There's a lot of talk and frustration in the digital marketing industry right now. All the big players in the market understand that they have to follow in Apple's footsteps in the same way they developed new phones after the iPhone was released or when Apple first removed the headphone jack.
This means that third-party cookies, i.e. those used by advertisers to track users and their behaviour on the internet, will soon be a thing of the past, at least if Apple has its way.
Apple blocks tracking with iOS 14 and Osx Big Sur
Right now we are living in an uncertain time where Apple has gone out and said that they will require developers to inform their users about what data is being collected about them and that everyone using iOS14 will get a box when downloading apps where they need to agree that the app will access the user's data. If the user clicks "no", the app will not be able to use the user's data and therefore will not be able to pass it on to the app's developers. This will therefore apply to all apps available on the App store including TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube etc.
Will Google continue to track users?
Google published a blog post on 3 March 2021 stating that it plans to phase out third-party cookies from its apps and websites. They clearly state that users should not have to be deprived of their private information in order to receive relevant advertising.
This is big for us at Bright Mind Agency as our vision has always been to deliver Relevant Marketing.
The way we see it, Google will put even more resources into improving their tools and developing new systems that allow advertisers to reach their target audience in a more relevant way that at the same time safeguards users' private information, or at least puts the decision in the hands of users where they can choose whether or not to use their data.
Google says:
"Advances in aggregation, anonymisation, on-device processing and other privacy-preserving technologies have given us a clear path forward to replace individual identification."
So how do we reach the right people with our marketing?
What we know today is that ALL the different ad platforms are experimenting and testing different ways to track users or to deliver ads to a specific person or group of people with targeted messages based on different data points.
For example, we have started to implement Server side API, Aggregated events and some other tools are also included in our experiments with our partners.
Something that we at Bright Mind believe very strongly but which is not yet confirmed is that users will have all their private information stored on their devices, in the same way that we keep our private bank ID, face ID or credit card details safe and secure in one place.
When advertisers want to deliver relevant advertising to their users, you will be able to choose in your device whether or not to accept this, thus never leaving your private information on your own device.
Something worth knowing is that although you can choose to block the use of your private information, advertisers will not give you fewer ads....
Exactly you read right... the ads will just become much less relevant to you and your desired flow.
What do our customers need to think about today?
Already, Facebook has changed several structures in its tools, some of which have a direct impact on the way we work and measure the impact of our advertising for our clients.
Shortened conversion window
Previously, Facebook had a conversion window of 28 days from the time a user saw an ad to the time they bought a product from an online store. This has now been reduced to 7 days.
In practice, this means that anyone who previously bought a product 8 - 28 days after seeing an ad will no longer be able to register in our advertising tools and therefore our numbers will immediately decrease and reports will look different.
Limit of 8 events for each domain
When advertising, we will register your domain and link a maximum of 8 events to it. This is not a problem for the majority of our customers as most of them only have 4 - 6 standard events for their advertising.
Examples of standard events for advertising e-commerce.
- Page view
- Display of product
- View by category
- Add to cart
- Start payment
- Buy
Registration of the last event only
We've always been able to create audiences based on your visitors' behaviour and clicks. For example, we can register a target group for anyone who has visited your homepage but never looked at a product.
Now facebook only records the last event the visitor makes, so if a customer completes a purchase, the "purchase" event is the only one saved.
In practice, this means most benefit for companies that have worked like us and will create a better experience for all users.
In the past, many advertisers forgot to exclude people from advertising after they had made a purchase, for example, and thus still received advertising when they were still in the target group that had shown a product.
This will now disappear automatically.
How do we at Bright Mind see the future of digital marketing?
We are going to change the marketing industry and this is a step in the right direction where the big players understand that our vision is the best for the users.
It is very difficult to change an industry. It requires hard work, lots of energy, an engaging team that is constantly motivated, wants to be part of the journey, evolve and understanding clients who want to do their best to create strong relationships with their customers.
We believe in the user's right to control their own data and their own experience of the apps and websites they visit.
But if we could, we'd put a sign on the mailbox every day of the week that says "Relevant Advertising Only - Thank You!"