How the iOS 14 Update Will Impact Facebook Ads

If you are doing any advertising on Facebook, you have probably heard about the upcoming Apple update to iOS 14 and how it could directly impact your campaigns—both in terms of how you target keywords and how you measure success. Let’s break down what those changes are and what you can be doing to prepare your account for the upcoming release.

So What Is Happening to Facebook Ads with iOS 14?

Before we break down how you can prepare for these changes, let’s unpack what is happening with the iOS 14 update.

Under this new iOS release, Apple requires all App Store applications with any tracking in place to prompt users with a notification alerting them of this tracking. Users can then choose to opt out of this tracking. 

As more and more users opt out of Facebook tracking, marketers will have a harder time retargeting users and tracking offline or in-app conversions. This update can also impact how we build audiences—such as lookalike audiences—on the platform.

Preparing for the iOS 14 Update

As you are getting ready for the iOS 14 update to hit your Facebook Ads account, there are a few things that Facebook recommends you do first:

1: UPDATE FACEBOOK SDK

First, if you are using a mobile app where you need to do any targeting or tracking, make sure you update to the latest version of Facebook’s SDK (software development kit) for tracking things like conversion events.

2: VERIFY YOUR DOMAIN

Second, make sure to verify your domain within the Facebook Ads and Business Manager interfaces.

3: LIMIT YOUR TRACKING

Third, limit your conversion and event tracking to only eight actions and ensure that those are all specific to a single domain.

4: AVOID RELIANCE ON IMAGE TAGS

Finally, avoid using any pixels that rely on image tags to implement and track conversions.

What Is Changing to Facebook Advertising?

Even if you do all these things perfectly, you should still expect some changes to the way your Facebook Ads account performs—specifically for iOS 14 users. You will likely see these impacts in your reporting and targeting:

CHANGES IN REPORTING

First, there is a reporting component to consider. You should expect both a delay in reporting and limited access to things like breakdown data or longer attribution windows, specifically when dealing with iOS 14 users. 

CHANGES IN TARGETING

Additionally, there are some limitations to targeting. Your retargeting lists are going to be much less effective if Facebook cannot identify all of those users through iOS 14. To prepare, you should be ready to use alternative methods of retargeting your customers—like custom audiences from an email list.

Overview: The iOS 14 Update

When it comes to Apple’s new iOS 14 privacy update, remember to check in with your Facebook Ads account to look for all of these best practices and implement them as soon as you are able. Even after you implement them, keep tabs on your results to track and adjust to these changes. We should expect major shifts in the way that Facebook Ads perform for iOS 14 users. And remember to always be optimizing.