The first reaction to a revolution in publishing often seems to be to head for the hills yelling that the world is about to end. As someone who has seen several so-called revolutions in the industry – from quaint old ‘hot metal’ and print-only to being able (amazingly) – to know and target your readers – change is usually an opportunity.
There has been a lot of hand-wringing and doom-mongering since Google announced it was turning off third party cookies for c30millon users, with plans to extend that to all users later this year. Definitely, it will have a profound impact on many organisations that rely on third-party cookies to enable them to find and target new customers, with many brand leaders worried it will devastate their business.
“71 % of brand leaders expect the end of third-party cookies will hurt their businesses.”
Adobe report 2023
Afterall, third-party cookies let advertisers track an individual’s browsing history across the web on any sites that contain their ads.
But in the Google and search-dominated world in which we live, the only thing to do is get on with it.
So how are we going to cope? There is a myriad of advice on the web, and articles like this have been cropping up regularly on LinkedIn.
At SBRX, we have been discussing this issue with many of our partners, and while many have been alarmed, they can see that there are some solutions out there to help mitigate the changes
For brands, there are several areas to explore:
Embrace first-party data: Encourage user registrations, subscriptions, and loyalty programme participation to gather valuable insights directly from your audience. This approach not only ensures the accuracy of the data but also opens up opportunities for more personalised and meaningful interactions with your customers.
Contextual targeting for relevant engagement: Consider aligning your advertising efforts with the context of the content users are engaging with. By understanding the environment in which your ads appear, you can enhance the relevance and impact of your messaging.
Collaborate with publishers: Well, we would say that! But digital publishers like SBRX hold the keys to targeted audiences. SBRX are dedicated to working closely with brands to provide access to our audience as well as valuable insights and ensure targeted advertising efforts remain effective.
Diversify marketing channels and invest in brand awareness: It will be more important than ever to maintain a robust and diversified brand presence to stay front of mind of the consumer.
For publishers, like SBRX, we are encouraging our partners to examine all these areas. But we’re also taking another step in to establish a first-hand relationship with our audience – and one from which our brand partners can benefit.
In January, we soft-launched a marketplace to support the 100’s of boutique endurance sports provides that provide quality gear & services to endurance sport enthusiasts globally. The early reaction from existing brand partners has been hugely positive, whilst traffic and transactions are growing week on week and the platform represents a unique opportunity to develop a closer relationship – for both brands and ourselves – with our audience.
Of course, as this article says, brands could just wait and see what happens. But there seems to be nothing lost in trying to get ahead of the curve.
