You may have heard about Apple’s IOS 14 update creating a wave in the digital marketing world. But many people just like you are not sure what this means for Facebook marketing, and what needs to be done to mitigate the negative effects of the "dreaded" opt-out of tracking prompt rolling out Spring 2021.
First of all, I want to start by saying I have been in the industry for 6 years, and I have seen big scary changes come and go and turn out to be not so scary. Remember the big mandatory Campaign Optimized Budget rollout that didn't last 6 months. If anything, these changes make us better. We adapt, we change what we do, and ultimately we become better marketers in the end. So I am thankful and I know from experience my team can face any change head-on and still deliver high-quality results for our clients.
If you are one of our clients, you can rest easy! Our team has already emailed you and started the steps necessary to update your Business Manager. And we already have new strategies ready to test in our back pockets if we need to roll up our sleeves.
If you are a fellow Facebook Marketer, navigating the choppy waters of change for the first time, don't worry. You had the skillset to learn Facebook marketing in the first place! You can handle this too!
If you are a business owner looking for answers, you've come to a great place. If you finish this article with more questions, reach out any time, we are happy to help!
What is IOS 14 and when is it happening?
The IOS 14 update is live, however, the prompt for iPhone users to opt-out of retargeting has not happened yet. This is kind of what the prompt rolling out in Spring 2021 will look like. iPhone users will be asked to allow tracking on the Facebook App
(Which makes retargeting sound way scarier than it really is)
What will be the impact on my Facebook Marketing?
Facebook describes the impact as follows:
"Apple's new iOS14 policy requires apps to show a discouraging prompt that will prohibit collecting and sharing information that's essential for personalized advertising, unless users opt-in on Apple's terms. Advertisers may not be able to effectively count conversions for iOS users who’ve opted out, harming advertisers’ ability to understand the value that ads are driving for their business. They also won’t be able to target or exclude ads to opted-out individuals based on website or app engagement, causing those people to see ads that are potentially less relevant for them."
You can find out more details here.
Well, that is a personal choice. But if you like getting low-quality and extremely random non-relevant ads, then sure, opt-out. I personally will not be opting-out because I am an Android user and I love when my favourite online shops remind me when the boots I've been eyeing up are on sale. Do I worry about my privacy, no I don't but that probably comes from my higher understanding of how data is used, and anyone who looks at my Facebook page will know right away, I am a mother of 2, a wife, and love digital marketing, plants, and food... basically I wear my data on my sleeve.
To learn more about Privacy and Online Advertising, Facebook has a great article here.
What does that mean for your Facebook marketing?
You or your Digital Marketing Agency has to update your Business Manager to align with Facebook's new requirements:
When the prompt goes live, this will cause website retargeting audiences to shrink in size and Facebook will lose tracking of Apple users who have opted out.
We will most likely see a drop in conversions reported on Facebook coming from Apple users. It's not that the conversions are not happening, it's that Facebook can no longer track them. These conversions will still be recorded in Google Analytics but will rather come in under Referral or Direct.
For our clients, this could mean a drop in reported conversions in your customized reporting dashboards and month-end reports -- we will do our best to point out where we see those IOS conversions coming in through Google Analytics. Until we see how this all rolls out in the data we can't promise much more, but we are on it!
What is the cost for OpenSail to help me get my Business Manager ready for IOS 14?
We are making these updates free of charge for our clients running Facebook Ads with us. We see this as a little perk we can offer for your continued business with us!
Not a current client, but looking for help? Contact us and we will be happy to get you a quote.
The Top 3 Things You & Your Team Can Do:
These are the key data points Facebook uses for customer list audience matching.
To our loyal clients, we have you covered!
We are used to facing fast-paced changes within the industry and have a strong track record of being proactive and this situation is no different. By now you have already been sent an email with 5 minutes' worth of work we need you to do and easy-to-follow instructions. We will follow up with your TXT file to place on your domain.
If you have any questions please reach out to our team at any time.
To our fellow marking friends and business owners, if you have questions or need a hand, get in touch and let us know how we can help!
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