Third-party cookies have been the foundation of retargeting ads for over a decade, with Facebook, Google, and Amazon all using them.
Retargeting ads are online advertisements that target consumers based on previous internet behavior. If a customer abandoned a product in a shopping cart, a company selling the product can present it to them again while they’re surfing the web, searching in Google, or checking Facebook.
These types of ads, whose tracking tech is commonly known as cookies, are extremely useful and effective because they only target consumers who have previously expressed an interest in your product/service/company.
Google has been planning to end the use of third-party cookies for some time.
Google’s original plan was to phase out third-party cookies in its browser by the second quarter of 2022. However, Google extended its deadline until the end of 2023 in June of last year, and another year has been added.
Google began offering Privacy Sandbox trials to millions of Chrome users worldwide in August. All APIs that focus on advertising-related use cases, including Topics and FLEDGE, will display a prompt and allow users to opt-in to participate in the trials.
User testing will continue through the end of the year and into 2023. Google intends to launch the Privacy Sandbox APIs and make the products generally available in Chrome by the third quarter of 2023.
Eliminating third-party cookies is a step in the right direction for user privacy because many large advertisers and platforms took user tracking too far. However, many small businesses rely on retargeting ads to drive sales.
In the future, retargeting ads won’t go away. However, many advertising campaigns will undoubtedly become less effective during this transition period. On the surface, this appears to be bad news, but many businesses will see it as an opportunity to improve their current advertisements. Furthermore, the less competition there is for advertisements, the less expensive they will become.
Finally, digital marketing, social media, and online ads are still some of the most effective ways to grow your business, and removing third-party cookies has no effect on this.
Using customer relationship management systems is another effective way to perform retargeting without using cookies. CRMs provide a powerful way for today’s businesses to gather data on customers at every step of their customer journey and adeptly develop strategies for every step of the journey.
Need to get to the point ASAP? Check out the TLDR.
A Short History of Customer Relationship Management Systems According to Salesforce, the first computer programs for keeping track of accounting and sales were adopted in the 1960s, and they began to be embraced more thoroughly by businesses once the cost of computers decreased.
CRM got its start in the 1980s. Robert and Kate Kestnbaum were database marketing pioneers.
Database marketing was a type of direct marketing in which the customer database was statistically analyzed to determine which customers were most likely to respond to a marketing campaign. The concept caught on, and the Kestnbaums introduced the industry to new concepts and methodologies ranging from customer lifetime value to channel management.
There were many early followers where these pioneers led, and the 1990s saw many new products that managed customer data. These products, which combined database marketing and contact management, were referred to as "SFA" (Sales Force Automation). ERP companies saw an opportunity as well, and the market became extremely competitive. By the mid-1990s, this market had exploded into product offerings of all shapes and sizes, which are now known as CRM systems.
Technological advancements impacted the CRM market by introducing new devices and channels for both internal and external use. As of now, it does not appear that the market for new CRM products has reached saturation. New cloud vendors continue to enter the market while existing vendors have changed their licensing models to provide cloud alternatives to traditional site licenses. The rise of social data and the need to interact with customers on various social platforms is the most recent shift.
With the introduction of the smartphone, mobile has become an even more important offering.
The rate of change is so rapid that many vendors are struggling to keep up with the most recent developments, which range from chatbots to big data and AI.
What is CRM Retargeting?
CRM retargeting enables you to engage with your prospects on a deeper level, resulting in better results.
CRM retargeting is a strategy in which relevant display ads are shown to your customers based on data from third-party platforms. It also enables you to reach prospects who have stopped responding to marketing content and keep those who do respond engaged.
This can include recent conversations you've had with them as well as upcoming appointments.
A CRM is commonly used to follow up with leads and manage the sales process. It can also be combined with email marketing to create segmented lists. This enables you to personalize your emails with minimal effort. It also enables you to use CRM retargeting. CRM targeting allows you to generate CRM data in order to create custom audiences for advertising campaigns.
You most likely have an infinite amount of information about your customers and prospects in your CRM. Using this data can assist you in creating incredibly effective personalized advertisements.
Benefits of CRM Retargeting
Retargeting tactics increase ROI at all stages of the customer journey, from site retargeting at the bottom to behavioral at the top.
However, marketers are increasingly adopting CRM retargeting since it carries on past the traditional customer journey stages, allowing marketers to extend client connections for higher lifetime value.
CRM retargeting can assist you in creating more personalized, meaningful interactions with prospects who are already acquainted with your brand. Here are the four most significant advantages of CRM retargeting.
1. A more tailored solution
You’ve probably seen retargeting ads, which use pixel-based remarketing. Retargeting ads are an excellent way to re-engage prospects who have previously visited your website or interacted with your content.
Retargeting ads, on the other hand, are not the most effective solution for people who already have a relationship with your brand. CRM retargeting enables you to engage with these prospects more personally.
2. Concentrate on high-value prospects
CRM retargeting allows you to focus on your most valuable prospects. You already have a lot of specific information about these prospects, such as their job title and stage in the sales cycle.
CRM retargeting enables you to target specific audiences and individuals who are most likely to become customers.
3. Cross-sell to existing customers
Your current customers are your most valuable source of potential revenue. CRM retargeting can assist you if you have any opportunities to cross-sell or upsell your current customers.
