From Monday April 26th, Apple will offer a software upgrade in the form of iOS 14.5. As part of this upgrade, Apple is rolling out a new requirement for App Developers known as App Tracking Transparency.
From now on, App Developers will be required to gain explicit permission from users in order to track activity across devices. Additionally, developers will need to be clear about how they intend to use any collected data, giving users more say on private information shared with companies.
You may have heard those within the business and marketing sphere speak of the impacts this will have for many advertisers.
What does this mean for you?
Firstly, it is important to note that these changes will only impact Apple device users. Your audience and potential customers who use Android or other devices will be unaffected.
Previously, Apple device users had to manually opt out of tracking features. But now, they will be faced with the question of opting in, with iOS 14.5 users actively thinking about data collection before making a decision. This has prompted concerns from companies like Facebook who rely on tracking as part of their advertising business model.
Concerns have been raised because the primary way advertisers have the ability to serve ads on an app, promoting a product users had been browsing for on an entirely different app, is through a unique identifying code known as the Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA). This code is linked to a user’s device, collecting data from the first app and sharing it with the second.
Facebook has voiced their worries about the impact this may have for small to medium-sized businesses. The social media giant uses a similar process to track clicks and activity across their app and various websites with their ‘pixel’. Without explicit permission from users of iOS 14.5, the pixel may not be able to provide the best possible results and therefore lead to inaccurate user reports. This may make it more difficult to target specific audiences with your adverts.
Adapting to these changes
While a change like this can be worrying, there are steps we can take as marketers to respond to iOS 14.5. At teclan, we will be carefully monitoring our clients’ Facebook ads, communicating and implementing our recommendations if we notice a significant change. It is important to remember that there are a number of creative ways to promote your business online and across apps organically which should not be signifcantly impacted by these upcoming changes.
The team at teclan is ready to support you with any concerns you may have about these changes from Apple. Additionally, our experts can help you optimise your reach and drive results through our Digital Marketing services.
Get in touch if you would like to learn more about how we can help grow your business online.
