How Marketers Can Respond to Apple’s IDFA
There are 4.33 billion social media users globally. This means that 4 out of 7 people in the world use either Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, or Twitter, and other social media platforms. No wonder a social media agency Hong Kong noted the importance of these networks for both brands and consumers alike. However, the rules are changing. This makes it challenging to market on different social media platforms. Lately, Apple’s announcement on its iOS 14 updates has stirred controversies. It may significantly have an effect on social media ads and analytics. As it took effect last 26 of April, there is nothing more marketers can do to stop it. So, here’s how marketers can respond to Apple’s IDFA.
What Is Apple’s IDFA?
One of the updates included in Apple’s iOS 14 is Apple’s IDFA. In the older iOS version, the system uses a media access control (MAC) and a unique device identifier (UDID). This is to give Apple users a choice over their privacy controls. A UDID is a permanent device identifier. This is how advertisers and marketers track the actions of an iPhone user. Because of its permanency, Apple users cannot turn it off. In 2012, Apple introduced an identifier for advertisers (IDFA). It is a unique identifier among mobile devices for advertisers to track the users’ actions. Starting 2013, iOS 6 to iOS 11, Apple started rejecting apps that need UDID and MAC access. The IDFA was left as the only ID app that advertisers can access for iPhone users. A digital marketing speaker Hong Kong notes that most advertisers and marketers use Apple’s IDFA for the following:
- Ad fraud detection
- Ad targeting and retargeting
- Attribution
- Campaign measurement
- Frequency capping
On 22 June 2020, Apple announced the reimagined iOS 14 experience. Such an operating system focused on the user’s privacy and security. A significant change in the system is the need for apps to ask permission from an iOS user to opt in before it can access IDFA. Apple’s app store will also feature a summary of self-reported privacy practices among developers. iOS users can also upgrade their accounts to share their location with app developers. Such location access promotes better transparency in using iOS cameras and microphones.
Apple’s iOS 14 IDFA policy is somewhat scary among advertisers and marketers. This is the reason why it stirred controversies among social media networks. A video marketing agency Hong Kong predicts that the opt-in rate can only be around 15% to 20%. So those who will decline, which is a whopping 80%, will be zeroed out making it useless to advertise among iOS users. Users who opt out can still be shown some ads, but they will largely be based on contextual targeting.
How Can Marketers Can Respond to Apple’s IDFA?
Advertisers and marketers whose large customer base are using iPhones will definitely be affected by Apple’s iOS 14 IDFA policy. Here are 6 tips on how they can respond to such a strict privacy and security measure.
The first step on how marketers can respond to Apple’s IDFA is to segment target audiences according to Android and iOS users. Remember that the iOS 14 updates will only affect iPhone users. Thus, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and other social media platforms can still track the data of Android users across the internet. Brands and businesses should aim to strengthen their Android campaigns to gather more conversions and leads. This is to supplement the loss of targeting iOS users.
Second, it is high time for marketers to prioritize valuable events. Facebook Pixel events will receive data per domain. These include content completion, registration, and viewing. Through the 8 priorities offered by Facebook Pixel advertisers can track the following during the event:
- Add a product to a cart.
- Make a purchase.
- Open a product page.
- Remove an item from a cart.
- Visit a landing page.
- Visit another page.
Another way in how marketers can respond to Apple’s IDFA is by verifying their domain to enable Conversions API. This is to ensure that the data received by a brand’s pixels are accurate. Conversions API allows brands to share customers’ actions, offline events, and key web applications directly from a server. They don’t use cookies so they are not limited or restricted to data collections.
Enabling value optimization (VO) through Facebook’s machine learning is also another way on how marketers can respond to Apple’s IDFA. It allows advertisers to bid for the highest value of users that will most likely take actions desired by the marketers. Here are the requirements to enable value optimization on Facebook:
- Must have an active Facebook Pixel
- Must have an active Product Catalog on a Facebook Page
- Must have an active Software Development Kit (SDK)
- Priority on Purchase Event
- With more than 100 Distinct Purchases within the last 7 days
- With more than 100 Optimized Purchases within the last 10 days
The last way on how a marketer can respond to Apple’s IDFA is by integrating independent tracking and retargeting practices. This means exploring new strategies through different audiences, bids, and events. You can use your website’s tracking system to launch retarget ads. Manual collection of data may be time-consuming but it can help in your ad performances in different ways.
The Bottom Line
There are no ways advertisers and marketers can prevent the implementation of Apple’s IDFA policy. What they should focus on is how to respond to such updates in a clever way. It’s a good idea to start looking for ways to combat its negative effects. By following the above tips, you’ll surely reap the benefits of achieving your marketing goals despite the IDFA update.
Reference: https://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/how-marketers-can-respond-to-apple-ios-14-privacy-update/