Even If Third-Party Cookies Vanished, We Would Have Been OK

Collectively, these events and developments have pushed the digital marketing industry toward more ethical, transparent and privacy-focused practices—and the deprecation of third-party cookies in Chrome would have done the same. Yes, it would have disrupted “business as usual.” But it was also prompting the industry to embrace more sustainable solutions and deepen its investment in high-quality data and approaches.

Marketers should not pause on their path to a more sustainable future. Regardless of Google’s plan for cookies, there are two ways marketers must be adjusting their data-driven marketing strategies to stay relevant in an increasingly privacy-focused landscape.

1. Prioritizing and revamping first-party data strategies to ensure brands have strong customer connections on which to build. Preparing for the future isn’t just a matter of generating more first-party data (though that’s a part of it). It’s also about gathering the right data, organizing it to be actionable, and building the networks and relationships necessary to unleash its power. By establishing a system of organized, properly permissioned multichannel data, brands can activate their data efficiently and effectively. These first-party data initiatives are vital, with or without third-party cookies in the mix.
2. Reviewing and reassessing data partnerships to ensure providers and solutions are equipped to maintain relevance in an increasingly signal-challenged world. Just because Google plans to continue support for third-party cookies doesn’t mean all the work and innovation that went into preparing for their death has gone to waste. Signal loss will continue to be a challenge, and the advances made to embrace an ID-agnostic mindset and diversify the connections among consumer data are absolutely vital to the future of the industry. The companies that put in that effort in earnest have proven themselves the kinds of partners that are committed to helping advertisers thrive in uncertainty; partner vetting processes should still elevate these kinds of relationships.

Meanwhile, marketers must take shifts within the digital landscape in stride. In time, we will look back on the preparations we made for the deprecation of third-party cookies as yet another milestone on the path to building a sophisticated and sustainable industry that’s capable of growing, rather than crumbling, in the face of disruption.