IOS 14 Facebook Ad Changes and What DTC Brands Can Do
IOS 14 Facebook Ad Changes and What DTC Brands Can Do
Feb 2022
7 minutes read
In mid-2020, Apple announced that they’ll be making changes to their privacy policy, more specifically their new App Tracking Transparency (ATT) prompt arriving early spring 2021.
As of early May, Apple users on all mobile devices are receiving the App Tracking Transparency (ATT) Prompt - giving them the choice to opt-out of data tracking - Meaning it will no longer be “opt-in” by default like it was for iOS device users prior to iOS 14.
So what does this all mean? Essentially, the update will make it easier for iOS 14 users to “opt-out” of the data sharing that’s necessary for ad targeting. This will affect all apps on the Apple App Store.
The biggest impact that advertisers will feel is iOS 14’s ability to disrupt ad optimization, targeting, tracking, and measurement. As data becomes limited, ad personalization and performance are anticipated to decline, and the full visibility into ad performance will be limited.
We understand this has caused a ton of confusion and concerns for E-commerce brands that use Facebook-ads as their main acquisition channel - Hopefully, this Blog can give you some clarity and peace of mind in regards to:
iOS 14’s impact on Facebook and Instagram Advertising
9-steps you can take to prepare for the changes
iOS 14 Impact on Facebook and Instagram Advertising
Due to the iOS 14 changes, both web and app-based data, attribution, and tracking will be severely limited.
9 Steps E-commerce Brands Can Take to Prepare for iOS 14
1. Verify your Domain in Facebook Business Manager
Verifying your domain is the first, and most pressing step.
Domain verification is a requirement of Apple's new privacy policy - Domain Verification ensures only verified domain owners can edit how their content looks on Facebook.
Here you'll find a video from Facebook on how to claim and verify your domain.
2. Set up & prioritise aggregated events management
Going forward, Facebook will be limited to tracking only eight conversion events per domain. You need to manually select and rank the events by priority within your Facebook Ads Manager.
For users that opt-out of ATT, Facebook can only track the highest priority event. For users that opt-in, you'll still be limited to eight.
Here is a full guide on how to configure web events to use Aggregated Event Measurement
3. Integrate Facebook’s Conversion API (CAPI) with your Shopify store
Implement CAPI connections with the Facebook Channel App. In response to the iOS14 update, Facebook has rolled out server-side tracking via their Conversion API (CAPI). CAPI’s send events that are happening on your website to Facebook in order to track and report.
4. Anticipate a change in the KPI Benchmarks
With the attribution window decreasing from 28-days to 7-day, and purchases being recorded on day-of-conversion rather than recorded backwards to day-of-impression, expect to see lower ROAS numbers, especially for the top of funnel campaigns.
5. Explore Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing is the fastest way to accelerate your brand on social media. The good news is that the iOS 14 update won’t affect influencer marketing.
Some of the fastest-growing DTC brands such as Gymshark, FashionNova, Boohoo, MyProtein, MVMT Watches, Daniel Wellington and many more have primarily grown through influencer marketing.
If you're not already you should be finding ways to connect with your target market, and grow through influencers.
6. Increase your repeat purchase rate
Improving your repeat purchase rate will offset the increase in CPA. Here are four ways to increase your repeat purchase rate:
Improve your product
Improve your Customer Service
Improve your packaging
Improve your Email Marketing
Set up a customer loyalty program
7. Increase your Average Order Value
Increasing your average order value will compensate for the drop in ROAS. Here are some of the best ways to increase your AOV.
Create an order minimum for ‘free shipping’ and other gifts
Bundle products or create packages
Upsell or cross-sell complementary products
Improve your Products
Increase product selection
8. Increase your website Conversion Rate
Conversion rate optimisation is the process of converting visitors into buyers by increasing their confidence and trust in your products and brand. Here are 7 Ways to increase your conversion rate.
Simplify the user experience
Use high-quality product images
Showcase your product reviews
Send abandoned cart emails
Offer free shipping
Make sure your site is mobile responsive
Have a clear refund policy
9. Improve your Creatives
The average Facebook and/or Instagram user scrolls through 300 feet (The length of Wembley Football pitch) of Newsfeed per day. Here are 4 Questions you should ask yourself when creating an ad.
Who is it for?
why will they (target audience) stop?
Why will they (target audience) click?
Why will they (target audience) buy?
Across our accounts, UGC content almost always performs best, with exceptions. Yotpo data also shows that UGC content has a 3x higher CTR, on average.
In Closing
Moving forward, every Brand will be dealing with the same iOS 14 challenges. If you have good business fundamentals this is just another bump in the road.
Ultimately, human buying habits and time spent on Facebook and Instagram are only increasing. The Facebook ad platform is a living machine, built to maintain an equilibrium. If ad performance drops, advertisers will pull spend, Facebook will lower CPM’s, Lower CPM’s will improve ROI, improved ROI will push advertisers to increase spend.
Despite the challenges, using historical data and metrics such as your Marketing Efficiency Ratio (MER) you can take advantage of the lowered CPM’s to acquire even more of the market share while your competition pulls spend.