When the Cookie Crumbles, Where Does That Leave Third-Party Data?

Google will block third-party data collection in Chrome by the end of 2024. If your marketing relies on this, that means you have a year to figure out customer data practices (but you’re not alone!). 

Our research study shows that about half of marketers worry about their organization’s ability to succeed without third-party data. At the same time, nearly three in four marketers believe that company-owned data about customers and prospects is more valuable than ever. It’s clear that the road ahead is paved with first-party data. 

Most of us know we can’t rely on third-party data much longer, but analyzing first-party data to turn insights into action can be challenging. Our research suggests that marketers need more data skills to make the transition away from third-party cookies — about one in three marketers say their organizations don’t have the skills to use customer data effectively.

Now’s the time to take steps toward a first-party data future if you haven’t already because you need to be strategic about data practices and your transition plan.

Implications for Reliant Marketers

Moving from third-party (paid) data to first-party (owned) data is a smart strategy for marketing professionals. Here are five implications you’ll see when the switch happens.

1. You won’t be able to track customers across the internet. Without third-party cookies, you won’t have the same insights about your customers’ movements and behaviors, including purchasing habits, interests and demographics. Retargeting, frequency capping and attribution are all strategies that will be impacted by the change. 
2. Tech stacks will become more complex. Gathering your own data means investing in technologies, data-related tasks and skilled employees. Because there will be more data to manage, you’ll need to spend more time keeping it secure and organized and deriving actionable insights. 
3. Transparency, privacy and consent will lead to customer insights. Consumers are leading data privacy policy changes by asking for more protection and transparency. Privacy legislation is becoming more commonplace, and there’s a lot that’s outside of marketers’ control. Customers today expect a lot from companies — they want to know what you stand for and if they share your values. 
4. Data-forward companies are better positioned to sell. Companies prioritizing first-party data have a competitive advantage when it comes time to attract customers. A company that knows its customers well is a better investment. 
5. There are more opportunities for innovation. Marketers are known for being creative, and with data use evolving, it’s just one more opportunity to capitalize on your innovative mindset.

Despite the implications above, there’s still a lot we don’t know and third-party data going away. Accepting uncertainty is part of moving forward. Some marketers believe Google’s third-party cookie phase-out is driven by profits from shifting advertisers to Google’s first-party cookies options rather than a desire to preserve consumer privacy. One thing you can control? The first-party data you collect.

Transitioning From Third-Party to First-Party

Prioritizing first-party data can help companies become more resilient, agile and strategic about marketing. But you need a roadmap with small, manageable steps to get there. Start with an audit to get a holistic view of your data practices, and answer these questions: 

What customer data do you already gather? 

Over two-thirds of marketers gather basic contact information, such as name, email, phone number and address. Another one in two gathers purchase frequency, purchase history and personal information, such as interests, household income and age. We recommend you only ask your customers what you need and nothing more. For example, if somebody downloads a case study from your website, don’t ask them for their address and phone number. 

Where do you store customer data? 

Our research shows that 70% of marketers store customer data in more than one database (for example, CRM, database software and spreadsheets). Of those who use CRMs, 84% use a single CRM that manages customer data across departments. Keeping your data in one place is best because it reduces redundancies, extra costs and lessens security risks. 

While most are happy with their CRM, the training required to use the system can be frustrating because data management and analysis require skill. Although it can be daunting for your team to take this on, it doesn’t have to be. Take it slow, and start by focusing on the basics of CRM and build from there. You can expand once you become more comfortable with the process. This incremental approach will help you prevent getting overwhelmed, make sure your CRM goals are met and ensure your customers have a positive experience.

Who has access to it? 

Our research shows that about 40% of marketers analyze customer data or use it for their work. About four in five make decisions about data collection. While data can be incredibly valuable in planning marketing campaigns and initiatives, it’s important to keep access on a need-to-know basis. 

Just as every business has important assets and investments, customer data privacy is as essential to any company as money in the bank. Our customers provide us with sensitive information, trusting us not only with their data but also their loyalty. That’s why it’s so important to ensure it’s handled carefully and treat this responsibility with respect. The more people are involved, the higher the risk of an accident or leakage. Keeping customer data secure requires time and attention, but it’ll allow you to provide a higher standard of service to your customers.

How long do you keep customer data? 

Marketers, on average, keep customer data for nine months. In our experience, nine-month-old data is likely already outdated. People move, change jobs and switch their buying habits at a more common rate. 

