Are postcodes the ‘new cookies’?

There’s little doubt many retail marketers let out a deep sigh of relief when Google U-turned on phasing out third party cookies on Chrome. This was, after all, a reprieve from the uncertainties of a cookie-less future. Let’s face it though, while cookies might offer a familiar comfort blanket, they have always been flawed. At best, cookies provide a guesstimate of user behaviour by reporting on the physical touch points – and even this data is not complete – and at worst, they can lead marketers down the wrong path entirely.

Regardless of the stay-of-execution, it’s high time marketers get over their (over)reliance on cookies and refocus on something smarter. I’d suggest that alternative is postcode data. Given the potential to unlock rich insights into customer behaviour and underpin location-based strategies, postcodes should be at the top of your marketing resolutions for 2025.

Avoiding ‘goal hanging’

Cookie-based targeting has resulted in bad habits, most notably a narrow focus on immediate conversions, which are often reliant on price promotions, or channels like PPC – aka ‘goal hanging’. This comes at the expense of understanding the broader (and more typical) customer journey. By shifting the perspective from the lower end of the funnel, marketers gain a more nuanced appreciation of particular audiences’ needs and shopping habits in particular locations. Moreover, this approach feeds the virtuous circle of better targeting over the longer-term to improve the effectiveness of subsequent campaigns.

By comparison, postcode targeting offers a holistic view of behaviours, which can be scaled out to compare customers’ particular needs and preferences in different cities, or even down to a branch level. Rather than falling back on fragmented and unreliable digital data, it becomes possible to (literally) map the shopping habits of regional audiences and thus identify opportunities to create tailored experiences.

For instance, a retailer might use postcode data to segment audiences based on their proximity to stores and their buying patterns. This enables marketing teams to develop campaigns that feed directly into real-world customer journeys and build relationships through relevant promotions – not just based on price – that can drive store visits.

Location beyond digital

At first glance, the upfront costs of purchasing hyper-targeted, geofenced media may seem a more expensive option, but actually it’s an approach that minimises wastage by delivering greater efficiency.

A strategy built on the foundation of postcode data is scalable, and can be the bridge between online and offline channels. Postcode data enables marketers to review on-and-offline performance side by side. For example, it becomes very possible to evaluate how a digital campaign has influenced footfall to a specific store, or to assess how regional promotions have influenced sales.

This model doesn’t need to be complicated, in fact it’s sensible to start small and build out. For instance, it would be straightforward to target high-value audiences in a specific area with Digital Out of Home (DOOH), aligning creative with local store promotions.

Incremental and comparable insights

One of the most tangible benefits of postcode data is its ability to provide granular insights when combined with analytics like multi-touch attribution and media mix modelling (MMM). By factoring in comparative MMM, teams are better placed to allocate budgets with precision to focus on those areas in which media investment is most likely to drive incremental results.

Operational data such as inventory levels or customer reviews can also be layered onto postcode insights to create hyper-local strategies that address specific needs and concerns. Whether it’ shifting excess stock at a certain store, or understanding what goods or value-added services are in particular demand regionally, or during a specific time period.

Postcode data is so much more than a simple targeting tool – it’s a lens through which marketers can better understand their customers’ needs and motivations without the need for market research.

Most importantly though, by placing location at the core of a marketing strategy, retail brands can (finally) move beyond outdated and limiting metrics and deliver campaigns that will drive engagement over time, not just short term sales uplift.

Ultimately, a one-size-fits-all approach to media and creative won’t cut it much longer. As AI reduces the costs of developing multiple versions of assets coupled with the growth of programmatic buying across digital channels, consumers will increasingly expect campaigns that are culturally and locally relevant to be the norm, not the exception.