Apple’s iOS14 update is a lot to unpack with quite a few unknowns. Currently, there are more than 100 million iPhones in the United States, which means iOS accounts for about 52 percent of all smartphone operating system’s market share. We’ve all been hearing a lot about the much anticipated iOS 14.5 update that’s coming this spring – perhaps the most crucial update ever for advertisers. With so much to uncover and a good chunk of demystifying lying ahead, let’s dig into what we can expect in the coming months, how it will affect advertising, and how advertisers can prepare themselves to adapt to the changes.
Over the years, we have witnessed Apple’s increasing attention provided to data privacy, and have been making critical updates to their platforms, be it Safari or iOS. The upcoming update — App Tracking Transparency — is aimed to make users aware that their data is being tracked across apps and websites, and moving forward will only do so with the user’s consent. Users will also be able to see apps that are currently tracking their information and apps that are seeking permission. Though this comes with the intention to provide transparency to the end-user, there is also the expectation that this may result in the restriction of third party-data that advertisers rely on to make meaningful targeting and personalized ads.
We will see how this plays out in the coming quarter. Users will still continue to see ads, but likely not quite as personalized. Facebook has publicly reacted to Apple’s move and its possible detrimental effect on small business owners. Facebook is attempting to use Aggregated Event Measurement to continue and maintain the effectiveness of campaign performances.
Steps you can take on Facebook:
- Verify your domain if you’re running ads on Facebook
- Define and prioritize 8 conversion events
- Prepare for changes in the attribution window
- Prepare for limited targeting
- Figure out new campaign optimization strategies
Demand Local’s take on this
We’d like to offer a high-level picture of what we expect although it is quite hard to crystallize since there’s a lot of moving pieces and uncertainties around this topic.
- Most of our campaigns use first-party data from our auto dealers, so we are expecting to be less impacted than other industries.
- Strategic targeting expansion will be implemented in cases where there are added limitations that shrink the audience size
- To compromise for limited targeting, we will continue to leverage and emphasize more on the usage of lookalike audiences
Though it is hard to know the full impact of the iOS14 update ahead of time, what we can be certain of is that having a partner to navigate these times may be as important as ever. If you’d like to engage in a deeper conversation and learn more details on the steps you can take to maneuver through this major update, just schedule a complimentary consultation with us and one of our experts will get back to you.
You can also call us at 1-888-315-9759 or write to [email protected]
Demand Local provides turnkey, white-labeled digital advertising solutions. Get in touch with us and learn more about how you can maximize your profits by letting us do the heavy lifting, while you can spend your valuable time on closing new deals.