We know keeping up with customer data can be challenging. That’s why it’s important to have universal formatting for your data that’s used company-wide. Take steps to verify new information, whether it’s by sending a verification email or using a third-party service. Keeping tabs on your data needs to be part of your regular workflow, not just something you do once or twice a year. This will help ensure any incoming data is entered and implemented correctly throughout your system. Plus, you can rest easy knowing your customer data is always up to date.

More Factors to Consider

Your marketing practices, staff and tech stack all help determine what the transition away from third-party data will look like. 

Take stock of how much your marketing initiatives rely on third-party data. Strategies like programmatic media buying; SEO and keyword research; targeting and retargeting ads; audience segmentation; and list buying rely on third-party data. If the bulk of what you do comes from data you pay for, you’re at risk. 

Ask yourself: What internal resources do you have, and will they be assets during the transition? 

If you have team members with data analysis skills or cybersecurity experience, you may be in a better position. Consider investing in data skills education and training for staff so they can learn new ways of understanding customers. 

Your tech stack is also an important factor when considering how well you’ll adapt to the transition. If it’s a well-oiled machine where data is organized, secure and accessible to the right people, you’ll have an easier time with the change. 

To keep your database clean and healthy, you need an accurate understanding of your data policies. Tell customers up front what data is needed and how it‘ll be used. This will help streamline the process and create a more organized database in the long run.

The Future of Marketing

Imagine a future with less generic data, more meaningful audience profiles and trust-based customer relationships. That’s what’s lying on the other side of the transition. You don’t need third-party data to provide engaging, educational or relevant customer experiences. What’s most important is to start the transition now and invest in technologies that make it easier to collect, store, analyze and use your data.

To learn more about the research study, check out our entire Executive Summary. And to explore the data yourself, check it out here.

Privacy Laws Are Affecting Third-Party Data (and Your Marketing)

Do you trust organizations with your personal data? How do you feel about them tracking your activity across the internet via third-party cookies? 

For decades, marketers have relied on the power of third-party data to gain insights into their customers. Without it, many of today’s most common marketing strategies would look completely different or even become obsolete. Some examples include:  

• Programmatic advertising
• SEO and keyword research
• Social media advertising
• Targeting and retargeting ads
• Audience building and segmentation

The shift from third-party data (purchased) to first-party data (business-owned) is happening whether you like it or not. This change comes with novel privacy and security challenges that, if not met head-on, will have dire consequences. In Q3 of 2022, approximately 15 million data records were exposed worldwide due to breaches.  

While 60 percent of global consumers think companies collecting their personal data is fine if that means there will be a better user experience, 90 percent worry their data is not secure. Consumers are right to be concerned — data breaches are common and can have serious side effects, from spam calls and texts to proactively replacing a credit or debit card. In a worst-case scenario, these breaches can lead to identity theft. 

When data breaches occur, they undermine consumer trust and confidence and can also affect business performance. For publicly traded companies, share prices fall an average of 3.5 percent after a breach, and share prices drop an average 15.6 percent three years after a breach. 

We recently conducted a research study to determine how professionals view these changes and how they currently gather and use data. In today’s post, we’ll discuss strategies for protecting yourself from liability and data storage and privacy best practices.

Adapting to New Changes on the Way

Cybersecurity issues are no longer isolated incidents. One recent study found that 53 percent of mid- to large-sized companies have experienced a security breach. Since only 19 percent of respondents said they have complete knowledge of where their data is stored, data storage contributes to security breaches. 

But a company’s size does not protect them from breaches. Small businesses are just as vulnerable as larger ones, especially ransomware and stolen credentials attacks. However, unlike their larger counterparts, it’s common for a data breach to put a small company out of business within a few months due to reputation damage, related costs afterward and diverting resources to resolve the issue. 

As data breaches have become more common and sophisticated in recent years, cybersecurity has become more than just an IT issue. One Gartner study found that 88 percent of boards view it as a business issue that many stakeholders need to address. Consumers are chiming in, too. More than 50 percent believe companies should be forced to adopt mandatory data protection controls after a data breach. 

Consumers, employees and business owners are paying more attention to data privacy and security. In 2022, 35 states and the District of Columbia introduced over 200 consumer privacy bills. And five states — California, Colorado, Connecticut, Virginia, and Utah — have enacted comprehensive consumer privacy protections that have transformed the consumer data landscape.

How Marketers Feel About Third-Party Data and Privacy Laws

One in two marketers strongly agrees that data privacy laws make it harder for them to do their jobs. At the same time, 64 percent worry about the privacy of their personal data. We can appreciate enhanced privacy and security protections for our personal data while feeling frustrated in our roles as marketers. 

Add third-party cookies going away in the next few years, and consumer data is more complicated than ever. How resilient you are depends on how your organization treats data and your plan for the future. 

