Good morning marketers, is your team staying ahead of the technology curve this year?

In a recent study, 88% of CMO consultants said that keeping up with new technological advancements will be difficult – with 10% claiming it will be “very” difficult.

Following resource constraints and organizational inertia, the group of more than 50 C-level marketing consultants who serve in fractional and part-time CMO roles, ranked “technical acumen” as the third biggest challenge of deploying digital marketing strategies. While the survey represents a relatively small pool, it underscores a common challenge: CMOs are taking on more responsibilities than ever, all while playing catch-up with the technology available.

Now that third-party cookies are one foot out the door, many are questioning what marketing will look like in a post-cookie world. More specifically, what’s going to happen to attribution? And what current (or future) methodologies will take their place? To better understand the challenge of attribution going forward, we asked a range of marketing and martech executives to comment on cookie replacement solutions and alternatives. Their reactions and responses cluster around three big themes: the importance of first-party data and customer engagement, identity resolution as a successor to cookies, and developing a more sophisticated, holistic approach to measurement.

Don’t forget there’s more below, including a Soapbox feature on the state of tracking and data privacy. 

P.s. Going to SMX West in San Jose this week? I’ll be there too. Make sure to snag a pass (if you haven’t already) and come say hi! 

Taylor Peterson, 
Deputy Editor

 
 
 
Soapbox
 

Tracking and analytics: Where do we go from here?

The state of tracking and data privacy can take several paths. Here’s an outline of the most plausible.

2020 Path A: Lack of clarity leads to little change from search marketers. This outcome seemed like a real possibility in the first week of January as California enacted CCPA while enforcement deadlines got delayed. It was not yet clear what enforcement would look like later in the year and it appeared, despite big promises, that tomorrow would look a lot like today. This path looked less likely after the second week of January. That leads us to the next section.

2020 Path B: Compounding tracking limitations keep marketers on their heels. Already in 2020 we have seen CCPA take effect, Chrome put cookies on notice, stocks for companies that rely on third-party cookies tumble, and the sacrifice of data providers that threatened consumer trust. And that’s just January.

2020 Path C: Correction as consumer fear eases in response to industry action. The backlash to tracking and privacy is a reaction to imbalance. Consumers are protecting their data, politicians are protecting their constituents, and platforms are protecting their profits. As difficult as it is to see from our vantage point today, it’s most likely that these imbalances will normalize as stakeholders feel safe. The question is how long it will take and how many counter adjustments are required in the wake of over or under correcting.

As digital marketers, who in some ways represent both the consumers with whom we identify and the platforms with whom we depend, are in a unique position to expedite the correction and return to balance.

Andrew Garberson is SVP of marketing services at Bounteous

 

Bridge the Gap between Marketing and CX (without buying more technology)

How do you create omnichannel experiences that align best with your audience? Join this live webinar from Kitewheel and hear journey orchestration and CX experts explain how to get your data systems talking to each other, so you can provide the type of seamless experiences that customers expect.

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Search Shorts
 

Instagram isn’t focused on making an iPad app, Facebook addresses using memes as political fodder

Instagram won’t be coming to iPads any time soon. Instagram doesn’t have enough people on its team to develop a stand-alone Apple iPad app, according to the platform’s CEO Adam Mosseri. In an AMA on Instagram over the weekend, Mosseri said that although Instagram would like to make an iPad app, “we only have so many people and lots to do.” He added that an iPad app “hasn’t bubbled up as the next best thing to do yet,” and while Instagram is arguably best-suited to smartphones, the team may have to free up some development time to make the app suitable for larger screens quite soon. 

Facebook clarifies ad disclosure policy – even for memes. Facebook has updated its guidelines to make it compulsory for political candidates to disclose any partnerships with influencers who post memes or similar content on their behalf. On Instagram in particular, Facebook will now require that such arrangements be implemented via Instagram’s Branded Content Ads, which will add a clear “Paid Partnership With” label to these posts. This comes after US Democratic presidential hopeful Michael Bloomberg partnered with a group called “Meme 2020,” which was founded by Jerry Media chief executive Mick Purzycki, in order to commission the creation of memes by various Instagram influencers to help boost Bloomberg’s messaging​, and hopefully connect with younger voters.

 

Search marketing training this week in San Jose

Join us this week at SMX West, February 19-20, for actionable SEO, SEM/PPC, and Digital Commerce Marketing tactics (three lanes, no limits!) and invaluable networking with a community of smart, friendly marketers.

Secure your pass now! »

 
 
 
What we're reading
 

We've curated our picks from across the web so you can retire your feed reader

How Adidas is using WhatsApp as a direct marketing channel – Digiday

It is CMO Wake-Up Time – Forbes

Instagram overtakes Facebook in audience of top 50 brands, study says – Retail Dive

Charting a Way Forward on Online Content Regulation – Facebook

A Guide to Optimizing the Speed of Your Ecommerce Website – Multichannel Merchant

Google ends its free Wi-Fi program Station – TechCrunch

Google might start paying news publishers for content – The Verge