If you haven't caught on, it’s our current reality. This transition has been occurring over the last 24 months, with COVID likely fast-tracking the transformation. For better or worse? We think it’s for the better.

Leading organisations like Google and Facebook are adapting to the forces at play and taking steps to prioritise privacy, measurement and automation in their platforms to future-proof advertising and marketing for businesses.

How can small businesses survive and thrive? We’ll delve into this in more detail throughout this article.

Setting the Scene

Cookies are being phased out

Privacy is front of mind for advertisers as it starts to become front of mind for more and more consumers. Today’s consumer is more aware of privacy breaches, the data that is out there and the ramifications a data breach can have on their lives. Because of this, consumers want more protection. Advertisers can’t ignore this need.

The Facebook iOS 14 update from 2021 is one example of a shift that has forced change. Advertisers couldn’t ignore it. They had to adapt. The world is changing and if advertisers don’t adapt, they will miss out on the opportunities.

Google also announced that they are phasing out third party cookies in 2022 in order to build a more trustworthy and sustainable web. It's a reality we are all confronted with and we need to deal with it. For specifics on how to adapt to Google’s phase out, read this blog.

The Rise of the Bots

Automated bidding and smart learning allow advertisers to move away from micromanaging campaigns and focus on higher strategic pursuits. This means bots and machine learning are taking the place of traditional campaign managers who manage bids manually and attempt to control ad delivery as much as they can.

This is extremely beneficial because it simply works. Bots and machines that analyse and adapt hundreds, if not thousands of variables at a time to optimise the delivery of ads. They base their delivery on past trends but also real time auction results. 

For example, Google’s Bid to value has reaped many rewards for the businesses who've adopted it however the process of transition is long. Some businesses have taken 10 months to transition to a full bid-to-value strategy.

The algorithm and robots feed off the data - so the more you have the more optimised they will be. This means continuous, sustained campaigns are needed for best results. As you can see, businesses looking for quick wins have bigger problems than their ads not working out for them.

A post COVID world

Meanwhile, a global pandemic hit and e-commerce businesses boomed - the digital landscape has transformed greatly in the last 24 months. How will it evolve after COVID?

• Big businesses are investing millions into ad spend/Creating spin off brands giving them even greater exposure and more market share
• Micro-businesses are popping up everywhere giving insight and amplifying opportunities into micro-niches
• Social media driven businesses are creating a new business landscape of influencers, reels and tiktoks

How will small businesses thrive and compete in this harsh, oversaturated market that seems to be acting to push them out altogether?

The challenges are real. But the opportunities are great. There is still a need and a space for small businesses to survive and thrive in this new world… So how will this unfold? How can you make sure your business survives?

Our Recommended Small Business Solutions

To Navigate This Change

Leveraging the Bots With A Low Budget

Usually to get the results needed for optimisation you need to have a higher number of conversion events for the bots to be able to scale up and optimise - this can be out of reach for businesses without the budget.

For example, Facebook requires about 50 optimisation events in a week to begin optimisation. Google suggests 30 in a month as a minimum, but for ROAS optimised campaigns they suggest 50 conversions in a month.

What does that mean? It means sometimes budget constraints mean we won’t get the desired number of optimisation events to be able to leverage smart learning.

Advertisers need to segment their buyer actions so that these can be measured. Rather than measuring leads or enquiries only, measure people who view specific pages on the site or other actions that are lower down the funnel.

Some old goals are coming back - like pages per session or average session duration. These are useful if you’re just not getting the numbers you need for the bottom-line conversions. This is because they will have more goal completions that you can start to optimise for.

Quit Your Cookie Addiction

We will need to rely more and more on our own data, known as first-party data. This is data we collect and data we control. This means you need to 100% focus on developing your data and nurturing it over time. Creating the data and then interpreting it and using it effectively is both equally important.

Use the right systems to track as much as you can directly - like in store visits, any touchpoints and contact points you have with a contact. You need to develop a first-party data strategy.

A Step by Step to Developing your First-Party Data Strategy

1. Take an inventory of any existing customer data you have
2. Determine your data needs. What gaps are there?
3. Gather and collect data - An example for ecommerce business would be to offer discounts and incentives for people to enter their email and post code. Think of ways to collect additional data points later on in the relationship as you can’t ask for every thing at the first touchpoint.
4. Leverage a CRM to contain this information
5. Test, measure and refine your strategy based on the results you see

Don’t underestimate the power of partnerships

We know it’s overwhelming to navigate the world of digital at the best of times. With such turbulent changes on the horizon, partnering with a trusted Digital Marketing Agency can help give you the support, reassurance and guidance you need to move forward.

A digital agency will be able to advise you of new changes, things you must do to be compliant and highlight opportunities to grow and thrive. They’ll have the expertise and experience to understand the best move forward for your unique position based on what’s happening in the market.

We recommend finding a partner that aligns with your values. Have a chat with them to find out more about how they work and how they might work in collaboration with you to move your business forward.

It's important that you trust the partners you engage to help with your business. At PupDigital we prioritise gaining your trust because we know we are contributing in a very important way. We build trust by:

• Being available to answer questions at any stage of our relationship. You'll always have a direct contact method with one of our directors.
• Being 100% honest even if that means turning away business because we know it's not the right move for the client.
• Going above and beyond the scope of what we're engaged in. We take a holistic view and will always guide you on other things that need to be addressed in your business.
• Doing great work, being excellent communicators and being understanding and caring to our clients

Conclusion

The digital world is changing for advertisers. It may feel a bit “War of the Worlds-esque” with bots taking some of our control and big business gaining even greater growth and having bigger budgets to compound this growth. However, there is a place for small businesses and some of these changes actually make it easier for small businesses to succeed. We believe small businesses can thrive and succeed in this new era.

Having a trusted partner who specialises in digital marketing can help you navigate the path forward in a cookie-less, bot-filled world. If you would like to have a completely obligation-free chat with one of our directors, please get in touch.