The looming ‘cookie apocalypse’ or ‘death of the third-party cookie’, as announced by Google, has had business and marketing experts buzzing about how this will change the current ways of online marketing.
Accordingly, ad-tech marketers will have to re-evaluate sustainable alternative solutions to how they communicate with consumers and remain relevant even in the post 3rd party cookie world.
Enter strategic storytelling. In a world of overflowing data, fast-moving information and short attention spans, storytelling in digital marketing remains essential in connecting with potential consumers. This, as it helps generate closeness, empathy and helps develop connections with a consumer who’s way of engaging with products and services is ever changing.
Below are three ways in which storytelling impacts digital marketing:
Building trust
While prevalent and somewhat successful in racking up eyeballs, cookie-cutter marketing materials do not help brands form a bond with consumers. To the contrary, these tend to be dictatorial and intrusive, if not out-right annoying for a lot of consumers. The reality is that today’s consumers prefer marketing material that feels more personalised and intentional. As third-party data nears its end, marketers should instead focus on leveraging first-party data to create more targeted brand communications. Storytelling is comparatively more profound. It addresses consumer pain points and does not give off the cold and impersonal nature of a hard sell.
Connecting with your audience
The constant influx of pop-ups cluttering their screens has conditioned today’s consumers to instinctively tune out ad content they find mundane and intrusive, severely limiting the efficacy of these types of ads. But beyond these being a pure annoyance, the imminent death of cookies also means that targeted display ads are soon to be a thing of the past, so marketers will soon be forced to move beyond this type of advertising mechanism regardless. Storytelling, coupled with impactful messaging, is what takes your brand beyond basic to catch the eye and grab the attention of the consumer.
Relationship-building
Beyond the death of cookies, the proliferation of ad blockers also means that pop ups are an increasingly inefficient and outdated marketing methodology. And the ones that do get through tend to leave consumers irritated instead of hooked. Thus, the aggressive, in-your-face hard sell of pop-up ads often achieves the very opposite of what they are originally intended for. Modern day consumers have little patience for intrusive marketing tactics, preferring brand comms that speak to them rather than at them. Your brand should therefore be engaging with consumers on a more intimate level to draw them in and keep them in.
From customer-generated and focused strategies to visually impactful data-driven storytelling, 555 Media Hub’s end-to-end campaigns empower brands to tactfully apply themselves in the business of selling messages, evoking emotions, and connecting with their target markets while providing relevant information.
Ultimately, every brand should be able to answer this question: Why is my brand on my screen? This helps your audience recognise the value of your product or service and strategic storytelling helps you do just that.
Tapelo Zama is digital marketing manager of 555 Media Hub.
