There’s no doubt that client-side tracking can help to deliver relevant and targeted content to specific audiences, with cookies and site tags invaluable for the modern advertiser. Despite this, growing privacy concerns among consumers and the introduction of related legislation have seen tighter browser restrictions across the board, which limit the collection of data in this way.
Even without large-scale changes, marketers could be losing up to 30% of client-side tracking data, due to sophisticated ad blockers and intelligent tracking prevention (ITP) imposed by browsers automatically. What’s the solution? Server-side tracking will certainly have a part to play. Let Bigg take you through the prominent role of this privacy-friendly tracking method as we enter 2023, and the significant advantages of opting for server-side when advertising.
The Current Climate
Google’s plan for a cookieless future is all set for the go-ahead as early as next year. Unsurprisingly, this poses a problem for those in digital advertising, meaning that marketers will have to increasingly rely on immediate first-party data. One of the main challenges will be working out how to competently target ads without the insight of browser cookies, leaving a large information gap for all advertisers to fill.
Not only have Google decided to dismiss third-party cookies, but another tech giant, Apple, have tightened customer confidentiality too. App Tracking Transparency means that iPhone owners will now start seeing more privacy prompts as they continue using apps. If the user says no to tracking, the app will no longer be able to share related data with third parties for ad-targeting purposes.
What does this mean for advertisers? With less client-side information to rely on, stakeholders will have to look to first-party cookies and server-side tracking for targeting information. Small to medium-sized companies lacking first-party data will be most affected by these changes, though implementing measurable server-side tracking can be of great benefit.
The Importance of Data
Though client-side tracking is seen as the most common form of data-collection, this isn’t to say it is the most effective. As an alternative, server-side tracking can provide controlled, reliable and accurate insights, obtained with customer consent. In many ways, server-side collection puts the power back into your hands, meaning that organisations can exert more control concerning over-active ad blockers, interrupted connections and other data challenges.
In short, server-side tracking consists of enabling ad platforms and analytics to directly communicate with a website server in order to bypass the usual browser cookie tracking. This is a reliable tracking method as it allows advertisers to avoid limiting browser restrictions and produce more accurate metrics across the board.
Knowing Your Audience
Knowing your target audiences will be more important than ever in 2023 – knowing not only who they are, but what their interests and values are as well. By identifying and analysing page content rather than the user, contextual targeting is undoubtedly more respectful of user privacy than client-side tracking. Not only is it less intrusive, but it can even outperform third-party cookies in metrics such as clickthrough rate (CTR) and cost-per-click (CPC) among others.
Research has found that over 50% of UK and US marketers soon plan to increase their investment in contextual targeting, providing users with improved experiences by serving relevant and accurate ads in the right places. There’s certainly an argument to be had that marketers relying solely on traditional browser-based analytics aren’t getting a complete picture of their audience’s online behaviour, losing out on the significant benefits of server-side tracking strategies.
Creativity and Metrics
Limitation breeds creativity, and the demise of freely available third-party data encourages innovation. The very best digital marketers will be able to come up with ads that identify with a broader audience, driving varied engagement. Metrics which allow you to learn about relevant audiences won’t be fully extinct, and utilising these website insights to understand user behaviour and improve the user experience will be crucial.
Digital advertising platforms are always looking to design alternative tools, which can help advertisers track data in a way that doesn’t compromise privacy. Though these methods may require some critical thinking and a considerable learning process, they would still allow you to target and learn about relevant audiences.