Third-party cookies will be dead by 2022.
You read that right, third-party cookies will be functionally gone by 2022. Why? One word: Google.
It’s no secret that in recent years the entire cookie industry has been under attack especially from browsers like Safari and Firefox who have released updates blocking third-party cookies, yet the cookie industry has continued on relatively unscathed, at least until now.
When Google launched its new version of its Chrome browser in February 2020, they also announced that it would be shipped with third-party tracking cookies disabled by default. This means that unless users manually turn on third-party cookies (highly unlikely), digital advertisers will have no way to drop cookies on users’ browsers – essentially leaving them in the dark when it comes to visitor tracking.
On the heels of this update, Google also announced that by 2022 all versions of their browser will stop supporting third-party cookies altogether. This decision will be the final nail in the cookie coffin.
What you might be thinking is: “Ok, so what? One browser will stop supporting these cookies, but there are a number of other browsers – no need to panic, right?”
More than half of all internet users globally use Chrome, which makes the decision to remove third-party cookies a much larger problem for advertisers.
On paper this makes sense, but consider this breakdown of global browser usage:
Source: w3counter.com
More than half of all internet users globally use Chrome – making this decision to remove third-party cookies a much larger problem for advertisers.
In addition, other browsers like Safari and Firefox have already been blocking third-party cookies by default for years. With Google’s update, the combined percentage of internet browsers that block cookies by default has climbed to more than 80% (for more information check out our other third-party cookie article).
If you’re reading this and a sense of panic has gripped you, I’ve got some good news: if you’re a B2B marketer, you’re in luck! You can still get all the data you need to power your account-based marketing (ABM) activities, and even provide better analytics than you had before.
Keep Calm and Use First-Party Data
First-Party Intent Data is data collected by you, the owner of a website about your visitors. Tracking buyer intent gives B2B marketers valuable insight into which accounts are visiting their website and what content they are engaging with. Marketers use this information to discover potential new target accounts as well as when to reach out to prospective in-market buyers.
As access to third-party cookie information continues to dwindle, B2B marketers should turn their sights toward the gold mine of data they have access to.
HOW?
A big question we hear all the time is HOW – how does a marketing team go from nothing to a flood of data about their website visitors?
The answer, IP address intelligence.
IP address intelligence is the process of translating a company’s IP address into a set of traits about that company, called firmographics. These traits can include things, such as: company name, employee count, revenue, industry, geolocation, and more. Firmographics are the crucial pieces of information B2B marketers rely on to drive account-based marketing and deliver enhanced user experience on their websites.
The beauty of IP address intelligence is that this technology is browser-independent. Why? Because an IP address is associated with the device itself, not the browser. Meaning the dominance browser providers have over cookies, does not, and cannot ever apply to IP addresses. Regardless of the decisions the browser providers make, IP address intelligence will always be able to deliver the vital data marketers need to power their ABM programs.
The first step in building an effective account-based marketing strategy is the identification of target accounts, and first-party intent data is the key. If you aren’t already utilizing the gold mine of data you’re sitting on, I would highly suggest changing that. You undoubtedly spent a lot of time, energy, and money creating your website. Don’t let third-party cookies stand in the way of your website’s success. By leveraging first-party intent data you will get a much greater understanding of what your target accounts are interested in and enhance your ability to identify net-new opportunities to nurture and move along the sales process.
If you want to learn more about KickFire’s proprietary IP address intelligence technology and how it can future-proof your digital marketing strategy, check out our TWIN Caching Guide.