Old school targeting – the return of knowing your audience 

Okay, marketing world, let’s be honest: what a mess! For years, we’ve been hearing, “Cookies will soon be a thing of the past, so get ready!” Billions have been invested in cookie-less strategies. And then, BAM – Google says, “Uh, never mind!” The cookie ban in Chrome has been postponed indefinitely. 

Does that mean it was all for nothing? No! It just shows how broken the system is! Users are fed up with being stalked, data quality is often a joke, and trust is down the drain. No matter what Google does, relying on third-party cookies is either naive or deliberate self-deception. It’s time for “targeting like in the old days” – even if it’s a little different. What do I mean by that? Stay tuned!

Okay, it’s a complex topic, but it’s super important. So, let’s go over it again slowly: In 2020, Google said that it would disable cookies in Chrome in 2022, just like Safari did in 2020 and Firefox will do in 2022. But Google kept postponing it and then canceled it altogether last week. Why? There was strong resistance from the advertising industry and regulatory authorities. Google would have benefited from disabling cookies because other publishers would then have found it difficult to target users – while Google itself would not have been affected thanks to its vast amount of data.

If you’re now thinking, “Great for us marketers, cookies are here to stay because Chrome is the most widely used browser – over 60% in Germany, slightly less in Austria and Switzerland” – then don’t forget the GDPR, which has been in force since 2018. Visitors to a website have to consent to this, and how many do? Of course, it depends on how much folks trust your brand. And how you build the cookie consent banner. Or whether you have a cookie wall like publishers, where you have to agree or else you need a subscription. So, special case. In all other cases, consent varies between 20 and 50%. Roughly speaking. 

What I’m saying is that even with cookies, the wonderful world of targeting is a pipe dream in most cases. What’s more, according to studies by IAB, Truthset, and Adlook, all from the last three years, on average half of the data used for ad targeting is inaccurate or simply wrong. I google a gift for my little nephew and boom, I’m tagged as a “young mother.” And you don’t want to work with data like that – even if critical voices posting error rates of 97% are probably just marketing urban legends. 97% is obviously an exaggeration.

What is not an exaggeration is that the foundation on which many targeting strategies were built is more than shaky. Continuing to rely blindly on such inaccurate tracking data is like throwing money out the window while blindfolded.

So what can we do? We need to target like we used to, like in the days of TV and print, but in the online world, in social media. Wait a minute: I’m not the type to long for the good old days. I think today’s marketing, with all its possibilities, is great! And it gets even better when you know what you’re doing, when you know what makes target groups tick, when you apply things that should be part of a marketer’s standard repertoire.

So, how did you reach your target group in the past? You didn’t chase after every single person, asking where they were and what they were doing. Instead, you understood how to address the target group. In other words, how to design ads that resonate. The visual language, headlines, and tone must be absolutely spot on so that the right people feel addressed. Scatter loss is normal, but through deep understanding and brilliant creation in text and images, you’ve captured the audience and readers that matter. Yes, media planning also had to do its part, but we’ll get to that in a moment.

This ability – to really understand people – is more important than ever in today’s age of AI and changing data landscapes. And yes, we can definitely apply it in the online age. How? Here are three approaches:

First: contextual targeting. Of course, if you want to sell outdoor clothing, you advertise on a hiking blog – that’s obvious. Your media agency probably does that well, that’s what I meant. But how do you advertise? Do you just talk about the functionality of the clothing? Or do you appeal to emotional motives? Good, but which ones? Freedom? Conquering the elements? A sense of community? Your ad text, your images, your offer must fit the exact mindset in the respective context. You have to understand the situation in which you are reaching the blog reader in order to create connection and relevance. This has to be done well. And I see that very, very rarely. Maybe the paid media folks aren’t being trained to do it, or maybe the performance agency simply has no idea what it’s doing because it doesn’t understand your target audience in context. That’s where you need to step in!

Second: train the platform AI properly. Tools like Google’s Performance Max or Meta’s Advantage+ promise to find the right users with the help of AI. The ad is first played widely, and the AI then learns from clicks, dwell time, and conversions – in theory. But if your ad is too generic, if it doesn’t meet the motives and desires of your target group, if your creative doesn’t immediately appeal to the right folks and they don’t interact, then the AI learns in the wrong direction. That can’t work. 

Let me say it again very clearly: you have to take the marketing task of catching your target audience seriously, using scientifically developed creative content based on a deep psychographic understanding – just like in the old days of mass media. This, let’s call it people skills, makes the difference between burning money and enabling AI to do its job.

Third: build up your own data power. In a world with less and less external tracking data, your own data is worth its weight in gold. And that doesn’t just mean first-party data like your customers’ purchase history or their website behavior when they’ve logged in. Do you also collect zero-party data? Do you ask your customers about their preferences and intentions? “But why would customers give me this data?” Because they trust you and because you offer them real added value! In other words, personalization that they really want, content that helps them, exclusive offers, a community… you name it. So, to create this added value, you need to know what motivates your target group. What problems do they have? What information are they looking for? A deep understanding of your customers is essential for a successful data strategy. You need to know what to ask your customers and why it is relevant to them. Can you do that?

So, those were three approaches, and of course there are more. But you can already see at this point that all three approaches – contextual, AI optimization, proprietary data – boil down to one central point: you need to understand your target group better and more deeply than ever before. Stop fixating on click optimization based on shaky data. You need to move toward a genuine understanding of human needs, motivations, and decision-making processes.

Targeting as it used to be doesn’t mean ignoring technology. It means putting the art of understanding people back at the center and intelligently combining it with today’s technological possibilities. It’s about respecting the user, offering them real value, and designing communication in such a way that it is perceived as relevant and not disruptive. This is a challenge, but also a huge opportunity for you. Companies that invest now to truly understand their customers will not only weather the current turmoil, but will also be more successful in the long term. And that’s how they’ll make a leap in profits, revenue, and market share. That’s what I call a marketing turnaround.

Knowing your customers as well as you know the people closest to you is a core strategic task. I have 20 years of experience in this field, which I am happy to share with you. Because the task of aligning your brand with your target audience is a very important one and never ends.

I am sure this video has given you a few ideas. My name is Christian Jourdant, and I will take care of your marketing turnaround. See you again soon!

Subtitles available in English and Spanish