How IOS14 Impacts Your Facebook Ad Campaigns
In a recent survey, 4 out of 5 people want a privacy law to protect their personal data. That means that 73% of people would like to pay more to online service companies to ensure they do not sell their personal data for marketing purposes.
As a result of this, Apple developed the iOS14 update that will limit Facebook Ad functions and its tracking for app and web conversion events. An important note here is that this change only applies to those who use iOS devices that have iOS14 iOS14 update installed. Businesses will still see complete user data for all eligible devices (Android and desktop).
Most Important Changes to Your Facebook Ads
Advertising and driving conversions will work with iOS14 devices, but with limited tracking. Let’s check out some of the most significant changes you should beware of that comes with the iOS14 update:
Facebook Pixel Tracking– Pixel events like form submissions, click to download, add to cart, or purchase completions will have less numbers reporting due to more people opting out of being tracked.
Facebook Optimization– Piggy backing off of less pixel tracking activity, there will be less data to work with when optimizing your ads.
Retargeting & Audience Segments– Users who visited your site, use iOS14, and opted-out of will not be tracked. Meaning they are unable to be included in your retargeting or lookalike audiences.
The Facebook ad objectives that are directly impacted by this change are: traffic, app installs, conversions, and catalog sales.
Traffic– If you choose “link clicks” for your objective, it will not be affected. But if you choose “landing page views”, which uses the pixel, it will not track the iOS14 users.
App Installs– any targeting for iOS14 devices will not be tracked.
Conversions & Catalog Sales– for both objectives, the attribution window will change from 28 day click & view to only a 7 day click and 1 day view for all devices.
All conversions activity that takes place solely on Facebook or Instagram will still 100% be tracked and reported correctly. For example, a Facebook lead form ad or purchase on Instagram shopping.
What Facebook Advertisers Can Expect To Do
The beauty of the iOS14 update is that traditional marketing skills will become important again. We were at a point where Facebook made it too easy for anybody to come in, make an ad and let their algorithm come up with sales- even someone who had no knowledge or marketing skills. IOS14 is separating the cream from the crop- the industry needed a little bit of a cleanup. We can definitely notice that Facebook Ads have become more challenging but with that also less competition. So how can you separate yourself and still see results with your Facebook ads? Let’s explain.
Facebook has introduced a solution, Aggregate Event Management, it will support the measurement of web events from iOS14 users once Apple requires the ATT prompt. It’s designed to help you measure your campaign performance while also respecting consumer’s decisions about their data.
Event Limits: Users will be limited to the use of 8 conversion events per domain. You will not have to make any changes to the pixel or your Conversions API implementation as event selection is done in Events Manager starting in early 2021.
- Ad sets optimizing for an event beyond the 8 that are prioritized will be paused.
- The 8 conversion events per domain will be ranked based on priority. If you have multiple events completed by a user, add to cart and purchase, only the higher prioritized event will be reported.
- After you set up the initial configuration, the owner of the domain will be able to set up which 8 events are most important and bring tracked in Events Manager.
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Actions to Take Now:
Verify Your Domain in Business Manager: You should follow the steps outlines in the Facebook Help Center to complete this step. This is a very important step for businesses with pixels used by multiple Business Managers or personal accounts. Verifying your domain will ensure no immediate or future disruption in the ability to configure conversion events.
Plan Your 8 Conversion Events per Domain: If you are currently using more then 8 conversion events per domain for reporting or optimization, come up with a plan of action for how to operate with the limited 8 events per domain based on what’s most important for your business objectives. You do not need to make any changes to your pixel or Conversions API implementation since event configuration will be completed in Events Manager.
It’s important to remember that iOS is a piece of the pie when it comes to the total smartphone market share, so all the edits and tweaks will be adjusted for a specific audience as part of your overall strategy.
Think of it like running your own restaurant and finding new and improved recipes to accommodate customers with dietary restrictions. Marketing is all about finding creative solutions to properly serve your audience. The digital landscape is always shifting, and changes like this keep us on our toes and allow for creative solutions!
If you’re looking for help with your current Facebook or Google Advertising- Let’s get in touch!
Contact our Marketing Department today to see how we can help you out!