When techies in the know were asked what they expected to happen in 2024, one of the most agreed upon topics was the end of third-party cookies and how it would affect digital marketing. Due to new regulations with privacy, it has become imperative that businesses change their methods when it comes to collecting data on their audiences.
These techies felt we would see a return to content marketing basics in regards to businesses obtaining authenticity; trust has become the number one commodity in digital marketing, so businesses that can provide unique, useful and engaging answers with authenticity will be ahead of the game.
How the End of Third-Party Cookies Might Affect Your Marketing
Most marketers understand the value of third-party cookies and the significance of losing them. Without the data acquired from these target audiences, there is a high probability that businesses will lose out on revenue and have to increase their advertising budget just to make up for the losses. To combat this, many businesses are strategizing various ways to optimize their first-party cookies and other basics, such as email marketing, content marketing, SEO, and not surprising, AI with predictive audiences.
- First-Party Data Strategies – first-party data includes anything collected within the company’s website, app or email. This is first-hand information directly from the user, which is more reliable as well as consensual – the user approves sharing this information willingly and is less likely to ignore future communications. With clear goals and clean data collected into a centralized system, this data can be used to build trust among the target audience and grow the business.
- Building your own audience lists – using first-party data, encourage your audience to sign up for emails and follow the business on social platforms. Create content that is warranted by the audience and that provides answers to their questions. This in turn will continue building trust and grow the relationships.
- Predictive Audiences – using AI, a business can create a condition based on a predictive metric and their current customer data. Once a decision is made about segmenting the audience, AI can create personalized content for these lists to enhance communication.
Some Digital Marketing Basics Worth Focusing On
Don’t forget the basics that got you here in the first place! These are easy updates that all businesses should already have in their plans.
Optimizing Your Company’s Footprint
We have always encouraged businesses to optimize their web presence, and there’s no better time than now. Here are a few ways to do that:
- Optimize your website – update the narrative, give the site a little refresh, be sure all information is up to date, optimize SEO and speed
- Update business listings – make sure that the internet has updated information for your business anywhere it might be listed
- Social media profiles – be sure to be active on social media and engage with your audience
Content Marketing for Organic Search
By creating original, relevant and valuable content on your website and ensuring that it is optimized, you have the opportunity to obtain a higher organic reach that surpasses anything that can be bought and paid for. This might take longer to achieve, but it will continue to bring in an audience long after any budget could cover it. It’s not as simple as coming up with an idea and writing a blog – rather, it’s an analytical process that needs research and a keen eye to create. Be sure to contact us for help in creating a content marketing strategy for your business!
Content Marketing for Social Media
Just like optimizing the content for a website, the same attention must be paid for the content used on social media. When sharing across platforms, it is best to curate based on platform and audiences – Instagram will be focused on the image and hashtags while Facebook will be more about the headline and engagement afterwards. Edit the captions accordingly and only share appropriate content for the platform. Facebook skews older, TikTok skews younger, and Instagram tends to cast a wide net!
Email Marketing
Though email marketing feels old school, it’s still a viable outlet for marketing especially when coupled with predictive audience tools. A blanket email to all users may not have the result you want, so be sure to segment and target as best as you can, and test the AI waters with predictive processes to ensure the best use of time and money.
Review Your Analytics
Another area that we have consistently pushed is analyzing the methods used to ensure they are working for and not against the business. When we introduced our cyclical BPE model, the “E” is where we begin and continue cycling through: EVALUATE. By evaluating where you are and how you got there, you can BUILD upon that foundation to create a solid product, and then PROMOTE that product to reach your goals. We go back to EVALUATE and start all over again, an unbroken process that layers upon each success. The same goes for all marketing strategies: evaluate how it is going and what needs to change in order to find steady growth.
Hire an Expert
In the end, if there is anything that your business needs help with or that you still have questions about, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us! We are your Tech Partner and we are here to help. Fill out the form below and know that success is just a click away.
