After years of anticipation and multiple delays, in a surprising – or, perhaps, unsurprising – move, Google has decided to scrap its plans to phase out third-party cookies on Chrome. Whatever your view, this decision undoubtably shifts the landscape for B2B marketers who have been preparing for a future without third-party cookies.

Earlier in the year, we shared a roundup of recommendations to help B2B marketers prepare for this world. The good news is, despite Google pulling the plug, much of these still ring true.

So, what hasn’t changed?

• The importance of first-party cookies
• Analytics
• Paid media and social platforms

What will it affect in B2B marketing?

Cross-site tracking and retargeting

The primary challenge marketers were braced for was the impact on the ability to track users’ activities across different websites and leverage this data for personalised retargeting.

While third-party cookies will remain for those who do not opt out, this doesn’t guarantee the same level of data availability that has existed before. Given the choice, many users are expected to actively disable cookies, which would significantly reduce the pool of trackable users.

So, collecting and leveraging first-party data to build and target audiences in a cookie-less world still remains a vital strategy. With the likelihood of reduced third-party cookie data, first-party data becomes even more critical. Marketers should continue to enhance their data collection strategies through content and sign-up campaigns to gather consent-based data directly from users.

Remarketing strategies

Similarly, without third-party cookies, remarketing efforts would have needed to pivot to first-party data and conversion APIs due to the loss of this data. However, now remarketing using third-party cookies will still be possible – just with a smaller audience. Leveraging platforms like LinkedIn for remarketing has increased importance, and B2B marketers should ensure they have robust systems in place to utilise first-party data for effective remarketing.

Contextual advertising

The rise of contextual advertising was seen as a natural shift away from behaviourally targeted ads, and this trend is still relevant. Even with third-party cookies available, users’ ability to opt-out means that we expect contextual advertising to continue to grow in importance. Our recommendation? For B2B marketers targeting a niche, it’s well worth utilising contextual ad opportunities within niche trade publications and relevant online content – but we suspect you won’t be the only ones going down this route, so it’s worth planning media in further in advance where you can!

Ad performance metrics

Naturally, the prospect of losing third-party cookies would have impacted traditional tracking and ad performance metrics, meaning new measurement approaches needed to be considered. However – you guessed it – with Google now retaining third-party cookies but offering users opt-out options, ad performance metrics may not shift as drastically as anticipated.

Unsurprisingly, our “first-party data” catchphrase still comes into play here, as the reduced user base with cookies means that B2B marketers will need to rely on a blend of this and advanced analytics to maintain accurate performance measurements. Tools like GA4 and Adobe Analytics that use first-party cookies will continue to provide insights, though it’s anticipated that they will increasingly rely on machine learning to fill in gaps where third-party data is unavailable.

What next?

Whilst Google’s decision offers a temporary reprieve, now is not the time to take the foot off the gas. The trend towards increased privacy in a consent-driven environment will continue to evolve, and B2B marketers must stay agile to adapt, maintaining focus on building resilient strategies, including:

• Data capture and consent: ensuring data collection methods comply with regulations, like GDPR, and new policies, like Google Consent Mode. We share what you need to know about this here.
• Personalised messaging: utilising high-quality first-party data to deliver targeted communications through channels such as email.
• Media planning: investing in context-based targeting and planning media placement well in advance – especially in niche trade publications.

If you need guidance navigating these changes, our agency specialises in content, campaigns, and MarTech solutions tailored for B2B marketers. Get in touch with us to stay ahead in this evolving digital landscape.

Lottie O’Donoghue

Head of Brand Strategy

A marketer through and through, before Velo, Lottie led the marketing function of a scale-up tech SaaS platform moving to the world of agencies to run Accenture’s ABM and marketing activity across EMEAR.  Now, Lottie leads the agency's teams for new business clients across brand strategy projects through to websites and campaign activation. She also owns Velo's own marketing, too.