Apple recently announced an update to their iOS14 software to increase consumer privacy. With the new App Tracking Transparency Framework, customers will now have to opt in to share their data with various apps like Facebook, Snapchat, and Google.
For Facebook, this update will drastically change the way the social network receives and processes conversions in apps and on websites. The full impact is not yet known as the update has not rolled out, but it is estimated as people continue to opt out of data tracking that ad personalization, optimization, targeting, and reporting will all be significantly impacted. At this time, only conversion events from tools like the Facebook pixel will be impacted by these changes. If you are using Facebook Lead Generation Ads or Engagement Campaigns, you will likely be unaffected at this time but that may change as Apple confirms the full impact and release of this new privacy update for users.
Prepare For Your Facebook Account For iOS 14 Update
There are several ways to get prepared for this update which is rolling out in early 2021.
Verify your business domains through Facebook’s Business Manager – You’ll want to do this for every domain that utilizes your Facebook pixel.
Prepare to be limited to only 8 unique conversion events – The update will only allow businesses to optimize on 8 conversion events moving forward. Facebook will automatically select the 8 based on what your business uses regularly now, but you can update these any time in Events Manager
Complimentary Reporting -If you are not already using Google Analytics or other external reporting systems, we recommend you look into adding these to compliment Facebook reporting as it will be affected by this update. Changes to reporting include delayed data, estimated results, limited demographic breakdowns and changes to account attribution window settings.
These updates can be overwhelming and worrying for anyone who uses Facebook Ads in their digital marketing program, especially small businesses. It’s important to understand how to adjust your advertising strategy to ensure you are still able to reach your target audience on mobile first sites like Facebook. This may include switching from conversion campaigns to lead gen, allocating more budget to other advertising channels like LinkedIn, Twitter and Google, or coming up with more creative ways to stay in front of Apple users. You will need to closely watch your campaigns as these changes go live in order to determine how significantly you are impacted and how to adapt to ensure your campaigns are not permanently impacted.
If you are looking for help navigating the Facebook Ads manager world, especially as these changes roll out, we can help! Nowspeed has a team of social media experts to help you with every aspect of both your organic and paid social media programs. Learn more about our Social Media Marketing services.
