Is Marketing Becoming Less Personal?
Personalized targeting has been at the core of digital advertising for decades, and it can be incredibly effective, especially when used with purpose. Given the growing number of ad blockers and tracking restrictions, should we be — or will we be forced to be — less personal moving forward?
As marketers, we’re all searching for the strongest cookie-less solution to reach our audiences. Google is set to phase out third-party cookies in its Chrome browser in 2023, which means it’s almost time to pump the brakes on ultra-tailored marketing messages.
Although numerous studies suggest that consumers prefer personalization, and in some cases are more likely to make a purchase when brands offer personalized experiences, it’s not a given. Many consumers flat-out oppose personalized experiences, and assuming otherwise could veer your marketing strategy off course and negatively impact your results.
A recent eMarketer study revealed that even though Google’s personalized ads initiative will let users view and control the kinds of ads they want to see, Apple is showing that consumers frequently block or turn off personalized experiences. The kicker: there is no difference in results among consumers who choose tailored ads versus those who do not.
We need to respect that some consumers aren’t comfortable with exchanging their information for more customized marketing. When providing their data for something in return, people are typically more interested in things like discounts, free samples and access to exclusives; personalized experiences aren’t topping the list.
So, when the time comes, can our marketing still effectively resonate with consumers through less “personal” targeting? We think so, and here are three solutions:
Target Topics
We’ve recently talked about cohort targeting—most notably, Google’s Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC). That program struggled to gain traction and almost immediately encountered negative feedback in its testing phase. Google is abandoning the program in favor of Topic Targeting.
The idea behind Topic Targeting is that Google’s API selects topics based on user browsing history and shares three of them at a time with participating sites where your ads can appear. The topics are stored for three weeks, and there are no external tracking services involved, so it doesn’t break any privacy rules.
Topic Targeting also aligns brands with relevant content that people are interested in; this is why contextual placements are making a comeback. Targeting through context crosses no privacy boundaries, and since people frequently consume media like podcasts, streaming video, streaming audio, gaming and social media, there is a wealth of content topics to tap into.
Align with Trusted Voices
If you can't be personal with your audience directly, get personal with people your audience trusts. Align with influencers or content creators that will deliver as much (or more) impact with your message as you would with a personalized ad. To return to the podcast example, ads are effective in this growing channel because listeners trust the hosts and truly believe in their endorsements. This goes for other media, as well. TV personalities, YouTube creators and celebrities all make personal connections through experiences that your audience respects and cares about.
Experiment with Your Messaging
When getting less personal with marketing communications, we’re essentially casting a wider net and focusing on broader interests and behaviors. So how can we make the most of those efforts, whether in paid, owned or earned media, knowing that not all of it will be serving precisely the right audiences? This is where a test-and-learn approach is more important than ever.
It’s okay to put some dollars behind experiments, as long as we accept the risk of potentially not getting as much of an immediate return. For example, if a financial company targets people with various banking needs, given the looming loss of cookie tracking, they might not be able to get as deep as “business banking” or “wealth management,” but they could target people more generally who fall into a “finance” audience category. They’d offer multiple messages to those people covering the same products; not all their placements will be immediately relevant, but over time, they still learn which users need which products and services. That allows them to refine targeting to those groups and continue to optimize their efforts, so that in the long run, the investment becomes efficient.
There will come a time when it’s lights out for hyper-personalized marketing as we know it today. Maybe that’s not such a bad thing. There are plenty of options—some tried-and-true, some emerging and some still undiscovered—that can all be viable ways to make a genuine connection.
For more information, contact Mike Pocci at 330-472-9774 or mpocci@teamaftermath.com.