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The software that is always watching

With Apple clamping down on user privacy, brands are finding that their marketing dollars aren’t having the same impact on Google and Facebook as they did before...

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Apple's privacy rules prompt brands to cut back ad spend on Facebook & Google
Brands cut ad spend on Facebook// Illustration by Kate Walker

The software that is always watching

The Future. With Apple clamping down on user privacy, brands cut back their ad spend, finding that their marketing dollars aren’t having the same impact on Google and Facebook as they did before… So they’re switching to software firms that focus on collecting actual customer data. The move could be a paradigm shift for the ad industry and force customers to rely on brand loyalty to expand.

Boutique tracking
Facebook and Google’s loss is smaller startups’ gain.

  • Apple’s new iOS 15 software features an opt-in prompt that allows users to disallow companies from tracking them across the internet.
  • This makes third-party data (overall browsing activity) harder to collect, and since that’s what Facebook and Google specialize in, it’s affecting ad impact.
  • So brands are pulling back their ad spend on these bigger platforms and turning to startups like Klaviyo, Yotpo, and Rokt.

Money moves
These software firms specialize in first-party data — collecting phone numbers and emails that are volunteered on e-commerce sites and which track how those users interact with sites. Brands can then use that data to track customer interests and send them direct marketing like texts and emails to re-engage them.

So next time you get a text from that DTC reading, “Are you sure you didn’t want to buy that shirt?” you’ll know who to blame.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column][/vc_column][vc_column]