3 Important Measurement Approaches That Will Help Your Business Grow in 2024
We are at a turning point in advertising.
Expanding legislation is changing the privacy landscape as consumers demand greater transparency and control over their data. Platform updates, such as Chrome's plans to end support for third-party cookies in the second half of 2024, require businesses to adopt more permanent methods to achieve their marketing goals and drive business growth. There is also the rapid evolution of new technologies, including artificial intelligence.
While change is no stranger to marketers, this time it's big. Because while the fundamentals of marketing won't change, how you achieve your goals does change dramatically.
I believe measurement is crucial in the transition as we develop products and services to help you through this transition. If you do not have a good grasp of the signals you use to achieve your goals, you are traveling without a map. With accurate data and a strong foundation of marketing measurement, you can clearly see what's working and make adjustments.
This might seem a little scary right now. We have good news for you: Steps towards a strong measurement foundation will allow you to capitalize on AI opportunities. Used together, they help you make decisions with confidence and leverage artificial intelligence to deliver long-term performance for your business. However, it will be easier to take action when you start by asking the right questions.
We have thought through and responded to three important issues related to measurement. We hope these answers will help you as you prepare for 2024. Let's start by considering the obvious.
How can I effectively measure the success of my campaigns in a post-third-party cookie environment?
Until recently, cookies and other identifiers automatically captured signals that helped marketers better understand their customers. However, these features are being phased out because they were not built with privacy in mind.
Although 90% of marketers say first-party data is important in digital marketing, only 1 in 3 say they use this data effectively.
As a marketer, your best hedge against third-party cookie deprecation is to build a strong foundation of first-party data. This data, obtained from the meaningful connections you establish with your customers, is decisive information for Google solutions. Once you have a strong foundation, no matter the type of data you input (like website interactions, purchase history, or profit), Google AI works to deliver insights and find new customers. This means you can feed the AI with high-quality information while also getting accurate conversion measurement.
First, determine your goals. AI will learn from you as you discover insights and make adjustments. And because this data belongs to your business, you have full control over how it is used and collected. Most importantly, all data collection should ensure that customers trust your brand and help you meet users' needs.
Unfortunately, for most businesses, first-party data is often fragmented, unstructured, and scattered across many different systems within a business (such as customer relationship management, data storage systems, and customer data platforms). In fact, although 90% of marketers say first-party data is important in their digital marketing efforts, only 1 in 3 say they use this data effectively.
To effectively measure and act on your data, it is essential to apply correct tags throughout the site.
Effectively collecting first-party data and organizing it in a way that works for specific business needs can be too much of a challenge to do on your own. That's why we've introduced solutions like Google Ads Data Manager that simplify data management, making it easier to measure conversions and reach users with relevant ads.
Beyond prioritizing a first-party data strategy, what is the first privacy protection tool I should adopt?
Sitewide tags are essential for a strong measurement foundation. They enable marketers to obtain high-quality first-party data to understand how customers interact with their brand online.
In the past, it was difficult to create and manage website tags without technical expertise or using a tag management platform like Google Tag Manager. As a solution, we introduced a single reusable Google tag that would allow marketers to do more across different Google products and accounts without changing website code. We have since introduced other tagging features that simplify website setup and provide greater visibility into measurement coverage.
Whether through the Google tag or Tag Manager, proper sitewide tag implementation is essential to effectively measuring and acting on your data. One company that achieves excellent measurements through labeling is The North Face.
The North Face uses Google Tag Manager to capture the full spectrum of consumer behavior, turn those signals into insights, then measure the behavior. This allows the company to make near real-time adjustments to its marketing efforts and better serve customers. As a result, it drives conversions and increases revenue.
Bethany Evans, The North Face's vice president of marketing for the Americas, explained how Tag Manager helps her team keep track of the latest emerging search terms for the products they sell. Armed with this information, the team renamed their products to ensure consumers could find what they were looking for online. “We were able to quickly rename our products and make sure our search function running on the website delivered that information. And because people were able to find what they were looking for, we actually saw a threefold increase in both conversion and revenue overnight.”
What is the relationship between my first-party data and AI, does AI prioritize privacy?
Artificial intelligence technologies are only as successful as the information they feed on. The better the quality of the information input, the better the result. For some, this information might be time spent on your website and app installs. Some may also focus on income and purchase history. Because you know your customers and campaign goals best, whether it's increasing conversions or acquiring high lifetime value customers, training AI on these insights means connecting the signals that matter most to your business.
First-party data serves as premium fuel for AI tools; high quality input that produces better results. While some advertisers worry that feeding AI with first-party data will cause them to lose control over both, this is not the case.
I explain the reasons for this below. We use aggregated conversion data to provide overall benefit to advertisers (for example, understanding whether a customer is more likely to convert). This aggregated data plays an important role in improving bids and detecting spam and fraud. We ensure full protection of individual advertiser data while providing permanent measurement and audience solutions.
First-party data serves as premium fuel for AI tools; high quality input that produces better results.
All AI algorithms work on large data sets, and what makes them highly reliable is the accurate information given. But remember, AI takes time to learn. The sooner you start working with artificial intelligence, the sooner you can benefit your bottom line. We are already seeing many companies carefully evaluate their business performance indicators to consciously build their organizations to enable agile working for specific business needs.
As an advertiser using the power of first-party data combined with artificial intelligence to deliver compelling results, Dutch bicycle company Swapfiets provides a strong example. As a subscription-based business, one of the biggest challenges Swapfiets faced was building a new customer base. To solve this problem, the company leveraged Google artificial intelligence by combining Maximum Performance's new customer acquisition goal with online and offline Customer Match data. Swapfiets saw a 36% increase in new customer transactions. Thanks to this result, the goal of acquiring new customers has now become part of Swapfiets' always-on campaign in all its markets.
Prepare for tomorrow today
It's natural to feel a little inadequate in today's marketing ecosystem. But building a strong measurement foundation by prioritizing high-quality data, leveraging permanent tag solutions, and leveraging artificial intelligence can increase your confidence and open up opportunities to drive better business results. If you haven't started using AI yet, check out the AI Essentials list. Prepare for a future without third-party cookies to protect your measurement ability and grow your business in 2024.
