TECH-TALK WITH MIKE: Advertising and marketing on Fb with iOS14 Information safety adjustments | information

The new Apple iOS14 update has caused a lot of excitement among iPhone customers with the new ability to control app tracking for ad usage. However, this update is of concern to marketers and business owners. The update affects data tracking permissions and the effectiveness of Facebook advertising. Notable changes with the update affect the privacy and data sharing policy, also known as Apple’s App Tracking Transparency Framework. This move is designed to give Apple users more control over their internet privacy.

However, business owners fear that consumers will not allow tracking over the internet, which is what they currently need to measure the effectiveness of Facebook ad campaigns. This change applies to all apps in the App Store, including Facebook apps like Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp. If this update is affecting your business, the following tips can help you work around the update.

SEGMENT YOUR AUDIENCE

One way to avoid these changes is to target only Android audiences. The update only affects iOS users. Therefore, the targeting towards users of Android devices is not affected. Ideally, you will track both Android and iOS users. However, the data collected from iOS users is now incomplete so it may be best to work with Android users only.

However, if you are creating Facebook campaigns that target conversions, you should change the Specific Mobile Devices and Operating Systems option to Android devices only.

ACTIVATE VALUE OPTIMIZATION

Once the updates are rolled out, very few platform users will be tracking Facebook and related apps. However, to make up for this shortcoming, Facebook made some changes for marketers to take advantage of the value optimization. Value optimization enables advertisers to bid on high-value users or audiences who are most likely to take the ideal action.

However, you should prove your suitability for value optimization by fulfilling several requirements. These requirements state that marketers should have an active product catalog or pixels. They must also have made over 100 optimized purchases in the last 10 days and more than 10 different purchases in seven days.

UPDATE FACEBOOK SDK

iOS 14 will have an impact on the performance and measurement of Facebook ads in apps. Therefore, Facebook recommends that marketers update their iOS Facebook SDK to version 8.1 or higher. If your ads require a Facebook login, you should upgrade to at least version 9. If you upgrade to either of these versions, you can still serve personalized ads to iOS users.

USE INDEPENDENT TRACKING

Some Facebook campaigns automatically lose their effectiveness as soon as the iOS14 update is fully implemented. Hence, it is a good idea to prepare early by exploring alternative strategies for testing the performance of your ads. Start by using different bid types, events, and audience definitions in your Facebook ad tests.

You can also stop monitoring website conversions from Facebook. Instead, opt to use your website’s tracking system when monitoring where your traffic is coming from and what is happening on your website.

SELECT 8 PRIORITY EVENTS

The update will limit the number of events that you can rate in your event manager and use to track conversions. Therefore, you should choose the eight valuable Pixel Events that matter most to your business. First, Facebook automatically selects the eight high priority events. However, you can change the automatic selection and rearrange it according to the criteria that are important to you. Note that other events not included in the eight priority ad groups will be paused.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The new iOS14 update leaves most business owners and marketers concerned about the ability to effectively target users. Not to mention concerns about measuring conversions and generating leads from Facebook and Facebook-connected apps. Unfortunately, the real effect of this update remains unknown until the final version is fully rolled out. Still, marketers should look for alternative ways to effectively market their business to minimize the impact. Other social media platforms also have advertising options and it may be time to evaluate a change in strategy.

Mike Gingerich is President of Digital Hill Multimedia (www.DigitalHill.com), a web design and marketing agency. He is also the co-founder of TabSite.com, a leading provider of Facebook page apps for businesses. Listen to his social media and web podcast, Halftime Mike, available on iTunes.