Cookies Aren’t Perfect – But What’s The Alternative?
Are you relying on cookies to track customers’ interactions with your sites? Online security is on peoples’ minds more and more in the wake of countless data breaches, credit card theft, and compromised personal information in recent years. These days, forward-thinking marketers and digital advertisers would be wise to begin preparing for a new phase of the internet that does not rely on cookies.
A cookie is a tiny text file that saves to a user’s device any time they visit a website, and it contains information about that user’s preferences, among other things. Many people find cookies to be a helpful asset as they remember passwords, save forms that we have already filled out, and store items we’ve added to our shopping carts. For businesses, cookies are instrumental in providing data on how different customers use different parts of a website to improve and optimize the experience. For advertisers, they are a vital tool as they follow users across different websites, providing a clear sense of a brand’s competitive landscape as it plays out in a customer’s journey.
A few years ago, companies were thrown into a head-spin to comply with the EU’s GDPR regulations; in California, brands have more recently been regulated into giving consumers better visibility into how cookies are used on websites. The trend is real, and it’s not going anywhere. Data watchdogs are on the rise as tales of ransomware, mass hacks, and breached data play out repeatedly.
While storing personal details complicates our relationship with the web, much of what feels “personalized” is a byproduct of cookies. And, depending on a user’s desire for personalization, being followed around the web can feel more creepy than cool. If cookies disappear from the web, brands that rely on digital ads to generate cookies will be the hardest hit. Collecting first-party data – that is, analytics on their own websites, apps, etc. – will be the most reliable way to understand users’ behavior. First-party data can be costly to gather, so businesses must be strategic in planning their analytics.
Content marketing can provide additional pathways for brands who, in seeking users’ consent to gather data more transparently than generating a cookie, can engage users and gain their permission. After all, by giving a customer agency in submitting a data point, you prioritize their choices – which is a powerful relationship-building play.
If your business’ website is heavily reliant on cookies, partner with ASTRALCOM to start preparing for a cookie-less future today. Learn more about our comprehensive SEO and content marketing services.
