As we enter a new era of online privacy standards,
one widely used tracking feature is likely on its last legs: Third-party cookies.
With many feeling that these cookies are intrusive,
(since websites use them to monitor your activity even if you’re not on their
page) marketers are quickly moving away. Partially out of a desire to be more
user-friendly, but partially out of necessity. Chrome, for instance, is heightening restrictions on
the use of cookies to give users greater security and control. And all signs
seem to indicate that this trend will keep on rolling.
From a user standpoint, this is certainly welcome
news. At the very least, it’s a step in the right direction after years of
privacy scandals from some of the largest (and most trusted, previously)
corporations in the world. Now, users are getting back in the driver’s seat, if
ever so slightly.
But what about from a marketer’s standpoint?
The end of third-party cookies may be a blessing in disguise for
marketers
If you’re a marketer, this may appear to throw a
wrench in your operations.
After all, marketers in industries across the board
have long been relying on third-party cookies — for gathering data on their
target audiences and for retargeting
preexisting customers with ads on other platforms.
… And can you blame them? These cookies provided
extensive activity data from around the web that marketers could expertly plug
in as they formulated their buyer personas. In other words, third-party cookies
were a sort of crystal ball, enabling marketers to predict action and reaction
with unprecedented accuracy.
But the value of these cookies to businesses doesn't
make them any less shady.
And now that third-party cookies are on the decline,
user data won’t be quite so easy to access. Which means that marketers will
have to build more user-friendly methods of gathering data.
We’re talking about making users want to share their data by cultivating
meaningful, genuine relationships. And to do so, you need to build
trust.
Now, how do you build this trust that we all desire
with your audience? In today’s day and age, it’s by providing genuine value. No
tricks, no cookies, no shortcuts; just real value.
How to provide value in 2021? The answer lies with creative direct mail
The irony here is that building trust with customers
often requires some form of targeting — precisely what third-party cookies
helped achieve, even if to an extreme. Knowing how and where to contact your
audience is key. But we’re now at a point where doing so noninvasively is also
key.
One prevalent option, of course, is social media. Through the many social avenues
currently available, you can gather direct, honest, first-party data directly
from users who interact with your content.
But for our purposes, we’re looking beyond the scope
of purely digital marketing. Especially considering that digital is becoming more flooded with
content and more expensive, there’s no better time to consider alternatives.
Specifically, we’re talking about direct mail. But
not the direct mail of yesteryear; we’re talking about creative, new-age direct
mail. Mail that incorporates cutting-edge designs, new-age technologies, and
unprecedented possibilities for personalization. What you get is an extremely
effective, high-visibility tool that breeds trust in our oversaturated digital
world.
But let’s put it in numbers: According to the Direct
Mail Association, your average email has a response rate of 0.12%. And your
average piece of direct mail? A cool 4.4%.
And when we introduce creative, dimensional mail to
the party? Like the VR Viewers or 3D Holiday Cards you’d find here at Red Paper
Plane? Well, then the response rate
shoots up to 8.5%!
And what is response rate and engagement if not a
direct reflection of user trust? The bottom line is that for any marketer
looking to build deep relationships with users — especially in place of
third-party data — dimensional mail may just be the answer you’re looking for.