Cookies have been created to improve the user experience of websites. Their main use is to enable companies to collect data on their users as they browse. Indeed, they can gain a better understanding of the audience they are targeting and the way in which it interacts with their content.

However, the problem is that the use of cookies has araised concerns, particularly with regard to the privacy of Internet users. In recent years, web browsers and regulators have taken steps to limit their use. This is known as the cookieless world (a future era without cookies).

The end of third-party cookies has been announced for the second half of 2024. Therefore, Google is preparing to separate from this fundamental element for the brands that use it to optimise advertising and customer experience.

What does this cookieless world look like? What are the alternatives for continuing to understand your customers’ expectations? Here are a few avenuesto optimise your data collection strategy in this new world.

SUMMARY

• Google speeds up the advent of a cookieless world
• The challenges of a cookieless world
• Adopting intelligent marketing to collect proprietary data

Everyone is talking about it, but the much-heralded cookieless world has been slow to arrive. Google has repeatedly postponed the deletion of third-party cookies, with the aim of relaunching the process in 2024. On 4th January 2024, the American giant began testing a new tool, “tracking protection”, which aims to limit the tracking of users from site to site.

In fact, a small percentage of Chrome users have switched to a third-party cookie-free environment. In the coming months, this test phase will be extended to a wider audience. But until then, companies have little visibility of the effects of this protection against tracking.

According to Google’s teams, the deletion of third-party cookies should take place in the second half of 2024… Provided, however, that all remaining concerns are resolved. Moreover, it has to be said that companies in all sectors are little or unprepared for the end of cookies. Not to mention governments, which are worried about the impact of this cookieless world on competition.

Therefore, businesses are expecting access problems. Sites that do not function without third-party cookies may no longer be accessible. Google is trying to reassure them with this first phase of the “more private web”. Indeed, it announced that it would provide “the tools needed to make their operations and experiences successful, so that high-quality content remains accessible”.

Cookies have always been a valuable tool for tracking user behavior and to attribute conversions to marketing campaigns. However, with increasing privacy concerns and the growing use of ad blockers, cookies are less effective.

As the world moves towards a cookie-free future, marketers face new challenges in understanding and reaching their target audiences, optimising their data collection and advertising targeting.

Cookieless world: the problem of attribution

Attribution refers to the process of identification of the marketing channels or contact points that have led to a conversion or the completion of an action desired by the company.

Without cookies, it can be more difficult to track users across all devices and browsers. Above all, it is more difficult to attribute conversions to specific campaigns. Companies will therefore lack the data they need to optimise their strategy when it comes to targeting the channels likely to convert prospects.

The end of behavioural data

Another challenge for attribution is the toss of granular data (or behavioral). Cookies enabled companies to track user behavior at a precise level. They could identify which pages they had visited, the time spent on them and the actions taken.

Without cookies, it becomes difficult to identify contact points and CTAs that generate on-site conversions. But it also makes it harder to target the frictions that may be causing the brand to lose out on opportunities.

A world without third-party data

Finally, the end of third-party cookies marks the end of third-party data. Third-party data is collected and shared by other companies.

Yet, this data is generally used to optimise advertising campaigns aimed at a specific audience. For example, a retailer might use this type of data to send ads to users who have searched for a product or have shown an interest in a product.

With the disappearance of cookies, marketers will have to rely on other methods to identify users and understand their behavior. What may appear to be a colossal challenge to overcome will prove to be so in the long term, an opportunity to optimise your data collection strategy.

Companies will therefore have to implement new tools to collect reliable and complete proprietary data.

Gamification to collect first party and zero party data

Companies can focus on collecting data voluntarily shared by their customers and prospects (also known as zero party data and first party data). By collecting data directly from their audience, marketers can better understand their preferences and behaviours. They can then target their marketing campaigns more effectively.

Companies can also work to develop data collection practices that are more transparent and ethical. The use of interactive levers such as marketing games makes data collection funnier. However, it also introduces a stronger bond of trust between the brand and its customers.

Explore alternative identifiers

As third-party cookies disappear, advertisers are exploring alternative identifiers to track user behavior. These may include email addresses, device identifiers or even hashed data.

