A new study by Lytics, a customer data platform, finds that an overreliance on third-party data will lead to a large impact on marketing ROI in 2022 and 2023.
The research, conducted in conjunction with Sapio, found that 86% of marketing decision-makers say that their marketing and advertising is reliant on data from third-party cookies and that 62% of senior marketers (VP and higher) anticipate a large financial impact on marketing ROI as a result of their end.
“Marketing is undergoing a huge transition as data strategies shift,” said James McDermott, CEO of Lytics. “The companies that will come out on top are those that own first-party data, including platforms, publishers and brands.” Nearly 40% of those surveyed said their marketing is “completely reliant” on third-party cookies. Just 6% of marketers said they were unreliant on this data for their marketing.
Advertisers, in response, said they will adjust campaigns by spending more on platforms like Facebook (62%) and Amazon and owned channels including email (51%); 49% will spend more on TV advertising; 45% will spend more on search ads; and 37% anticipate that they will spend more on collecting their own first-party data.
First-party data has increased in value as a result of the degradation of the third-party cookie, said 92% of respondents. Sixty percent of marketers at brands with 1,000+ employees said that they will use first-party data to predict customer behavior; 48% will use it to create more personalized emails; and 48% will use it to develop new customer segments. The top two challenges with first party data strategies are creating a holistic view of the customer (40%) and the lack of data or insufficient data collection (36%).
Marketers, however, will not stop looking for the Holy Grail of targeting. New technologies to replace the third-party cookie are also top of mind: 54% of respondents anticipate that they will be working more closely with ad/buying agencies to test new technologies as a result of the changes. Fifty-seven percent of C-level marketers said that they will need to learn new systems and software; and 45% will increase their efforts to collect first-party data.
“There are very few marketers whose strategies will not change over the next year,” added McDermott. “Companies are fast adopting new ways to reach customers with 1st party data and CDPs can help integrate marketing with their customer data strategy.”
