In March 2020, COVID-19 was upending the economy— consumer buying habits were changing overnight and marketers were scrambling to pivot strategies and stay connected with audiences while most of the world sheltered in place. 

At the same time, tech giants were making big moves. On March 3, 2020, Google announced plans to phase out third-party cookies within its Chrome browser. Apple took it a step further, stating it was outright banning third-party cookies in Safari, ushering in a new frontier.

After three years of questions, conversations and concerns, Google shook up the industry, again. In July of this year, the company announced it would abandon its plan to deprecate third-party cookies from the Chrome browser. 

Throughout this saga, marketers have adjusted accordingly, satisfying privacy concerns and finding new ways to drive meaningful results. While there isn’t much certainty on what Google will do next, one thing remains clear – a first party data targeting strategy is here to stay.

Issues with Third-Party Cookies

The biggest issues with third-party cookies are privacy, security and transparency. Cookies collect massive amounts of data about a user, including browsing habits, interests and other behavioral data, all of which can be used to create detailed profiles of people and build audiences. 

A key limitation of third-party cookies is the difficulty they have tracking across multiple devices or apps, so it’s easy for them to create a disjointed audience profile. They can often segment audiences too broadly, a detriment to both the advertiser and user as people prefer personalization. A classic example – by using third-party cookies alone, you’d get Prince Charles and Ozzy Osbourne in the same target audience.

Finally, third-party cookies are becoming much easier to block via browser extensions and free tools. This renders the cookie useless and further diminishes the size and quality of an audience.

The Case for First-Party Data

Although Google has at least maintained a consistent talk track over the years - advertisers should invest in and more widely leverage first-party data - many marketers in multifamily and other industries have been slow to adapt. As opposed to third-party, first-party cookies are collected from users with their consent, meeting privacy regulations as well as alleviating general concerns from users.

Additionally, first-party cookies facilitate better marketing results because the advertisements target a much more qualified, engaged, and in-market audience. While the total size of the audience might be smaller than when working with third-party cookies, the users are generally further down the buyer funnel and more likely to make a purchase. For multifamily marketers, that means reaching a renter audience that is actively searching and motivated to find a new home. 

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The Operational Advantage

Digital marketing in the multifamily industry has substantially matured and evolved in recent years to meet the needs of modern renters. What once was an ILS-only strategy, now features multiple channels, including paid search, social, display, and geofencing. With the current digital environment more change is inevitable, and thus the multifamily industry  requires a dependable solution that keeps operators connected with the target audience of each property. 

The challenge is that most apartment properties don’t have a large enough digital footprint to collect first-party data at scale. When a single property website only generates a thousand or so visitors each month, there aren’t enough users for the power of first-party data to come to fruition. That’s why so many property management companies still leverage strategies based on third-party cookies.

The benefit of working with Rent. channels like paid search, social, and programmatic display is having first-party audience data at scale— a lot of it! That’s because Rent.’s ILS attracts more than 45 million renters per month. And because the data is pulled directly from Rent.’s network of sites, multifamily marketers, owners and operators can be confident in its quality and relevance. In fact, Rent.’s first-party data adheres to all relevant data privacy regulations, including Federal Housing Authority (FHA) compliance. 

The Macro View

According to Rent. research, using their first-party data can be 50 times more effective than third-party sources. With tighter budgets and increased supply, Rent. enables marketing teams to create cost-effective campaigns with better performance, ultimately leading to a better return on investment than third-party data can provide.

It’s difficult to predict what Google, Meta or the other mega ad platforms will do when it comes to third-party cookies, tracking and privacy. While all seem in favor of more privacy, their businesses are based on ad spend, and effective advertising comes down to effective targeting (which for digital marketing is based on tracking user behavior). Despite what happens, a first-party audience strategy is here to stay and will pave the way ahead for digital marketers.

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