Facebook Advertising & Apple’s iOS 14 — What Businesses Need To Know

If your business’ marketing budget is invested into Facebook Ads, you should be aware of the changes that will affect how millions of social advertising campaigns are executed, along with the adjustments that can be made in order to adapt.

In this article, we’ll be walking you through an overview of what Apple’s iOS 14 update entails for Facebook advertising, the adjustments that businesses will need to make, and how Orbee is guiding our clients through this transition as seamlessly as possible.

What’s happening?

Back in June 2020, Apple announced an upcoming change to iOS 14, their latest operating system. Upon Apple’s new App Tracking Transparency (ATT) framework, Apple products will begin allowing users to choose whether or not an app has the authorization to track their personal usage. Without the ability to track their users’ app usage, Facebook’s targeting and performance-tracking capabilities could be diluted, at least for unprepared advertisers.

Why the change? In recent years, Facebook has been under increasing scrutiny over concerns over their policies regarding data privacy. Remember the Cambridge Analytica Scandal? Facebook was found to have breached data protection laws by failing to keep users’ personal info secure, allowing Cambridge Analytica to harvest the data of up to 87 million people without their consent nationwide. Yikes.

The full impact of this update isn’t expected to be realized until around mid-2021, once it is determined how many people will actually be choosing to opt-out of tracking by apps like Facebook.

This update from Apple won’t just affect Facebook advertising — it will be a game-changer for all apps. That means TikTok, Snapchat, Pinterest, and any other app that relies on collecting user data to power their advertising won’t be able to evade iOS 14 implications. Speculators claim that even the search engine giant Google might be compelled to bring similar anti-ad tracking features on Android to keep the mobile ecosystem in sync. Facebook is the first to undergo these changes, so it gives us a perfect opportunity to learn and prepare for similar updates across other advertising platforms.

What can we do to prepare?

After hours of research, Messenger chat sessions, and phone calls with Facebook Support, Orbee has a game plan to keep our client’s Facebook ads as effective as possible. If you want a complete look at how Apple’s iOS 14 may affect your ads and reporting, click here for Facebook’s full overview.

So far, these are the 3 actions that we recommend to be iOS-ready:

1. Domain Verification
   As a first step, your website domain needs to be verified through Facebook to ensure that pixel conversion events can be configured and tracked. This can be accomplished through any of the 3 methods: DNS verification, HTML file upload, or meta-tag verification. You can find detailed instructions from Facebook on how to verify your domain using Facebook’s outlined methods.
2. 8 Event Limit
   Inside of the new Aggregated Event Measurement section, each domain will be limited to 8 conversion events, which should be chosen and ranked before being used for campaign optimization. You may recognize such events as PageView, ViewContent, or Leads. Facebook uses these events to deliver campaigns to users who are most likely to perform whichever event is selected. They will continue to be a reliable source of campaign optimization, however the number of events you will be able to choose from will become limited moving forward. Facebook has provided insight into the process of configuring your web events and the new Aggregated Event Measurement section in their Business Help Center.
3. Conversions API
   If how the traditional Facebook pixel will become limited are worrisome to you, Facebook’s Conversions API would call for a big sigh of relief. The main idea is that the Conversions API uses a website’s server instead of website events, like the pixel, to track web events. The best part: the Conversions API works hand-in-hand with the pixel and its pre-existing audiences and events, adding users to the same exact segments that have already been created inside the pixel. Since it doesn’t use cookies, web browser settings won’t impact your ability to collect data from shoppers. If your website already has a script installed to track website activity, like Orbee’s clients do, this can be easily worked into that script. Learn more about the Conversions API in Facebook’s Business Help Center.

Other noteworthy changes that will be rolled out for Facebook advertising with iOS 14:

1. Attribution Setting
   The Attribution Setting is a finite period of time in which conversions can be credited to your ads and used to inform campaign optimization. Going forward, the 28-day click-through, 28-day view-through, and 7-day view-through attribution windows will not be supported for active campaigns. The new default Attribution Setting will be a 7-day click, meaning ads will be credited with a conversion for up to 7 days after your ad is clicked. This may result in a slight drop in reporting, specifically in conversion metrics.
2. App Install Campaigns
   App install campaigns will be undergoing a handful of changes. For example, an app will only be able to be associated with a single ad account.
3. Targeting Limitations
   As more people opt-out of tracking on iOS 14 devices, the size of your Custom Audiences and retargeting audiences may decrease. However, installing the Conversions API mentioned above could be a life-saver when it comes to subduing these limitations.

Don’t forget to put your first-party data to work! Use the following steps to send your digital marketing efforts to the moon, amidst iOS 14:

1. Enhance Your Website
   No matter where they come from, give your shoppers the best experience possible by implementing onsite personalization. Pop-up ads, dynamic website banners, and on-demand chat are just the start to what you can do with onsite personalization.
2. Email Marketing
   Use robust email marketing to keep leads interested. Track the exact vehicles that your shoppers have been viewing on your website and use that data to send them retargeted, personalized emails to nurture your leads!
3. Know Your Shoppers
   Build your shopper profiles! Did you know that information you collect from customers and leads can be repurposed for audience retargeting on Facebook? Emails, phone numbers, and more can all be used to find shoppers on Facebook and create effective, personalized retargeting ads.

Awesome! We now have an understanding of the situation, have a game plan ready to be put into action, and are aware of how we can approach this while keeping the complete digital marketing landscape in mind. Moving forward, we do have an idea of what to expect and how to prepare for it, however, we should also be ready for a few more curveballs to be thrown our way.

Feel free to use this article as your go-to source for any important updates on the topic! Facebook themselves is learning more about iOS 14 implications day-by-day, and Orbee will be keeping a close eye on the situation. As we learn more, we’ll make sure that you do too. Stay tuned.