After conducting the research, three distinct attitudinal segments emerged: Independent, Data-Reliant and Concerned respondents. 

If you’re like the Independent marketers from our research, you’re using very little third-party data and feel confident about the quality of your customer data and how you’re managing it. Often, these marketers work for small businesses that know their customers well. As new technology like AI and cloud-based computing becomes universal, you can adopt technology strategically while keeping data privacy best practices in mind.

Data-Reliant marketers lead with strategy and value data. They also rely on third-party data to craft personalized marketing messages to their customers. Because they use third-party data for marketing initiatives, they’re more worried about the future.  

Most marketers we surveyed were in the Concerned segment. These marketers worry about their personal data and think using third-party data is risky. They think third-party data used to target advertisements makes them look like spammers. They know third-party data is going away and believe the best lists are developed in-house. If this sounds like you, put your data practices in place now, not when cookies go away. Start gathering your data today safely and securely.

Protecting Yourself From Liability

Our research shows that 70 percent of marketers use at least two data storage solutions to house data, putting them at risk for data breaches. When your data comes from multiple sources and you store it in different databases, it makes you more vulnerable to attacks. Knowing where your data is and who has access to it at any given time is essential to keeping it safe. Fortunately, following data storage and privacy best practices can eliminate your liability burden. 

1. Data is only as good as the person who enters it. Make sure you have clear guidelines when you ask a customer to enter their data into a form or when you do data entry for your business. 
2. Data can be stored for as long as the consumer allows it. While you might want to keep everything you’ve collected, data can go bad (like milk). When thinking about storing your data, consider giving your customers the ability to request their data be deleted from your database and identifying your business data retention plan.
3. Data should be cleaned constantly. That might seem daunting, but if you are using it on a consistent basis, you want to make sure it’s kept in order. Reflect this in your data retention plan and communicate it to your whole team.
4. Store your data securely. If it’s in an excel file, password protect it. If it’s through a CRM, make sure you know the user policies so you give the right permissions to the right people. If possible, make sure to require two-factor authentication for all users.

As Data Privacy Changes, Change With It

Most marketers know how to duck, bob, and weave when industry changes are out of their control. But we’re all facing dramatic changes in third-party data privacy, security and liability that require a different kind of agility. The more prepared and strategic you are, the easier it is to do your job effectively and efficiently.

Talk with other business owners on how they’re using data. Don’t work through this alone. Use your network to find out how others are dealing with the upcoming changes.

To learn more about the research study, check out our entire Executive Summary. And to explore the data yourself, check it out here.

When Will Your Consumer Data Expire?

These days, following best practices for consumer data is like chasing a moving target. With data privacy laws constantly evolving and consumer data platforms setting individual data retention policies, it’s not easy to know when to use your data. 

Google Analytics, the gold standard for gathering consumer data from websites, has a data retention policy that outlines how long consumer data will be kept before it’s wiped from servers:  

While the retention period and user-activity reset controls cover event and user-level data stored by Google Analytics, certain user-keyed data (such as age, gender, interests) is by default deleted by Google Analytics after six months of inactivity for a given user for a Universal Analytics property or after two months for a Google Analytics 4 property.

The takeaway? The clock is ticking on using your consumer data. 

Even if these changes aren’t taking place, how would you use the information you’ve collected? If you know a customer visited your website twice six months ago and converted once, for example, is that still meaningful information?

We recently conducted a research study to determine how professionals view these changes and how they currently gather and use data. Not only do marketers need to know about platforms’ data retention policies, but they also need to know if and when data is useful for their marketing and sales initiatives. Consumer data is powerful when it’s used right, and timing is everything.

We’ve already shared why our research suggests first-party data is the future and how you can upgrade your tech stack. In today’s blog, we’ll help you get the most out of your consumer data before it’s no longer useful (or disappears from your Google Analytics account).

Marketers Weigh in on Expiration Dates

Our research shows the average marketer believes consumer data is good for nine months. Nearly one in five say six months is when this data expires, and one in three marketers keep data from 1-3 years before they think it needs a refresh. 

If you’re in the group that thinks you can use consumer data for 1-3 years, it’s important to consider your sales cycle. Sales cycles can take weeks to a year or more depending on the industry, product, service and audience. Real-time, responsive data is essential to understanding what’s happening at every stage of the cycle and making informed decisions. Having a strategic mindset is key, especially with your consumer data. 

Consider the average length of a marketing campaign. How effective can your marketing be if you use data from nine months ago to inform your campaign strategy?

Challenges arise and become harder to overcome without data that integrates into your sales and marketing initiatives. If this sounds familiar, know you’re not alone.  

