From the many inbound and outbound marketing tactics available to B2B marketers, programmatic advertising has always been a popular choice because of its ability to balance the twin aspects of scale and targeting, while also offering something for each stage of the funnel.
In the last several years, the ability to activate first and third-party data through programmatic systems has been transformed by intelligent, often AI powered algorithms capable of finding “similar audiences” to match your ideal customer profile (ICP). This approach drives scale and reach across thousands of the most suitable publications. The context, relevance, timeliness, and ability to cap ad frequency based on audience behavior and responses drives campaign ROI and minimizes redundancies.
To achieve accurate targeting with a high degree of relevance and context, programmatic advertising uses a system of first and third-party “cookies”, which allows marketers to identify audiences and target them with a higher level of confidence based on markers such as their location, company, or onsite behavior.
Changes in an evolving business data ecosystem
First-party cookies are placed by the publisher on their own site – all of us have clicked on the notification that pops-up the moment you land on a site, asking permission to store first-party cookies. Third-party cookies, on the other hand, are placed on the publishers site by a third-party (such as a DMP) who is in the business of programmatic advertising and is collecting data to enable real-time-bidding on display ad units.
The problem is that both kinds of cookies collect personally identifiable information (PII). And while first-party cookies need express opt-ins, and are in that sense less invasive, website visitors may not always be aware when third-party cookies are collecting their data, or indeed how that data is being used and by whom. In the age of increased awareness and focus on privacy, transparency, and regulation, we can see how this might pose a problem to the goal of letting consumers decide how, when, and by whom their data is used.
On the flip side, third-party cookies offer unmatched reach and quality of targeting for advertisers. Some also say that targeting and relevance of ads is a good thing – remember the old days of television when everyone had to sit through exactly the same commercials from laundry detergents to cars, whether you were interested or not?
Be that as it may, erring on the side of caution and reaffirming a commitment to transparency and privacy is what has prodded all major browsers (e.g. Firefox, Safari, and now Google Chrome) to do away with third-party cookies altogether. With this big change to the intent data landscape, how should B2B marketers proceed with their programmatic advertising plans in 2022 and beyond? How will the changes impact their digital advertising plans in terms of targeting, reach, and relevance? What considerations should they address before the third-party cookie ban kicks in by the end of 2024?
Future-proofing Your Digital Advertising Plans
- Learning to work with anonymous segments: Moving forward into the future, B2B marketers need to remember that while third-party cookies are going away, not all cookies are going away. While first-party cookies will continue to be an important tool enabling targeted advertising and engagement for B2B marketers, there are new alternatives emerging to pick up where third-party cookies left off in terms of reach and scale.
Technologies such as Universal IDs and FLoC are being developed and tested by various industry players to ensure that third-party data will still be available to advertisers, albeit at a group and anonymized level. This may broaden the scope of targeting for a while, but it won’t be long before the algorithms get better at matching anonymous niche segments from the group or cohort level data. The challenge for advertisers will be to continue the relationship from the time someone responds to an ad, by engaging them enough to share more data to continue the conversation. In that sense, high-value content will become more important than ever. - Broadening the scope of first-party data: While marketers will continue to invest in building their own first-party data on their own properties, it’s unlikely this approach can offer the scale needed to optimize B2B campaigns. They will also need to broaden the scope to partner with data providers who leverage their own first-party data. Such data is offered by select vendors who have their own high-traffic properties or publications and can promise segmenting, targeting, and reach without compromising on brand safety.
With the right vendor, programmatic ads can continue to be served on a private network of owned and operated sites, and you can still target ads by context, keyword, or on-site behavior on these owned and operated brand-safe sites. In this option, advertisers can still reach the high-quality audiences they want by advertising on sites with highly-contextually relevant content that can act as the data source and the location for displaying advertising.
For example, SWZD’s network including the Spiceworks Community offers access to vast first-party data and intent signals of relevant audiences in the IT space, and a variety of advertising formats to choose from. For instance, display ads, which are great for creating awareness at the top of funnel, build familiarity with the brand, and expand the reach of your campaign across multiple personas within your target accounts. Native ads, advertorial content and keyword targeting across the sites are great for middle and lower funnel goals such as driving engagement. Walled gardens such as LinkedIn or Facebook also continue to remain great options for highly targeted and compliant first-party data based ad targeting. They offer significant reach coupled with performance linked payment options, but behavioral insights behind the data will be minimal, if at all.
Ultimately, these changes are an opportunity for all stakeholders to make a new beginning. It offers a chance to do things more efficiently, effectively, and compliantly than they have done in the past, but working with the right partner who can help you stay ahead of changes and disruptions is central to success. This means not just a vendor who offers programmatic capabilities but also inbound and outbound tactics, all of which together offer your prospects and customers the information they need at each stage of their journey. Hybrid events, social media, and telecalling are going to continue to rise in importance, as is the value of vendors that offer the highest quality of full-funnel intent data to power ABM campaigns.
As the leading global first-party B2B intent provider—with trusted relationships among decision makers and visibility into 17M businesses, 40M verified contacts, and 100M unique devices every day—Spiceworks Ziff Davis (SWZD) is extremely well positioned to help B2B marketers with account-based targeting now and in the future.
To find out how to work with SWZD and plan for your strategies for a cookie-less world, contact us.