If you have kept up with Google in the last few months, you may have heard their announcement about phasing out third-party cookies on Chrome by 2022. This has caused many concerns for marketers and their marketing strategy. According to researchers, 79% of respondents still rely heavily on third-party cookies for their marketing. It provides marketers with the necessary tools to understand the consumers better. However, with years of experience, the leading chief marketing officer executive search firm has witnessed many companies slowly moving away from third-party cookies. Even before Google’s announcement.
The reality is data privacy is not a new concept. Global privacy regulations and ad-blocks have posed an obstacle for organizations for many years. As a result, top companies have learned to adapt and carry out better marketing strategies to communicate with their customers. A great example would be companies like Apple, who plan to roll out “extensive new privacy-protection options for users over the next several months.”
Therefore, if you have not added this to your priorities, now is the time to start considering other ways to collect data. Here is what CMO recruiters are seeing top companies do in regards to gaining more insight into their target market.
What CMO Recruiters Are Seeing Top Companies Do to Move Away From Third-Party Data but Still Gain Insight:
Consumers have been aware of third-party cookies for quite some time now. In the past, they were able to reduce the amount of data collected about them by choosing how much time they wanted to spend surfing the web. In today’s world, that is not the case. For consumers to purchase necessities and decrease the chances of catching the virus, many consumers are relying on online consumption. As a result, more and more consumers are demanding better marketing methods, more privacy regulations, and transparency. Therefore, top organizations have been working to phase out third-party cookies altogether.
However, marketing teams still need access to consumer data to provide a personalized buyer’s experience. There is no doubt that organizations will have many different types of approaches to adapt to these drastic changes. To understand the best solution for your business, you must understand the newly created target market. As the leading chief marketing officer executive search firm, MarketPro has identified three main elements consumers are looking for in a brand. Consumers are looking for brand trust, brand purpose, and brand accountability.
- Brand Trust: A brand’s trustworthiness goes deeper than socializing posts or blogs that align with what the consumers want to hear. Your company as a whole needs to reflect the company’s vision and inspire the community. The reality is today’s target audience is a lot harder to gain brand loyalty.
- Brand Purpose: Companies that create a purpose for their product or service because it’s a new trend will not get very far. The authenticity of the brand plays a large role in a company’s success. Customers want to know your company truly believes in your mission and will not change direction once hard time hits.
- Brand Accountability: As marketing leaders, you need to be taking actionable measures to arrive at your end goal. Keep your customers informed about different purpose-driven campaigns and their positive impact on society. You need to be able to show hard examples and data.
The market today is led by millennials and generation Z. They want to support brands that have the same values and beliefs as they do. The story your brand tells should be able to resonate with the consumer and have a meaningful connection. However, to provide and exceed your target market’s expectations, CMO recruiters recommend top organizations include a method called “zero-party data” into their marketing strategy.
Zero-party data is data provided by consumers. Not only do you have a more direct direction on what the consumer wants, but you can build trust and transparency at the same time. Studies have shown “79% of consumers are willing to share their data if there’s a clear benefit for them.” All you need to do is be open about why you are collecting data. The best part is you don’t have to worry about wasting your time and money on third-party leads. More often than not, those leads will turn into hard-bounces and unsubscriptions. Therefore, by working hand in hand with your target audience, you can now truly provide a more personalized marketing strategy that captures all of the customer’s intentions, interests, and motivations.
In the end, you now have the opportunity to reshape the way your organization markets to the target audience. By creating a seamless experience that adds value and personalization to the buyer’s journey, you can ensure your competitiveness in today’s industry. However, as the leading chief marketing officer executive search, we see more companies that have a strong marketing foundation build a powerful relationship with consumers and achieve their goals faster than companies that do not. Does your team understand the new target market? Is your team capable of executing new marketing strategies? It’s time to accept the changes in marketing and prepare for the future.
