of Marketing Keys.

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