What really happens behind the scenes of the tech giants in California most of the time often has little impact on your online marketing. Google and Apple, for example, may be competitors, but somehow they get along peacefully. Your Google "My Business Account" can therefore be accessed in the browser and on Android devices just as easily as from the iPhone.
However, with the latest iOS 14 update (iOS 14.5 and later), Apple has caused a small quake, the aftermath of which has really made huge waves right up to local SMEs. But what exactly is the reason for this?
More transparency in tracking. This is the exact wording with which Apple wants to make the blocking of trackers more appealing to its users. Apple does not automatically prohibit apps from tracking data, it is just that they are no longer allowed to track across different websites if explicitly requested.
So anyone who is annoyed by browsing through an online shoe store in their browser and then being bombarded with advertisements for shoes on their Facebook or Instagram account should breathe a sigh of relief. What means more privacy for many is nothing short of a nightmare for marketing teams. After all, in recent years, they have adapted to the fact that tracking can be seamless across websites, apps and social media accounts. In terms of a consistent user experience, this also makes perfect sense, as ads can be integrated into the natural workflow of users and they see ads for products that actually interest them.
If you own an iPhone or iPad, you may have already noticed the update. When you open Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or even eBay Classifieds, you will see a window in which the app explicitly asks you for permission to track you in the apps of other providers and when browsing.
In this window, the app operators can place a personalized message and make it clear why users should allow tracking. If apps can present their case credibly, there is actually nothing to prevent permission. However, many users are likely to have little trust in Facebook and co. and their handling of personal data. This is particularly unfortunate because it is not the large social media companies that are affected in the first step, but the smaller companies with smaller budgets that rely on big data for personalized advertising.
By the way, users also have the freedom to generally prohibit app tracking in the settings, in which case apps are no longer allowed to ask. In Germany, the Central Association of the German Advertising Industry and publishers' associations, among others, have joined forces to take action against this at the Federal Cartel Office. It remains to be seen whether Google will follow suit with a similar system for Android. However, it is undisputed that Apple can place privacy much more credibly in the foreground than Google, whose system is based on advertising and data.
Facebook in particular has fiercely opposed the deactivation of advanced tracking and has once again emphasized that smaller companies in particular would suffer as a result. While this argument is not wrong on the merits, it is of course also up to Facebook to better share the available data with smaller companies.
In recent years, with Cambridge Analytica and subsequent disinformation campaigns, Facebook has shown more than clearly that the company is happy to blur the line between fair data use and data misuse - as long as it is in its own interests and keeps users on the platform for longer.
Since the iOS 14 update, the fact that users pass on data to Facebook, Instagram or TikTok via trackers that they don't actually want to pass on is a thing of the past.
The data records that Facebook, Instagram or WhatsApp track include location data, address, name, telephone number, device ID, user ID, contacts, search histories and email address. This very precise picture of Facebook users is primarily used to offer more relevant advertising, but is also an intrusion into private data records that many users are not even aware of.
But what can you do specifically and how do you prepare your online marketing for the changes?
Monitoring and reporting are affected by changes in real time. So if you are used to being able to see conversions immediately via Shopify and assign them to the appropriate ads, you will need a little more patience in future.
This complicates and delays the optimization for campaigns across platforms, but could be a reason for you to rely more on the Facebook and Instagram stores. This way, all data sets remain on one platform.
Interest-based targeting is very much affected, as Facebook will be working with fewer data sets in future. This is a bitter loss for interests in particular, as they are often based on data from browsers and search engines.
You should therefore no longer set your audiences so narrowly in the settings, but start with a broader base. The social media algorithm can then sort by itself. This is no longer as lean and elegant as it once was, but is ultimately still just as functional.
You will miss the data most painfully with retargeting, as you won't reach your website visitors as quickly on social media.
Increase the focus on lead generation on your website and get in touch with all interested parties directly - without detours via social media.
The iOS 14 update is not the end for online marketing, even if Facebook would like to portray it that way. It puts a stop to the excessive collection of data, which is in the long-term interests of all users.
If you do your job properly and focus on high-quality content, you are unlikely to be affected anyway. Because advertising on social media will become one thing above all else in future: more competitive. So don't shy away from the competition!
With our free whitepaper, you are also well equipped when it comes to qualifying leads and unique content. We will also be happy to help you in a personal consultation when it comes to social media campaigns, online marketing or search engine optimization.