iOS 14.5 Update has rolled out
- week 7
At the end of April, Apple rolled out the much-discussed iOS14.5.
Prior to this, Facebook was able to hoover up as much data as it could on both the Facebook platform and across the wider web. This tracking of user behaviour gave Facebook huge amounts of data, which in turn helped the targeting of Facebook ads.
For example, if a user browsed a few Ford dealer sites, Facebook would know that the user was potentially in the market for a new Ford and other car brands/dealers etc. ads could then be targeted at that in-market buyer.
Apple’s iOS14.5 update has meant users now have to opt-in to allow apps to track them. This will impact how Facebook ads campaigns are run and reported on and there are a number of steps an advertiser needs to take to minimize the impact on their ad account. If you haven’t already prepared for this you can read our previous article on how to prepare your account.
What's changed? Do Facebook ads still work?
Flurry Analytics, from Verizon Media, has been tracking the opt-in rates once a user upgrades to iOS14.5, both in the U.S. and worldwide. Below is the opt-in rate over the first seven weeks following the launch of iOS 14.5.
Worldwide 7 weeks in (25 May 2021) only 14% have opted to allow tracking (Vs the predictions pre launch of around 40%).
In the US, which may be a better representation of what’s happening in Australia, only 6% are opting in.
You can dig into the full breakdown further here.
What does this data mean?
It is important to note that while iOS14 rolled out on April 26, users will not all update at the same time. The migration to iOS14 will take place over a number of months so the true numbers and impact won’t be immediate.
As a Facebook ad agency, what are we currently focused on?
Retargeting
Retargeting campaigns are hugely successful for a number of our clients and regularly account for 20+% of budgets.
We are monitoring the size of our retargeting lists on a weekly basis to see if they are shrinking.
We have also got a breakdown of the percentage of traffic from iOS to each of our client’s websites, so we can assess the potential impact on the retargeting list (for most of our clients, 25 -30% of all traffic is on an Apple device).
The role of content creation (that can be used for audience building on Facebook) will grow slightly in the future as we look for alternate ways to maintain our remarketing options.
Facebook AI
We have never been an agency that lets Facebook’s AI do all the work, but even more so now that the conversion window has changed, meaning fewer ads are seeing the magic 50 conversions per week number). We are paying close attention to lookalike audiences and the larger broader audiences that are running.
First-party data – Mailing list, Transaction data etc.
We have been working with our clients to ascertain any owned databases (Email platforms, CRMs etc) that we are not already using and linking these with Facebook. This allows us to create custom audiences from subscribers, purchasers etc.
Google Analytics
The reporting of conversions data on Facebook has changed and we are now relying less on the Facebook platform for accurate reports. We are using Google Analytics to compare results and report top-line numbers to clients. Consider using Google Analytics to run along with Facebook and get your data from there.
