To end on a more positive note, here’s a recap on what you can do to ensure success with the conversion objective despite iOS 14’s limitations:
Let’s dive into each one.
This allows advertisers to derive a cost-per-action or cost-per-acquisition from the platform, giving them the ability to attribute Facebook internally and thus prove that their marketing dollars are working.
That is, you send traffic from your ads to your website or landing page in an attempt to have those visitors complete an action. Once they complete that action, it is recorded in the Facebook interface via custom conversions or events.
Keep in mind that you will need to verify your business’s domain in order to select these events.
- Verify your domain(s)
- Select eight conversion events for your domain.
- Choose your ad set attribution window.
- Rely more on internal data (Google Analytics, CRM, etc.).
- Monitor audience size.
What this verification does is demonstrates that you are connected to your business. Domain verification requires the webmaster for your domain to place a special code on your website.
1. Complete your Facebook domain verification
Facebook recommends that advertisers verify their website domain. Although they consider it a best practice, Facebook claims “it’s important to prioritize verifying your domains if your domains integrate pixels that are owned by multiple businesses or personal ad accounts.”
Like how to run Facebook ads with the conversion objective in iOS 14 as successfully as you did before.
What I mean by this is that you will want to monitor remarketing campaigns or ad sets more closely and pay attention to the spend as well as the frequency. This may be something that you already do, but with the potential for shrinking audience sizes, you might want to spend less on these ad sets in order to reduce ad fatigue and frequency.
- Domains are limited to eight conversion events that can be used for campaign optimization;
- Ad sets that are optimizing for events that are no longer available have been paused.
Back when we found out about iOS 14, there were a lot of question marks as to when it would be enforced, what it would mean for your Facebook campaigns, and how you could prepare. Now that iOS 14 is in full swing, many questions have been answered—but still more arise.
Similarly, the shortened attribution window makes it harder to tie internal reporting back to your Facebook ad efforts, making it even more important that your internal data is accurate.
3. Choose your ad set attribution window
For detailed instructions on how to set up your eight preferred web conversions, follow these directions provided by Facebook.
4. Lean on your internal data
So you are running Facebook ads with the conversion objective, here’s what you need to do to maintain success despite iOS 14’s limitations:
Audience sizes are generally expected to drop although it is unclear by how much. It is rumored that Facebook ran tests internally to gauge what the damage would be, but only time can tell. Regardless, it would be wise to devote your marketing resources more heavily on remarketing or custom lists now so that you can have alternative ways to reach out to those who are opting-out.
5. Monitor remarketing campaigns and ad sets
Another change you need to be aware of is that of attribution window settings. The attribution window for all new or active ad campaigns is now set at the ad set level instead of the account level. The default for all new or active campaigns is the 7-day click attribution window. You have the option for one-day click, seven-day click, one-day click + one-day view, or seven-day click + one-day view.
Although many of the conversion-related changes may be irritating at first, they’ll get easier over time. What might not get easier over time is the drop-off in audiences. Facebook has built its advertising empire using a variety of complex targeting tools. If those audiences shrink substantially or become less effective in the coming months, advertisers may ultimately target broader as a response. In turn, costs would increase and with reduced reporting capabilities, many businesses may decide not to advertise on Facebook. Let’s hope this doesn’t happen!
As more people opt-out of tracking on iOS14 devices, the smaller many of your custom audiences may become. If the decrease in these custom audiences is sizable (something you probably won’t be able to gauge from the audience projections), you will have to adjust your remarketing or custom list strategy a bit.
Set yourself up for continued success with Facebook conversion campaigns in iOS 14
Although Facebook allows you to optimize for eight events, you will still have the visibility on the back end to discern where visitors are coming from and what they’re doing on your site once they land. This means you may need to invest more time in becoming Google Analytics-savvy or rely more on your CRM to get the proper information to make decisions on Facebook.
The implications?
- Verify your domains so you can have more manual control over your conversion events.
- Manually select your eight conversion events for each of your domains in Business Manager.
- Choose your ad set attribution window.
- Lean on Google Analytics or your CRM for accurate data.
- Monitor shrinking audiences and allocate your budget accordingly to prevent ad fatigue and misleading data.