Be careful, however, to respect user confidentiality and existing regulations. Generally speaking, advertisers will have to learn to strike the balance between personalising their marketing campaigns and respecting their customers’ privacy.

Unify data from several sources

Tools and techniques also exist to extract and unify data from several sources. The whole point of these solutions is to make it easier to collect and analyse behavioural data across all the channels used by customers. Then, they can be activated more effectively to create and distribute advertising campaigns in the right place and to the right people.

Conclusion

While the transition to a cookieless world can be a complicated time for marketers, it also provides an opportunity to reassess their data collection strategy. By adopting less intrusive and more participative solutions and strategies, you can get to know your customers better and retain their trust.

Discover our interactive marketing experiences for collecting first party and zero party data in complete transparency!

Cookies are an endangered species. New regulations on the collection and use of personal data are making it increasingly difficult for marketers to understand and predict the behaviour of their audience.

However, there are many solutions for navigating this new digital world without cookies. In this article, we present one of the most effective levers available to brands: first-party data.

SUMMARY

• What are cookies and why are they so important in marketing?
• Why are we heading for a world without cookies?
• What data collection practices should be favoured?
• First-party data: the best solution to the end of cookies?
• Gamification as a solution for collecting 1st party data

Cookies are information files stored in web browsers. In practical terms, they enable us to track a user’s online behaviour and provide companies with a vast amount of information. They can then use this information to personalise their customer experience or optimise their online advertising.

More specifically, there are 4 types of cookies:

• Internal cookies, which are hosted on the site and therefore do not share the information obtained with other external platforms;
• Third-party cookies (the most controversial). The latter send the data to the external platforms of online shops (in particular advertising technology solutions);
• Temporary cookies: only stored in the browser during the user’s session;
• Permanent cookies, which store information for future visits.

Cookies are therefore a valuable source of information for brands that want to analyse the behaviour of their potential customers and better understand consumer needs. They help to improve the purchasing process by providing relevant information at the right time. They can also be used to optimise online marketing campaigns by segmenting the target audience.

Users are increasingly concerned about the protection of their personal data. They are aware that they are being tracked online (particularly for retargeting purposes) and are demanding greater transparency when it comes to the collection and use of their data.

According to a recent study by Pew Research, 81% of Internet users believe that collecting their data presents more risks than benefits.

In response to user dissatisfaction, browsers have begun to delete third-party cookies.. C’est le cas de Google Chrome, mais aussi de Safari ou encore Firefox. Idem pour les applications mobiles, notamment depuis le lancement de l’iOS 14, qui a introduit une protection plus radicale des données de ses utilisateurs.

New regulatory frameworks have also been put in place to regulate or even abolish the use of cookies altogether.

• Article 5(3) of Directive 2002/58/EC lays down the principle of prior consent from the user before information can be stored on his or her device or before information already stored on the device can be accessed.
• The GDPR – General Data Protection Regulation (and in particular articles 4(11) and 7) reaffirmed the need for user consent. It specifies that this consent must be free, specific, informed and unambiguous. In addition, users must be able to withdraw their consent at any time, with the same ease with which they gave it.

For brands, data protection poses a number of challenges. It is becoming more difficult to collect data, and therefore to personalise content or even optimise advertising budgets.

To get round these obstacles, companies are turning to alternatives that no longer rely on third-party cookies. This has several advantages:

• That of owning your own data and no longer being dependent on third parties.
• Companies are more active in collecting data, which enables them to gather more authentic information. In fact, this data is shared directly and more transparently by their customers or prospects (generally in exchange for a promise of value such as personalised offers or discounts).
• Organisations are taking a more ethical and respectful approach the privacy of their users. They therefore create a relationship of trust, in which their customers are informed about the data they share, how it is used and the benefits they can derive from it.

With the arrival of the RGPD, not to mention the tightening grip of the GAFAs on the global advertising market, companies have begun to refocus on first-party and zero-party data.

This first-party data corresponds to information collected directly by advertisers and medias. This includes, for example, declarative data that is shared voluntarily by users (when they fill in a form or sign up for a service/subscription). Behavioral data collected on the advertiser’s website also falls into this category.

This data is therefore known as ‘proprietary’ data, as opposed to second or third-party data (collected and shared by third parties).

