The iOS 14.5 is an incredible innovation for iPhone users, it protects their privacy and gives them a seamless experience. However, the new operating system is a bad omen for online advertisers. And if you are an online advertiser, the iOS 14.5 could be the apocalypse that may send you out of business. So, in this article, you will learn the important things every marketer needs to know about iOS 14.5.
Things Every Marketer Needs to Know About iOS 14.5
One of the most important things you should know about iOS 14.5 is that it challenges major advertising platforms (like Google and Facebook) to do things differently.
Read Also: 6 Digital Marketing Strategies to Increase Your Sales
And the changes on these platforms will directly or indirectly affect your ads performance. So, here are some of the things you need to know about iOs 14.5;
#1. Private Click Measurement (PCM) Protocol
Implementing the PCM protocol is arguably one of the most important things every marketer needs to know about iOS 14.5.
The concept was first introduced in 2019. And what PCM protocol does is hijack tracking pixels and limit the amount of information advertising platforms like Facebook and Google can learn about users.
Even though tracking pixels make online advertising more effective, it’s at the expense of the users’ privacy. Perhaps, that is why Apple came up with this new iOS 14.5.
Before Apple implement PCM protocol in iOS 14.5, here’s how a typical cookie-based tracking works;
- Your product or service ad shows on an apple app like YouTube
- The user of that app gets attracted to the ad and clicks it
- Google places a cookie in the user’s browser as he or she arrives on your website
- The Google cookie will track the user’s behavior while on your website and when they leave the website. It will tell Google useful information about the user, this includes whether they convert or not.
- If the user makes a purchase, the cookies report to Google that the user has purchased after clicking on your ad. And if the user doesn’t convert, Google will use the cookie in the user’s browser to continuously remarket them until they convert.
However, with iOS 14.5, third-party apps can no longer place cookies on an iPhone user’s browser. Even though the user clicks on your ad, Apple stored the data in the browser or the app.
If the user converts on the same app or browser within 7 days, the browser notifies your pixels between 24 to 48 hours. However if the user converted on a different browser, it will not be reported.
#2. Conversion Tracking
Conversion tracking is also one of the things every marketer needs to know about iOS 14.5.
Like I mentioned earlier, Apple’s priority when developing iOS 14.5 is to protect its users’ privacy. So, the operating system will withhold all the information associated with your ads.
The Operating system allows Apple to store your advertising data and send some of them to the advertising platform you are using.
iOS 14.5 is designed to feature an 8- pixel event cap per domain optimization. What this means is that you can’t optimize more than eight events in your Facebook campaign.
Although you may still be able to track more than 8 events, the priority is on eight events.
If you have a complicated funnel with a limited advertising budget, iOS 14.5 may seriously impact your business.
#3. Measurement
Before Apple introduced iOS 14.5, the cookies advertising platforms like Facebook placed in a user’s browser could be there almost indefinitely. That was how advertisers could track their ads for so long and know when users convert.
But not anymore. The PCM protocol retains data from click ads for only 7 days. The advertising platforms (Facebook or Google) won’t get notified whenever there’s a conversion outside the 7 days window.
And if you are an advertiser with long sales cycles, this could pose a challenge.
However, Apple argues that no user would remember an ad for more than 7 days. The tech giant believes that it’s wrong for any ad to get credit for a sale that took longer than a week.
#4. Targeting
Generally, people advertising on platforms like Facebook and Google rely on all the data cookies provide. These advertising platforms use the information provided by the cookies to determine who will see your ads.
However, with the PCM protocol implemented in iOS 14.5, advertisers now have limited access to their audience information. And this will negatively affect audience targeting.
Again, being unable to track the people that click your ad can also affect your ability to retarget your lookalike audience.
Now you understand why targeting is one of the things every marketer needs to know about iOS 14.5.
In a nutshell, the more complex your sales funnel is, the more difficult it will be for you to target your audience and convince them to buy right away.
The changes that come with iOS 14.5 will affect small businesses the most. At least large companies can leverage their email lists to build retargeting and lookalike audiences.
Unfortunately, most small businesses may not have large email lists. Since they have a small customer base, they may not have enough email resources to launch a remarketing campaign.
These are some of the things every marketer needs to know about iOS 14.5.
Now that you understand how iOS 14.5 can affect your business. It’s advisable to start rethinking your marketing strategy.
