The (other) dark side of iOS14+

“Performance has tanked”

This is quote from ROAS Media in Singapore from 2021 - but if you work in digital marketing, you’ve probably voiced some similar words too by now.

It’s been over a year since the rollout of iOS14.5, resulting in 96% of iOS users opting out of in-app tracking. While Facebook saw a $10billion decline in sales, SMEs have been hit even harder. RoAS is plummeting - while marketers lose visibility over important campaign insights.

‍

Less data = worse decisions = wasted marketing spend.

This loss of attribution and declining ROAS is just one implication of Apple’s latest moves. Digging deeper though - now that over a year has gone by since these changes took effect, we’ve been able to spot an emerging trend in FB advertising.

Here’s what it really means if iOS users are blocked from FB ad tracking:

‍

1. Less affluent users to reach

2. Ad spend optimized towards the wrong users

‍

According to Comscore, the median iPhone app user earns $85,000 per year, which is 40 percent more than the median Android phone user with an annual income of $61,000. 

They make more, and they spend more.

That in of itself isn’t breaking news. But for brands targeting demographics of “higher-value” (i.e more lucrative) customers, we’re seeing the Facebook algorithm optimizing towards android users - as those are the conversions that can be tracked. 

The (potential) result? A lower purchase value per customer.

Here’s one example:

‍

‍

This a snapshot of an Australia-based e-commerce clothing store’s Google Analytics, looking over a 12-month period from June 2021-2022. They target an affluent female market, and repeat purchases are responsible for 78% of their revenue. Ensuring that the right users are being driven to the site is critical for revenue growth via retention/repeat customers.

Since the rollout of iOS 14+, their marketing team are facing an increasingly bleak outlook.

Despite specifically targeting iOS users, they have seen a 98% increase in Android users over the past 12 months, and only a 4% increase in iOS users. 

While ROAS is in decline, a marginal decline in per-customer sales revenue is starting to be tracked now too. 

Obviously, multiple variables influence their Average Purchase Value. But with campaign budgets remaining consistent, and targeting focused on demographics with the highest disposable income - their marketing team are pointing the finger at iOS14.

This is just one of many examples we’ve heard of this happening, so are confident in this being one of the root causes.

It’s not all bad news though.

Facebook, Tiktok and Snapchat have all rolled out new Conversion API solutions to restore the connection between conversions and campaigns for in-app iOS users. 

‍

‍What is Conversion API?

Put simply, Conversions API allows advertisers to directly pass conversion events to the ad platform via a Server-to-Server (S2S) integration. 

As described by Hootsuite: “It allows you to track conversions through your website’s server, rather than through your customer’s browser. Instead of tracking “browser pixel events,” it tracks “server events” - making this data less prone to disruption. 

With this in place, ad tools like Facebook can correctly monitor the events driving conversions and use that data to optimize for the right users. 

Now, the not-so-good news…

Installing this is passing costs onto businesses and advertisers already faced with inflated digital media costs and rising competition online. Conversion API requires developer time, can be costly to cover all conversion events - and after that, marketing teams are left to assume that it’s working. Tracking the effectiveness of the install is an elusive quest, with many installing it and then “hoping for the best”.

Now time for the shameless plug: This is why, with RescueMetrics, we’ve added an automated Conversion API feature which can be enabled in 1-step.

RescueMetrics has been developed from the ground up to resolve all forms of marketing data disruption (not just from iOS changes). After the 2-step RescueMetrics install, you can enable Conversion API for free to extend your protection to iOS user traffic.

‍Save yourself some time, headaches and spend:

Even with Facebook’s Conversion API, marketing teams, on average, are still missing up to 25% of conversion analytics. Disruptions caused by early cookie deprecation, certain VPNs, secure browsers and adblockers are responsible for more data loss than iOS 14+. 

Keen to find out if blocked data is to blame for your underperforming campaigns? Run a free trial with RescueMetrics to diagnose your data loss.