Funeral Home Marketing Trends for 2022, Part 3: No More Third-Party Cookies

Throughout November, we’re looking at marketing trends you can expect through 2022. Previous posts covered the need for digital events and the continued growth of AI in marketing. Today, we’re looking at the changing landscape of cookies online.

In answer to pressure from various governments, agencies, and the general population, Google and other tech giants have agreed to forgo third-party cookie use in browsers. Find out what cookies are and why it matters to funeral home marketing efforts below.

What Are Cookies?

Cookies are tracking codes that follow people across the web. Third-party cookies are generated by sites that aren’t the site being used currently. For example, Google might generate cookies for you while you’re on this site if you’re using Chrome.

First-party cookies are those generated by the page you’re using. They can help streamline processes such as logging in or completing purchases or help you present the best information to people who return to your pages later.

Why Are Third-Party Cookies Going Away?

Tech giants are eschewing third-party cookies due to a push to better protect privacy online. Browsers such as Safari and Firefox have already blocked these types of cookies. Google said it would follow suit in 2021, but the process has been problematic and delayed. Expect third-party cookies to stop working in Chrome and other Google solutions sometime in 2022.

Why Does It Matter for Funeral Home Marketing?

Third-party cookies are used for retargeting campaigns. For example, if someone visits your preplanning page but doesn€™t set up an appointment, a retargeting campaign shows them your ads for preplanning as they browse other pages on the web. It’s a proven way to get enough touchpoints with a consumer to make a sale more likely.

Third-party cookies also help power some measurement and automated marketing processes and tools.

Preparing for the Loss of Third-Party Cookies

One of the best ways you can prepare for Google dumping third-party cookies is by collecting direct information from people who visit your site. Ask them for an email address in exchange for a free download—such as a preplanning checklist—or include a button reminding people to sign up for your newsletter.

An email list is always more powerful than any other tracking or connection. That’s due in part to the fact that you own it and have complete control over how you connect with your audience through it.

Otherwise, funeral home pros shouldn’t worry too much. Google’s already working on a more secure option for replacing third-party cookies to help support targeted online advertising.