Google has published a strategy article on data and measurement, reviewing the near-term outlook for cookies, privacy, and tracking conversions. This article outlines what 2023 will look like for marketers and what they should be doing now to prepare.
The article points to a staggering statistic that in 2020 only 10% of the population is protected by privacy regulations, and by 2023 a full 65% of the population will live in countries with privacy protection regulations that limit how much internet can be tracked Activity.
This article discusses strategies to drive conversions, and presents them in the form of breaking three myths surrounding the reality of privacy-first marketing in the near future.
Three Privacy First Myths
- Myth 1: Cookie deprecation breaks website tags
- Myth 2: Accurate measurement relies on third-party data
- Myth #3: Protecting privacy and driving business results are mutually exclusive
Myth 1: Cookie Deprecation and Site Tags
Google notes that third-party cookies will eventually be phased out, but this will not affect the ability to accurately measure and optimize Internet marketing campaigns.
They recommend using Global Site Tag (gtag.js) or Google Tag Manager to optimize marketing campaigns.
Google says these measurement tools provide:
“…accurate measurement with positive downstream impact and improved conversion modeling and bidding.”
Myth 2: Loss of third-party data affects accurate measurements
Third-party cookies enable contextually relevant ads that improve advertisers’ customer targeting, which consumers often jokingly refer to as creepy ads.
Google suggests now is the time to start planning a first-party data strategy.
This article links to an article titled “How marketers should think about building a first-party data strategy“Introduced by Jaylen Baca, Google’s Global Head of Product.
He begins by defining first-party data as all the information collected about each customer from a variety of interactions, including phone interactions, in-store interactions, and app interactions.
Baca recommends B2B partnerships with related companies to help build more first-party data.
He offers this scenario:
“For example, if you’re a food and beverage company, you might consider partnering with a home package seller like Home Chef or HelloFresh to expand your audience and build your data.”
Myth #3: Protecting Privacy Can Negatively Affect Business Results
Google acknowledged that the loss of third-party data would lead to a “measurement gap” and said it was inevitable.
However, they suggest that privacy-safe machine learning models could step in to help provide accurate reports on customer journeys.
Google explains:
“Machine learning analyzes data to identify trends, correlations, and other insights that might otherwise be missed due to human error or otherwise.”
There is a link to a five-minute video explainer on conversion modeling that provides an overview of machine learning and how first-party data can help improve campaign performance, citing a study showing that machine learning tools can improve campaign performance by 35%.
Citation
Fact and fiction: 3 measurement myths that hold back marketing
