5 Things Marketers Need to Know About Addressable Marketing

How well do you really know your customer?

You might be finding it increasingly difficult to answer that question this year in the face of signal loss, new consumer privacy legislation and when trying to stop relying on cookies.

Here are five key things you need to know to identify and mitigate these addressability issues and maximise your marketing reach, engagement, and impact.

1. Don’t just replace the cookie – adopt a whole menu

Although Google Chrome announced that instead of deprecating third-party cookies, they will enable users to make an informed choice around their browser preferences, 50% of the internet is already cookieless – from CTV to smart home devices to walled gardens.

Cookies simply weren’t designed for the many ways that consumers engage with brands today. Compensating for them with a single approach encourages data fragmentation and inefficient budget spend.

Don’t just settle for a quick fix. Replace a cookie-based approach with a flexible data collaboration platform that opens up a broad menu of addressability options across applications, platforms, and partnerships – it’ll pay off today and tomorrow.

2. Think of hashed emails (HEMs) as just one tool in your pseudonymous identifier toolbox

HEMs are a cost-effective and easy-to-implement approach to targeting, making them a popular replacement to cookies for many marketers. While HEMs have their benefits, remember that your customers are so much more than a single identifier. A solely HEMs-based targeting strategy accounts for only that: their email.

Customers interact with your brand across many touchpoints – from mobile to CTV to direct mail – and HEMs capture one aspect of that behaviour. A true pseudonymous identifier is authenticated, people-based, and comprehensive – spanning not only different consumer touchpoints, but different channels such as programmatic, CTV, and social media.

Consider HEMs as just one useful tool in your targeting toolbox to ensure optimum match rates, reach, and campaign performance.

3. Remember that mobile ad identifiers (MAIDs) are only a fraction of your customer picture

If tracking by browser and email have their limitations, what about by device? Mobile ad identifiers (MAIDs) such as Apple’s Identifier for Advertising (IDFA) and Google’s Google Advertising ID for Android (AAID) issue a random identifier for each mobile device that helps you understand user behaviour without revealing PII – in theory.

The problem is, MAIDs don’t offer customers transparency or choice. They can either opt in to the tracking of all device behaviour or opt out altogether. Consider the various interactions you make on your mobile device each day – you likely have different privacy preferences for different experiences. Perhaps that’s why Apple’s IDFA consent rate sits at only 25% in 2023, leaving three-quarters of your audience behaviour in the dark.

Shine a light on your customers’ mobile interactions and build stronger relationships with them by using a privacy-first, people-based approach to creating addressable audiences across channels at scale.

4. Plan your advertising strategy for a privacy-first future

Data privacy is a growing concern for UK, US, and Australian businesses. In the UK, the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 outline strict rules for handling personal data. Australia is also strengthening its privacy laws with significant reforms to the Privacy Act 1988. In the US, new consumer privacy legislation has been passed in Utah, with similar regulations from other states on the horizon. Businesses must prioritise data privacy in light of these evolving regulations.

Protect yourself against data privacy landscape changes by developing your own privacy best practices. Form a strong relationship with your privacy team, build consumer trust through transparency and ethical use of data (such as adopting a people-based identity solution designed for evolving regulations), and audit your data and processes regularly. This ensures you control your future while respecting the privacy all customers deserve.

5. Strengthen your first-party relationship with customers

As a marketer, you know the voice of the customer reigns supreme. With the internet becoming more consent-based, that voice is evolving. Your customer is increasingly in control of their digital identity, and with that power they’re choosing to share information with brands they trust in exchange for personalised, high-value experiences.

Make the choice easy for them by enabling a trustworthy path to sharing first-party data via authentication. Voluntary authentication strategies such as direct registration and social log-ins empower customers with control over their experience and help build powerful brand affinity.

Cookies, HEMs, and MAIDs alone won’t cut it anymore. Trusted, first-party data – and the customer relationships they represent – are the strongest way to drive not only optimum campaign performance, but lasting brand and business value.