June 2021: What's new in the world of digital
Posted on 1st July 2021 at 22:19
Today we look back at some of the key changes and innovations across all aspects of digital in June. We give you a snapshot of what the update is, why it is important and what action should you take..
June is dominated by further updates related to providing online users privacy, with further news from Google and Apple and technology solutions launching to help advertisers navigate these changes.
Google follows Apple in letting users opt out of apps
What is it?: On Friday 4th June, it was announced that Google has made plans to give users the decision of whether they want to be tracked and targeted with personalised ads. This would impact on advertising across many platforms, especially social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook (and Instagram), Pinterest and TikTok.
Why is it important?: Advertisers had started to plan workarounds on how they would reinvest their ad budget, following Apple's launch of the same opt out solution in April. Initial ideas included investing more budget into Android campaigns, which are currently not affected. This tactic will now be only one which can be used in the short term, with the rollout planned for late 2021.
What action should you take?: This announcement reinforces the need for brands to invest in growing the number of leads and customers you are capturing, in addition to capturing further data about the contacts passions, interests and preferences. This data can then be used to target Similar Audiences across the ad platforms too. providing your campaigns with additional reach.
Apple to launch privacy protection for emails
What is it?: On Monday 14th June it was announced that a new setting was coming to version 14.5., Mail Privacy Protection which allows users to decide what data is shared when using the Mail app. .
Why is it important?: If users select the new privacy measure, open rate metrics will not be able to be tracked. Open rates are typically used as a core metric to understand whether contacts are engaged with the brand and how successful a brands subject line has been in tempting the user to open the email. More sophisticated brands who have the capability to do so will exclude users who are 'not engaged' from their broadcast campaigns.
What action should you take?: Start to understand your open rates by operating systems to understand what the new normal will look like, once this change takes affect. Once the change takes affect, you will also want the ability to remove Apple customers from non engaged segments. Make sure your email provider is preparing for this change.
Google Introduces Search Console Insights to Track Content's Performance
What is it?: On Wednesday 16th June it was announced that Google search console is providing new insights, providing brands a snapshot of the performance of the latest content which they have published.
Why is it important?: Fresh content has always been seen as important to helping brands grow their SEO performance. From experience, we have seen that content has often been created for contents sake, with a lack of discoverability and engagement. Even worse, those responsible for producing the content do not understand how successful the content is. Although still in Beta, this release promises to provide easy access to the metrics that matter.
What action should you take?: If you haven't already, log into your Google Search Console account, click on the 'How your new content is doing' section on the Overview page and understand the effectiveness of your content.
Google ceases FLoC plans, bringing relief to the ad industry
What is it?: On Thursday 24th June it was announced that Google would not be forging ahead with removing cookie tracking from Chrome.
Why is it important?: Over recent months, our updates have been dominated by both Google's plan with FLoC and the resistance from many major players in the industry. It appears that Google has realised that the resistance, along with claims that the plans for FLoC went against a users privacy. This news will come as a major relief to advertisers, where there were huge question marks on how both measurement and audience targeting would be addressed.
What action should you take?: Whilst the delay gives advertisers more breathing space, we recommend that you continue to invest time in developing your CRM capability.
Our final thoughts ...
The common theme throughout this months update is that online privacy continues to increase, with the major tech companies driving this change, rather than consumers. All of the actions recommended today need to be part of your plan over the remainder of 2021. Google's cookie delay shouldn't stop you progressing with increasing the amount of contacts in your database and more importantly, what you know about them.
If you would like further information or support on how you can navigate this change, please get in touch to understand how we can help you.
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