How to approach your FY24 strategy in a cookieless world

The threat of a cookieless future is nothing new. It's been a hot topic since 2020 and privacy regulations have been ramping up for a while now. And while most of the current transition efforts involve conscious "no track" opt-outs, it won't be like that forever. However, since the majority of marketing professionals are already underwater with work, building a strategy to keep their pipelines strong after cookies are sunset has kind of fallen by the wayside.

But strategy is crucial at this point because the 800-pound gorilla in the marketing space, also known as Google is ending the use of third-party cookies in Chrome by the end of 2024. With a new fiscal year coming for us all like a freight train, we urge you to plan with the mindset that cookies are already gone.

Are you unclear where to start? We've outlined some great ways for companies to maintain a strong marketing foothold using tactics like first-party paid media, content marketing, and more without the aid of cookies.

Invest in customer relationship management (CRM)

Central to all well-done marketing efforts is a source of truth and that source of truth should be a customer relationship management (CRM) system. In order to store customer data safely and in an organized manner, having a CRM is a necessity. So the first step toward moving from cookies to cookieless is to make sure have one.

If you already have one, now is the time to concentrate on cleaning the data and organizing it. Get rid of any spam contacts, format records consistently, and segment your customer records so that you can use them actionably.

Build up your first-party lead generation

Once you have your CRM in good shape, you can focus on first-party lead generation. This can be achieved by tying your contact forms and content download or newsletter subscription forms tightly to your CRM.

You can also track engagement on your own website. These interactions can be used for remarketing and ultimately, conversion if you play your cards right!

The volume may not be the same as third-party, but the leads will have a higher probability of being better quality.

Place emphasis on your customers

You need to know who you're marketing to and why. Here's how to do just that in two steps.

1. Personas

Create accurate personas with information about where your users go online and plan out advertising on those platforms so that it resonates.

If you don't already know what works for your audience, look at previous campaigns with third-party data and track backward from the conversion point to where they were generated initially, look for commonalities, and build the personas from there!

2. Create content that resonates

Learn everything you can about your personas and then create content for their specific buyer's journey. The closer you can get to understanding your ideal client, the better content you can create for them, and the more success you can generate.

Provide value

You don't need to be afraid of going cookieless if you are truly helpful. Learn how below.

1. Referrals

Create programs that incentivize your current clients to refer new ones or to make repeat purchases, and then promote them heavily.

2. Speak to them

Write copy that focuses on your customer's pain points and the solution you can offer as opposed to what your company wants to say about itself.

3. Word of mouth

Craft a strategy to pull in positive reviews. Word-of-mouth praise matters to potential customers because it signals trust. That kind of positivity must be earned and it pays off in spades.

Use Google Topics

Topics are part of Google Chrome API that focuses on tracking browsing history for a limited span of time and then categorizes them into Topics that marketers can point browser ads toward.

While it's not as helpful as previous technology, it is privacy-centric and the future.

Take advantage of machine learning & other Google Analytics 4 (GA4) pay-per-click (PPC) features

GA4's privacy features and audience tracking options will allow you to be compliant with current privacy standards and will make it so you can use all their options like customer match.

With customer match, you can:

• On the Search Network & the Shopping tab: Optimize your campaigns by changing your bid based on peoples' activities.
• On Gmail: Reach people with similar interests in their inboxes.
• On YouTube: Reach fresh segments, by targeting ones similar to ideal customers.
• On Display: Reach customers or potential customers with similar interests.

You can also take advantage of smart bidding, optimized targeting, and audience expansion.

Key insight: Above all though, make sure that you have completed the User Data Collection Acknowledgement through data collection under data settings as you won't be able to collect without that.

Use the cookies while you can

While the mindset of cookies not being a thing is a good way to go, take advantage of them while you can so that you are able to make informed future moves.

You can do this by studying results from any third-party-focused campaigns you've run already and trying to move as many potential clients as you can into the customer segment.

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Going cookieless may be a change, but it's not insurmountable. If you'd like help with creating a strategic marketing plan though, reach out.