Historically, businesses and vendors have relied on tracking technology: these "cookies" allow third parties to identify customers and track them through personalized online advertising. This has long been the norm, giving marketers insight into performance and making it possible to change ad platform algorithms to significantly reduce customer acquisition costs.
But consumers don't like it. It is invasive and the client is a passive participant.
In response to increased privacy awareness, Apple, Google and Mozilla have announced plans to phase out third-party cookies. Together, these browsers account for nearly 90% of all web traffic, leading to the destruction of third-party cookies.
While this news may be disturbing to some, there is an opportunity for marketers to stop relying on third parties and improve their customer experience by building direct relationships.
Today: Use of third-party cookies
Brands currently use third-party cookies and retargeting to collect customer information, but this method is primarily one-way. Third-party cookies use data that does not belong to the website you are on and that is used after you leave it. When users switch tabs, they unknowingly share information about their web browsing history with other websites and parties. In addition, the user does not know which third parties have access to their data, making it a gray area in terms of privacy.
Let's say you're on a dealer's website and look at the camera. Then you go to someone else's website and see the same camera in a sidebar ad. This is a third-party cookie that tracks your browsing habits. Firefox and Safari no longer support third-party tracking, and Google has announced that it will with plans to phase out third-party cookies by 2024.
The removal of massive amounts of third-party data means a limited number of platforms on which ad data can converge, making the tech giants even more powerful. This is an opportunity for anyone driving an audience to your site to consider building better profiles that foster loyalty and long-term engagement.
With big changes coming, marketers need to adapt the way they interact with customers, which means big changes to the way they work over the years.
Email marketers have long known the importance of a long-term strategy for profiling and making the most of data.
The disappearance of third-party cookies highlights the importance of provenance and lack of data for marketers. Now is the time for marketers to focus on these aspects and make sure they have a strategy that takes advantage of these previously overlooked techniques.
The growth of conversational commerce
Conversational commerce is the process of selling products and engaging customers directly through messaging channels, changing the way businesses and customers interact with each other.
Nielsen research shows that 53% of consumers are more likely to make a purchase from a company that can contact them directly.
Although the disappearance of third-party cookies may seem like a problem at first glance, it is actually an opportunity; Unable to rely on third-party advertising platforms, marketers must find other ways to deliver an exceptional customer experience and help businesses deliver the right message to customers across all channels. This is an opportunity for marketers to create compelling customer experiences, and when they do, customers will reward them by sharing data.
According to PWC, 63% of customers say they would share more information with a company that provides a great experience. Through the preferences customers express in direct interactions with brands, companies know which channels a customer prefers to receive messages, how often and what content they want. This, in turn, helps marketers further improve their customers' brand engagement to increase engagement and loyalty.
As it should be: a one-way street
By moving away from intrusive targeting and interacting directly with customers to learn more about channels, content and frequency preferences, marketing looks very different. Instead of following customers with web ads, brands can encourage customers to engage in a two-way conversation on WhatsApp or through a chatbot.
Real-time communication provides the customer with an immediate response to their request, builds brand trust and increases the likelihood of a purchase. In addition, the brand now collects its own compliance data.
Almost three-quarters of people use multiple channels when shopping online, and those who use four or more channels spend 9% more than those who use just one. As a result, applications originally intended for consumers gradually became tools for businesses to communicate with their customers. And with the introduction of things like business search on WhatsApp, where users can find companies to interact with, we essentially have to view these consumer apps as untapped acquisition opportunities.
But where to start?
Modernizing your marketing and customer experience processes can seem like a daunting task, so it's helpful to break it down into a few key areas. The point is to start with the customer and work backwards.
- Think about what kind of experience they want from you, what touchpoints they need and through which channels so you can build the right customer journey.
- Explore where there are gaps in your current customer experience; Where are you losing customers in the funnel?
- Where are the critical points in your customer service?
- Look for bottlenecks caused by mismatched staff.
- Document what your ideal customer journey might look like, then connect it to your systems and people to determine which areas are most important to address first.
By understanding your customer's context, you can create an experience that feels natural. For example, it is good if the customer can solve his own problems by talking to the bot via WhatsApp, but without forcing him. For difficult questions, it may make sense to switch to a person on the phone or email and have a smooth process for those cases.
Conversational marketing and conversational commerce make customers responsible for their relationship with brands. This makes collecting valuable data much more natural for marketers so they can provide their customers with the high-quality experience they deserve – a win-win situation. It's a 180 degree change from the previous form, but it's a very welcome and exciting change.
MessageBird helps businesses connect with their customers across multiple channels and empower customers revolutionizing conversational commerce.
Rachel Thornton is the Chief Marketing Officer of MessageBird.
