Facebook Ad Insights: How to Get Them Post iOS 14

Jump back in time six months and marketers were talking about all the data that they had access to for Facebook campaigns and other marketing activities. Data was pouring into businesses through every orifice, allowing more advanced targeting than we have ever seen before…then came iOS 14.

In the past, many marketers started to take the sheer amounts of data for granted, and now they’re regretting it. It’s strange that one update by one company can have such a domino effect on the whole industry. However, we’re now here and those who look for solutions rather than dwelling on the problem will be the ones to succeed.

Everything You Need to Know About iOS 14

So, what’s all the fuss about? Why have marketers and businesses threatened to boycott Facebook? It’s actually not something that Facebook has done, but rather Apple. In the recent iOS 14 update, users were relieved to see the App Tracking Transparency feature. However, what provides relief for some causes tension and nerves for others.

The reason the App Tracking Transparency feature is so problematic is that it requires all apps on the App Store to request tracking permission. After updating their device, users have a clear option to either allow or reject tracking. This includes the tracking of behavior and activity across other apps and websites.

While many services will suffer as a result of this update, perhaps none will suffer as much as Facebook. If you haven’t used the Facebook advertising system previously, it has some of the best targeting opportunities that you will see anywhere on the internet. Advertisers on the platform can narrow down on niche audiences and cut through the 2.7 billion active monthly users claimed by Facebook.

Now, no more than 40% are expected to allow tracking and this immediately cuts all data for Facebook and marketers using the platform. The pixel doesn’t update with fresh data, seed audiences in Lookalike Audiences shrink, and you can no longer run retargeting campaigns for people who visit a specific product page on your app or website.

One of the biggest problems for businesses is that many relied on third-party tools like Facebook to understand their audiences. Suddenly, the platform doesn’t have access to location, age, gender, and placement data. We understand less about our audience, campaigns grow less effective and accurate, and all the important metrics suffer. This includes a higher CPA, lower ROAS, reduced ROI, and more.

Getting Past iOS 14

Thankfully, there are ways around iOS 14. However, it requires a shift in attitude for companies since this is one of the biggest changes the advertising industry has ever experienced. You can’t expect to make one small change and then continue as normal. Instead, the whole business needs to adjust.

Trapica

One of the best ways to get past the iOS 14 update is to deploy an artificial intelligence tool. Currently, Trapica is a leader in this field and a reliable solution for all businesses. How does this help? Well, Trapica has already developed and released a solution called Facebook Ads iOS 14 Insights Tool.

The name gives the tool away, but it helps to gather important insights even after the effects of iOS 14. Once implemented into your marketing ecosystem, the tool gathers insights into gender, age, placement, and location data. Just when you thought that you would never see this sort of data again, Trapica comes in to save the day.

If you want to understand the quality of Trapica, you only need to look at its list of clients. This includes the following:

• Wix
• IGN
• Comcast
• NBCUniversal
• Scholastic

As you can see, these are some big names (and we expect more to follow with the introduction of iOS 14). What these large companies have recognized is the ability of Trapica to not only boost audience understanding through turbulent times but also optimize ad campaigns automatically. That’s right — even before this recent Apple update, those in the know were already considering Trapica for this very reason.

If you want to provide some assistance for your marketing team this year, Trapica is the one that they want and need. As mentioned, the tool gathers insights not currently available through the normal methods. With increased audience understanding, you continue to reach out in the right way.

However, the value of Trapica runs much deeper than just audience understanding. As an artificial intelligence and machine learning tool, it takes time to learn your marketing campaigns and then optimize the following areas automatically:

• Targeting — As one of the most important aspects of any advertising campaign, Trapica understands your audience and optimizes the placement very carefully. In other words, you can be sure that your ads are always going out to the people most likely to convert.
• A/B Testing — You make the creatives and Trapica does the rest. The AI puts two creatives against one another, sends traffic both ways, and finds the most effective one for your ad campaign. Over time, this means that you always have the best creatives, ones that resonate with the audience.
• Bidding — Many marketers find that bidding is the hardest art to master because it constantly fluctuates. If you aren’t constantly monitoring this process, you’re likely fluctuating between spending too much and not competing for placements. Trapica’s machine learning and artificial intelligence ensure that you’re always bidding the right amount and getting the most from your budget.
• Budgeting — Finally, what happens when one ad campaign is significantly more successful than another? Under normal circumstances, budgets remain the same unless you have the time to keep changing them. With Trapica, it redirects more of the budget to campaigns that are performing strongly.

Remember, all of this takes place automatically so that your marketing team has time to deal with the bigger picture. They come up with ideas, work alongside the sales team, and monitor the wider strategy rather than continually looking at data to seek optimization opportunities.

If you’re worried about losing control of your marketing efforts, this isn’t the case at all with Trapica. You set the parameters and the artificial intelligence and machine learning simply optimize within these parameters. There’s no better way to ensure that your ad is always in the right place for the right price, and it’s something you can’t afford to forgo in this post iOS 14 environment.

Just in case you haven’t been convinced, another reason to choose Trapica is that it has the most extensive cross-channel optimization systems you’re likely to find. We’ve spoken heavily about Facebook in this guide, and this is because Facebook has been the one to stand up against the iOS 14 update. Owning an advertising system worth billions of dollars, the update will harm the company’s bottom line.

This aside, advertisers using Trapica can optimize campaigns across the following:

• Facebook
• Instagram
• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• YouTube
• Reddit
• Quora
• Google
• TikTok
• Snapchat

Imagine not having to manually optimize a single ad campaign ever again on every single one of these platforms.

Kenshoo

Another tool that helps businesses to work smarter rather than harder is Kenshoo. As another name with lots of experience and a positive reputation, Kenshoo starts with smart predictions based on insights. Artificial intelligence continually looks at the data and makes predictions along with actionable insights so that you’re always in the right place for market trends (and to overcome the competition!).

Yet, the real value since iOS 14 has come from the automation and optimization features. Just as we saw with Trapica, Kenshoo wants to make your marketing budget go as far as possible using robust technological solutions. Results are driven by data, and you’re always getting the most from your investment.

Kenshoo now owns a company called Signals Analytics, and it’s part of the family of products. Essentially, this service collates data from various sources and combines them before churning out actionable insights. Naturally, the benefit is that it does this quicker than any human could (sorry!). In fact, it generates insights before your Head of Marketing finishes making their coffee and sits down at the desk. Once again, this technology is designed to take the menial tasks away from marketing professionals rather than taking their jobs completely.

Summary

This year, you need to leverage all the data you can find, and the best way to do this is through AI and machine learning tools like Trapica and Kenshoo. They provide a way around all the iOS 14 drama and keep you on the right path in the coming weeks and months. While competitors are insistent on talking about the problem, you’re already working on a solution.

In the short term, you can also start using your own conversion data, remove iOS devices from campaigns, and choose your eight conversion events on Facebook. However, there’s a very real risk that Android will follow with a similar feature to App Tracking Transparency. Therefore, it’s important to act and prepare now!