iOS CHANGES TO FACEBOOK ADVERTISING

Whether we like it or not, our friends at Apple are introducing some changes that will have an impact on the way we advertise on social media platforms.  

Over the years we have read about rumours of such changes, but never did we imagine that Apple would actually take on not only the biggest tech company on the planet but also millions of small business owners around the world who rely on social advertising to grow their business.

Unfortunately this time the threat appears to be real, and we can no longer ignore what’s coming our way. We all need to get across the changes and put in place strategies to preserve our eCommerce results.

Small businesses in particular will be affected by these changes. We’re here to help you through this time. In this blog we will cover:

• Exactly what the iOS update entails

• How it will affect your Facebook advertising

• What is the future of Facebook advertising?

See our related blog “How to plan around the iOS 14 update” on some of the strategies you can implement now to help you sustain your results through this time. 

How iOS affects Facebook marketers 

In short, Apple is requiring that all apps in the App Store show a prompt to its users on iOS devices essentially asking the user for permission for the app to track them outside the platform in different ways:

Or in other words, if iOS users elect to opt-out of Facebook’s tracking, the domino effect that will result from this will be as follows:

• If Facebook is not able to track user behaviour, the effectiveness of the tracking pixel and all of its implications is severely diminished. This results in inaccurate reporting for conversions all the way down to ineffective remarketing efforts.

• Targeting options will be weakened. That means your ability to create hyper-personalized ads to audiences may be hindered greatly.

• Less targeting options means more wasted spend and less personalisation of ad copy.

In summary, this will impact the way in which platforms like Facebook are able to receive and process conversion events from tools like the Facebook pixel.

As you can imagine, small businesses will be highly affected by these changes. In a post titled Speaking Up for Small Businesses, Dan Levy, the VP of Ads and Business Products at Facebook, outlines his arguments against the iOS update. In the article, he explains how the update hurts small businesses’ ability to target, which is very true. Small businesses have lower budgets and need as many options to refine targeting as possible. 

How does iOS 14 affect your Facebook ads?

Less efficient and less effective advertising

As mentioned, this comes down to the ability to track events and behaviour like you used to. If done properly, all Facebook advertising strategies will have some form of remarketing, conversion tracking, or lookalike generation—these all rely on the effectiveness of the Facebook tracking pixel. If users opt-out of tracking, this renders the Facebook pixel useless for that user. If all users who are on Facebook’s properties on an iPhone opt-out of Facebook’s tracking, you will not be able to subsequently advertise to those individuals via remarketing in the future on their mobile device.

Fewer website sales from ads

This assertion is made from Facebook’s “studies” through their own data so it should be taken with a grain of salt. With that being said, the trend towards de-personalised ads is going to have an impact on those looking to boost sales via Facebook. In particular, a loss of personalisation that could result in 60% fewer website sales from ads.

Greater difficulty for small businesses to reach their ideal audience, limiting growth

This refers to small business's ability not only to remarket to users who have visited their website but to also leverage that pixel data to render lookalike audiences.

IS THIS THE END FOR FACEBOOK ADS?

Sadly, the reality is that these changes are taking place, and Facebook advertising will be affected. Everything we have all worked so hard for is going to be flipped on its head.

That being said, we will still be able to advertise on the world’s largest social media platform. However, our ads will be significantly less targeted. Many ads will appear to irrelevant audiences, increasing their cost per conversion results substantially, ultimately leaving small businesses with less budget to grow.

We are also seeing Facebook rise to the challenge by introducing more commerce products. Most notably, Facebook Shops and Instagram Shops, which will allow users to shop on the application, and allow advertisers to continue on-app retargeting.

SO, Where to from here?

As with all changes, there will be winners and losers. Our advice to advertisers is to remain informed of the performance of your campaigns on Apple iOS devices. It’s likely the impact will vary considerably from business to business. Start testing now so you can be as prepared as possible for what’s coming, and have a plan in place to keep yourself ahead of the curve.

And of course, if you need help, we are here! Contact us for a chat about how we can help you ride out these changes.