How to prepare your Facebook Advertising for the Apple iOS 14 changes

When it comes to digital advertising we are all too familiar with big tech changing the goalposts. And the upcoming changes to Apple’s iOS 14 is going to be a major a game-changer.

The proposed changes to Apple’s new operating system is going to have a significant impact on Facebook advertising, with Facebook recently announcing the changes will adversely affect our ability to target people with personalised ads.

So what does this mean for you? Luckily if you have a savvy digital agency on your side you’ll be able to navigate these changes to minimise the impact. If you don’t have an agency and are doing things in-house – here are the changes you need to know about and some actions you can take in preparation.

What are the changes?

Without going into the nitty-gritty Apple’s iOS 14 is updating their privacy policy and settings so that users will receive more information and prompts about how apps use and track your data.

The changes will primarily be focussed in the Apple App Store and will include a new ‘discouraging’ prompt to users to turn off or ‘opt-out’ of data tracking and increase their privacy protection settings. The goal is to increase transparency on what data apps are collecting, where the data is stored and how it is used.

The changes will affect how Facebook tracks and processes conversions and events from business tools such as Facebook Pixel. Basically, these changes will interrupt the ability of Facebook’s advertising tools to target, optimise and report on web conversions.

As more people opt out of data tracking your ability to personalise ads and generate performance reporting will be limited.

What you can do to prepare:

• Update to Facebook’s SDK
  In your Facebook Events Manager update to Facebook’s SDK for iOS 14 version 8.1. This will allow you to create iOS 14 app install campaigns.

Read up on how to use App Events API, Mobile Measurement Partners and Facebook SDK
Make sure you learn how to properly con configure your event configuration schema in Events Manager. You can learn how to use the App Events API and Mobile Measurement Partners here.

• Make sure your website’s domain is verified
  If you haven’t already done so make sure you verify your website domain so you can avoid even more disruption to your campaigns. Domain verification is essential for any website with pixels used by multiple ad accounts. You’ll need to have verification to make sure you’re ready to use Facebook’s Aggregated Event Measurement once it’s operational.
• Select 8 priority web conversion events per domain
  The new Aggregated Event Measurement will limit conversion events to just 8 per domain. So work to select your preferred events to track for ad optimisation and configure them in your Events Manager. If you don’t do this Facebook will initially select the conversions they deem as most relevant, and any events that are no longer available under the new measurement system will automatically be turned off.
• Learn about the new ad creation limitations
  When the new iOS 14 is released you’ll need to start creating separate iOS 14 app install campaigns. You’ll still be able to use your existing account however there will be limitations. For example, each app can only be associated with one ad account, although your ad account can be associated with multiple apps.
  The only buying option will be Auction – you won’t be able to use Reach or Frequency. Also once the iOS 14 ad is running you can’t turn off the toggle, you have to delete the full campaign.
• Adjust your strategy for new reporting limitations
  There will be significant limitations in your ability to measure and report of campaigns and conversions of iOS 14 app install campaigns. These campaigns will rely on data from Apple’s SKAdNetwork API and there is a range of limitations expected across Ads Reporting, Ads Insights API and Ads Manager.
  Some of these limitations include:
• Delayed reporting: data could be delayed by up to 3 days as real-time reporting won’t be supported
• Data breakdowns for points such as age, gender, region and placement won’t be available
• For some conversion events statistical modelling may be used in reporting unless the campaign contains a single ad set and ad

Get to know the reporting limitations and adjust your strategy to ensure you can measure against your objectives.

• Simplify your ad sets to account for dynamic ad limitations
  If you plan on using dynamic ads make sure you are using one pixel per catalogue and domain. Facebook won’t be able to process and optimise ads where more than one pixel is used. Also, ensure each domain you use (if you have multiple) is verified and that your URL’s don’t redirect to any other domains.
  If all of this sounds overwhelming – we get it. There is a lot to process, a lot to learn and we don’t really even know the full extent of how these changes will play out. If you want help managing your ads and navigating these changes give our team at FrogOnline a call on 1300 376 466 or contact us here. We can walk you through the best strategy for your business.