No one could blame the digital marketing community for feeling exhausted right now. Over the past year, the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the normal operations of most businesses and, for many, the work of digital marketers has been a crucial element of their organization’s response.

Now, digital marketers are facing unprecedented levels of upheaval in how they find, reach and engage customers. Apple has announced that in the interest of consumer control, it will give users more ability to opt-out of targeting or tracking at the app level, which will cause a predicted 10-20% drop in the volume of IDFAs (personal identifiers assigned to its devices) made available to advertisers. Separately, third-party cookies are to be phased out completely on all web browsers by early 2022. These impending restrictions on the gathering and handling of consumer data, while important from a consumer control and privacy standpoint, will create a roadblock to the entire campaign cycle, from the planning and delivery of personalized ads, to frequency capping and measurement, forcing digital marketers to reinvent their traditional approach to digital advertising.

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