Recently updated on August 27th, 2024 at 04:13 pm

Cookies have reached their final destination. Google has decided to phase out the use of third-party cookies, leaving brands to find more innovative and privacy-centric ways of interacting with their audiences. The shift to a cookieless digital marketing environment is radical, but not without new possibilities.

What are cookies?

Cookies are digital tags that are used to track the online web activity of consumers on their chosen devices. These tags collect and store personal information about consumers such as names, home addresses, email addresses, and contact numbers. This information is then stored in a database and used to guide personalised marketing efforts, tailoring online experiences to meet their preferences.

It’s important to note that while cookies have legitimate uses, the use of cookies has raised privacy concerns. Some cookies may track and collect more personal information than necessary or be used for unauthorised purposes. Therefore, most modern web browsers provide options to manage and control cookies, allowing users to delete or block them selectively. 

Governments have started to enact laws against the harmful use of cookies. Following the implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation in Europe and POPIA in South Africa, social networking platforms, especially those with online advertising abilities, have adjusted their frameworks to comply with the new laws.

Keeping abreast of these industry changes is part and parcel of digital marketing.

Privacy-centricity and Brand building

For many brands, moving away from relying on third-party cookies will be challenging but the rewards of overcoming this transition are invaluable. Instead of delivering irrelevant ad content to a relevant audience, brands will be able to market more effectively, focusing their attention on contextual advertising. 

This can be achieved with brand building.

Brand building is the process of establishing and strengthening a brand’s reputation and identity in the minds of consumers. It involves strategic activities and initiatives aimed at creating a positive perception, recognition, and differentiation for a brand among its target audience. 

The goals of brand building are to:

• develop a strong, distinctive, and memorable brand that resonates with consumers
• engender trust and brand loyalty
• influence consumer purchasing decisions

It goes beyond just creating a logo or a catchy tagline; brand building encompasses the overall brand experience, values, and emotions associated with a business, product, or service.

Consumers today are more conscious of their privacy rights, as well as the various marketing tactics used by marketers. The collection and use of personal information through cookies has become such a prevalent task, that this process can easily be seen as invasive in some cases.

Here are five tips for privacy-centric marketing:

• Transparency and Consent: Be transparent about your data collection and cookie usage practices. Communicate to your customers how their data will be used and seek their explicit consent before collecting any personal information. 
• Data Minimisation: Collect and retain only the minimum amount of data necessary for your marketing activities. Avoid excessive data collection and ensure that you have a legitimate business need for the information you gather.
• Anonymisation and Pseudonymisation: Anonymisation fully removes identifiable information from your data, making it impossible to trace back to individuals. Pseudonymisation substitutes identifiable details with pseudonyms, maintaining some level of utility while protecting user privacy. Both methods allow you to gather insights for marketing without compromising the privacy of your users.
• Secure Data Handling: Implement robust security measures to protect customer data from unauthorised access, loss, or misuse. Regularly assess and update your security practices to stay ahead of emerging threats.
• Opt-In and Opt-Out Mechanisms: Provide users with clear options to opt in or opt out of data collection and marketing communications. Respect their choices and promptly honour any requests to unsubscribe or delete personal data.

Digital Doorway understands what businesses need to succeed in the dynamic digital market environment, and with the use of integrated digital assets, we can help your business reach its goals. 

If you would like to learn more about building your brand or adopting a privacy-centric approach to your marketing, get in touch with our team.