Apple has announced that their newest update, IOS14, will include some pretty big changes for users with their devices that will be rolled out in early 2021. In turn, this will change how advertisers view and optimize data for their ads that are running on both Facebook and Instagram. In today’s blog, we’re breaking down some of the expected changes with some suggestions on how to adapt to stay relevant through this ever-changing world of digital advertising.
What Are the IOS14 Changes?
The large change that will affect all advertisers within the digital space, is the new prompt that Apple is requiring all apps in their app store to show users. This prompt will show a discouraging message that will allow users to opt-out of certain tracking events while they’re using the app. Apple’s policy also prohibits certain data sharing and collection unless the IOS14 user opts into tracking via the prompt that will be shown. Essentially, as more IOS14 users opt-out of event tracking while using the app, performance and optimization for advertisers will have the potential to become limited.
How Will This Affect My Ads?
If you’re not careful and don’t prepare properly, you may see a dip in your campaigns you’re currently running. With this upcoming update, you will only be allowed to track up to 8 events on your pixels, which means if you typically optimize for more events than that throughout your funnel, it’s time to prioritize. Events will also be tracked using a different metric through Facebook, called “Aggregated Event Measurement”. Real-time reporting on events will also not be supported anymore to protect privacy. There will be delayed data, up to 3 days. This means that when making any changes to ads, you may have to wait 3 days or more to allow enough data through to optimize and make data-driven decisions. The attribution window will also be changed. Going forward, 28-day click-through, 28-day view-through, and 7-day view-through attribution windows will not be supported for active campaigns.
The following attribution windows will be available to optimize for at the ad-set level of your campaign:
1-day click
7-day click (default)
1-day click and 1-day view
7-day click and 1-day view
What Can I Do to Adapt?
There are a few steps you can take right now to prepare for these changes.
#1. Make sure you’ve verified your domain through Business Manager. Once your domains have been verified, avoid using product URLs that redirect to a different domain.
#2. Prioritize your top 8 events per pixel that you’d like to optimize for. Do some research to see which events on your site are the most important to be able to optimize for. Keep in mind the updated attribution windows as you do so, as this may affect which events are most important to your brand.
#3. Determine what your existing KPIs are for your campaigns and learn more about the IOS14 changes. As you learn about the nuances that may affect your campaigns, keep in mind that these may change your existing KPIs. Be ready to test and adapt as these changes take place so that you can continue seeing success in your digital campaigns on Facebook and Instagram.
Do You Need Help?
If this is overwhelming, we totally get it. As professionals who work in this space daily, we spend a large amount of our time learning these updates and staying on top of them to accurately optimize and create successful campaigns for our clients. If you’d like someone to help your business with your digital strategy, feel free to give us a call at 435-264-1819.