Monday, June 14th, 2021
In June 2020, Apple announced its fourteenth system update to the world at the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference. The update caused a lot of stir amongst the wider community. Why? Well, for one big reason.
App Tracking Transparency (ATT).
ATT, put simply, introduced a prompt to users requiring permission for apps to track their activities, such as website searches and the use of other apps. Most users before this update were likely unaware apps had the power to do this. It’s important to remember that Apple hasn’t blocked this feature completely. They’re simply asking your permission now.
Well, we don’t know for sure, but what we do know is that the answer is somewhere between Apple wanting to protect users’ privacy, and them wanting to capitalise on a new opportunity for profit.
Facebook has argued that they have their own data collection and that they still retain the dominate market position for advertising.
You may have noticed that your iOS14 Facebook ads look a little different in recent months. This is because Facebook’s apps, including Instagram and Messenger, can no longer track users due to mass opt-outs. IDFA numbers, which are used to market to very detailed and specific audiences, are now going to be hidden if users decide to opt-out.
As a result of this, personalised ads and performance reports have become severely limited. Your advertising could be less effective, due to a loss of ad personalisation and small businesses are now finding it harder to reach their target audiences.
There could also be delays with reporting from Facebook, in relation to real-time data no longer being supported. It has been reported that it may now take up to 4 days before the report will populate. This includes data such as overall conversions.
This delay in reporting will often mean certain sections are off the mark and are not in line with the backend sales reports. Alongside this, important details and collective data such as age, gender, regions, and placements will no longer be available.
This means another key change is happening… retargeting efforts overall are going to be affected. Audience pools are going to be smaller and less refined, as the details are not going to be as accessible as before.
As a result of these changes, the Facebook pixel will also be affected by this update. Custom pixels will be limited to eight and the data it collects will be more generic.
The good news is, there is a way around these changes. Some immediate actions you can take include
Whilst this is recommended anyway, Facebook recommends doing to keep your account and assets safe. This will give Facebook permissions to run through the website and check the its validity Doing this will promote the likelihood of an improved account, a smaller chance of a genuine website being pulled down, and smoother operations.
We recommend exploring alternative routes for attribution and tracking. There have been various ‘quick-fix’ hacks surfacing, but as a successful eCommerce business, you need to be looking at long-term solutions for attribution and tracking. This is the only way you will be able to achieve accuracy within your ads. So, make sure all accounts have UTM embedded within the ad level or manually input them onto each URL script ending.
In light of the iOS14 release, the digital world is beginning to understand campaign performance based on modelling. If implemented correctly, it will encourage smarter decision-making.
Connecting to your audience is still going to be possible, as that audience is still there. You just need to be able to reach them differently. We recommend a multi-channel strategy, ensuring you have multiple traffic sources alongside Facebook.
Putting the digital aside, there are also some creative changes you can look at making going forward. These include:
With a broader range of users seeing your ads, making your content hugely product-focused is going to be key to getting the right customers to convert. By making our product the star of our content from the first glance, whether this is a video or an image, our most relevant customers are likely to see this and know this ad is of interest to them.
We know user-generated content has always been hugely effective and it is going to be now more than ever. By using your target customers in your ad content, your audiences will find your content more relatable and are therefore will be more likely to engage.
With us now having to speak to a broader variety of users with each ad than before, it is important that you now use your copy to speak directly to the people you actually want to convert. Treat your copy as a space to get across the key details of your product or service that the right customer will understand and care about.
The good news is, you’re not alone. Millions of advertisers across Facebook are also being affected in the same way.
If you’re still concerned about how these changes will impact your advertising efforts, why not get a helping hand on board?
Our in-house team of Facebook and paid media specialists, copywriters and graphic designers have worked tirelessly here to get ahead of these changes for our clients to minimise the impact on their results.
We’re already seeing these efforts pay off.
Book in a FREE 15-minute strategy call with one of our team and let’s talk about how we can help your business!
