For SMBs, digital marketing is best way to reach out to an increasingly connected audience. Whether on social, search and display banner advertising, SMBs can engage potential customers who they believe are the right audience for their product. Browser cookies enable these efforts to target web visitors efficiently.

Cookies are essentially pieces of information saved by the browser that help businesses identify users online and deliver a targeted advertisement to them. Advertising platforms often use cookies to reach customers that are most likely to engage with the brand. For example, a small online apparel store can identify and advertise to potential customers based on demographic information saved on cookies.

First and third-party cookies

There are two main types of cookies: first-party cookies and third-party cookies. Despite being the same type of files, these cookies operate uniquely and serve different purposes.

First-party cookies are pieces of information that are stored in a company’s website and can be used by the company to remember a user’s language preferences, visit history, and more. These cookies also power website analytics, which can show SMBs how well their website is performing in real time.

Third-party cookies, however, are strings of data that can track a user beyond a single website. This information is typically used by digital advertisers to find users that may have interacted with their website, or other information saved on the cookies.

Third-party tracking cookies were, and sometimes still are, a popular and useful way for advertisers to reach their target audience with more accuracy and efficiency. However, privacy concerns and a complicated regulatory landscape has pushed technology companies to phase out the use of such cookies.

Apple and Mozilla have already begun to limit the use of third-party cookies on their browsers and Google has announced its decision to eventually follow suit soon in 2023. Here is how that will change the way digital marketers can reach their target audiences.

The future of advertising is cookie-less.

For customers, the benefits of this move are obvious. They can surf the internet and visit websites without the fear of being tracked across the web. The likelihood of receiving annoying and intrusive advertising that uses past browsing data is also reduced significantly. Advertisers, on the other hand, are likely to feel the loss of an effectively marketing tool more acutely.

Digital marketers often use third-party cookies to reach out to customers on an individual level. Cookie-less advertising solutions allow businesses to target large groups of customers grouped together based on interests or content that individuals have consumed. More importantly, the targeting is based on devices, rather than personal information.

Ultimately, the shift away from third-party cookies represents a rethinking of the way businesses digitally target and engage customers. It represents the opportunity to engage with customers in a way that is more efficient, effective, and private.