If you’re in marketing, the ability to pivot is essential. We know… pivot is a popular word these days, starting with when the whole world had to pivot for coronavirus precautions. But we could argue marketers have been pivoting for years to reach the right audience at the right time with the right message.
What makes it harder are the constant tech updates we have to learn about and work through to get that message out there. Here are two updates that may affect your marketing metrics this year and in the future.
2 Tech Updates That Will Affect Your Marketing
1. iOS tracking
Some marketers have called Apple’s iOS 15 update the “proverbial nail in the coffin” because it amplifies Apple’s commitment to cracking down on data privacy. The updates make it harder to track individuals through email and some speculated that using metrics like email open rates would not be as accurate. This is on top of the changes iOS14 released on mobile tracking abilities.
The bottom line: Apple did not kill the email marketing star. Definitely don’t stop. Instead, think of new ways to engage your readers and encourage them to open your emails and click through. Try adding power words to your subject lines like exclusive, invited, just for, free and watch now. You could also try adding emojis to your subject lines, which have increased open rates in some cases by 24%. But don’t get it twisted: Your subject line should definitely add more value and hold more meaning than any emoji.
Pro tip: Subscribe to The Scoop’s newsletter for the latest email marketing tips and subject line stats.
2. Google Algorithm Changes
Another day, another Google algorithm update. Google plans to adopt privacy changes on Android, similar to Apple’s iOS15 changes. It’s also planning on phasing out third-party cookies on Chrome in 2023, making it even harder to track users.
Rather than using the Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC), Google will replace it with a new interest-based targeting proposal called Topics. The API selects topics of interest based on the user's browsing history and shares them with participating sites, all without involving external servers. Google says it will allow consumers to see and remove topics or disable the feature completely. With the death of third-party cookies, 41% of marketers believe their biggest challenge will be their inability to track the right data.
The bottom line: For now, keep doing what you’re doing, but if you rely heavily on third-party data, it may be time to switch gears. Google isn’t banning all cookies, so the first-party cookie data on your website is still safe. If you use third-party cookies for popup ads, online advertising or pinpointed audience targeting, you’re going to want to follow the news on this as it rolls out and look into alternatives, such as Google’s Privacy Sandbox or finding new ways to leverage first-party data.
What Else Can I Do?
Plan out a year’s worth of marketing campaigns with our easy-to-use marketing template so that you know where you stand when these updates are applied. It’ll make pivoting much easier. 
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