No matter how you look at it, the algorithms are largely based on people's behavior. So it will be harder to measure this. This could even lead to less relevant content in the timeline, which could cause people to use Facebook less.
Wait. No more remarketing because of iOS14?
Yes and no.
People will get a pop-up on their iOS device that gives them the option to stop being tracked by Facebook. If people indicate here that they no longer want to be tracked, it will no longer be possible to remarket users based on actions they have taken on their mobile.
For example, Eliza sees an ad for her favorite pair of shoes and decides to click. It’s such a great deal that she immediately decides to buy the pair on her mobile. She pays and the next day she’s walking around in her new shoes. Isn’t that great?
For the marketer of the shoe store, it is a different story. Because Eliza indicated during the iOS 14 update that she no longer wanted to be tracked, sales, (mobile) website visits and even interaction with the advertisement could not be measured by Facebook. The marketer therefore does not know how many conversions the advertisement has resulted in, but perhaps even worse: neither does Facebook. This makes it a lot more difficult for Facebook to optimize campaigns. There is a lack of essential data.
Nevertheless, this drastic change does not immediately mean the end of remarketing via Facebook or Instagram. The browser pixel events via the website will still be sent (provided that your visitors do not use an adblocker). And CAPI ( Conversions API ) events will also be sent to Facebook. More about that later.
Can I still use Custom & Lookalike Audiences?
Yes, you can still use custom audiences and lookalike audiences . Even if you use the conversions API, you will still be able to use custom and similar audiences. However, it is expected that the effectiveness of this will decrease over time, because Facebook will receive less data across the board and the size of audiences will therefore become significantly smaller.
Optimize for up to 8 conversion events per domain
Facebook announced in a recent webinar that all advertisers will be limited to using 8 conversion events per domain for optimization (both standard and custom events). Facebook will initially set this up automatically for businesses based on what they think are appropriate events for your business. Of course, as a marketer, you don’t want to lose control. That’s why they’ve announced that you’ll soon be able to customize these events yourself via a new tab in the events manager.
It is important to note that these 8 events will be reported based on a ranking of the last 28 days. For example, a user added something to his cart, later bought the product and the events 'add to cart' & 'purchase' were sent to Facebook. Then only the conversion event 'purchase' will be reported.
PANIC! What should I do?
If there is one thing we know for sure in life, it is that change is the only constant. Especially in our beautiful marketing profession. Of course, I can imagine that if you have read this and are ultimately responsible for marketing, you may be shocked. Here are a number of practical things that you (or your team) can do immediately to limit the impact.
Not easy. But essential.
The Facebook conversions API is an alternative to the Facebook pixel and allows you to send conversions to Facebook. The API does not work from the browser, but from your own server . This means you are no longer dependent on cookies.
Example: say someone buys a product on your website or contacts you via a form. Chances are that your phone number list Facebook pixel now registers these events in the browser of customers. Only if they block cookies (such as with the iOS 14 update or an adblocker on the computer), Facebook can no longer process this data. In other words, you can no longer measure exact results and Facebook can optimize your campaigns more difficultly.
The conversions API is a solution, because it can send the conversion events to Facebook without adblockers or iOS updates having an impact. This is because the events are sent from your server.
The big advantage of this is that Facebook can use this data to optimize your campaigns and you can measure results better.
Please note that your cookie notification and privacy policy are up to date and that you only send data to Facebook that people have given permission for.
2. Verify your domain with Facebook (essential)
This is an absolute must . By verifying your domain, Facebook’s machines will know which domain or website belongs to your business manager. Facebook themselves have announced that they recommend all advertisers to do this, to avoid difficulties with setting up conversion events. So there is a good chance that you will not be able to optimize specific conversion events if you do not do this.
You can easily do this yourself. There are 3 ways to verify your domain: DNS verification, HTML upload, or meta tag verification.