How Apple’s New iOS 14 Update Will Affect Your Facebook Ads

If you haven’t heard the news on Apple’s new iOS 14 update and how it will affect your advertisements on Facebook, then we are here to break it to you. Unfortunately, due to this update, ads will be less effective on Facebook. Yes, that means businesses will suffer, especially the small ones. But we have to be optimistic and somehow turn this dreadful fate around by getting ourselves educated and doing all we can to deal with this update head-on! Although there is a lot to do to prepare for and understand this new update and how it will affect Facebook, we wanted to give you the basics on where to start. Let’s get into it!

The Main Focus of Apple’s iOS 14 Update

The main focus of the new iOS 14 update is privacy and data usage. Any app downloaded from the App Store will now have a product page where users can learn about how the app uses their data. This means developers will now need to provide details on their privacy policies, the data they collect, and how they want to use that data. These updates are necessary for user privacy and trust but affect Facebook advertising the most as user data ultimately targets their ads. 

How Will iOS 14 Affect Facebook Ads?

Moving forward, apps like Facebook will require permission from users in order to track them. The problem is that most people like their privacy or won’t bother changing their settings. Unfortunately, users will be automatically opted-out from data collection, needing to opt-in under their Facebook settings. Another adverse part of the update is that developers cannot request user permission by sending notifications, so most users won’t even know they are opted-out. In blatant terms, ads will be less effective on Facebook, making it harder for small businesses to reach their target audience. This ultimately limits a business’s growth and sales, deeming it near impossible to compete with big companies.

Facebook does not agree with these privacy settings. They are concerned about the effect on small businesses and how much they will be spending on their Facebook ads moving forward. However, if they don’t show this new iOS 14 prompt, Facebook gets blocked from the App Store as Apple will require all apps to show a discouraging prompt to users on iOS devices. Since Facebook has no control over the matter, they are taking action by processing pixel conversion events from iOS 14 devices using the new Aggregated Events Measurement tool. This new tool will support all your business’s efforts of obtaining user privacy and aids in running your ad campaigns effectively. With all that being said, there’s still hope that your sales will not diminish. It’s time to prepare and do your research!

How You Can Prepare

For Optimization on Your Business’s App:

Update to Facebook SDK for iOS Version 8.1 or Above

Updating to Facebook SDK for iOS version 8.1 or above will allow you to personalize your ads to iOS 14 users. You need this update to have any kind of success with iOS 14 users, so make sure you get this done! Since personalization and targeting users will be the main concern with the new update, you’ll want to do everything you can in personalizing your ads. You will also be able to measure and optimize for app-installed ads and continue to receive a report on app conversion events. 

After you make this update, use Event Manager to configure your event configuration schema. To learn how to do this, click here!

Utilize the Advertiser Tracking Enabled Flag

When sending app events from now on, you should always use the Advertiser Tracking Enabled flag parameter. This is only available once you have updated to Facebook SDK for iOS version 8.1 or above, so make sure that’s completed. The Advertiser Tracking Enabled flag sends Facebook permission to use event data for ads in line with your platform terms, commitments, and obligations. You will want to make sure the flag is set to yes, opting you into tracking. If it is set to no, then you’ll stay opted-out. Facebook will now rely solely on these settings. If the flag has no value set, you will automatically be opted-out, decreasing your sales and commission.

Learn more from Facebook here.

For Optimization on Your Business’s Website:

Verify Your Website’s Domain

To avoid any disruption of your website’s advertisements, you will have to verify your website’s domain. Google does a great job of explaining this process. Domain verification is important for this new update, especially domains with pixels used by multiple personal advertisement accounts or businesses. The Aggregated Events Measurement tool will configure pixel conversion events, which will help your ads in the long run. 

Configure Eight Web Conversions Per Domain

Using the Events Manager tool, configure eight of your most preferred web conversion events for each domain. You will have to do this because Aggregated Events Measurement only allows businesses to use eight conversion events for campaign optimization. Any events that are not configured as one of the eight conversion events per domain can still be reported partially in Ads Manager and website Custom Audience targeting. This step allows you to use Facebook’s new Aggregated Events Measurement, a tool that can help your business significantly when it comes to the iOS 14 changes.

Educate Yourself and Measure Performance

AT the end of the day, a lot is happening with this new update and Facebook ads, so the best thing you can do for your business right now to prepare yourself is to learn more from multiple sources and gain knowledge. We’ve provided some links to other reliable sources at the end of the blog, so make sure to check those out for more detailed information!

Lastly, make sure you are constantly measuring the performance of your ads. This will let you know exactly how they are being affected by the new update. If you find they are drastically being affected, then continue your research. Remember, we all want to stay educated in the digital world as it is an ever-changing environment – digital maturity is crucial for your business!

New Ad Limitations On iOS 14

Lastly, we want to give you the heads up on Facebook’s ad limitations caused by Apple’s new update. These limitations do not affect any of your current ads as they only apply to app-installed ads on iOS 14. If you plan on creating campaigns specifically on iOS 14 devices, Facebook will require you to create separate app install advertisements for iOS 14 devices. 

Here’s a list of the other limitations for iOS 14 ads:

• Each app will be limited to nine IOS campaigns at once
• Each campaign is only allowed five ad sets of the same optimization set
• Your business’s app can only be associated with one ad account
• If you own multiple apps, the same ad account can be associated will all of them

Contact UV Designs

Although Apple’s new iOS 14 update is disappointing for many small businesses, we hope this blog provided you with some basic information on the update and how to prepare for it the best you can. As this is a lengthy and complicated topic, we encourage you to continue your research on this new update and how it will affect your Facebook ads. Click on the educational links we’ve provided below to learn more and stay tuned for our next blog!

Contact UV Designs today to help with your company’s digital transformation. We will help your business thrive in the digital world!

How Apple’s iOS 14 Release May Affect Your Ads and Reporting

Facebook SDK for iOS

iOS 14 and Facebook Ads: What We Know

Apple’s iOS 14 Update