The End of Third-Party Cookies: How a CDP Can Help Multifamily Marketers

In June 2021, Google announced its plan to phase out third-party cookies by late 2023. (They have currently pushed it back to 2024).

Over the years, marketers have been using 3rd party cookies to track website traffic, improve user experience, and create targeted ads. Due to the phasing out of these cookies, companies can no longer track and store third-party data.

To tackle this problem, multifamily must switch to zero-party and first-party data. A Customer Data Platform (CDP) is the best way to access such data.

But what consists of zero, first, and third-party data? Why are third-Party cookies dying? And how can multifamily get ready for a cookieless world?

This article answers all the above questions.

What is first, second, and third-party data?

Let's begin by understanding the different types of data multifamily uses to understand their customer's preferences and needs:

Zero-Party data

This refers to data that a customer intentionally and proactively shares with a company. It can include information such as preferences, interests, and other personal details that a customer provides to a business. This type of data is considered the most valuable because it is given voluntarily and can help companies understand their customers on a deeper level.

Examples include guest cards, tour schedules, surveys, polls, quizzes, and feedback forms.

First-Party data

This refers to data that a company collects directly from its customers through interactions with its website, mobile app, or other touchpoints. This data can include information such as customer names, email addresses, and other behavioral data. Since companies own this data, they have more control over how it is used

Examples include property website visits, user events, social media interactions, and email and SMS opt-ins.

Third-Party data

This refers to data that is collected by other companies or organizations and then sold to businesses for various purposes, such as advertising and marketing. This data can include demographic information, browsing history, and other types of behavioral data. Unlike 1st party data, companies have limited control over how this data is collected and used, which can create concerns about privacy and data security.

Third-party cookies collect third-party data. These cookies are set by any external domain other than the one the user is currently in. For example, data across different websites, apps, and social media platforms outside of your domain.

Why are third-Party cookies dying?

Well, haven’t third-party cookies worked well for marketers and users before? Then why this discontinuation? Here are the reasons:

Users focus more on data privacy

"Users are demanding greater privacy, including transparency, choice, and control over how their data is used, and it’s clear the web ecosystem needs to evolve to meet these increasing demands"^[1] - Justin Schuh - Director, Chrome Engineering

Third-party cookies track user behavior across websites. This means that advertisers and marketers are following the users around and delivering their ads independent of the website the user is visiting.

For example, if a user visits a multifamily website and views a specific apartment listing, third-party cookies can track their behavior and show them ads for similar listings on other websites.

Stricter state government data privacy laws

3rd Party cookies are considered non-essential cookies. Collecting 3rd-party cookies on your domain isn't unlawful. But the law demands you to disclose the cookie usage and gain special permissions.

Different state laws^[2] are being enacted as below:

These laws hold for residents of that state.  Thus, even if your property is not in any of the states above but a person from California is browsing your website, you have to protect the Privacy of the California Resident.

The best strategy is to make your property website compliant with the strictest laws in the US States.

De-platforming of Third-Party cookies by popular browser developers

3rd Party cookies are being gradually de-platformed by the most popular browsers.

Currently, approximately 40% of the browser share has been de-platformed^[3]. Privacy Laws and Privacy Activism are expected to further accelerate this trend. Moreover, 38.8% of users use Ad Blockers^[4]. This means that an additional 24% use some form of tracking prevention technology. This figure is derived from the fact that 38.8% of the 60% of users who use Chrome and Edge browsers use Ad Blockers.

Hence, 64% of users are actively blocking 3rd party cookies.

Here is a list of the percentage of browser shares and the status of 3rd Party Cookie:

How does CDP solve the 3rd-Party Data Problem for multifamily?

A Customer Data Platform can help solve the third-party data problem for multifamily by:

Tapping into Zero-Party & First-Party Data

CDP collects data directly from the user, with their consent. This process enhances user privacy and gives them control over their data. They can select which data they want to share. There is also transparency as to which website or app is collecting the user data

Creating Compliant Property Websites and Systems

CDP ensures that zero-party and first-party data is collected through compliant property websites and systems. Since data sharing requires user consent, thus, it adheres to US State data privacy laws.

Collecting Prospect & Resident Data from Multiple Sources

CDP uses data from various sources, such as Property Management Systems, Google Analytics, Internet Listing Services, Ad systems, Marketing Automation Platforms, Floor Plan Managers, and Touring Managers. By combining this data, CDP creates a single view of the customer, which helps multifamily businesses understand their customers better and improve their services.

Conclusion

Multifamily faces a big challenge with the end of third-party cookies. But it's also a chance to rethink how to collect and use customer data. With a CDP, multifamily can still create great experiences for customers using zero and first-party data.
Our upcoming posts will explore the data activation problem and the systems that a Multifamily CDP can feed into.

Have you switched to multifamily CDP recently? Or are considering moving to one? We would love to hear your concerns or success stories in the comments.

Resources

1. Users are demanding greater privacy - Justin Schuh, Director, Chrome Engineering
2. State laws for Data Privacy - National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL)
3. 40% of the browser share has been de-platformed - Statcounter.com
4. 38.8% of users use Ad Blockers - Backlinko.com