For a few years now, Google ads and particularly advertising with Facebook have been important tricks up the sleeves of marketers to reach highly relevant audiences. However, Apple recently released the iOS 14.5 update for all iPhones starting from the iPhone 7, which brought with it a change that will drastically impact the value of these go-to marketing channels.
Basically, the long and short of it is this: Apple wants to improve its privacy policy and on its quest to do just that, has introduced an 'AppTrackingTransparency' feature, which makes companies prompt users for consent before tracking their data across their apps and across external websites owned by other organisations.
Naturally, most people will deny their permission. But just remember, before the update, 70% of iOS users shared their IDFA (Identifier for Advertisers) with app publishers, but this change will bring that number down to between 10% and 15%, according to Tinuiti. That's a drop and a half, right?
Companies track users by linking device or user data from their apps with device data from other organisations' websites, apps or offline properties for advertising measurement or targeted advertising purposes.
You're right ... it's a little complex, but don't shoot the messenger! Let's break it down in plain English...
For users, tracking gives companies the ability to reference what you do on your phone outside of their app in advertising (think of all the ads you receive for stuff you just Googled or looked at in a retailer's app). For marketers, it’s what allows us to target information about peoples search habits and interests outside of just their experience on Facebook.
If you're using Facebook Ads, it will affect conversion events from the Facebook tracking Pixel. In other words, it will affect your targeting, delivery, and reporting.
If looked at from afar, here’s how it will go:
Overall, the changes will affect small businesses with lower advertising budgets the worst, as they will find it increasingly difficult to reach their audience. This is because the ROI that companies gain from Facebook ads will decrease significantly, while users will continue to see ads, they won't be personalised to them and could often be completely irrelevant.
Some estimates even predict that the loss of personalisation could result in a massive 60% fall in website sales from Facebook ads.
Here are some of the deets that you should be familiar with in order to make the most out of Facebook advertising, despite the negative impacts of the update:
Inevitably, people will update to iOS 14.5, but before everyone does - make sure you add these to your to-do list:
Taking on a different approach to Facebook, Google Ads has made the decision to switch to Apple's SKAdNetwork tracking tool. While the impacts on Google Ads aren't as hectic, the update will limit conversion reporting by reducing visibility into key metrics such as sales and mobile app installs.
Given this decrease in conversion tracking capability, if you're using Google Ads on mobile devices, you should definitely monitor the performance of your campaigns as the update is rolled out and be sure to alter your bids where necessary.
To allow for SKAdNetwork support, you should also ensure that you're using the most recent version of Google Analytics for Firebase.
Tracking & aggregating user data has been one of Facebook’s key strengths if looked at from a digital advertising perspective. It has helped Facebook’s ad revenue grow to more than 84 billion in 2020. However, Facebook advertisers’ overreliance on Facebook’s data tracking has come back to bite them. Ouch.
People creating and measuring Google Ads campaigns will also have some adjustments to make, considering the reduced conversion visibility.
Consequently, we recommend you utilise platforms like HubSpot, where you can measure and track your marketing results across various channels. Doing this will allow you to compare data from before and after the release of the privacy feature to assess its direct impact on your business.
You will then be able to adjust your campaigns accordingly to get the top tier results you're chasing!