Google recently announced that cookies are going away and people are up in arms. We're also out of cookies, and Facebook and Apple recently had similar announcements about cookies. You might be wondering, though, what is a cookie and why should anybody care? Well, I'm going to be explaining a bit about that in this video and why these ramifications are. They don't change too much, but they do alter the landscape of marketing quite a bit.
If you think that's bad, go to Google. A cookie helps companies figure out how to market to you, what other sites you visit, what you're doing, and what your demographics are. By getting rid of cookies, it makes it harder for individual marketers to better advertise to you and make ROI. Google phasing out cookies, what it means is simply that marketers are going to be more dependent on Google itself for the information. Google says they're victims of regulation. They are not victims of anything here. In fact, they are likely the ones pulling the strings in all of this regulation. And this regulation, even though there are news articles saying Google's being hurt here, they are not. This, in fact, is helping them build a monopoly, which I will go into later on in this video. Apple has made similar announcements. There are similar speculations around Amazon and Facebook and all major tech companies.
Now, what specifically, though, does this mean for marketers? First off, what this means is the big tech companies now have a data monopoly. Don't believe what the news says about, you know, 'Oh, woe is Google. They can't track people. They're going to lose ad revenue.' No, the reality is that all of these new regulations around cookies actually benefit the big tech companies because they become monopolies with everyone's data. This is actually good for Google, Facebook, Amazon's of the world because other companies don't get their data. And now, these companies having a monopoly on all personal information, there's more importance than ever to really be working with Google or YouTube ads or Facebook or Instagram ads in order to market your products. So you really are going to be reliant on these companies and their services moving forward.
The second thing this means for marketers is that collecting personal information for your tracking, such as emails or phone numbers, early on in your marketing funnel, is more important than ever. Because you can't necessarily rely on cookies to track users anymore. So if you run an e-commerce store, for instance, and you want to know what folks are looking at and coming back and purchasing, you're going to need their email account. And you're going to want them to have some sort of sign-in to your site so you can track that user's behavior and figure out better what products they're interested in and what to remarket to them.
The other very important thing this means is that direct deals are your friend. Because cookies are going away, if you become an influencer, if you build up a Facebook page or an Instagram page or a YouTube channel or a Pinterest board or a TikTok, companies are looking to do more direct deals so they can get insights on their audience that they're not able to get anymore. Direct deals, influencer marketing is growing at faster than any other industry right now. It's growing over 40 percent per year. Last year, influencer marketing grew over 50 percent, which is insane. Most industries grow two to three percent per year. Influencer marketing is more than doubling every other year. So there's a lot of money to be made in growing a personal brand and not being a scared, propaganda-brainwashed consumer that's just sitting on your phone not creating content, scrolling through other people's lives. Create content. Create content. Create content. This is better than consuming content. Be a creator, not a consumer.
Q: What are cookies and why do they matter in marketing?
A: Cookies are pieces of data that websites store on users' browsers. They matter in marketing because they help companies track user behavior, demographics, and preferences, allowing for targeted advertising and better ROI.
Q: What are the implications of Google phasing out cookies?
A: The phasing out of cookies by Google means that marketers will have a harder time targeting ads to users and will become more dependent on Google for information. This shift can potentially lead to Google building a data monopoly.
Q: How are marketing strategies shifting due to cookie changes?
A: With the changes in cookies, big tech companies are gaining a data monopoly, making it essential for marketers to rely on platforms like Google, Facebook, and Amazon for advertising. Collecting personal information like emails for tracking purposes has become more important.
Q: How should marketers adapt to the post-cookie era in marketing?
A: Marketers should focus on collecting personal information early on in the marketing funnel, as relying on cookies for user tracking becomes less effective. Additionally, direct deals and influencer marketing are becoming more prevalent in the absence of cookies.
Q: What is the rise of influencer marketing in the absence of cookies?
A: With cookies becoming less prominent, companies are turning to influencer marketing and direct deals to gain insights on their audience. Influencer marketing is growing rapidly, offering opportunities for individuals to build personal brands and engage in direct partnerships with companies to reach audiences.