4 Ways You Can Deal With Apple's IOS 14 Tracking Policy
Apple recently rolled out iOS 14, and with the new operating system came a new policy: The IDFA (Identifier for Advertisers) can no longer be used without explicit user permission. Put simply, Apple now requires app developers to obtain user consent to track their behavior. Until now, advertisers could freely track users across various apps to build an in-depth customer profile for targeting purposes.
Over the last several years, there has been lengthy discussion about the compliance guidelines put into place in Europe (with GDPR) and in the US (with CCPA), not to mention Google Chrome’s shift away from cookies. But this iOS 14 policy shift is a bigger deal, as Apple controls about half of the US smartphone market share, and businesses of all sizes rely on this app-to-app targeting for customer acquisition.
We applaud Apple’s efforts to respect and protect consumer privacy—this is an essential initiative of our Connections Planning team at AfterMath and continues to be of the utmost importance across the industry. However, with very low user opt-in rates anticipated for IDFA, the policy clearly poses challenges for marketers. There is already plenty of debate about the fairness of the opt-in approach, from the lack of context provided to users when prompted to opt-in to the potentially unfair phrasing of the prompt itself.
So how are we at AfterMath dealing with this new policy? Quite honestly, we started preparing for it a long time ago, with the understanding that app-based behavioral targeting is not the end-all be-all in digital marketing and that there are other direct, data-driven strategies that have proven to be equally — if not more — effective.
1. Prioritize First-Party Data. You don’t need Apple to do this. The users you identify through your website or any direct interaction (such as an email subscription) are typically your most vital, so heavy up on your efforts to maximize your communication to this audience. First-party data is cost-efficient and highly valuable, and there are few other data sets that allow you to have more control over the information, which is a huge benefit.
2. Consider Device Targeting. Remember that this update only affects Apple devices (for now). When it comes to advertising on Facebook, for example (one of the outspoken opponents of Apple’s new policy), you have the option to select device-level targeting. There are still plenty of Android users out there to target through Facebook. Yes, you’re missing a potentially large audience on Apple devices, but that’s why you need this next step…
3. Leverage Data-Driven Programmatic Ads. As part of a holistic, omni-channel digital marketing program, programmatic advertising can serve a crucial purpose in identifying, targeting and converting new customers for your business. The programmatic space has its own tracking-related challenges, but countless opportunities to build robust audience profiles based on site visitation patterns, behaviors and content consumption remain in play. Sound familiar? That’s because it’s the same type of data collected by Apple through IDFA.
4. Focus on Content Improvement. Plain and simple: if the content is good enough, your users will ask for it. The Apple IDFA opt-in is now in place, so if you’re going to use Apple as an advertising channel for your app moving forward, you’ll need to accept it. But don’t be discouraged by the low opt-in rate predictions; if you give your audience truly relevant, high-quality content, they’ll be much more likely to accept and allow the tracking to take place. And you can help your audience understand how relevant your content is to them through your other marketing efforts so that they’re more likely to opt-in
Get in touch with us to learn more about the Apple iOS 14 update, our privacy protection initiatives and how to navigate the ever-changing digital media landscape.