However, before implementing this strategy, you should ensure that it is the best option for your company.
4. Include it in your ABM strategy
Finally, CRM retargeting can be used as part of an account-based marketing (ABM) strategy. You might already have a targeted account list in your CRM that you intended to use for your ABM strategy. In that case, CRM retargeting can be used to deliver customized information to decision-makers at your selected companies.
5. CRM remarketing is more tailored
While digital remarketing is effective at bringing back 98% of non-converting website visitors, it is less effective at targeting prospects who have already had considerable involvement with your organization. Ad network pixels are often ineligible for personalization based on contact information such as firm, lifecycle stage, and lead score.
6. Concentrate on prospects who are most likely to convert
In addition to improving personalization, the ability to use CRM data for targeting, such as lifecycle stage, company, and job title, makes it easier to prioritize ad spend on specific audiences that are more likely to convert and yield more revenue, such as previously qualified leads who have gone cold.
7. Remarket to leads generated by ad network lead forms
CRM lists enable you to remarket to ad network lead forms leads across different networks, even if they have never visited your website. That instance, if a lead downloads information using a LinkedIn lead form, you may dynamically target them on display, search, and other social networks. Make an attempt with a pixel.
8. Your CRM contacts want to hear from you
Contacts must be marketing opt-in in order for their CRM data to be utilized for advertising purposes, according to data protection legislation. These connections are anticipating to hear from your firm and will be more responsive to your advertisements than folks who have merely viewed your website.
9. CRM digital marketing provides an alternate method of reaching out to contacts in your CRM Let’s face it: in an era of dropping email open rates, it’s more difficult than ever to reach out to prospects by email. CRM remarketing may supplement typical email marketing nurturing processes by reaching out to contacts in your CRM and converting them farther down the funnel.
How does this fit into the customer journey?
CRM retargeting requires more planning and strategy to set up than other types of advertising. However, the extra time and effort are well worth it.
The best way to get started is to first define your goals and what you hope to accomplish. Outlining specific campaign objectives will allow you to make the most of your strategy and current budget.
Begin by defining your target audiences and who you’re attempting to reach. Are you attempting to engage people who open your emails on a regular basis or those who are highly engaged with your brand and content?
How to incorporate retargeting into your digital marketing strategy
CRM-based digital marketing techniques sometimes involve more infrastructure, planning, and setup than pixel-based methods, but this extra time commitment will result in an improved customer journey for your firm.
1. Identify Your Target Audiences
While the majority of audiences are categorized using ad network audience capabilities, CRM lists must also be built within the CRM before being uploaded to the network. At the most basic level, you must ensure that your targeted contact list only comprises marketing opt-in contacts; targeting contacts who are not marketing opt-in violates privacy standards and may result in account suspension.
Following the creation of this list, you should further classify your contacts based on your chosen criteria, such as lifecycle stage or recent involvement. Analyze your existing marketing funnel to determine which sorts of campaigns to pursue. Where are the most significant drop-off spots, and what sorts of prospects are most likely to drop out? Use this data to categorize your lists and execute efforts to entice them back to the table.
2. Data Preparation and Upload
Next, export your list from your CRM, clean it to eliminate any garbage leads, and organize it to meet the specifications of the ad network(s) to which you wish to upload it. Email is the most dependable piece of information to provide for audience matching, so make sure your list includes an email column structured for the network of choice. In some situations, you may be allowed to use your entire name, phone number, and even social handles. If you need assistance with importing your CRM lists, see our article on uploading email lists to ad networks.
Manually uploading CRM lists to ad networks sounds time-consuming, doesn't it? To make matters worse, if you're running campaigns across numerous ad networks, have multiple audiences, and want audiences to update in real time, manual uploads are out of the question!
Fortunately, technologies like HubSpot's Ads Add-On and Salesforce's Advertising Studio automatically sync CRM lists across a range of ad networks to keep your audiences up to date and save you the trouble of exporting and uploading multiple lists.
3. Make a Plan for Follow-Up
Finally, investigate what happens once a prospect converts to one of your CRM advertising initiatives. Keep in mind that you will want to remove the contact from the audience, that you may want to have a separate dashboard for reporting on CRM remarketing campaigns, and that if the contact is controlled by a single salesperson, that sales rep should be automatically alerted of the conversion.
TLDR
● The biggest, most popular websites on the internet have been using tracking cookies for customer data for years, but in the last several years, Facebook in particular has come under fire for going too far.
● Cookies are slowly being phased out, which will lead to a transitional phase for
businesses that have used cookies to track and re-track their customers.
● Using customer relationship management systems is another effective way to perform retargeting without using cookies. CRMs, which are computer programs where you input your customers’ information, provide a powerful way for today’s businesses to gather data on customers at every step of their customer journey and adeptly develop strategies for every step of the journey.
● CRM retargeting is a strategy in which relevant display ads are shown to your customers based on data from third-party platforms. It also enables you to reach prospects who have stopped responding to marketing content and keep those who do respond engaged.
Are You Ready to Implement a CRM for Your Business? Are you ready to phase out cookies as a tracking mechanism for your business before your hand is forced? Are you ready to improve your customer service and automate repetitive tasks?