As a marketer, you have to understand and know that iOS updates do affect you. Any change in user interface means change in how brands are interacting with the users.
Apple’s iOS 14 update is not another simple update also but comes with a lot of policy changes aiming at how users are tracked and targeted. So, does it affect your plan and process of Facebook advertising? Yes, it does.
How this Update is Going to Affect Facebook Marketing Strategy?
Facebook’s entire advertising process is about data collection and user-targeting. Now, with changed policies, the data collection will be less, and targeted advertising will also see a radical shift. That means you will have to jot down fresh Facebook marketing strategies in view of the recent changes and updates in iOS 14.
With iOS update, users are now granted more control by Apple on how they want to share data, and how much transparency they want to see how that data is used. The users will now be able to control data tracking and will also be able to opt out of in=app advertising.
Now, Apple is re-defining how apps like Facebook will be able to access Identifiers for Advertisers (IDFA), the platform that supports delivery and targeting of ad content across devices running iOS or iPadOS. Before this update, iOS devices allowed for access to IDFAs to developers, and if a user didn’t want that to be shared, then they had to opt out of that. Not, it won’t be happening automatically; instead, users will have to opt-in for an app to access IDFA.
Supposedly, as compared to earlier times when about 70% of iOS users provided access to IDFAs, this number could drop to below 20%. The effects could hamper changes across different streams of advertising. For n-app advertising, event data pertaining to campaigns will be restricted, there will be a delay in event reporting, and there will also no availability of lift measurement.
For mobile advertising, there is a new introduction of Private Click Management (PCM) that limits or changes the events when on clicks on an ad in an app. Apple also plans to introduce eight-pixel event cap for each campaign for optimizing the campaign. Attributions for ads will no longer bet set at the account level, but at the set level.
How to Plan Your Facebook Marketing Strategy with Respect to iOS 14 Update?
The new iOS update is going to change how iOS users access the ads, or how the marketers plan their targeted advertising. But you need not lose heart. Have a clear strategy in place and play around the update, create roadmap depending on that and you will definitely benefit from that:
1. Domain Verification with Facebook
If you haven’t done this, then you should do this at first. This will allow you to claim domain ownership in Business Manager, which will open many doors of opportunities. You can go and check for how to verify your domain on the Facebook for Developers official page.
2. You Have to Approach Fresh on Building Your Audience
Now advertisers won’t have any access to 3rd party data, unlike earlier. And therefore, the target segment practice is going to shrink. Therefore, it is increasingly important for businesses now to understand and change how they collect data, and what approach they implement to reach the users and build audience. Like obtaining email addresses directly via internal mining process could be a great asset.
3. Decide on the Eight Pixels
As now there will a cap on eight-pixel events, you will have to decide on these meticulously to pick the right ones specific to your business that defines your customer journey. Each domain will have eight standard events, and so you have to play around carefully, noting:
a. Pick those highly valuable to your customers and business, which could be your lead generation, or direct sales, or something else.
b. Make sure to optimize for link clicks or views, and such upper-funnel elements.
c. Make sure to use all the event configurations to improve your ad spend returns.
4. Keep your iOS Campaigns Not Conversion-Oriented
As there will be greater emphasis on tracking policies, it will be good if your Facebook ad campaigns for iOS devices are not conversion oriented. Keep the conversion objective limited to Android devices only.
5. Change with Respect to Change in Attribution Window
The 28-day attribution feature is soon going to be removed and there will be a change in the attribution window to 7 days (for post-click) and 1-day (for post-view). Thus, your entire sales metrics have to be managed accordingly.
Conclusion:
With so much expected to change and alter after iOS 14 update, this is the time to reflect and plan accordingly right now. If you are not working with a professional performance marketing agency for social media services, then it’s high time that you do, as this will bring on board specialists and domain-connoisseurs who will know how to bring about the change in your Facebook ad strategies for iOS users.
