Apple’s iOS14 update – How will it affect me?

Apple have caused a little ripple in the digital marketing pond recently with their announcements surrounding iOS14. Following the news that they’ll be highlighting optional data restrictions to their users, the digital marketing world seems to have found itself in a tizzy. Facebook rely heavily on this data to be the well-oiled marketing machine it is today.

Thankfully, the world is not just blue and white. And whilst Facebook have already set protocols for data and behaviour tracking post-iOS14, there are many other options and avenues for us to take.

The short version of what’s going on is as follows – Apple are giving their users an opt out button on data sharing and tracking in all apps. This means a portion of users will be opting out, and that means less accurate targeting for advert placement, everywhere.

Facebook, being the undisputed-heavy-weight-champion of ad placement will feel the effects of this more than most. Whilst this presents a blip on our radar, we’ve ample time to make separate arrangements and thankfully for you, we have never been a one trick pony.

We put a lot of time into building target audiences for campaigns. The potential impact of Facebooks shortfall will only disrupt a small percentage of our strategy. There are other opportunities and avenues to explore and opening the market up, might pay dividends moving forward.

Building on first party data has always been good practice. For those simply relying on algorithms, the time has come to up your game. Getting to know your target-audience is the key to a successful business.

If you’re still worried, there are a few precautionary steps you can take to limit the impact of iOS14: –

• Build on your first party data.
• Make sure all your additional tracking such as Google Analytics is in place, up to date and properly set up.
• Build on your first party data.
• Prioritise your event tracking, as you’ll only have a maximum of eight events it’s important that you field your best team and where possible, consolidate events down.
• Verify your domain with Facebook Ads ASAP
• Build on your first party data.
• Be sure to implement the correct pixels on your site. This will differ dependent on your domain structure. (.com/ae and .com/uk will share a pixel – .ae and .co.uk can have a pixel each).
• Check out other platforms. The world wide web is no longer just blue and white.
• And finally, build on your first party data.

And remember this old adage, “as one door closes, another opens”.