Maintaining Direct Sales in the Privacy-First Era

The advertising landscape is rapidly evolving, with privacy concerns reshaping how we approach direct sales. As we navigate this new terrain, it's crucial to understand the impact of cookie deprecation and explore innovative solutions to maintain the effectiveness of direct campaigns.

At the heart of this challenge lies the critical need for a comprehensive identity solution that can bridge the gap between user privacy and effective revenue optimization. An identity graph and it's data spine serve as the cornerstone of this solution, underpinning the essential requirements for monetization across a publisher's diverse revenue channels. This powerful tool not only supports direct sales efforts but also enhances programmatic advertising, subscription models, and other revenue streams.

As we delve into the intricacies of maintaining direct sales in the age of privacy, it becomes clear that a well-implemented identity graph is not just a technological asset—it's a strategic imperative for publishers looking to thrive in an increasingly privacy-centric digital ecosystem.

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The Virtuous Cycle of Sales

Direct sales in advertising rely on a data-driven virtuous cycle that encompasses several key phases:

1. Pre-campaign: Audience insights, planning, packaging, and pricing
2. Mid-campaign: Targeting, frequency capping, optimization, and audience extension
3. Post-campaign: Measurement, attribution, and wrap reports

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These phases are interconnected, with insights from each stage informing the others and driving renewals and upsells.

The cookie collapse threatens to break the upsell cycle by hampering a publisher's ability to use audience and insights.

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We can further break down the 3 Sales Phases into several supporting tactics:

The Challenge of the Cookie Collapse

The impending loss of third-party cookies significantly impacts various tactics across all phases of direct sales. This disruption threatens to break the virtuous cycle that has long been the backbone of successful advertising campaigns.

Each Tactic of Sales Phases are uniquely challenged by cookie deprecation.

Embracing New Solutions

Buyers today have largely the same requirements, if not more stringent ones, compared to pre-cookiepocalypse when it comes to placing reservation based buys with publishers directly.

To overcome these challenges, publishers and ad tech vendors must adapt and innovate. If you want to compete for direct sales, you can no longer rely on yesterday's technology.

Here are key strategies to consider:

1. Stack your Data Stacks

The world is moving towards "composable everything," as the distinctions of SaaS tools blur amidst growth and market opportunity recalibration. The "standalones" are dead, and long live the interoperable solutions that make your stack come to life.

At the heart of this all lives a data spine.

A data spine serves as the central support structure within a larger ID graph. It provides crucial linkages between different identifiers, forming the foundation for a more comprehensive understanding of individuals.

Here we see how the Data Spine sits within the larger ID Graph. It is the supporting structure of making identity usable, but it does not carry the essential metadata that comprises the larger ID Graph or User Graph.

Here is a handy chart of why you would want an independent Data Spine. Remember that many systems include a Data Spine but the typical customer does not interact with it or support it. Having access to and controlling the data spine gives several unique advantages:

2. Leverage Your Advantages

Publishers should focus on:

• Regaining control over the three phases of direct campaigns: publishers must employ technologies that allow them to continue servicing direct clients.
• Recoupling data and media for sales: Publishers should lean into the proximity of their data and media to provide more complete solutions to buyers. Licensing standalone data is hard, but buyers can be more flexible when buying media.
• Using seed audiences to inform extrapolations and create deeper insights: upsells depend on it. To create the loop effect of the sales process (see above), you must reuse campaign insights and audiences to upsell/renew clients into the next campaign.

It is worth a read of the IAB Tech Lab 's ID-less Solutions Guidance (in Public Comment mode at time of publishing) for a deeper look at how different ID-less solutions can bolster various sales phases and tactics.

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3. Build Bridges and Trust

Reconnect the dots in the fragmented data landscape

• Develop proprietary measurement systems (h/t Brand Metrics)
• Host suitability solutions in-house (h/t WaPo, Reuters, ProNews and more)
• Find common ground with partners (IDs, CPMs, attribution and more)
• Utilize ID spines and clean rooms for secure collaboration

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3a. Explore Alternative Collaboration Methods

Many publishers think that they can't orchestrate or participate in data collaboration (clean rooms), but there are actual several ways to overcome this.

Here are the most common reasons why publishers don't, won't or can't participate in data collaboration:

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I want publishers to strongly consider the use of alternative IDs when it comes to clean rooms and data collaboration. This does not just have to be with 1:1 identifiers like email, but it is very important to consider the buyside expectations when planning for collaboration.

Yes, HEM Matching, and even probabilistic IDs, may be controversial here-- especially if you are not disclosing (or worse, misrepresenting) your methods. However, disclosure and clear communication will provide those bridges and trust that are essential.

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Conclusion

As we enter this new era of privacy-first advertising, publishers and ad tech vendors must adapt their strategies to maintain the effectiveness of direct sales. By embracing data spines, leveraging first-party data advantages, and exploring new collaboration methods, we can continue to deliver value to advertisers while respecting user privacy.

The future of direct sales lies in our ability to innovate and find common ground in a rapidly changing landscape. Let's rise to the challenge and (re)shape the future of advertising together.

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