Apple iOS changes affecting Facebook Ads are almost here. What does this mean for your business? What can you do to prepare? I’ve collected all that info for you here so you don’t have to go searching!
There are still a lot of unknowns to this update, but starting in the next few months business will have to be a lot more transparent about tracking details and companies “will need to receive the user’s permission through the App Tracking Transparency framework to track them or access their device’s advertising identifier.”
What does that mean? For starters, Apple users might get this intimidating notification.
A few things to note:
We don’t know when this will show up
We don’t know how many people will opt-out
But we know Apple is making it a lot easier to do so.
All Advertising will be affected, including Pinterest, Snapchat, Linkedin, Tik Tok etc.
But how will this affect Facebook and Instagram Advertising specifically?
- Allowing people to opt-out of tracking will limit the abilities of your Facebook Pixel, like limiting tracking of Add to Cart, Purchases, Leads, and custom conversions you have set-up.
- You will be limited to the use of 8 conversion events per domain. You will not need to make changes to your pixel or your Conversions API implementation as event selection will be done in Events Manager beginning this year.
- Facebook optimization for in app or app advertisements will be limited or removed completely.
- In the event of retargeting, people who visited your website on an iOS device may not be eligible to retarget/won’t see your retargeting ads.
“You still will be able to get leads and sales and actions from iOS 14 devices, you just won’t be able to TRACK or optimize as well for those actions.” – Andrea Vahl, Facebook Advertising Secrets
The types of Facebook Advertising Campaigns that will be most affected is App Installs and Conversion Ads, and anything that utilizes the Facebook Pixel, and Custom Conversions/Standard Events.
If all of these sound overwhelming, don’t worry! You are NOT alone.
We are learning as they release more information, and watching the drama unfold between these media giants (Google and Facebook lawsuits in this case).
In my opinion, the most important takeaways are these:
- Cost-per-action will be going up, because less actions can be tracked.
- Retargeting will suffer, therefore ad optimization will too in the long run
What can you do right now?
- Focus on building your email list. First Party Data is the future and as transparency in data collection and uses increase, your email list will be SACRED.
- Check your ads more often, as these changes go into effect, ads might be disapproved that were running fine yesterday, anything is possible.
- Continue building brand recognition. Organic reach is harder to come by and Facebook Ads are the future, but don’t slack on building your brand and growing awareness on social media. Real connections create more engagement and will encourage users to opt-in to your email list or interact with ads when you are running them.
- Find out how many purchases/leads and other events are from iOS devices.
- Make more videos! Video is the future and YouTube might not be affected by this update as much as other channels.
- Verify your Facebook Domain. We aren’t exactly sure why Facebook is suggesting we all do this, but it is a good idea anyway. (Make sure you have access to your website and you are a full admin in your Business Manager beforehand) https://developers.facebook.com/docs/sharing/domain-verification
Changes like this are why it is SO important to have an agency you trust managing your social accounts and advertising. At HoopJumper we strive to stay on top of trends, changes and more, to help serve our clients the best we can. Want more information about our Social Media Services? Contact me at social@hoopjumper.com and follow us on social media to be the first to hear about our Packages once they are officially launched.
HoopJumper has a plan to adapt and maximize our advertising efforts for our clients as things change with Apple iOS and Facebook Ads. Launching Social Media Services during this time allows us to build off the changes instead of requiring us to rework our approach.
Here is a link to Apple’s upcoming webinar on this topic(Jan. 7th), we will be there taking notes in case you can’t make it! https://go.facebookinc.com/NA-US-FBB-WBNR-2021.01.07-AgencySignalsiOS14_01.RegistrationPage.html?content_id=tih1flpERkJpbai%3Futm_source%3Demail&fbclid=IwAR2g3HgofDoNJ3fzhk5pNlKuTePAv3p7XRePk8689i5jcjc9jNPZnPsWpLg
Other Resources:
Andrea Vahl FB Advertising Secrets https://www.andreavahl.com/facebook-advertising/facebook-ads-and-apple-ios-14-changes-how-to-prepare.php?fbclid=IwAR02uvN2VTj_3_PrCesWxEPMP3NRwG3iewNdnHDLtTsR1pMqe_1dKvhogxc
https://digiday.com/media/confessions-of-a-media-buyer-on-apple-vs-facebook-google-lawsuits/
https://developer.apple.com/app-store/user-privacy-and-data-use/
https://business.facebook.com/business/help/126789292407737?id=428636648170202
https://www.wpromote.com/blog/analytics/ios14-digital-marketing
Domain Verification
https://developers.facebook.com/docs/sharing/domain-verification