About one in three marketers face data-related challenges, including having the skills necessary to use data effectively and working with multiple siloed data sources. Fortunately, solving data challenges can be simple if you know where to gather data, what to gather, and when to use data.

When to Refresh Consumer Data

Knowing how long your data is good for all depends on your data source. 

Social media can be a great source of first-party data for marketers transitioning away from paid third-party options. Shares, likes and comments can give you deep insights into your audience, but refreshing social media data every nine months isn’t useful because it’s one of the fastest-moving data targets. Instead, aim to refresh your data every 30-60 days. By engaging your audience with whitepapers and contests, you can entice them to fill out a form so you can collect contact details. 

Email is another source of reliable data that you should utilize during the transition away from third-party data. Knowing open rates, click-through rates, unsubscribe rates, and other email engagement data points can help you understand your audience better. We recommend hitting your list once a month. 

Additionally, make sure you are segmenting your list as well. If you have inactive contacts, move them to a re-engagement campaign. If they aren’t engaged, they could be hurting your overall deliverability.

Pulling data from your website is a must to understand consumers’ journeys in a post-third-party data world. A CDP platform allows you to store information such as names, addresses and demographics, plus behavioral data like purchase history and unique page visits — all of which can inform sales and marketing strategies. Once your tech stack is working seamlessly, revisit this data at least every quarter (if not more).

You can utilize many different consumer data sources, but the data retention strategy varies. Use consumer engagement frequency to gauge how often you should look at the data yourself. For example, most customers use social media daily but may only visit your website once or twice a month.

Best Practices for Using and Storing Consumer Data

It’s often a challenge to make meaning of all this data and synthesize it into one hub. Our research shows that to help, about two in three marketers use a CRM, database software or spreadsheets to store and organize customer data. 

If you have 100 to 200 contacts, doing this manually might be time-consuming, but it’s also low-cost. On the other hand, a high quantity of data leaves room for human error, which could make the data unusable. When you have more contacts, you may consider a service like Zapier or all-in-one solutions like HubSpot to sync data back and forth. This also takes out the risk of human error.

Mastering First-Party Data

Transitioning from dependence on third-party data to creating your own first-party data takes time. Be patient with this process, and remember that taking small steps over time is better than doing nothing or trying one giant leap when it’s too late. 

As we’ve mentioned before, it’s common for marketers to lack data skills or have knowledge gaps. Consider hiring a data specialist to make the transition easier and keep your marketing and sales departments agile during changing times. 

 To learn more about the research study, check out our entire Executive Summary. And to explore the data yourself, check it out here.

 

Change Is on the Horizon

Marketing as we know it is in the midst of massive change. Legislation like the General Data Protection Regulation in Europe and California Consumer Privacy Act have put consumer privacy directly into the general conversation. But there’s a bigger change looming on the horizon — the so-called death of the third-party cookie. And marketers are worried. Recent research found that 69% of marketers believe the end of the third-party cookie will be a bigger deal than privacy legislation. And 96% of marketers say first-party data will be vital for moving forward — and we agree!

We recently conducted a research study to find out how professionals view these changes and how they currently gather and use data. In today’s blog, we’ll talk about what these changes mean for marketers, the future of targeted ads, and how to kick-start the process of making your consumer relationship management (CRM) work for you.

Changing Times, Changing Targeted Ads

As access to third-party data continues to change, marketing will have to change with it. Learning about consumers, targeted ads, and measuring performance will be much more difficult without the third-party cookie. So let’s look at how marketing’s role will change.

Identifying prospects: You’ll no longer be able to identify prospects by devices or user profiles. Instead, you’ll need to identify individuals and gather information about them with explicit consent and through first-party data.

Engaging prospects: When a prospect visits a website and clicks on a product, third-party cookies will no longer be able to track that prospect to another website and show an ad for that product or a related one. As a result, you will need to gather your own data from your website, customer surveys, and email lists, which you can then use to plan ad campaigns.

Closing sales: Recent research shows that 80% of consumers are more likely to buy from a brand that offers a personalized experience. Third-party cookies have limitations with customer insights. Close sales by using first-party data to understand your customers on a deeper level.

Cost per ad: Some marketing experts predict that the return on investment (ROI) from ad spend will drop 30% once third-party cookies go away.

All this amounts to a lot of pressure on business marketers to get it right.

Different Organizations, Different Ways to Measuring Success

Our research found that organizations measure marketing success in various ways.

• 56% of marketers are evaluated by their marketing activities’ ROI
• 45% by the cost per acquisition
• 45% by the conversion rate of leads
• 35% by the conversion rate of activities

Today, the success of paid media depends on the third-party cookie. As we mentioned in our previous blog, tracking click-to-purchase rates through third-party cookie-targeted ads will no longer be possible. As a result, marketers need to rethink KPIs — specifically, how they measure them.