When it comes to acquiring data, companies will be concentrating on their internal databases. But also on new advertising technology solutions (particularly those powered by gamification).

Thanks to first-party data, they can continue to collect data. But above all, they will have access to more precise and effective information, whether for email automation, the sending of web notifications or the creation of social media campaigns.

By respecting consumer demands for transparency, brands increase the likelihood that their audience will provide them with more information. Their prospects and customers will have confidence in the way this data is used. For emailing, for example, first party data, shared voluntarily and demonstrating a genuine interest on the part of the user in the brand’s offer, will result in better open rates… It will therefore result in a better deliverability rate (i.e. fewer emails in the spam box).

Gamification (or playable marketing), the application of game mechanics to marketing campaigns, fits in perfectly with companies’ data collection strategies.s. Un contenu interactif et ludique est naturellement plus attrayant et engageant auprès des utilisateurs. Il est donc plus visible et génère plus d’interactions.

To take part in the game, and hope to win rewards, prospects will be more inclined to fill in a form. And therefore to share zero party data. But the game mechanics themselves can be effective levers for obtaining valuable information about your customers.

Let’s take the example of swiper mechanics which involves scrolling through images according to your preferences. It then informs brands about the buying trends and needs of its target audience. This mechanism can use this 1st party data to make personalised recommendations or segment future campaigns.

Conclusion

The end of cookies is not so much an obstacle as an opportunity for brands to change their data collection practices. 1st party data will enable them to obtain more relevant and transparent information, and therefore to create and maintain a relationship of trust with their audience. To collect first-party data, rely on gamification and discover all our different interactive advertising formats!

Data collection has become a crucial resource for brands, offering a powerful lever for personalising experiences and optimising campaigns. This guide will help you to understand the challenges of data, even without technical expertise, and to use it to boost your company’s performance.

SUMMARY

• 6 reasons for data collection
• What are the different types of customer data?
• Which data collection method should you choose?
• Playable Marketing to optimise customer data collection: the example of Leroy Merlin

Brands can’t navigate by sight. To make the right decisions and above all refine their strategy to remain competitive, they need to understand who they are talking to and what their audience wants. The data enables them to refine their customer knowledge and gain better visibility of their operations.

So why collect data at all?

1. Getting to know your customers better

Data enables brands to identify the expectations, behaviours and preferences of their customers. By understanding their buying habits, interests and online journeys, they can refine their strategies and improve their offering.

Example: A retailer can analyse its customers’ purchasing history to identify their favourite styles. Based on these insights, it can send them recommendations. This is what Legrand did with its campaign for the Céliane brand. Thanks to the interactive mechanism Swiper, Legrand was able to collect more than 115,000 customer preferences.

2. Optimising your marketing campaigns

Using the customer data collected, a brand can precisely target its customers and optimise the ROI of its campaigns. By analysing behaviour, the right messages can be delivered to the right people, at the right time and in the right place.

Example: By tracking the pages visited and the products added to the shopping basket on its site, the retailer can better retarget each of its visitors with personalised advertising.

3. Improving the customer experience

A brand that makes good use of its data can offer a smooth, intuitive and enjoyable shopping experience. Thanks to the data collected on its e-commerce site or its application, it can identify friction points in the customer journey and adjust its experience (by simplifying the checkout process).

Example: An e-commerce company can analyse customer reviews to understand the main frustrations. In response, it can set up a chatbot capable of providing answers to the most frequently asked questions and thus improve its product sheets by including more details.

4. Customise offers and promotions

Rather than sending the same promotions to their customers, brands can use data to propose personalised offers based on consumers’ habits and preferences. These incentives increase loyalty and encourage customers to return.

Example: A supermarket chain can analyse its customers’ regular purchases and offer them targeted discounts on their favourite products. These incentives encourage loyalty and strengthen attachment to the brand.

5. Anticipating demand and managing stocks

Good stock management is essential to avoid stock-outs and limit unsold goods. Thanks to the data it collects, a brand can predict trends and adjust its production/supply.

Example: It is in a brand’s interest to analyse buying trends in order to estimate demand for its models. Using this information, it can adjust its production to avoid stock-outs on models while limiting overstocking on less popular items.

