Don’t Let Your Dealership’s Marketing Strategy Get Left Behind

By Ed Braunbeck, Autosweet

The clock is ticking as Google prepares to stop using third-party cookies in its Chrome browser by 2024, signaling a seismic shift in the digital marketing landscape that will have a significant impact on your dealership’s marketing strategy.

The clock is ticking as Google prepares to stop using third-party cookies in its Chrome browser by 2024, signaling a seismic shift in the digital marketing landscape that will have a significant impact on your dealership’s marketing strategy.

Cookies are small text files that are stored on a user’s computer to track their online activity. They help a website remember things about a user’s visit. Cookies have been a cornerstone of digital marketing for years, enabling advertisers to track and target users with ads based on their browsing history and behavior.

However, with increased focus on user privacy and data protection, many tech providers are moving away from cookies in favor of other tracking solutions that better protect end-user privacy. Safari and Firefox did away with third-party cookies some time ago, and Apple and Facebook have also put more privacy features in place that remove advertisers’ easy access to users’ data. Google’s decision to eliminate third-party cookies in Chrome is another significant step in this direction that will send a major ripple across the entire digital advertising ecosystem.

What does this mean for your dealership’s marketing strategy?

It means that you need to start relying more on first-party data to target and engage with your audience online. First-party data refers to the data that you collect directly from your customers and website visitors, such as their email addresses, browsing history, and purchase history.

Dealers have relied heavily on third-party data providers to help them target their ads to the right audiences. Without cookies, these third-party data sources will become less reliable, and dealerships will need to focus more on collecting and analyzing their own data from their Website, CRM & DMS.

What should you do next?

This is where a specialized automotive digital marketing company like AutoSweet can be a great help. A company that specializes in digital marketing for car dealerships will have the necessary tools and expertise to collect and analyze your first-party data effectively. They can set up tracking and analytics tools on your website, create targeted email campaigns, and optimize your social media and search engine marketing efforts for greater return.

In conclusion, the deprecation of cookies in Google Chrome is an important development for the digital marketing world, and it will require dealerships to adapt their marketing strategies accordingly. By focusing on first-party data and working with a specialized automotive digital marketing company like AutoSweet, you can continue to reach and engage with your audience online effectively.

We can help your dealership navigate these changes. Please reach out for more information.

Ed Braunbeck
AutoSweet
Ed@AutoSweet.com