Instead of tracking conversions from retargeting ads, marketers can ensure they’re using Google Analytics to track their website data and train staff to monitor, analyze, and make recommendations based on those results.

Soon, acquiring customers through Facebook targeted ads will be a thing of the past. Marketers need to adjust their customer acquisition funnels and be change leaders in their organizations to stay agile. It all starts with upgrading your data stack. The steps to measure customer acquisition will also change. Consider nurturing customers through engaging content like organic social posts or blogs.

How to Use Your CRM (and Use it Well)

There are many options for managing first-party data, including Excel spreadsheets, database software, and dedicated CRM software. Our research shows that many marketers use all of the above methods, but CRMs lead the way with 68% of respondents saying that’s what their organizations use. Additionally, 72% say they use a CRM often to do their jobs. However, many respondents say their CRM isn’t as effective as it could be. Check out these insights:

• 50% say data input takes too much time and effort
• 42% need more training to get the most out of their CRM
• 33% would get more out of their CRM if they had on-staff experts

Although it seems daunting, investing the time and training into these areas is worth the payoff. If you are starting out with little to no data, spend the time mapping out a plan. Ask yourself questions like: What data do you want? How is it going to be formatted? Where is it going to be stored? What other departments need it?

If you have a good amount of data, start off with an audit to see what you have, where it’s being used, and where it’s being stored. Then make a plan on how your company should use that data and the changes that need to be made to get there.

The takeaway here is that your CRM needs to do the heavy lifting for your organization. It should pull data from all departments, not just sales and marketing. Human resources, operations, finance, IT, and additional departments also have a stake in the game.

How Attitudinal Segments Collect Data

After conducting the research, three distinct attitudinal segments emerged: Independent, Data-Reliant and Concerned respondents.

Independent respondents aren’t too worried about new policy legislation because their organization doesn’t use much third-party data. They already have systems to gather first-party data — like a CRM — and know how to use it.

Data-Reliant respondents believe data is the key to effective marketing and helps marketers weather change and take advantage of opportunities. Despite thinking it’s perfectly ethical to use third-party data, this group worries about their organization’s chance of success if it goes away.

Concerned respondents think it’s risky to use third-party data and believe the best prospect lists are developed in-house. They’re also concerned about the privacy of their data.

Both Data-Reliant and Concerned respondents are more likely than Independent marketers to purchase data from other companies about their customers. Data-Reliant are more likely than Concerned marketers to say their organizations collect basic information about their customers.

You can collect a lot of customer data, including call notes, in-person visits to brick-and-mortar locations, and social media engagement. Unfortunately, less than half of respondents say their organizations collect any of the above data. 68% say their organizations collect basic customer information like names and emails. Although this will only get you so far, all marketers need to increase their data collection in order to succeed in the future. And they need to know how to use it.

Most of our respondents use data to identify customers for sales and marketing purposes. Those tasks will be more successful if they have high quality, relevant data.

Data will go bad and will be entered incorrectly. Human error is real. First-party data is reliant on human interaction at some point. Since you can’t monitor everything, set aside time to go through your data. Consider investing in services like Melissa.com or Kickbox to help verify customer data and keep it current.

Encourage your entire organization to think about what customer data would be valuable to them, and start gathering it. Consider the following buckets:

• Identifying information: name, email address, mailing address
• Demographic information: education level, gender, marital status, home ownership status
• Quantitative data: purchase history, website visits, social media engagement
• Qualitative data: information gathered from surveys or interviews, such as customer satisfaction, customer feedback and reasons for purchasing

Lead With First-Party Data

Even though third-party cookies will be on Google Chrome until 2024, start preparing for the change now by putting a better data management process together.

Start by making sure that all data is filled out correctly and in the right format. Bad data can be just as bad as having no data. For example, if you send an email to a user and personalize it with the wrong name, it’s less likely to be opened or it can be deleted altogether. This can cause you to miss the sale and even the customer. Next, connect as many of your systems together as you can, and audit and verify your data at least twice a year.

By using a company-wide CRM or implementing a customer data platform (CDP) that fits your industry, you can break those silos and start working together. This takes all data in, matches it with the appropriate user and then sends it to the different platforms. CDPs are also bidirectional, so if something changes in one place, it will change everywhere else.

To learn more about the research study, check out our entire executive summary. And to explore the data yourself, check it out here. 

What Will Happen to Targeted Ads Without Third-Party Cookies?

