Apple iOS 14 is running updates on all Apple devices these days. How much will the new iOS 14 updates affect Facebook advertising and should we be concerned and how to prepare for the upcoming changes if we are dealing with advertising on Facebook?

If you’re advertising on Facebook, you’ve most likely received this kind of notification from Facebook informing Facebook users that changes are coming soon if we plan to advertise to Apple devices.

 

What's really going on?

In early 2021, Apple iOS will start updating the software (iOS 14) that will in the future allow all users of Apple devices to protect privacy by Facebook, which will not be able to collect data as it was in the past.

By updating the new iOS 14 software users of Facebook and Instagram applications on Apple devices will be able to choose whether or not they accept that Facebook collects data about it, for a better user experience.

If users of iOS devices on the Facebook application choose not to be followed, in that case Facebook will show only one event, while on the other hand if users agree to be followed by Facebook advertisers will be able to follow a maximum of 8 events, where you need Facebook to "tell" which events you want to follow.

Simply put, users of Apple devices when using a Facebook or Instagram application will be able to prevent Facebook from collecting information about the user and thus "make it difficult" for Facebook to provide a better user experience on Facebook or Instagram platform.

 

How much will this affect all those who advertise via Facebook or Instagram?

We are of the personal opinion that there is no panic, we are aware, as before, that we need to adapt to new conditions, and there are always solutions. The biggest changes to the new iOS 14 update for Facebook and Instagram advertisers will be manifested in the following:

• Track any activity via Facebook pixels will be disabled in a way that we will not see if the user who refused to have Facebook collect information about him, added to the cart when buying on the webshop, if he made a purchase and the like. As Facebook advertisers, we will be denied this information.

• Given that way Facebook pixel will not be able to collect complete data, it will be much more difficult to implement campaign optimization on Facebook.

• Regarding retargeting, any user with updated iOS 14 software who has visited your site will not be able to see your ad again after leaving your site.

• Considering that Facebook advertisers will not have enough data who has visited a particular internet (with updated iOS 14 devices), such an audience will not go to retargeting and will not be able to create a Lookalike audience, will need to go one step lower towards Engagement audience.

• Facebook will not be able to optimize campaigns for applications which are installed on iOS devices, for example, if you are developing applications on iOS and want to advertise them, you will not be able to in that case if the user of the iOS device "opt-out".

What do you need to do to adapt to the new conditions if you want to advertise on Facebook in 2021?

If you want to stay in the "game" as an advertiser on the Facebook platform, we suggest you do the following:

Domain verification, especially if you have Facebook pixel events managed by multiple Business Managers or accounts. This step is important to show according to Facebook who is the owner, who manages the "new" eight events that you can follow in the future with the new iOS 14 update.

Data export your Facebook campaigns from the past. Namely, when updating your account, you will lose the ability to track the 28-day attribution on your account, which will be available only through the API. So our suggestion is to export the data for later easier access. Once the attribution is placed on your account at 7-days click, then it's over.

Calculate yours delay multiplicator in the attribution Delayed Attribution Multiplier and set new metrics when your account is updated to new settings. 

If you are interested in how to calculate the attribution delay and have approximately accurate data for your Facebook campaign, contact us and we will send you a calculator with which you will calculate the deviations more precisely and optimize your Facebook campaign more successfully.

Implement Facebook's conversion API

Select and bookmark Facebook 8 conversion events that you want to track within your Facebook campaign.

This update applies only to users of iOS devices, while for Android and Desktop users the situation remains unchanged if the user is not turned off to follow the so-called. "Opt-out".

It should also be noted that this update will not only affect advertisers on Facebook, but will also affect software updates on iOS devices. Google, Pinterest, Linkedin, Tick Tok, Youtube and Snap Chat.

 

What problems does iOS 14 bring to advertisers?

Namely, when the user of the iOS 14 device does not accept that Facebook collects data, we as advertisers will not be shown in the reports whether the specified user has made a purchase on our webshop or not.

If the user has made a purchase, Facebook will see the specified activity, but in that case it will not show it in our reports. This will greatly affect the optimization of the campaign on Facebook, creating a similar audience and conducting remarekting campaigns on Facebook.

Another problem is that it is Facebook has introduced restrictions and it will be possible to follow a maximum of 8 events per domain, and if you haven't, you need to decide which events you will follow, and that they should be your primary focus when optimizing your campaigns.

We are of the opinion that the biggest problem will be felt by ecommerce businesses that rely on volume, a large amount of data when optimizing campaigns.

Another limitation by Facebook is that will not be able to follow long-term attribution models as before. So, if you have a long sales cycle in your campaigns, there may be a drop in sales, due to reports that will not show the specified data.

We have proposed a solution under point 3 of the previous paragraph. In the future, Facebook will monitor attributions only on the basis of:

1-day click

7-day click

1-day click and 1-day review

7 day click and 1 day preview

 

We believe that in the coming period you will need to adapt to these changes if you want to effectively advertise on the Facebook platform. Facebook remains the most effective platform, and we as an agency are achieving great results in 2021.

Focus on collecting email addresses of your users, clients, customers, and with this new update Facebook advertisers will need to focus a few steps "backwards", for example, towards lead generation campaigns, through which we will collect valuable leads that we can later monetize through email marketing campaigns and similar channels.

We are also of the opinion that there will not be a large percentage of "opt-outs" by users of Apple iOS devices when we talk about Facebook and Instagram platform.

Why do we think so? The basic reason is that in that case, if the user is "opt-out" not to be followed, for example, on Facebook, the user will be shown ads that do not interest him, and the user experience will be much worse.

When such a user eventually sees that Facebook shows him content that does not interest him, there is a possibility that he still agrees to "opt-in" and thus Facebook shows him what he is interested in on the platform itself.

What awaits us in this period, time will tell, mostly this update greatly changes the approach to advertising and if you want to stay in the "game" you need to have prepared tactics, activity to deal with these changes in order to achieve acceptable results for you and your client.