How Apple’s iOS 14 Update Will Impact Facebook Ads

Upcoming updates to Apple’s iOS 14, the operating system for all iPhones, will lead to big changes in data tracking. These changes, which are expected in January or February 2021, will ask iPhone owners for permission to track user data across apps and websites on their phones.

This update will impact performance and reporting across various platforms and apps, but especially Facebook. Because of this update, Facebook is worried that many, if not most, users will not permit tracking on their iPhones.

The primary concern for platforms like Facebook is that the update will make ad targeting more difficult, attribution less clear, and reporting on ad performance much less detailed. Specifically, Facebook claims the ability of advertisers to deliver targeted ads will be compromised or eroded.

For our clients who run Facebook ads, we advise the following:

1. Ensure your domain is verified. Here’s how Facebook recommends you do that.
2. If you track conversions in your Facebook ads, prepare and prioritize their conversion events. Facebook says to plan for 8 conversion events per domain.
3. Be prepared for a decrease in the number of reported conversions, especially if you use longer conversion windows (meaning you try to attribute conversions over a long period of time, like 28 days).
4. Plan to monitor Facebook ads and Business Manager closely in the coming weeks and months to see what impact these changes have on your Facebook campaigns. Facebook itself predicts that ad revenue will decrease.

There is a lot more to this than what is included in this blog post and it gets pretty technical. It is also not clear exactly how all this will play out until the iOS 14 updates actually roll out.

But to be on the safe side, in addition to the steps outlined above, we recommend reading these resources from Facebook itself:

• Preparing Partners for iOS14
• Upcoming Changes to Attribution Settings
• Apple’s iOS14 Release May Affect Ads

There is also a lengthier article from Jon Loomer, a Facebook marketing expert, that dives into far more detail.

If you have questions on how to best position your brand on Facebook or other digital platforms, contact us today and we can work with you to develop a comprehensive digital strategy.