iOS 14 Update – What Did it Do?

As many of you are aware, Apple made a huge change in how we, as marketers, are able to track people’s interests online. In their latest iOS update, Apple gave everyone with the iOS operating system the ability to opt-out of tracking in apps that monitor behavior and share with third parties.

While this sounds nice in the name of privacy, it has made targeting audiences and serving relevant ads to people that much more difficult for people that are trying to get their products out there.

ios_update2While iOS users have always been able to limit data sharing the settings for disabling tracking are often buried in the settings. With the release of the 14.5 update, mobile iOS users are shown a screen prompt when opening any app that will track their data, giving them the upfront ability to turn those tracking settings off.

Why Do Advertisers Track Users?

Previously, advertisers have relied on this wealth of stored information available to better target people for the ads that they were serving. As people, it is of the utmost importance for us to protect people’s privacy, but the data shared provides advertisers and businesses with the ability to be able to find consumers that connect with their products.

There seems to be a fundamental lack of understanding between advertisers and consumers as to what is being collected and what that information is ultimately used for.

The internet runs on advertising dollars. And while no one likes being blasted with advertisements everywhere they turn, what is even worse is being blasted by advertisements that you have absolutely no need for and won’t ever purchase.

By not being able to deliver ads to people that want your product, not only are ad dollars wasted, but we also run the risk of having lower ratings and conversions on ads because we can’t exclusively target all of the people that would be interested.

While this has proved to be a shake-up for the digital marketing world, it could be even worse than we originally anticipated. According to Apple Insider, only 4% of iOS users have opted in to tracking.

Without being able to select who exactly advertisers are targeting, this can cause the price per click to rise, conversions to drop, and analytics to be off.

What Does this iOS Update Mean for Advertisers?

There were several ways that advertisers could help mitigate risks and prepare for this update.

Facebook provided a list such as:

If these steps haven’t already been put into place then those need to be completed first.

The other big thing that advertisers need to keep in mind is that there are other ways to measure success than just conversions. Click-through rates, percentage of video views, and even engagement rates are great ways to measure an ad’s success.

This may also mean having a conversation with current clients to let them know about changes taking place and new metrics being tracked. Open honesty and transparency will help reassure them that their ads are going to still work but the back-end reporting may look a little different.

The other thing we can do is start building email lists. By running lead generation campaigns that capture a person’s information firsthand we can serve ads directly into those consumers’ inboxes.

Does this make things more complicated? Sure, but at the end of the day, Facebook and Facebook ads aren’t going anywhere. Advertisers and the Facebook platform itself will have to start making adjustments because changes will always happen.

This can be a valuable lesson moving forward for all advertisers. As Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Google, etc. update and make changes to their platforms, keep in mind that that audience belongs to the platform. Diversifying and running different types of ads on different platforms and building internal lists that DO belong to you will provide a solid foundation for your business no matter what the change may be.

We Are Here

At SteerPoint Media, we are dedicated to being as up-to-date and informed as possible on any and all changes taking place across platforms.

If you are interested in advertising and would like help building your brand, bringing awareness, or generating sales, let us show you how with a personalized consultation. All we need are some details about your specific needs. Send us a message, and we will deliver. Let’s start today!