We’ve known for a while that the third-party cookie jar won’t stay full for much longer. Those little codes living in our browsers have the power to carry a ton of personal information. They enable marketers to track people’s online behaviors and gain a better understanding of current and potential customers visiting brand websites. They also help marketers — and the average internet user — more effectively and efficiently manage media.
So, what’s the problem? The idea that gave rise to third-party cookies was sound, but because of data privacy concerns, it’s time for a change that protects consumer information. In the US, cookies still remain opt-out rather than opt-in. Because cookies collect browsing data, website owners can also sell that collected data to another third party, like an advertiser. Unscrupulous third parties who’ve bought (or stolen) data cookies can use that information nefariously to commit other cybercrimes.
Marketers have already begun thinking about how the digital advertising options will change once the cookie jar empties. How will marketers effectively track behavior? How will they successfully serve relevant advertising to their target audiences? With Audio Out-of-Home (AOOH), marketers use attribution to assess the value or ROI of the channels that connect brands to potential customers.
Fortunately, there are a variety of lower-funnel marketing tactics used today that will gain relevance in a post-cookie world. The marketing industry is still exploring how a cookieless future reliant on targeted ads will look. We’ll still have first-party cookies generated by the host domain to collect analytics for the website owners. Brands can leverage more contextual-based advertising, focus on personalization, and target audiences based on location and time.
First-party cookies aren’t the only solution for collecting and building up customer information to develop targeted advertising campaigns, however. Marketers and brands use another effective strategy: Audio Out-of-Home.
Personalization Without Privacy Invasion
A newer concept of incorporating targeted audio ads into stores, AOOH combines the context of a shopping environment with audio marketing elements. By incorporating these ads into the programmatic AOOH marketplace, marketers can audible bottom-funnel activations like buy, sale, coupon to reach customers at the end of a buying journey.
Brands are using AOOH for the most effective in-store customer experience, broadcasting programmatic advertisements directly to engaged shoppers, influencing buying decisions right at the point of purchase.
Incorporating AOOH as the place and promotion within the marketing mix offers a great opportunity to ease the transition away from third-party cookies, especially as personalization and data remain key to advertising campaign success next year. Brands and their departments need to think outside the box and use a more targeted medium designed to provide unique, personalized experiences for shoppers.
AOOH technology doesn’t require personal data to work effectively. It supports contextual advertising and programmatic solutions — and instead of mining individual shopper data, it focuses on the in-store customer experience.
The AOOH medium reaches everyone who shops in a brick-and-mortar location. Designed for passive consumption, it was never intended to be a one-to-one media channel. You don’t have to worry about the creepiness factor present with third-party cookies because AOOH is venue-based, not device-specific. Shopper demographics and behaviors are not derived from personal data. It allows marketers to curate and deliver personalized in-store experiences while complying with privacy legislation.
From a programmatic perspective, AOOH is always on and ready. While it still relies on Demand-Side Platforms (DSPs) to target audiences, AOOH offsets the soon-to-be cookieless world with venue targeting and product on-shelf targeting. It’s the perfect time for AOOH to increase its presence in the programmatic space and for buyers to take advantage of the environment we’re in.
AOOH Gives Marketers An Advantage
In the post-third-party cookie world, brands who use AOOH will gain an advantage. While third-party data does generate vast amounts of information about consumer behavior, it does so by tracking internet users’ entire browsing history. Like first-party data, which only collects information for relationship-building, AOOH provides the perfect opportunity to grow brand loyalty and consumer trust.
Third-party cookies were developed as a tool to help brands understand their customers, gathering insights from the data collected to provide the most personalized, targeted online ad experience. A lack of consistent oversight along with significant increases in the data collected added to consumer unease with just how much personal information brands could collect without their explicit permission.
AOOH is still personalized but doesn’t betray brand trust. Because it’s a location-based audio experience solution, AOOH offers a unique opportunity to complement other personalized messages like mobile ads or physical world branding. It blends seamlessly into the customer environment — and it’s well-positioned to play a successful leading role in next year’s advertising campaigns.
As we head into 2022, programmatic advertising continues to learn and evolve. The pandemic burgeoned programmatic budgets, and the increased need for flexibility will continue fueling that acceleration. In fact…
The average 2022 programmatic budget of $100 billion will lead to a dramatic rise in consumers shopping for essential items in-store.
COVID-19 helped propel the growth of audio, both with streaming music and podcasts. In 2022, we’re attracting consumers with creative and contextual messages in the shopping environment through AOOH. It’s time to evangelize AOOH’s value and educate advertisers and marketers about its direct impact on product sales.
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