For many years now marketers have been working on a data driven marketing model on the internet.
NB: This is an article from Aro Digital
This model provides customer data to marketers in forms of cookies on the internet which records the customer activity on a particular website and application. However, with the rising concerns around privacy and security of customer data, browsers are now doing away with the cookie model.
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With the introduction of iOS 15, Apple managed to provide its customer more control over their data and their activity on the internet which means that the customer can actually decide whether or not they want a particular application to track their activity.
According to reports, Google, which has the largest penetration for search engine and its Google Chrome Browser will be removing third party cookies from its model to protect customer data.
In simple words, this means that the marketers will now not be able to track the customer activity on the internet and hence not be able to re-market their products and services to these customers.
WHAT ARE BROWSING COOKIES?
Cookies are small text files that identify a user’s device.
Once downloaded on a device on a particular network, they enable web servers to store stateful information (such as login information, saved items in a shopping cart, etc.,) to track the users browsing activity including- clicking particular buttons, time spent on a certain webpage, pages visited in the past and more.
WHAT ARE THE CONCERNS?
Over the years, there has been rising concerns around customer data being manipulated for retargeting purposes with the use of third-party cookies.
Customers are often over targeted with advertisements around something they have previously searched on the internet for.
The concerns majorly rose when these customers were already past the point of purchase in their buyers journey, yet they were being heavily targeted with these advertisements for the same product.
With the introduction GDPR three years ago, more and more internet users are becoming aware of their privacy rights and are concerned to protect their personal data from marketers.
HOW DOES IT AFFECT THE LUXURY HOTEL INDUSTRY?
Working in the luxury hotel industry, we come across many customers who research hotels prior to their visit and leave without taking an action on the website or on a particular webpage.
Luxury hotels will not be able to track visitor activity on their website which means it will reduce the scope for R&D to improve websites for a better customer experience and along with that, these customers now cannot be targeted with offers and products from the hotel prior to their bookings.
WHAT CAN BE DONE?
For a very long time, marketers have depended upon third-party data to reach to their audience on the internet, however with the changes in the cookie policies, a new plan of action needs to be implemented while taking a step back from this approach.
While third-party data will now not be accessible, first-party data will become the key solution to all online marketing approaches.
Essentially, first-party data is what the name suggest. The data that is collected directly from the source and with consent of the user is known as first-party data.
This can include name, telephone number, email address, etc., but only when the customer has allowed a particular website or application to record this data in advance.
While this will reduce the amount of data available to marketers, it will actually produce more relevant information with an opportunity to build customer loyalty with a greater sense.
The collection of first-party data will create more transparency between the customer and the marketer/ brand and hence providing a better customer experience online.
Opting into email marketing campaigns and retargeting adverts will be the new requirement, where without a customer’s due permission, brands will not be able to access or use their data for marketing purposes.
Over time luxury brands will be able to build more quality customer relationships and can target people more effectively and recommend products that make a difference to their lives.
