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Digital Advertising in 2021: How to Prepare for Upcoming iOS 14 and 3^rd Party Cookie Changes

Any business that relies on digital advertising for lead generation needs to move quickly to prepare for the loss of ad personalization. Marketing teams need to develop new strategies for delivering personalized experiences for customers and measure performance in order to be successful under the upcoming disruptive privacy requirements. 

What are the changes?

Apple recently announced that they will prompt users to opt-in or out of sharing information used for personalization in digital advertising. 7 out of 10 iOS users currently share their data using the identifier for advertisers (or IDFA) – this figure is expected to drop to 1 in 10 when they are presented with the pop up. Those users that opt out will still see ads, but they may no longer be relevant to them. With this dramatic decrease in the effectiveness of the ads from reduced personalization, companies are going to need to shift focus in their strategy. Digital ad platforms like Google have been so successful because they’ve been able to limitlessly track online behavior. With this new change, it is expected that these 3^rd party advertisements will experience lower conversion rates and higher costs to acquire leads.

Facebook has already quietly announced that they will be retiring Facebook Analytics after June 30, 2021. They are recommending that business customers visit their Facebook Analytics accounts and explore the information and insights that are provided before the product is no longer available.

Additionally, Google announced they are doing away with 3^rd party cookies for good. Starting in May 2021, they will set a first-party cookie with a new identifier that is unique and limited to users on their site only. Currently, if you are using the Chrome browser, the websites you visit will add a third-party cookie to your device. They track your browsing history and display ads based on this behavior. Third-party cookies send this data back to a different domain than the one you are on. First-party cookies send data back to the owners of the site you are visiting at the time. So, for example, Google will still be able to use data from users on Search and YouTube to select personalized ads on their own properties. 

With the disruption coming at the end of Q2 2021, you need to ensure you are prepared for these critical changes.

What can you do to prepare?

Campaign Sherpa was recently featured in a best-of-breed marketing technology stack webinar, hosted by parent company, Inetasia Solutions. The virtual event focused on highlighting individual solutions that integrate into a holistic MarTech stack, allowing organizations to address the challenges posed by the new marketing landscape that is quickly approaching. 

This strategy involves generating highly relevant traffic to your site, collecting zero- and first-party data on these visitors, uncovering deep behavioural insights, and deploying an effective on-site optimization strategy to improve conversion rates.

The four key areas that organizations should focus on to prepare for the new normal are below:

1. Implement a successful search engine optimization (SEO) strategy
   Understanding the intent behind searches and crafting quality Search Engine Optimized content for audiences in different stages of the purchasing funnel, as well as matching intent to landing page experience becomes critical to both search engine optimization and conversion rate optimization. Learn more here.
2. Efficiently manage your zero- and first-party data across all channels with a customer data platform.
   Zero-party data is anything that customers directly share with you, such as answering questions, forms, and survey information. First-party data is data that your company has collected directly from your audience, made up of customers, app users, site visitors, social media, and more. “First-party” comes from actions taken across all of these channels. Successful brands incorporate all of this information across all channels improve marketing efforts and user and customer experience. They do this by employing a customer data platform or CDP – a central hub that integrates all channels into a single database, combining important data about current and potential customers to enable the activation efforts. Inetasia’s CDP of choice, Tealium, coordinates the first-party data strategy to allow for smarter targeting and personalization.
3. Build a strategy for retention and engagement.
   Identify insights using the Top Analytics Choice for Digital Teams – Amplitude Analytics. Work with Inetasia to develop a strong engagement strategy based on your data, across email, push notifications, in-app messages, SMS, chatbots, and more.
   
   There will be no impact on data received from logged-in users in Amplitude. For returning anonymous users, data will continue to send to Amplitude as long as the app remains installed on their device. If a user deletes and reinstalls the app, a new random id will be generated (unless the user grants the application permission to use IDFA). For all new application installs, Amplitude will accept IDFA if both the user has opted in and the application chooses to use IDFA.
4. Increase revenue and ROI by optimizing your conversion rates.
   Drive growth across all digital channels by experimenting to discover which messages drive the most engagement and conversions using AB Tasty, and by personalizing on-site experiences for your new and returning customers. Relevant brand experiences on-site that will resonate with your audiences are key to improving conversions and generating revenue under the new conditions.

To discuss the upcoming changes to the digital landscape, to schedule a product demo, or to learn more about how Campaign Sherpa can benefit your business, contact us today.