Working in Online Marketing and providing services such as Facebook Advertising to businesses throughout Sussex; it’s important for us to keep up-to-date with the latest developments and updates that may affect our online marketing strategies for our clients.
That’s why we are busy keeping track of how the latest IOS update from Apple affects Facebook Ads Delivery. IOS 14.5 has been in the pipeline since the start of this year and was released a few weeks ago. The update had a number of improvements and bug fixes; but one of the major updates to the operating system was the ability to prevent apps from tracking user behaviours.
You may have noticed that if you have a look at particular products and services online, perhaps shopping for a new pair of sunglasses; you might start seeing ads for sunglasses pop up more often, maybe also advertising for holiday destinations.
This is because when you visit most websites, they are tracking what products you are looking at. They want to be able to understand what kind of products you are looking for so that they can entice you to buy them. Facebook offers a tool that tracks it’s users on some websites and is then able to build up an incredibly accurate picture of your personality, career, and other important traits. Advertisers can then use Facebook to advertise, for example to people that are interested in sunglasses.
Simply by looking at sunglasses online, it can tell Facebook that you’re interested in buying a new pair of sunglasses or perhaps even going on holiday soon. This is such a powerful tool for advertisers and is a great way of getting your business seen by the right people.
However, the latest update from Apple has meant that Facebook’s tracking tool can be blocked from users devices.
What is Apple’s New Tracking Update in IOS 14.5?
Apple’s latest update gives users the option to ‘block’ any data collection and tracking tools used by Apps on their devices. This means that Facebook’s tracking tool is not able to collect any data on user habits on all IOS devices. With over 1 billion active iPhone’s worldwide, this is a considerable number of people that Facebook is no longer able to track.
Facebook has released a statement regarding the IOS 14.5 update, and has said the following;
In response to these changes, we will also start processing pixel conversion events from iOS 14 devices using Aggregated Event Measurement. This will support your efforts to preserve user privacy and help you run effective campaigns.
We’ll provide updates and additional resources to support businesses advertising on our platform as they become available.
Facebook Business Help Centre
Facebook are expecting the update will have some kind of effect on Facebook Ads, but they are working hard to make sure that the use of Facebook tracking tools and Facebook Ads remains a powerful tool for online marketing.
What this means for Sokada’s Strategies
We have been following developments between Facebook and the latest IOS update for a few months and we were aware of the effects this may have on our own Facebook Ad strategies. Thankfully, we have been able to monitor the situation as it develops, and the Facebook Ads we have running have not been affected by the update.
We are however continuing to monitor the situation, and will certainly adapt our strategies if necessary.
Interested in Using Facebook Ads?
If you haven’t heard of Facebook Marketing and its powerful tracking tool, you might be interested in finding out how it can help to advertise your business online. If you’d like to find out more about Facebook Advertising and the services we provide using social media, click here. If you’d like to speak to us about how we can help you with your online marketing strategy, call us on 01435 817 226 or email enquiries@sokada.co.uk.