A Cookie-Less World: Why New Email Contacts Are More Vital Than Ever

Have you ever felt like you’re being [virtually] followed by an internet ad? These ads don’t essentially follow you; they use something called cookies. Advertisers, marketers, and social media platforms most commonly use third-party cookies to pull consumers’ data when visiting certain websites. However, with third-party cookies being phased out on Google Chrome within the next year and already blocked on other major browsers, such as Safari and Firefox, the time is now to start futureproofing your marketing efforts. As a result of this, you should be focusing on your “owned data sources” now more than ever. Read on to learn about the cookie-less world that’s fast approaching and why acquiring new email contacts could be an essential digital marketing strategy for the future.

What’s a “Cookie”?

When you look at a site, cookies, or small pieces of data, within your website browser that is added and collected to obtain user data. These cookies allow you to stay logged into sites and to add things to your shopping cart, for instance. These cookies help the website owner gain a variety of analytical data, such as language settings. These examples are referred to as first-party cookies because they’re related to the site you’re currently on.

What‘s a ’Third-Party‘ Cookie’?

A site can also add a cookie to your browser from another source – these are third-party cookies. If you’ve ever browsed the internet for a specific item, then noticed ads for the product ‘following you’ around the internet and social media, you’ve experienced these cookies. These cookies are the primary way digital advertisers keep tabs on what you’re doing while cruising the internet.

What Does a Cookie-less World Mean for You?

As a digital marketer, losing third-party cookies as an advertising tool could significantly impact your results. When browsers block third-party cookies, it prevents advertisers from knowing the users’ detailed interests and internet activity. This information has fueled our marketing efforts in recent years. The loss of the third-party cookie could impact the effectiveness of custom and lookalike audiences you rely on for high-impact retargeting campaigns and other marketing efforts that strive to nurture your audiences.

What Should Be Your Next Steps?

Since Google is phasing out cookies over the next few years, the importance of acquiring email addresses, names, mobile numbers, and zip codes will become increasingly crucial for continued success. The more email addresses you obtain before phase-out of third-party cookies on all browsers, the more you will futureproof the quality of your audiences in a cookie-less world. Lead campaigns using Facebook ads would be a great strategy to do this. Consider running retargeting campaigns at your current website visitors with the goal of signing up for your email list.

If you’re still confused about cookies and what you should be doing with them now, we’re here to help! Contact one of our experienced digital marketers that can assist in building your custom audiences to enhance your digital advertising!

Be sure to check back here weekly to stay in the know about what we’re talking about regarding digital marketing trends, digital strategies, and more! Don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter, where we highlight the months most popular blogs and where we’re going to be speaking!