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How Are Advertisers Handling iOS 14's Mobile Tracking Update?

Digital Advertising

If most of your sales come from running paid ads on Facebook and involves tracking user activity on Google so you can optimize your ad spend, then you’ve probably felt the impact of Apple’s iOS 14.5 update.

In case you’re not aware, the update limits your ability to track and collect data from Apple mobile users. This makes it much more difficult for you to deliver highly personalized ads and reach your target audience.

If you noticed that your ad campaigns are no longer as effective as they used to in generating leads and making sales, then it probably has something to do with this update.

How are advertisers handling these mobile tracking changes? And, what can you do so you can still run social media and online ads successfully?

As a Miami SEO company, we’ll tell you how we’ve been handling the iOS 14 mobile tracking changes so you can get an idea of what you should do too.

What Are Advertisers Doing to Handle iOS 14’s Mobile Tracking Update? 

person analyzing data on smartphone

With more than 90% of users opting out of data tracking, it’s safe to say that running social media and online ads will never be the same. However, this doesn’t mean that you can no longer achieve success using Facebook ads and retargeting. Of course, you still can!

Here’s how:

Focus on Android Campaigns

The iOS 14.5 update only affects Apple devices and users. This means that you can still continue to run sponsored app ad campaigns that specifically target android devices and users.

When running android app campaigns, your ad will automatically appear in tablets, wearables, other smart devices, and in other apps as promotional advertising.

What's even better is that you don't have to use retargeting to show your ads to app users. All you have to do is link your Google Ads account to your Google Play Developer Account and that's it!

There are more than 130 million android smartphone uses in the U.S. alone. That's 17 million more than the total number of apple users in America! So, don't lose hope.

Instead, shift your focus to android campaigns. Take it from the best Miami SEO company!

Use Your Website’s Analytics Tools

Since you won’t be able to track your target audience’s behavior online anymore, specifically Apple users, then you should just use your website’s tracking capabilities.

Using Google Analytics and other website tracking tools, you can monitor new and returning users, demographics, retentions, conversions, events, engagement, and more. Plus, you can use UTM parameters to monitor a few of the activities on your Facebook ad campaigns.

Learn more about your ideal customers, their behavior, how they go about your website, what works, and what doesn’t work. You can then create audiences based on your web visitors, and use those info for your targeting when running ads on social media or Google.

Turn Your Organic Efforts Up

Another area to focus on is your organic marketing strategy. By publishing highly engaging blogs posts, guest posts, case studies, and by posting more frequently on social media, you can boost your brand’s presence online and naturally generate traffic to your business over time.  

So, rather than focusing solely on paid advertising or sponsored posts, you should also look into strengthening your brand online.

Spread Out Your Ad Spend

google adwords application

60% of ad spend goes to big ad publishers like Facebook, Google, and Amazon. But, according to Harris Insights & Analytics, consumers only spend 34% of their time on these platforms. This suggests a misalignment between where ad dollars are going, and where consumers spend their time.

Where do people spend most of their time online? On the open web.

Open web refers to any online property, site, or app, that isn’t owned by major technology companies. Examples of open web are CNN, BuzzFeed, Taste of Home, and the New York Times.

If you look at how people are spending their time on the open web compared to social media, you'll observe that the people on these platforms are in the mood to learn more. On the other hand, consumers who are on Facebook or Instagram are not paying attention and are more likely to be zoning out.

This implies that the open web is where people go to seek high-quality content. In fact, 74% of people say that they trust articles on news sites or apps more than what they see on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

The latest news about how Facebook feeds on spreading fake news and how they prioritize profit over people are also driving some users to use the platform less.

The bottom line is, you should look into diversifying your ad spend by promoting your business on the open web.

Turn to Your Owned Data

Owned data refers to information your company acquires by the nature of doing business. If you can no longer collect and track data because of the iOS 14.5 update, then turn to your data to lead your campaigns.

You can use your very own customer data to retarget those people or those similar to them.

Try Other Ways to Reach Your Target Audience on Facebook

Since audience insights are no longer available, you should look into other options to target your audience on Facebook.

Here are some tips you should try:

  • Use basic demographics (age, location, gender)
  • Lead generation campaign on Messenger through an automated chat template
  • Facebook Lead Ads
  • Target audience based on their interest
  • Use buyer profiles to target shoppers who are ready to convert
  • Target Android users

Remember, not all of your ideal customers are Apple users. You can still use the same targeting technique you’ve used in the past to run social media and online ads successfully.

Looking for a Top Miami SEO Company?

businessman working on seo

The iOS 14.5 mobile tracking update really changed the way advertisers run online and social media ads. The good news is, there are still other ways to reach your ideal customers and generate leads on Facebook and Google - just like the ones we shared above!

Try these tips and see if they work for you!

If you need professional assistance with running effective ads online, this Miami SEO Company can help! We at Digital Resource specialize in helping small businesses achieve success online through effective SEO, paid ads, social media marketing, and reputation management.

Contact us today to get started!

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