It is really interesting how something so intangibly intrusive got given the cuddliest of names, Cookies. Our lingering online shadow. Our trail of internet breadcrumbs. We are all like either Hanzel and or Gretel scavenging through the world wide web, leaving cookie crumbles behind ourselves for any observer to pick up and follow.
Cookies have been around since just after the birth of online sales and has not lost any prominence since. If cookies wouldn’t be so dormant yet present, observing our online behaviour, none of us would ever press the incognito command on safari or chrome, nor would we spontaneously buy that t-shirt we contemplated to buy a few weeks back yet here it miraculously appears in front of our eyes while scrolling through Instagram on our lunch break. Well, most probably not, at least.
We here on StartUpsOnaBudget thought we’d go into detail about the online condiment named cookie, and not only go into the history of cookies, but also how to implement cookies to your own startups and increase your chance of converting visitors to buying customers.
The big cookie question is; Is that always the way the cookie crumbles?
Let’s find out!
Cookies have been around since just after the birth of online sales and has not lost any prominence since. If cookies wouldn’t be so dormant yet present, observing our online behaviour, none of us would ever press the incognito command on safari or chrome, nor would we spontaneously buy that t-shirt we contemplated to buy a few weeks back yet here it miraculously appears in front of our eyes while scrolling through Instagram on our lunch break. Well, most probably not, at least.
We here on StartUpsOnaBudget thought we’d go into detail about the online condiment named cookie, and not only go into the history of cookies, but also how to implement cookies to your own startups and increase your chance of converting visitors to buying customers.
The big cookie question is; Is that always the way the cookie crumbles?
Let’s find out!
The history of the cookie
The first online-cookie was invented in 1994 by a 24-year-old programmer by the name of Lou Montulli. Lou was in the process of creating an online store for a company that had problems with their servers that were getting full from storing each individual users shopping cart (i.e. data) while they were browsing their way around the shop. Lou then came up with a reverse storage technique allowing the users to save their accumulated data on their own computer, instead of the online shop’s server while simultaneously making the shopping experience better for the user, and thus; the cookie was born.
The cookie was originally called HTTP Cookies before going through its technological coming of age development and cut its name down in half to just, Cookie – A cookie. Essentially, a cookie is a small piece of data from a specific website that is stored on a user’s computer or smart device, while browsing the web. A cookie can have various different functions, such as keeping track of the users browsing activity (helps the sites serve up targeted information/products), remember log in details and track unique visitor count (each cookie has its own unique ID).
Cookie types
There are two fundamentally different cookies, a session cookie and a persistent cookie. Their differences are self-explanatory, a session cookie is present during an online session and becomes redundant the moment the session is over, and a persistent cookie remains saved after each session as long as it is not actively cleared and removed by the user.Oh, yes, then there’s one more. The cheekiest and most intergalactic of cookies, the third-party cookie.
Let’s say you’re browsing around a website that has a button to like and share from Facebook embedded into it. When you click either of the buttons, they have to talk to Facebook to send the information between the two sites, meaning that Facebook can now send their own cookie to the first website to watch your activity and more often than not serve you with a platter of personalised ads.
Remember the analogy about the spontaneous purchase being done during your lunchbreak while scrolling? Yep, that’s exactly what happened there. You got cookied.
How to use Cookies
Okay, we’ve covered the origin of the cookie, different types of cookies and how they play a consistent role in our life online. Now how could this benefit our online business?
From a business point of view, the cookie could really be a great integrated tool to use and it could, as a matter of fact improve the user experience while visiting your website. If you notice that your visitors don’t get converted and leave your site with the items in the cart, the cookies (remember which? Persistent, that’s right) will instantly refresh the customers memory by suggesting the same items that weren’t bought last time, and hopefully the second or third time is the charm.
Cookies also gather data that can be used for analytical purposes. If you haven’t gotten to the point with your startup to play around with platforms like Google Ad, CSM (i.e. Wordpress) or plugin buttons from Facebook like we touched on a few moments back, then it’s time to do so. By integrating these marketing tools, they will automatically integrate persistent cookies and third-party cookies. Making your chances for catching returning cusomters on the second or third visit to your site.
So… After reading this cookie infused article; Is that always the way the cookie crumbles?
Yes, indeed it is. The cookie will always crumble behind us on our intangible, online ventures. May it be on a laptop or smart device, the cookie will always crumble and leave a trail that we can be tracked via. The magic, however, is how to collect the crumbles, gather the data and gain the advantage by using it as business and acknowledging how it’s being used for and against us a consumers. By using online marketing tools, targeting techniques and cookies in a symbiotic unison you could increase the conversion rate to any business, especially in the startup face. Cookies may be intrusive and dormantly present, but in unison with ad-tools they are a force to be reckoned with.
This article was written by Felix Kaldal on February 17, 2022.
References:
M. Brain (2021) “How internet cookies work” Howstuffworks.com Available at: https://computer.howstuffworks.com/cookie.htm (Accessed at: 15/2/22)
M. Bustillos (2021) “What internet cookies are and how they can help your business” hostpapa.com Available at: https://www.hostpapa.com/blog/marketing/what-internet-cookies-are-and-how-they-can-help-your-business/ (Accessed at: 16/2/22)
Very interesting article. I really enjoyed the history of the cookie. Lou Montuilli really struck gold when he invented this form of data that is so present in todays digital age. I already knew about the session cookie and persistent cookie before reading your article but I had no knowledge of third party cookies. Third party cookies is something not only those digitally marketing start up businesses should be familiar with but all digital users should be familiar with. I really enjoyed this article.
ReplyDeleteTo begin with, as frequent internet users, we get those pop-up windows informing us that the page utilizes cookies, which we vaguely pay attention to in order to acquire information about the website we are visiting; nevertheless, few are aware of the true use of this sort of tool employed on the internet. Second, from the standpoint of a marketer, this information gathered is extremely valuable because it provides for a better user experience by providing individualized information about the user's tastes and preferences. This data is segregated in order to narrow down the target market for a certain advertising campaign.
ReplyDeleteThe cookie has indeed been a real game changer for the marketeer, thank you for this great article!
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to think of what future the cookie holds. With increasing consumer concern about data protection and laws such as GDPR taking place - the future does not really seem too bright. At least in terms of the third-party cookies that many tech giants such as Google are planning to phase out. Marketeers really need to prepare for a more limited use of cookies in the future while still utilizing all the great marketing benefits that the cookie can offer today.