If you’re like a lot of marketers, your marketing strategy relies heavily on targeted ads. But have you thought about how your strategy will change when new privacy laws go into effect? If you’re in an organization that relies heavily on third-party data, it’s essential that you create systems in place to gather, analyze and store your own first-party data. Your future success depends on it.

We recently conducted a research study to find out how professionals view these changes and how they currently gather and use data. In today’s post, we’ll explore how respondents use targeted ads and what changes need to be made when third-party cookies are phased out of Chrome.

A Changing Data Landscape

Imagine you’re about to enter a new market, and you’re strategizing an ad campaign for the product launch. You can’t use third-party data to target ads. No Google keyword planner. No social media. You can only use your own first-party data stack to execute the campaign (like CRM, Excel spreadsheets, JSON files, etc.). Do you think you’d be able to have a successful launch?

If you don’t think so, you aren’t alone. Our research found that 80% of business marketers say their organizations’ target media buys are based on data parameters that organizations like Google and Facebook set. That means many marketers like you have yet to make the switch to first-party data.

Whether you realize it yet or not, the nuts and bolts of your marketing — from identifying and engaging prospects to closing a sale — will look different without third-party data. As a result, you’ll need to be more intentional with your segmentation. Instead of being limited by what the platform offers, the data you have in your own system will limit how you can market to prospective customers. Although there may still be targeting options on these platforms, a lot more is going to depend on the data you’ve collected yourself.

Successful targeted ads are relevant ads, meaning the right ad goes to the right audience at the right time. Today you can thank the third-party cookie for that. Without third-party data, you might show customers an ad for a product they’ve already purchased. If you don’t have good data, your ads can go to people who don’t want your products or services.

Without the relevant data to inform these decisions, advertising goes back to what it was like decades ago — a shot in the dark. When you lack the data to pinpoint who to target, you waste time, resources, and money. Because you won’t be able to use data from third-party cookies much longer, what data can you use?

The answer is capturing more data outside of the normal first/last name, email, and phone number. We know it can be daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. Getting someone’s first name is the literal first step. That information allows you to personalize emails directly to your prospective customers. That alone can increase your open rates by as much as 26% while decreasing bounce rates.

Next, devise a plan to get the customer to open the email, click on it, and fill out another form with an additional one to two more questions. Rinse and repeat. You are now on your way to collecting first-party data.

The State of Marketing Post Third-Party Data Collection

McKinsey’s data shows that programmatic advertising, which relies on third-party data, accounted for 78.4% of the US advertising market in 2020. If it was paid media, you can bet third-party data was involved. Here are some ways it’s currently affecting marketing activities within a typical digital media strategy:

Email marketing: Many marketers buy third-party lists for email campaigns.
Search engine optimization (SEO): Third-party metrics guide ranking potential.
Digital media buying: Advertisers buy digital ad space to target audiences with third-party data.

Our research shows that many business marketers’ daily activities involved third-party data in 2021:

• Two in three used social media marketing
• Two in three used email marketing
• Over one in two used online advertising
• Over one in two used SEO
• About one in three used programmatic media buying

Especially when these types of marketing activities involve targeted ads, third-party data is most likely involved. When websites store customers’ cookies, personal data, such as age, location, interests, and purchasing habits, become the ingredients for a targeted ad. These visitor profiles can then be used to send retargeted ads to past website visitors or even look-alike web profiles.

Frequency capping, limiting a consumer’s exposure to a single ad to prevent overexposure, relies on third-party data. Attribution also relies on third-party data to monitor ad performance across digital locations, tracking click-to-purchase rates (conversions).

Both will be gone with third-party data legislation.

The good news is that your first-party cookies are safe. You can continue to log your organization’s website visitor data, including sessions, usernames, passwords, products in the shopping cart, etc. And you can use your own data to create targeted ads going forward.

Use Your Own First-Party Data for Targeted Ads

Ask yourself: How do you feel about these looming data changes?

After conducting the research, three distinct attitudinal segments emerged: Independent, Data-Reliant and Concerned respondents. If your organization has a robust data stack and rarely uses third-party data, you may be like the Independent respondents. These marketers have a lot of confidence in their organizations’ data gathering and fewer worries about the future.

For those that rely heavily on third-party data, like Data-Reliant respondents, a custom-built data management system may need to be in the works. This group knows data is essential to marketing and that you need high-quality data to succeed. Therefore, finding other sources for data collection is essential.

Those who believe the best prospect lists are developed in-house think third-party data is risky and worry about their data privacy may relate to our Concerned respondents. These marketers know third-party data is going away and don’t think their organizations are prepared.

