How To Improve Facebook Ads Performance After iOS 14

Facebook Ads work well for businesses, big or small. But a recent privacy update for Apple devices could affect these campaigns.

Several mobile devices and online browsers are changing their rules. They want to stop tracking users across devices or pages unless users say it’s okay.

For businesses advertising on Facebook, these updates mean less user data to create effective marketing campaigns.

Are you worried about the future of your business’s Facebook ads?

Keep reading this blog to find out about the latest changes in iOS14 and how you can still get good results from your ads.

Meta Ads: Honest Opinion After iOS 14

The issue here is that Facebook should be reducing their prices as they work through their problems, ensuring that the cost per conversion (CAC) or any similar metric remains stable.

However, they are increasing their prices, maintaining their revenue while causing more small businesses to cut back or leave the platform due to inefficiencies. In this challenging environment, small businesses operate with narrow profit margins, and Meta seems to prioritize their Wall Street hedge fund investors over Main Street, where their actual business comes from.

Small businesses don’t want to be unfairly charged or used as experimental subjects in the conflict between Facebook and Apple’s turf wars

Some notable ‘deaths’ include:

• Limited targeting options
• Loss of accurate tracking
• Account bans way more freq
• Customer support non-existent
• Pages losing their organic reach

Resulting in ever-decreasing ROAS for most Ecom brands.

Here’s the reality:

• More than 2 billion people use Facebook daily
• 98.5% of Facebook users use the app via mobile device
• 30% of U.S. adults regularly get news from Facebook
• The average U.S. adult is on Facebook 35 mins a day
• 160M businesses use Facebook to speak with customers

So whilst most brands complain that Facebook and Apple have ruined their business. Others have learned to adapt. Running average content to general product pages won’t cut it in 2024. It requires much more focus and hyper-personalization.

What is iOS14?

If you’re one of the 1.46 billion people with an Apple iPhone, you’ve probably noticed changes from the iOS14 update.

Apple introduced this update in 2021 to make using the phone better.

It also added “new privacy features to give users more control over how apps use their location, photos, microphone, and camera.”

This makes sense, and many users like having more privacy. However, it’s causing problems for Facebook ads.

Why?

When you use apps like Facebook on an Apple device, you’ll see a pop-up notification like this.

Users now have the option to decide if Facebook can track what they do. This change is part of Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT).

Previously, users were automatically included, but now they can choose whether to turn it on.

As expected, only a small number of Apple users agreed to let their actions be tracked across various apps or the internet. At first, only about 2% of users agreed.

This percentage has gone up to around 10%, but it’s still much lower than before, and it has had a big effect.

Facebook marketers have seen a 15-20% decrease in earnings just four months after the update.

Throughout this year, the damage has slowly been undone as Facebook, digital marketers, and other social networking apps find ways around it.

Do Facebook Ads Still Work on iOS14?

Most companies wonder if it’s worth keeping up with Facebook ads. Will they still be effective?

The simple answer is “yes.”

Facebook ads can still connect with potential customers, but businesses may need to change their strategy.

Firstly, the 28-day attribution period got removed. Now, marketers can see what actions someone took in the 28 days before they made a decision.

The 7-day attribution will stick around, but the 7-day view-through attribution will be taken away.

There have been delays and issues in giving conversion rates and managing marketing budgets efficiently. Retargeting is still possible, but only with small audiences.

Using your own data is crucial in Facebook ads now. Marketers can’t depend on the data collected by the app.

Keep reading to find out which methods will help you steady your campaigns.

3 Reasons –  Why iOS14 Impacted Facebook Ads

Facebook ad performance has taken a hit due to changes with iOS 14, mainly revolving around targeting, reporting, and optimization.

1. Targeting: Many iOS users choose not to be tracked, resulting in smaller remarketing audiences. Lookalike audiences based on data sources are not tracked as effectively, leading to lower audience quality and ad performance.
2. Reporting: With the introduction of iOS 14.5, advertisers have noticed significant discrepancies in metrics like ROAS and CPA. A media buyer highlighted a “57% gap between sales on Shopify and Facebook reported numbers.”
3. Optimization: Apple now limits Facebook marketers to eight “conversion events” per webpage. This restriction reduces the data points available for the algorithm’s optimization processes. Smaller advertisers with limited data points from high budgets are particularly affected.

Apps and Features Unaffected by iOS 14

Here are three important advertising parts that stay the same even with Apple’s privacy improvements.

• Marketing to Facebook users:

While Facebook pixel data might not be as reliable, you can still aim your ads using Facebook’s abundant customer information. This includes basic details like gender, age, location, and interests.

