Top 5 Things to Do Right Now to Help Your Business Survive the iOS 14 Update

• With the release of iOS 14.5, it seems the pot has been stirred on a different level this time. Surely, the new features are relevant and useful to growing needs, such as Apple’s facelock working even while you are wearing a mask. However, one of the key changes in this new iOS update for Facebook ads has the potential to affect large-scale businesses and their functioning.
• The update curtails how sites like Facebook track usage, such as search history and browsing history. While this will surely improve privacy. it will eliminate the viability of Facebook showing user-oriented or user-targeted ads to those who choose to opt-out. This is a huge setback for businesses that rely on targeted Facebook ads to reach out to the right set of audience, to increase their chances of conversion. Besides, there are other new guidelines added to how you can manage your ad campaign as the business manager.

• The updated iOS 14.5 brings transparency to Facebook’s tracking of usage data and browsing history. This kind of tracking is commonly asked for under the pretexts of “better advertising” or “performance tracking” purposes. The new iPhone update for Facebook incorporates the user’s choice for this tracking similarly. The user will now be notified through a pop-up, where they can either allow or opt-out of usage tracking. In this manner, depending on their choice, they can potentially opt-out of personalized or targeted ads.
• This can be a major setback to businesses that rely heavily on Facebook ad campaigns, putting their advertising strategy in jeopardy. This is because targeted ads will no longer have an outreach to the people who have opted out of this feature. In addition, it also means that a larger chunk of expenditure goes to waste. Therefore, businesses are going to have to come up with remedies to either resolve or bypass the situation for themselves, as a large number of them are now dependent on online advertising.

Reconciling business strategies with the new iPhone update for Facebook

• Targeted ads make for higher conversion rates, as the ads tend to be shown only to users with relevant or related search history. For example, if a user is looking to purchase a used car, their browsing history will have relevant search queries repeated a few times. By targeting this specific segment of users through Facebook’s data usage tracking, car dealers can increase their chances of conversion multifold.
• With the efficacy of targeted advertising gaining limitations due to the new iOS update for Facebook ads, businesses are going to resort to various solutions for a fix. These solutions are aimed at overcoming the disadvantages posed by the updated guidelines for Facebook ads. Some of the best solutions your business can go for are listed below.

1. Excluding Apple users from online advertising campaigns

• Probably the simplest solution of all is for businesses to entirely exclude iOS users as their target when running Facebook ads. By doing so, they will be able to work in the same manner as before, with no changes in strategy needed. Within the campaign manager, you can disable the ad for all Apple users, so the overall efficacy of targeted advertising will not be affected at all.
• To cater to your iOS-using audience, you will need to devise and come up with other sets of strategies, to ensure that the entire base is covered in your advertising strategy. This solution is highly effective in the sense that no use of analytics will be required to measure and monitor changes in the performance of targeted ads. The only drawback is that you will need a separate advertising campaign set up on other forms of media, for reaching out to your iOS-using customer base. 

2. Creating external campaigns for conversion purposes

• You can still run your Facebook ad exactly like before but redirect users to a different platform or website. By doing so, you can make use of the redirected website for running the appropriate ad, and monitoring the conversion ratios and other ad-related data on that. By doing so, you will no longer need to rely on and be affected by Facebook’s guidelines.
• Using a generalized Facebook ad will make it possible to reach out to pretty much a wide range of audience, including Apple users. They will be redirected to the site where your ad is running and being monitored by you. However, to filter out unwanted traffic coming to the website, it might be useful to include items such as an entry text box for the user’s name in your Facebook ad. This will rule out the possibility of users with zero potential of buying clicking on the Facebook ad.
• Opting for such a generalized Facebook ad will allow you to target Apple and non-Apple users both. An ad running, monitoring and conversion-related activities can be performed on the website your ad redirects the user to. Doing so will allow businesses to target the complete set of their audience, while still drawing traffic from Facebook. Albeit a bit more expensive, this is an easy and convenient solution to overcome the new iOS update for Facebook ads.

3. Verifying your domain with Facebook

It is expected that some businesses will shift their ad campaigns to other platforms, despite the advantages held at Facebook. With the new iOS update for Facebook ads, you must verify your domain on Facebook. Verification of your domain is free of cost, and what it essentially means is verifying that you are the owner of your domain. Verification of your domain can be done in multiple ways, as per your preference. It will ensure that only you as the ad manager have permissions over your ad-related links, barring partner pages from those vital permissions.

4. Pick your eight events for optimizing

• The new iOS update for Facebook ads will now allow you to monitor and optimize only a set of 8 events per domain, towards the conversion of the ads. You can pick your choice of these 8 events depending on the nature of your ads, their intent and the intended audience.
• By selecting an appropriate choice, you will be making your monitoring process easier, as the 8 events will be prioritized as per your strategy. You will be able to design an ad copy personalized in a manner surrounding the events you have picked, thereby increasing the chances of conversion. It is to be noted that only the ad manager can pick the choice of these 8 events, and the rest of the events can still be monitored, just not optimized anymore.

5. Comparing attribution stats during the shift

• Attribution in terms of Facebook ads refers to the set of actions that occurred between the click of the ad and the final conversion. As of so far, Facebook offered a 28-days attribution window. However, with the new iPhone update for Facebook, this feature will change to a 7-days post-click and one-day post-view.
• While it might be easy for most to adjust to a different analytics approach in terms of attribution, a vital key lies in comparing the current attribution statistics to the new ones once the change is implemented. This will allow the business to get a unique and in-depth glimpse into the outreach of their ads, and the exact process underlying their conversions. A proper analysis of this comparison can allow a business to get that unique edge over its competitors that are using Facebook advertising as well.

Facebook ads: What lies ahead

• Several people are foreseeing a fall in the scope of Facebook ads. This notion coupled with the drastic changes Facebook has announced in its guidelines for ads might further demotivate some businesses to indulge and invest in Facebook advertising. This is because most people are generally looking for an easier way out, and several alternative platforms are emerging now that allow businesses to run ad campaigns.
• For the hawk-eyed people looking to make the most out of every opportunity, these changes in Facebook’s guidelines might just be the opportunity they need to gain an edge over competitors. If Facebook ad campaigns are monitored right, then even with the new iPhone update for Facebook, you can not only survive the shift but emerge out the other end as a winner.
• The most appropriate strategy depends on the approach that your business follows, of course. But a simple following of the above-stated methods could even be enough for high conversion rates to easily be in your basket.

Find this article informative, share your views in the comments section box.

Some of our popular blogs:

1. Shopify SEO – How to Optimize Your Shopify Site for Google
2. Here’s What The ios 14 Update Means For Your Facebook Ads
3. What Type of Backlinks Does Your Business Really Need Right Now?