Once third-party cookies leave Google Chrome in 2024, marketing will no longer be business as usual. Marketers will need new methods to gather data asap. Upgrading your data gathering process isn’t impossible. It just requires thinking ahead, time, and a strategic mindset.

The Future of Targeted Ads

For years, third-party cookies have been the gold standard for targeted ads. While Ad tech companies are looking to fill the void, there’s no clear winner. The Privacy Sandbox is still in development. Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC) stalled and then transitioned to Topics, but no one knows where marketing will ultimately land.

The key takeaway here is to not wait for the industry to clear a path forward. Create your own data strategy to lead your organization into the future.

To learn more about the research study, check out our entire executive summary. And to explore the data yourself, check it out here. 

Please enjoy this recording of our webinar.

We are excited to announce that KeyMedia Solutions has officially become a Certified Consultant of ActiveCampaign.

ActiveCampaign is a marketing automation platform that specializes in Email Marketing and Contact Relationship Management. This platform maintains user-friendly functionality that allows anyone to take advantage of the best marketing automations. From creating extended email campaigns to managing your company’s sales pipeline, this platform functions as an all-purpose tool to help communicate with new or existing customers.

Different Ways to use ActiveCampaign

There are countless ways to integrate ActiveCampaign into a business. In the rest of this article, I will highlight some of the the platforms most used tools and discuss how these tools benefit businesses.

Email Marketing & Campaigns

Emails are still the number one way that people prefer to communicate with businesses. Creating an effective email marketing strategy is a great way to put information in front of potential customers when they’re most likely to engage with your material.

ActiveCampaign’s drag-and-drop email builder makes it easy to create eye-catching emails. I’ve personally worked with a lot of different email marketing platforms, and while others can be confusing or even require coding expertise, this email builder is simple and clean.

The builder format also allows you to personalize each email with information specific to the person receiving the email. In addition to personalization, you’re also able to preview your emails as they would appear on both a desktop and mobile devise. As we continue to move to a “Mobile-First” world, it’s incredibly important to make sure that your emails look good on every screen.

Capture New Leads

You’ve heard everyone talk about the sales funnel. Every business should have an idea about what their sale’s funnel looks like and the different stages that a person goes through before making a purchase. With ActiveCampaign, not only are you able to manage your very own sale’s pipeline, but also fill the top of your funnel with new leads.

Managing a potential customer’s progress has never been easier. Keep track of sales, proposals, and deals won. Not only will this improve your sales process, with ActiveCampaign’s detailed reporting options, you’re able to view your growth with real-time data.

Fill your pipeline with new leads by creating website forms. Choose between four different form options. Embed an “Inline Form” directly into your website. Choose a “Floating Box” form if you want to make an offer to someone after they’ve scrolled halfway down a page. Greet your website visitors with a 20% discount code in a “Modal Pop-up” form. Finally, encourage people to signup for your monthly newsletter with a “Floating Bar” form on your homepage.

Detailed Reporting Features

In today’s data-driven world, reports are keys to growth. With ActiveCampiagn’s detailed reporting options, you’re able to make informed decisions on all aspects of your communication with your contacts.

The platform offers many different reporting options. The image above shows an overview section of a single email campaign. Within this report, you’re able to see every detail of your email’s performance – including open, click, unsubscribe, and bounce rates. Dig even deeper in the report to find out which links were clicked the most and which contacts came back to open your email multiple times.

Keep track of the growth of your account within the “Contact Report.” Here, you’re able to monitor and report on the number of new subscribers you’ve accumulated over time. Simply set the time frame that you’d like to report on, and view your progress. You can also use this report to find out what day of the week and time of day your contacts are most likely to open an email.

With the “CRM Overview” Report, you’re able to break down your sale’s process by lots of different criteria. This report identifies the number of deals created, the average size of each deal, and how long it takes to close on a deal. You’re also able to go even deeper and break down the data by each individual sales rep. Help your team monitor their monthly progress by reviewing this report each month.

Lots, Lots, and Lots More

The three examples that I pointed out in this article are only a small glimpse into the full capabilities of ActiveCampaign. If you’d like to learn more about how your business can use the tools listed above, please feel free to contact our office at any time. Also, if you’d like to try ActiveCampiagn for free, sign up for a 14-Day Free Trial below!

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As marketers we spend a lot of time talking about email best practices—things like how to generate a catching subject line, what kind of graphics should you use in your email, what time of day should you send an email and how many times should you email your list. You can engage with your list and nurture the contacts you have, but are you replenishing your funnel with new contacts?

