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Identity resolution has always been a major challenge for marketers, even before the third-party cookie deprecation planned by Google. The eventuality of the cookie deprecation exacerbates this problem. Now, there is an increased need to provide consistent, coherent, and relevant consumer insights rooted in identity across digital and physical channels. To survive and thrive in a world without cookies, marketers must reassess their first-party data strategy and seize the opportunities it offers.
Balancing Identity Resolution
The enterprises and brands that stand out from the competition have successfully prioritized their customer identity resolution by leveraging their first-party data and thoughtfully enriching that using second-party and third-party data sets. Data that a company obtains directly from its consumers through interactions is known as first-party data. The information that a business may obtain through direct collaborations and their partners, frequently within an ecosystem, is known as second-party data. The data a brand can license from a data provider is known as third-party data (e.g., consumer demographics, digital behaviour data etc.
Historically, brands have used cookie-based data to analyze the online activity of current and potential customers. But with the impending demise of third-party cookies, there has been a switch towards more transparent and consent-based data collection methods.
The good news is that a brand's own data strategy, with a focus on its own first-party data, is once again in the limelight thanks to the cookiepocalypse. If executed well, brands can emerge from this shift with a deeper understanding of their customers than they ever had.
Advocating For First-party Data
Companies that have previously relied on audience segments and third-party data, whose customer interactions often take place behind walled-garden platforms, would find it extremely beneficial to establish their own foundation layer of first-party data enriched with partner data and 3P data. However, walled gardens and fragmented mar-tech solutions often have made it extraordinarily difficult for brands to succeed in their quest.
In this scenario, we see the arrival of Customer Data Platforms (CDPs). By 2025, it is anticipated that the CDP market will be worth well over USD 10 Billion. To be prepared for the impending loss of customer identities, two-thirds of marketers we surveyed are thinking about investing in CDP solutions, according to Epsilon’s third-party identifier deprecation survey.
However, like any other technology, CDPs are often misunderstood. It is quite challenging to integrate profiles from different customer touchpoints in a way that makes sense for marketers. Hence, the brand leaders expect their CDPs to help them with their identity management and resolution. A lot of other things also need to be rooted in that identity, such as purchases, registration, online authorisation, preferences, and more.
Marketers should focus on adequate data hygiene to generate each customer profile, utilising the most precise and privacy-compliant data-gathering techniques.
Internal Alignment For Cross-channel Activation
Depending on inputs from many data sources that complement and improve first-party data connected to a brand, customer data and insights would get richer over time. This makes it possible for marketers to engage with consumers in a post-third-party cookie world in a way that is far more effective than what they can do now.
By putting strategies in place where various data inputs would inform one another—in a setting that preserves privacy, conforms with regulatory standards, and adheres to best practices for permission and opt-out—brands can activate in new ways without the need for third-party cookies. These tactics include, for instance, the integration of owned and sponsored media channels with publishers and retail media networks, as well as cookie-proof digital media integrations.
These measures are gaining traction as companies and retailers want to capitalise on their own data assets and people-based identity resolution to thrive in a cookie-less world.
Given the shift away from device identifiers and third-party cookies, many marketers believe that we are entering a complex world. It does, however, offer an opportunity to enhance the marketing ecosystem for brands. It would make sense for brands to take control of their customer data and reduce their reliance on walled gardens.
We believe every company should strive to stay ahead of the curve by investing in their customer data, technology platforms, and media solutions.
