Next year will be one of the most critical years the world of digital marketing has ever seen, with seismic changes to come around reach in the open web, measurement, targeting, and optimising supply chain partnerships.

Much of this change will result from the deprecation of third-party cookies on Google’s Chrome browser. But the industry should not wait for that and should already be exploring and implementing cookieless strategies.

Whether Google decides to move the deprecation date again is redundant. Even with cookies still active, only 30% of the open web can be reached through these identifiers, with the 70% choosing to have more control over their data through either existing cookieless browsing environments or opting out of cookies in Chrome.

In 2024, brands not using cookie-free infrastructures and technologies will begin to struggle long before third-party cookies are no more. The reach of their campaigns will be compromised further, with brand equity, market share and sales all likely to decrease as a result.

Attention focused

One of the problems that cookieless technologies haven’t been able to solve yet is measurement. While cookie-based measurement is extremely flawed, measurement in cookie-free environments remains a tricky conversation in 2024.

Attention has emerged over the last few years as the darling of the measurement conversation, and it will continue to be implemented by more brands. However, there’s a significant stumbling block when it comes to the measurement of attention. There still isn’t a universal definition for how to measure it, and this probably won’t be an issue solved in the next 12 months.

As such, the most effective way for brands to measure the value of their ad campaigns will be to use a combination of methods. Running media quality metrics, such as ones based on attention, alongside Marketing/Media Mix Modelling (MMM) or econometric studies will produce the most well-rounded view of the impact of campaigns on business outcomes.

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Spending in the right places

Growing scrutiny around measurement and targeting aligns closely with more brands questioning how their reach is affecting the quality of the inventory their ads are appearing on.

Many brands have identified that cost-effective reach isn’t serving them well and found ads placed on low-quality or made for advertising sites, sometimes both.

Value for money is important, which can only be achieved by spending wisely rather than cheaply. Advertisers know it’s better to reach the right customer than just any customer. But that can only be accomplished if the brand puts the onus on quality placements rather than the quantity of impressions bought.

Advertisers should be measuring how successful their reach is through total sales data, brand equity and market share rather than looking at clickthrough rate or cost per acquisition. Next year, brands will be keen to deliver quality advertising to ensure their brand equity isn’t further eroded.

Optimised partnerships

Positively, this spending scrutiny will extend to the entirety of the supply chain as brands seek the optimal programmatic set-up in the face of continuing economic challenges.

The optimisation of their partner and media mixes will lead more brands to identify the need to spend more directly with publishers and media owners to prevent a chunk of their budget from going to intermediaries rather than going toward inventory.

Beyond the financial ramifications of direct partnerships, brands will benefit from having direct access to the data and inventory required to ensure they continue to be successful in the latest evolution of digital advertising.

A year of positive change

2024 is likely to be the most transformative year digital advertising has seen. Still, it will allow advertisers to clean up their programmatic act and ensure that their future – and the entire programmatic ecosystem – is bright.

Privacy, better measurement, less wastage, and direct partnerships will form the basis for improving the industry and delivering far greater results for advertisers and publishers alike.

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