A real-world look at how brands are achieving success in a cookieless world

As the transition away from third-party cookies in Chrome gains momentum, both advertisers and publishers are actively seeking sustainable and effective ways to fortify their data-driven strategies. Already, we see that success stories are emerging.  

Contrary to industry doomsday prophecies, the demise of third-party cookies will not lead to the demise of data-driven advertising. Quite the opposite, in fact. Brands that are embracing the move to a cookieless ecosystem are finding approaches and tools that are capable of driving campaign results well beyond what they’d come to expect in a cookie-centric digital ecosystem.  

Guiding principles for cookieless success 

For the most part, the brands and agencies that are finding the greatest success in the modern cookieless marketing landscape are embracing the following concepts: 
 

1. Enrichment of first-party data with third-party data grows

While the era of third-party cookies draws to a close, third-party data retains its essential position as a cornerstone of successful advertising endeavours. Collaborating with reputable partners experienced in navigating data-policy upheavals, such as GDPR, is essential for maintaining efficacy in a cookieless environment. Moreover, the judicious use of both first-party and high-quality third-party data affords marketers an expansive perspective of consumer behaviour, enabling them to optimise campaigns and deliver personalised content with precision. 
 

2. New identifiers rise

Universal IDs represent a transformative tool in the marketer’s arsenal, providing a means to overcome the challenges posed by evolving privacy regulations and the diminishing effectiveness of traditional tracking methods. By embracing Universal IDs alongside a spectrum of identifiers like mobile IDs, IP address IDs, hashed emails, and contextual signals, businesses can usher in a new era of precision targeting and seamless personalisation.  
 

3. ID-agnostic approaches will reign

No single identifier will emerge as a direct replacement for third-party cookies within the digital ecosystem. The most effective approach for advertisers and publishers is to adopt an ID-agnostic strategy the encompasses mobile identifiers, hashed email addresses, IP addresses, contextual signals and more. This includes collaborating with technology and data partners that foster interoperability among the available identifiers in the ecosystem, rather than constraining them. 
 

4. Multichannel marketing wins

The increasing complexity of consumer and B2B journeys is being compounded by the proliferation of digital touchpoints, including social channels and cookieless environments like connected TV and digital out-of-home. That means it’s all the more important for marketers to leverage quality third-party data for effective cross-channel targeting.  
 

Cookieless strategies in action 

So, what solutions hold the greatest promise in a cookieless world? And what does it look like when a robust cookieless targeting strategy comes together? Here are a couple of examples of recent data-driven campaigns that delivered on brand goals - all without the use of third-party cookies. 
 

1. Third-party data delivers social campaign boost 

An automaker wanted to reach Facebook users intending to purchase SUVs. The brand had used Facebook’s native user targeting solution, but it was having trouble finding in-market consumers. To overcome this challenge, Eyeota collaborated with the brand’s agency to create a custom profile that combined first-party data with Eyeota audiences. The agency ran video campaigns to test the new targeting strategy. The enriched audience profile, powered by the brand’s first-party data and Eyeota audience data, was the clear winner of the head-to-head campaign test: 

• The campaign using Eyeota’s custom segment saw a 33% view rate, while the campaign using Facebook’s native targeting solution had a 20-25% view rate
• The CPC for the campaign leveraging the Eyeota segment was just 75 cents, 55% lower than the average CPC for the native Facebook campaign ($1.75).  
• In addition, the campaigns powered by the Eyeota segment saw a 4% CTR, while the average CTR for the campaigns using Facebook’s native targeting was under 1.5% 

As brands look for new ways to use data to reach their target audience, this success story highlights that enriching first-party data with qualified third-party audiences in a secure platform environment can create more opportunities to connect with prospects in a cookieless world.  
 

2. AI-powered contextual signals improve video campaign performance 

IBM recently worked with its agency, Eightbar, to drive improved video campaign performance. Together, they ran a competitive evaluation testing three targeting tactics, holding all other parameters constant, and measured video campaign performance of each targeting tactic based on cost-per-engaged-visit. Of the three tactics, the B2B Predictive Audiences, powered by Proximic by Comscore and Eyeota, produced a cost-per-engaged-visit that was significantly below the client benchmark, 46% lower compared to competitive behavioural audiences, and 23% lower compared to competitive contextual segments. As a cookieless solution, B2B Predictive Audiences enable media buyers to reach their desired audiences through AI-powered contextual signals.  

Today’s advertisers and publishers must adapt their strategies and tactics for a post-cookie world. While a plethora of solutions are emerging to navigate this new reality, the most important component for success continues to be access to comprehensive and high-quality third-party data and insights. Brands and agencies that embrace the cookieless future and drive their strategies with strong data and partnerships will emerge as the new leaders in the modern digital marketing landscape. 

If you want to ensure your data-driven marketing strategy is ready to greet the challenges and opportunities of 2024, Eyeota is here to help. Connect with Eyeota’s Data Desk team today!