6. Create new products or services

Insights gained from customer data can be used to identify new needs and adapt the existing offering. This can lead to the improvement of a product or the launch of a service to meet the expectations of its audience.

Example: A beauty brand can use the Customizer mechanism to sound out the desires of its community and offer them products that meet their needs.

Data is essential information to the management and profitability of a business. The good news is that
there’s no shortage of customer data. A survey revealed that the organisations surveyed manage an average of 3 petabytes (PB) of data, and that this volume doubles every two years.

To avoid being overwhelmed by data, it’s important to focus on the data that can make the difference to your company’s development.

1. The different types of data according to their content

We can start by differentiating customer data according to its content and the information it reveals. Here are the 6 types of data that are useful for brands:

• Demographic data, i.e. information that characterises each user, such as their age, gender, place of residence, marital status, level of education, etc.
• Behavioural data, collected by observing actions. Examples include clicks, time spent on a site or previous purchases.
• Geographical (or geolocalised) data provide information about physical location. This includes data such as location or IP address.
• Transactional data relates to purchases made (products purchased, frequency of purchase, average basket, etc.).
• Psychographic data concern interests, values, opinions and lifestyles. They go beyond demographics to capture consumer motivations and attitudes.
• Contextual data refers to information about the context of the interaction, such as the time of day, the location or the device used.

2. Different types of data depending on their source

But we also need to differentiate between data depending on how it is collected and its source. There are Zero-Party Data, First-Party Data, Second-Party Data and Third-Party Data.

1. Zero-Party Data

Zero-Party Data is information that consumers voluntarily share with the brand. This includes personal preferences, opinions, purchase intentions, wishes or specific feedback.


Advantages :

• User consent, which strengthens the trust between the brand and its audience;
• This data is invaluable for personalisation, as it reflects what users want or expect from a brand.
• Compliance with regulations (in particular the RGPD), as consumers have explicitly shared this information.

Disadvantages :

• They are difficult to collect because they depend on the goodwill of the consumer.
• There may be a bias in the responses if consumers are not honest or do not wish to share certain information.

2. First-Party Data

First-Party Data is data collected directly by the brand, through interactions with users on its channels (website, application, social networks, etc.). This includes information such as purchase history, browsing behaviour, account information, etc.

Advantages :

• This data is proprietary and therefore available to the brand.
• Collected directly, without the intermediary of third parties, which guarantees a certain reliability and protection of personal data.
• Easier to manage and analyse because the brand has total control.

Disadvantages :

• First-Party Data can be limited in quantity, as it depends on interactions with the brand.
• Large-scale collection is more difficult, particularly for brands with a small audience.

3. Second-Party Data

Second-Party Data is First-Party Data collected by another company. In other words, it is data collected by a partner and then shared ethically between the two parties.

Advantages :

• Allows brands to access data that they would not collect themselves, particularly if they do not have a very large customer base.
• Less intrusive than buying data from third parties (as in the case of Third-Party Data), because the data comes from partners with whom there is a relationship of trust.

Disadvantages :

• Limited availability, as you need to establish partnerships with other companies that share relevant data.
• The data may be less personalised than First-Party Data, because it comes from a different source.

4. Third-Party Data

Third-Party Data is data collected by third-party companies (other than the brand or its direct partners) and resold or shared with brands. These companies specialise in data collection and gather information about behaviour on different websites or across different platforms.

Advantages :

• Reaches new audiences that the brand would not otherwise have been able to identify.
• Can offer highly detailed data on user behaviour, consumer trends, etc.

Disadvantages :

• This data may be less accurate or reliable than First-Party Data, as it may lack context.
• Confidentiality issues: Using this data without users’ consent may entail legal risks (particularly with regulations such as the RGPD).
• Collecting this type of data can be perceived as intrusive, and some consumers use tools to avoid being tracked (e.g. ad blockers, VPNs).

To sum up, here is a summary infographic to help you remember the most important information:

Now that we have identified the types of data and the uses that companies can make of it, we turn our attention to data collection.The organisations have a range of tools
which can be used (in synergy) according to their objectives and needs. Here are the most effective.