• Uploading shopper lists:

You can also add lists of customers, along with email and text message subscriptions, to Facebook. This is a great way to utilize your own data for creating specific audiences, making your ads more personalized. It also helps in forming lookalike audiences to expand your outreach.

Tips On Surviving iOS14

The Apple update doesn’t mean the end for Facebook Ads. Marketers will need to gather and use more direct info from customers in their marketing.

First-Party Data is specific information you get straight from your customers. The good thing is, your customers have already agreed by giving it to you. And it’s more reliable than the data you monitor.

Here are some steps your organization can take to handle iOS14 by using your own data.

Use Facebook Lead Ad Forms

Both Facebook and Instagram let businesses run lead ads.

You just need an Instant Form that asks users for their names, email addresses, phone numbers, or specific questions about your products or services.

There are many ways to use Facebook lead ads:

• Find new customers.
• Get email addresses for a newsletter.
• Encourage downloading white papers or how-to instructions.
• Understand more about your target clients.
• Encourage registration for upcoming events or training.

You’ll collect important first-party data quickly. After that, you can use it in remarketing campaigns.

How To Remarket With 1st Party Data

Have you been collecting your own data for a long time? If yes, you’re ahead of many others using Facebook Ads after iOS14.

The good news is it’s not too late to start using lead ads to gather more personalized data from your target audience.

Once you’ve used Facebook Ads to get a lot of new data, the next step is to use it for reaching out to potential customers again.

As mentioned earlier, iOS14 has made Facebook’s pixel less dependable. Instead, upload the recently created customer list into Ads Manager. From there, you can focus on targeting that list directly.

Use Energetic Ad Images & Copy

Now that you’re paying attention to the information you already have and smaller groups of people, you must make sure that the ads you create are outstanding.

Here’s an example of a great ad from Lego:

One big advantage of creating ads using your own information is that you already know what your target audience wants. You talk to them regularly and, ideally, organize your customer list based on interests or habits.

This ensures that your ads will be much more personalized compared to creating them for a massive audience of half a million people. Make sure to use clear pictures in your ads that are attractive and intriguing.

You’ll need to choose a great copywriter to represent your brand. If not, you can do it yourself by following these clever copywriting tips:

• Find a unique angle to grab a user’s attention
• Learn the customer’s pain points and craft your copy around it
• Make your writing clear and concise
• Get your potential customers excited

Facebook also offers free online guides for mastering its advertising platform. Various marketing goals and ad formats are available for use.

There are also limits to the amount of text you can upload, but you can easily avoid them with clear and brief copywriting. Next, pick your audience (your customer list) and budget. After iOS14, figuring out the right budget might involve some trial and error.

Verify Your Domain & Set Eight Conversion Events

Facebook suggests that businesses confirm their domains. But what exactly does this mean?

By doing this, you are telling Facebook which of your Business Managers has the power to set up and prioritize conversion events.

It’s seen as a good practice because only one person can adjust your settings, which is particularly important if you have many accounts linked to yours.

If you don’t have any domains, just go to Business Settings > Brand Safety > Domains and start adding one. Then, verify it!

Facebook’s Aggregated Event Measurement limits domains to tracking eight conversion events, now extended to monitor online activities.

Choose the eight events most impactful for your business, and you can prioritize them. If a customer triggers multiple events on your site, only the highest-priority event will be recorded.

Customizing events on the spot is no longer an option for marketers.

Discover how to verify your domain validity here.

Use Google Analytics To Verify Data

Your website’s Google Analytics can help you avoid negative impacts from iOS14. Google Analytics uses a last-click approach, which, though based on cookies, can offer valuable insights.

You can start by comparing your historical Facebook campaign stats with what you see in Google Analytics.

We’re unsure if the previous campaign data will stay on Facebook, but for now, it can help you figure out how much is being underreported. It’s a good idea to download the data now before there’s a chance it might be lost.

Another way is to check your Google Analytics Device Reports to compare your past and current traffic under iOS14.

Even more interestingly, Google Analytics 4 uses machine learning to link data from different browsers and devices.

Is Facebook Ads Still Worth It? [The Conclusion]

We covered many things in this blog and went over some advanced technical settings. Some of these might be new to you.

You’re probably wondering if Facebook ads are worth it.

We think they are. And we’re sure enough to give the same advice to our clients.

With almost three billion users, Facebook is one of the best places to promote your products or services. The trick to dealing with iOS14 is to adjust how you gather data and use it to make ads.