For online marketers, Apple’s iOS 14 upgrade brought a plethora of new features. These changes are just the beginning of a wave of changes that other key players, such as Google, are anticipating, all of which will limit advertisers’ ability to follow consumers and abolish some long-standing, popular advertising tactics.
They do, however, present new opportunities and advantages for both users and store owners, as do other developments in the fast evolving digital climate. Marketers must keep an open mind when it comes to changing their practices to the new world.
What’s New With iOS 14?
Apple is asking all app developers to follow new standards. This has an impact on our partners that have developed their own apps, such as Facebook, Google, and Snapchat. It also has an impact on the marketing outcomes of advertisers who conduct campaigns on these applications.
Apple requires iOS 14 app developers to (in summary):
- Provide users with information about their data gathering policies.
- Before monitoring users across different apps and websites operated by other companies, ask for their permission. The prompt that will be displayed to users is referred to as a “privacy modal.”
- Allow advertisers to track conversions only from users who have chosen to opt out of tracking via privacy-centric alternatives.
Advertisers will be affected by the new requirements because apps will no longer be able to pass along certain information for detailed ad targeting and conversion results unless they have user permission, making it much more difficult to target campaigns based on users’ interests or browsing history.
Less accurate ad targeting and less transparent conversion statistics will almost certainly result in increased ad expenses for store owners, at least in the short term. It also means that it will be more difficult to determine which efforts are having the most impact on sales. Again, this will result in fewer efficient campaigns and greater overall expenses.
Nobody knows exactly how this and other changes will affect people. But we are all optimistic about eCommerce’s bright future and the new tools and methods that will emerge in the near future.
What’s Up with the Changes?
Apple, and later Google, changed its monitoring policies to improve privacy for customers all over the world. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was a key step in returning control of personal data to users in the European Economic Community. Other proposals, such as California’s Consumer Privacy Act, have followed suit.
When users log into apps that engage in “tracking,” Apple will prompt them to opt in or out of data tracking. Most users are anticipated to opt out, and advertisers will lose a lot of information about the behavior on one billion active iPhones.
How to Mitigate the Impact
Marketers will still be able to acquire information from those who use Android devices for the time being. If your campaigns begin to suffer, a temporary solution could be to reallocate all or most of your spending to Android device consumers.
You may not be able to remarket to previous users based on cookie data, but you can still display ads using properly hashed first-party data (such as a list of prior customers who have granted you permission to market to them). If you’ve invested a lot of effort and money in building a solid email list, it’s going to pay off big time.
The most important thing is to stay on top of the current developments. There are a number of game-changing technologies in development. You can be one of the first to adopt them when you’re ready.
Let’s have a look at some of the platforms that are recommended.
1. Facebook
The changes to Apple iOS will have an impact on how Facebook receives and processes conversion events from business tools such as the Facebook pixel and the Conversions API. As a result of these modifications, Facebook will begin using Aggregated Event Measurement to process website conversion events from iOS14 devices. This helps to protect user privacy while yet allowing you to execute successful marketing.
Advertisers should visit their Facebook Ads Manager and examine the activities indicated in the Resources Center tab to prepare for these changes.
Among these actions are, but are not limited to:
- In the Events Manager area of your Business Manager, configure your eight desired web conversion events per domain.
- Verify your domain in Business Manager to have control over which conversion events can be configured.
Due to Apple’s AppTrackingTransparency prompt, businesses that advertise on the Facebook network may face limitations in the data that Facebook may share.
Prepare for the release of Apple iOS 14.5 by visiting the Resource Center tab in your Facebook Ads Manager or learning more in the Facebook Help Center.
2. Google
Google’s suite of apps will not have Apple’s necessary privacy popup, which allows users to opt in or out of tracking. Instead, they’ll stop using data that isn’t compliant with Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT) policy.
Meanwhile, Google is developing a system that will connect people who share common interests. When compared to cookie-based advertising, this is known as Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC), and Google claims that advertisers may expect at least 95 percent of conversions per dollar spent.
Traditional remarketing will undergo a significant transition and eventually disappear, but there is a project called FLEDGE in the works, which builds on a prior Google Chrome proposal called TURTLEDOVE. These programs are projected to mature into a solution that will allow store owners to reconnect with previous site visitors while maintaining their privacy in the future.
Google Chrome’s quest to create ways to gather broad information from users without protecting their identity while allowing marketers to efficiently analyze conversions and other crucial results is another initiative that is not yet in production but is as significant. Marketers will need to know this in order to build campaigns with a positive return on investment.
Google suggests using the global site tag or Google Tag Manager to implement sitewide tagging. Advertisers should also upgrade to the current version of Google Analytics for Firebase to take advantage of new capabilities such as SKAdNetwork support.
Keep an even closer check on iOS app campaigns, as marketers should on other platforms, and adjust budget accordingly.
3. Snapchat
“This is why we introduced the idea of ephemeral media with Snapchat — to set the presumption that, just like in real life, you’re not always ‘on the record,'” says Snapchat.
Snapchat will embrace the idea of giving users more privacy by displaying a privacy popup that allows them to opt in or out of tracking.
If you’re already advertising on Snapchat or plan to do so, you can rest assured that Apple’s SKAdNetwork measurement is already supported. This means that, while your data will still be limited, you will be able to effectively monitor and optimize Snapchat ad campaigns.
So, what can advertisers anticipate to change?
Certain reporting parameters, such as age, nationality, and channel, will be removed. The size of 1P custom audiences (such as Pixel Custom Audiences, Snap Audience Match (SAM), and retargeting for Dynamic Ads) is expected to shrink. Because of the additional privacy protections Snap employs when it comes to attribution, it could take up to 32 hours for a conversion to be recorded in Ads Manager after it occurs.
Here’s what you should do to prepare:
- Continue to configure and pass back all quantifiable events using the Snap Pixel.
- To restore scalability, create lookalikes of Pixel Custom Audiences and Snap Audience Match audiences.
- Prioritize prospecting spend in Dynamic Ads campaigns.
- If your company’s app tracking transparency (ATT) method allows it, consider uploading your own first-party Custom Audience lists utilizing hashed email and/or hashed phone.
- Create Snap Engagement Audiences using data from previous and current campaigns.
4. Invest in an AI Tool
Finally, we cannot stress enough how important AI tools are for e-commerce enterprises. If you want your Facebook advertising to keep working well, use an artificial intelligence and machine learning solution to generate actionable insights automatically. You can either implement the findings manually or have the program handle it for you, depending on the amount of campaigns you run.
If you’re running many campaigns across multiple channels, an AI solution can not only create but also execute insights. This ensures that your advertising are always optimized and placed in the most advantageous location for your customers. In essence, you optimize the six components outlined previously, with a focus on targeting, budgeting, bidding, and creative A/B testing in particular.
As an e-commerce service in 2021, you’ll need to be aggressive with Facebook marketing. You’ll struggle if you don’t take this strategy. It’s impossible to overlook iOS 14.