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There has been a lot of speculation about the changes implemented by Apple’s iOS 14 and how they might be the end of Facebook advertisements. This post goes over how the changes will affect your campaigns, what the update implies, and how you can still optimize for success.
Don’t let the new update catch you off guard. Stay on top of changes and you can continue advertising without any issues.
About iOS 14 Updates
Apple’s iOS updates have been rolling out gradually since December 2020, yet it wasn’t until early May 2021 that Apple applied changes across all devices eligible for the update.
Anyone who has an iPhone SE 1st or 2nd generation all the way to iPhone 11 Pro Max has received a notification that an update around their privacy setting is available.
But how does this affect Facebook Ads? In essence, iOS 14.5 allows users to enhance privacy and prevent ads from following them across the internet. Before this, the pixel allowed advertisers to follow user IDs across different apps or platforms. Essentially, one user could be tracked across platforms as long as it was the same ID.
Tracking transparency prevents targeted ads from using an advertiser ID, location, or other identifiers that could compromise a user’s information. This feature will not prevent a user from seeing ads. It simply means that the ads they see are generic and not targeted based on items they have seen in the past.
If an iOS user decides to opt out, here is what you can expect as an advertiser:
- Non-performing remarketing efforts.
- Less personalized ad copy.
- Limited personalized targeting options.
Facebook’s Response to iOS 14
The changes that Apple launched with iOS 14 also affects how Facebook processes the conversion events received by the Facebook Pixel.
Businesses that optimize their ads based on web conversions won’t have access to the same data unless the Apple iOS 14 users decide to opt into tracking. This means that ad performance and personalization will be limited, if not skewed, for conversion events.
According to Facebook, new updates and additional resources will become available, but it will be processing pixel events as an aggregated event measurement for the time being.
To set this up, you need to do the following:
- Verify your domain
- Configure your events to be processed using the aggregated event measurement protocol
- Set up conversion optimization or value optimization campaigns
- Select a single domain for conversion tracking
- Select a single domain per catalog
How to Prepare Your Campaigns for iOS Changes
1. Create specific audiences for iOS devices
This will help you target those users that have been dropped from the potential reach, as you may have seen from Facebook’s recent message added in this section.
2. Configure eight preferred web conversion events per domain in your Event Manager
Pick your events carefully before setting them up. Keep in mind that any new or edited event needs a 72-hour window timeframe to be eligible for your campaigns.
3. Be on the lookout for new statuses, unsupported events, or set up errors
These keep events aligned with the latest update. These notifications will inform you if the domain is not yet verified or if the event is not part of the eight prioritized website conversion events.
4. The attribution window is now available for up to 7 days
This means you will have to strategize for short-term results. Even if you removed the 28-day attribution window, any legacy account running before this update would still use this for reporting purposes.Anything after the update will only include seven days. Here are the following windows you will have available:
1. 1-day click
2. 7-day click (default after Apple prompt enforcement)
3. 1-day click and 1-day view
4. 7-day click and 1-day view (initial default)
Conclusion
The Apple iOS 14 updates will change the way businesses leverage Facebook advertisements. Learning how to navigate these changes is all you need to continue to reach your ideal audiences.
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