Strong email marketing strategies can have great impacts on your business, but growing an engaged contact list to send regular emails to can be one of the most challenging elements of a successful email strategy.  Website subscription forms are pretty standard, but if this is the only way you’re refreshing your contact list, you might be missing out on some of your most engaged customers and potential contacts.

Here are a few things you can work into your lead generation strategy to create a list of individuals who love your brand, want to hear from you, and are willing to tell their friends and family all about how awesome your products or services are.

1. Exclusive Offer/Access

Give people a reason to sign up for your newsletter list—explain to them the benefits of being on this list as an advantage to not being on it. Maybe you’re willing to give contacts a coupon, or free gift when they sign up. Or you provide weekly/monthly/quarterly sales, promotions, or exclusive email-only offers to your list. Whatever your specific offer, make sure contacts know what they can expect to gain by giving you their email address.

2. Physical Signup Forms

It might feel a little “old school” but having a physical signup form at your brick and mortar location, tradeshows or events you might attend or exhibit at, or any networking events you have a presence at is an opportunity to connect with people who have developed a personal connection with you and your brand. Physical forms require a little bit of manual work to input in your CRM, but it’s a no obligation yes for individuals. They don’t have to make a purchase or commit to anything other than being willing to learn more.

3. Downloadable Content

Offer valuable and relevant information to your website viewers in exchange for their email address. Providing downloadable content in the form of a case study, white paper, webinar, or even an e-book is a great way to offer free resources to already interested contacts and collect their email address. Now you can continue to reach out to them with additional information, insights or opportunities related to the resources they downloaded on your site.

4. Social Media Profile Buttons

Having buttons or links on your social media profiles are great ways to encourage engagement across multiple channels. Individuals coming to your social media profiles are already engaged in your business or aware of what you have to offer. Providing an easy way for them to sign up for things like exclusive offers, or monthly promotions is a great way to continue the conversation even after they log off their social platforms.

5. “Tell a Friend” or “Send an Invite” Buttons

If you do have an email list, make sure you’re having regular communication with the people on that list and give them opportunities to further engage. Sometimes brands will run promotions giving current contacts some sort of coupon for referring a friend, but even including a simple “tell a friend” button without a promotion allows recipients to share your content with other individuals that have been pre-qualified by your contact. Having a share button that asks your current contact to tell you what email address they want to share the email to gives you the opportunity to reach out to the new contact encouraging them to join your list for regular content like the item their friend shared.

 

Ready, Set, Grow!

There’s no single right way to grow your email list organically, but testing and implementing across multiple access points can help you start growing that list. Be sure to always be following Email Marketing best practices, and to regularly clean your contact lists to maintain the most effective strategy.

Learn even more about Email Marketing in our upcoming webinar on June 21st. The webinar is free – just fill out the form below and tune in on Thursday at 10:00 AM.

 

 

If our first ever KMS Podcast, Luke Majerus has a conversation with our Content Specialist, Sam Thorson, about Email Marketing best practices. Click below to listen to the full discussion.

What is Email Marketing?

In today’s online world, people expect communication to be immediate. When you think about a quick response, you might think of text messaging or another form of online messenger app. So then why do emails not come to mind right away?

Emails are the original form of online communication. Born with the dawn of the online world, emails have become a standard form of communication as common as a phone call. This common-ness  has made people doubt the use of emails when creating a successful online marketing strategy.

However, email marketing is one of the best ways to connect with potential customers. Why is this? Utilizing emails in a marketing campaign opens the door to many opportunities. The most important of these opportunities is the line of communication it creates with an individual. People are comfortable in their inbox. It’s a place they go to read and reply. When a business shows up in their inbox with helpful or interesting information, the person is more likely to engage through emails.

Moving forward with Email Marketing

If you’d like to have a more detailed conversation about email marketing, please reach out to us today. Our experts can talk to you about how emails can fit into your marketing strategy.

Podcast Speakers

 

Luke Majerus

Digital Specialist

As one of our Digital Specialists Luke applies his experience in digital marketing to client campaigns. He spends time analyzing performance in order to make strategic optimizations for the best results. His focus is on achieving the digital goals of our clients. Luke has a degree in Advertising and a minor in Marketing. He also holds several Google certifications.

 

 

 

Sam Thorson

Content Specialist

Sam specializes in the production and distribution of content for KeyMedia Solutions and our clients. Along with Content Marketing, he oversees Email Marketing, including lead generation, automation, and responsive campaigns. Before joining our team, Sam spent time working as a producer at a local news station and a freelance writer for an area business journal.

 

 

 

If you’re interested in trying Email Marketing, try our CRM Platform ActiveCampaign for free, fill out the form below and we’ll give you a 14-day free trial. If you’d like to learn more about ActiveCampign click here.

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