User data protection has always been at the heart of the clash between tech giants Facebook and Apple. Since the release of the new update, iOS 14, the debate has heated up. Indeed, this isn’t the first time Apple and Facebook have clashed over privacy issues.
With each iteration of iOS, Apple enhances customer privacy protection, and iOS 14, expected in early 2021, is no exception. But what major changes does it bring in terms of privacy? How could this impact Facebook and small businesses? And what measures will advertisers need to take in response to this new update?
Apple iOS 14: Changes to Privacy Policy
In essence, Apple is pushing for more transparency. This is reflected in various measures mandated by iOS 14, particularly through the App Tracking Transparency (ATT) feature. This includes:
- Requesting more user permissions to collect data and track their activities across mobile apps and websites.
- Ability to specify which information will be collected by apps.
- Option to use location features without providing specific location data.
Apple iOS 14: Impact on Facebook Advertising
With increasing user skepticism towards targeted advertising concepts, it’s highly likely that a majority of users will opt out of data collection. Consequently, Apple will withhold the IDFA (Identifier for Advertisers) from advertisers. This random identifier is assigned to each user’s device, primarily used by advertisers to target and track their activities for delivering personalized ads.
This tracking behavior is crucial for apps like Facebook, whose business model relies on the ability to create targeted, even hyper-targeted ads based on collected data. The repercussions of such a decision will not only affect Facebook but also small businesses significantly. In a recent statement addressing this decision, Facebook stated that without personalized ads, the average advertiser from small businesses will see over 60% reduction in sales for every dollar spent.
Thus, the challenge is significant with such a change influencing how you can advertise, measure performance, and engage your customers.
Steps to Take with iOS 14
Advertisers and marketers will need to explore new attribution models to gauge campaign results. In fact, it’s crucial to review your digital strategy, taking into account current facts and their impacts on campaign management and revenue generation. Here are some recommendations to best prepare for overcoming this challenge:
- Verify Domain in Business Manager
This action is recommended by Facebook for businesses whose pixels are used across multiple Business Managers or personal ad accounts. The Facebook pixel allows you to measure customer actions, create audiences, and unlock optimization tools. Domain verification ensures there’s no immediate or future interruption to the ability to configure conversion events.
- Analyze Events from iOS Devices
This step is crucial to see how your reports might be affected through purchases, leads, and other events performed on iOS devices.
- Select Conversion Events
Since advertisers will be limited to using 8 conversion events per domain, decide which ones you’ll use if you have more than 8. This includes adding to cart, purchase, lead, complete registration, and any custom conversions you’ve set up.
- Focus on Consent
User consent should be your next priority. After all, if users opt into this option, you can revert to almost normal activity similar to pre-iOS 14. Having high consent rates will become a true competitive advantage.
By editing the message body requesting consent or rejection of tracking, you can show users exactly how their data will be used and promote the value of targeted ads. You can also test the exact timing of triggering the popup window.
- Focus on Email Addresses
Shift your advertising efforts towards obtaining email addresses to rely less on Pixel optimization for retargeting. You can use lead generation or conversion ads for this purpose.
- Refine Targeting
Less user interaction data will be available as some Apple users opt out. Therefore, advertisers need to create a customer avatar to determine audience interests, age group, gender, etc. You’ll need to use this avatar to gather more data for targeting as options like lookalikes become less potent.
Faced with multiple demands for restrictions on targeted ads, advertisers are in an uncertain and ambiguous context. Therefore, the only thing they can always rely on is adaptation. One of the main features of digital marketing is the ability to continuously learn, test, innovate, and reap the rewards of your efforts. That’s why it’s important to stay informed about trends, be flexible, and goal-oriented.
See you soon!
