What charities need to know about the Spring 2021 iOS14 update

6 April 2021  |  Stuart Palmer

September 2020 saw Apple launch the latest update to its operating system, iOS14. It was originally going to include new privacy protection measures, including restrictions on third-parties accessing its Advertising Identifier.

However, shortly before the update’s release, Apple revealed that the new measures would be optional until early 2021. We now know that they will be compulsory in version 14.5 which is expected to be with us by April 2021 at the latest.

What does this mean for charities?

This update will affect any charities who currently use social ads to reach out to potential donors or fundraisers. This includes those investing in Facebook Ads, Instagram Ads and Messenger Ads as well as ad networks offered by other companies.

Facebook have been vocal in their opposition to the update. Along with other third parties, the social media giant has used Apple’s ‘Identifier for Advertisers’ (IDFA), to track the behaviour of iPhone and iPad users across the internet.

With its billions of users, Facebook has been able to harness this data to pinpoint which Facebook Ads campaigns have been successful, tying ad views and clicks to purchases, donations, sign-ups and multiple custom events. Using machine learning, Facebook has managed to build accurate ‘lookalike’ audience profiles to help advertisers expand and refine.

It is estimated that around 70% of Apple users currently allow third-party tracking, more than enough for accurate behaviour modelling. But when Apple starts using its AppTrackingTransparency (ATT) prompt to ask app users to opt in, this percentage is expected to fall dramatically.

If this happens, Facebook’s data stream will be effectively turned down to a trickle. Instead of a clear picture of who’s supporting their cause, charities using Facebook Ads will be presented with a rough idea based on a much smaller data pool. As campaigns becomes more hit and miss, ad spend will go up and conversions will likely go down.

Battle for hearts and minds

The iOS14 ad privacy update has split the internet into two camps. On Apple’s side are those who believe that a mobile user’s right to privacy trumps advertisers’ attempts to target them with products, services and, in the case of charities, requests for support.

On Facebook’s side are businesses and charities who feel their ability to serve personalised ads to customers, donors and volunteers serves the needs of both users and advertisers.

Mirroring the conflict, Facebook app users will now see a Facebook prompt (recommending they opt in to tracking) before being presented with Apple’s new ATT prompt.

The rule of eight

Facebook have responded to the data modelling challenge ahead by restructuring the way advertisers can use its pixel (a piece of code that can be placed on their website) to track events.

The switch to Aggregated Event Management will mainly affect larger charities with detailed targeting campaigns because it restricts the number of events that an advertiser can record to eight.

Facebook Advertisers will also no longer be able to link conversions to campaigns they ran more than a week earlier because Facebook will be removing the current 28 day ‘attribution window’.

How should charities react to the changes?

We recommend that charities using Facebook Ads (or any other social advertising service) should look very carefully at how much data is currently collected from iOS devices.

If the majority of your donations, registrations, etc. currently come from supporters using iPhones and iPads, you can expect your marketing ROI to fall as your campaigns become less effective at reaching these people.

If you don’t have a strong idea of your audience, now is the time to use historical campaign data to draw some conclusions. Whatever social ads network you use (Facebook Ads, TikTok Ads, Pinterest Ads, etc.) take a look back through your most recent reports and draw up what conclusions you can. Make sure Google Analytics is up and running too as this could help flesh out some of your data.

For heavy Facebook Ads users, decide on which eight events you want to track and put them in priority order. Verify your website domain through Facebook Business Manager.

It might also be a good idea to allocate some resources to a lead generation campaign (either through Facebook Ads or another ad network) to grow your email subscriber list.

Whether you are with Team Apple or Team Facebook, the new privacy controls in iOS14 will present a major challenge to cross-platform ad optimisation. Charities need to quickly come up with a plan to future-proof support from Apple device users.