1. CRM (Customer Relationship Management)

CRM software (Salesforce, Hubspot, Brevo) is used to collect, organise and analyse data throughout the buying process. These tools centralise the information collected on prospects and customers.

Use case :

• Enables First-Party data to be collected (contact information, purchase history, preferences, etc.).
• Helps personalise customer relations by centralising relevant information.
• Automate the collection and use of customer data by integrating other marketing tools (emailing, chatbot, etc.)

2. Gamification tools

Gamification consists of integrating game elements (interactive mechanics, challenges, rewards, etc.) into communication to encourage users to interact. Playable marketing attracts attention, stimulates engagement and collects data in a fun and less intrusive way than a form.

Use case :

• Game marketing boosts user engagement and encourages them to provide data (via a contact form before or after the game) in exchange for a stimulating experience and/or rewards.
• Certain mechanisms can make it easier to collect first-party data and identify needs and preferences. This is the case with Swiper or Battle, which identifies the specific interests or behaviour of each user.
• Surveys (or open quizzes) are gamified mechanisms for asking questions on a range of subjects (preferences, purchasing intentions, satisfaction, etc.).
• Gamification can be used to energise a loyalty programme to encourage redemption and provide the brand with accurate data.

Ma Gare + ran a marketing competition, including a survey of travellers’ habits and their desire for station facilities. This quiz enabled Ma Gare + to collect more than 15,000 new qualified leads, many of which were new accounts.

3. Opt-in and data enrichment solutions

Opt-in collection solutions allow explicit consent to be collected (when subscribing to a newsletter or service). This type of collection makes it possible to enrich the data initially held on users, added to their profile from external sources.

Use case :

• Obtain explicit consent for data collection, thereby complying with regulations (e.g. RGPD).
• Collection of First-Party data to enrich profiles and understand their needs. When people sign up for a newsletter, they may indicate their interests or their location. This data is used to personalise communications according to preferences, by sending geolocated promotions.

4. Behavioural analysis tools

Behavioural analysis tools make it possible to track and analyse behaviour on a website or application (pages visited, time spent on each page, actions taken). These tools are invaluable for collecting behavioural data and understanding interactions with the brand.

Use case :

Tools such as Hotjar can be used to create heat maps to improve the design of the brand’s website or application. They help to understand which elements are noticed by users and which can be ignored. This helps designers to improve the interface by highlighting key elements.

In the same way, behavioural data can be collected by recording visitor sessions or analysing user engagement. This is also useful for optimising the user experience as well as conversion rates.

5. Tools for collecting data on social networks

Social network data collection tools allow you to retrieve information from interactions on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and so on. This includes behavioural, demographic and even psychographic data.

Use case :

• Provides access to a wealth of data on online behaviour.
• By tracking interactions and analysing data on social networks, we can understand their interests, opinions and attitudes, and therefore optimise content.

The choice of data collection tools therefore depends on the brand’s objectives, resources and the type of data it wishes to collect. It is advisable to combine these tools to obtain a complete picture of its audience while complying with the rules on consent and data protection.

Playable Marketing is one of the most effective methods of collecting data. By incorporating game elements into the collection process (quizzes, competitions, surveys), this lever offers a number of advantages:

• The collection of accurate data, shared by consumers ;
• Increased audience engagement through access to enriched information;
• Reducing friction in the collection process. Fun experiences to make it more enjoyable and less intrusive.

For these reasons, Leroy Merlin chose gamification to optimise its data collection strategy. The ‘Renovation’ campaign was based on a Swiper to identify its audience’s renovation projects.

This game enabled Leroy Merlin to collect leads (creation of customer accounts) and qualify them according to their preferences. Each lead was segmented according to its intentions and projects (kitchen, bathroom, decorating preferences), enabling the brand to send offers tailored to the needs of the participants.

The campaign has increased Leroy Merlin’s visibility and brand awareness. It inspired customers and prospects to launch renovation and home improvement projects. The campaign resulted in the collection of 3M pieces of information and increase traffic to the site with over 40k clicks.

Conclusion

Collecting data may seem like a complex subject, but there are a number of tools that can make the job easier, while improving the relationship and trust between your brand and your customers. Discover our interactive mechanisms and use gamification as a powerful lever for collecting qualified data!