Undivided Media & Attention

How Apple’s iOS 14 Release May Affect Your Facebook Ads

Written by Undivided | Feb 7, 2021 10:40:41 PM

 

Your Simple iOS 14.4 Guide

It looks like the iOS 14.4 update is going to have a very big impact on the digital marketing landscape and Facebook ads in particular. No one knows exactly what Facebook advertising will look like after Apple's iOS 14 release... But there's a good chance your Facebook ad campaigns are going to be affected.

However... here's a simple guide to help you understand what the update is all about, and how it will affect your ads. 

 

#1 What is Apple’s iOS 14.4 update?

Simply, the iOS 14.4 update includes a change to how apps collect data; 

Apple will begin to require that all apps in the App Store show a discouraging prompt to users on iOS 14 devices. Apple’s policy will prohibit certain data collection and sharing unless people opt into tracking on iOS 14 devices. As more people opt out of tracking on iOS 14 devices, ads personalisation and performance reporting will be limited. 

So if a user opts out of being tracked across sites and apps, it will affect targeting, optimisation and measuring conversions. With no user IDFA (Identification For Advertisers), you are unable to see whether your ads are effective. For example; a user may click on an ad but decide not to purchase right away. Without tracking, advertisers will no longer be able to see whether the user then purchased a product within a certain time frame of clicking on the ad. Therefore, unable to know whether the ad was effective. 

 

It's important to note, users already have the option to opt out of data collection and tracking by disabling it for each app. The difference with iOS 14, it requires users to opt in through a pop up notification (see picture above). Around 70% of users share their IDFA with apps at the moment, but that’s expected to drop significantly with this clear prompt. 

#2 How will the update affect my ads?

If iOS users elect to opt out of Facebook’s tracking, the domino effect that will result from this will be as follows:

  • The effectiveness of the tracking pixel and all of its implications is severely diminished. This results in inaccurate reporting for conversions all the way down to ineffective remarketing efforts.
  • Targeting options will be weakened. That means your ability to create hyper-personalized ads to audiences may be hindered greatly.
  • Less targeting options means more wasted spend and less personalization of ad copy.

  • Businesses will be forced to turn to subscriptions and in-app payments

  • Less efficient and less effective advertising

  • Fewer website sales from ads

  • Greater difficulty for small businesses to reach their ideal audience, limiting growth

#3 How to plan around the iOS 14 update

As mentioned above, the main component of Facebook advertising that is going to be affected by this is pixel tracking. That means re-marketing lists, conversion events, and more will be affected. However, there are some simple workarounds for the update in the immediate future; 

  • Exclude iOS devices from campaigns with conversion objectives

  • Create campaigns outside of the conversion objective

  • Create an extra layer or break down your conversion flow on your landing pages

  • Analyse your historical data

  • Prepare for view-through attribution data to disappear by downloading your historical data for 28-day

  • Focus on getting email addresses 

 

Need help weathering the iOS 14 storm? We are here to help you... Our Facebook Ads experts can navigate these changes for your business! 

Contact us today to find out how we can help you!
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