Marketing is a fast-paced world and that change is always lurking is perhaps the only constant there is. We notice this again now, with the prospect of the Apple iOS 14 update. Online advertising via Facebook, Instagram and Google Ads is slightly different.
The update gives you a pop-up in which you can indicate that you explicitly allow apps to track what you do. People who do not give permission for this can no longer be followed via Facebook, for example.
Just a simple example: we introduce Simon. Simon is a cheerful guy who would like to move to Amsterdam. During working hours he is Facebooking a bit, because yes, work and private life are a bit more mixed up these days. While scrolling, his eye falls on an advertisement: beautiful rental apartments, exactly on the spot in Amsterdam where he would most like to live! He clicks on the ad, goes to the website and leaves his details. Nothing wrong, right?
But wait, earlier today that pop-up came along. Simon did not give permission and when he clicked on the advertisement on Facebook, it could not be followed. You would think: so what, didn't Simon click where we wanted him to click? What's the big deal?
There is indeed. We marketers live on results. Of course you can't just throw content and advertisements into the world and sit back, without measuring whether it has an effect. And precisely that measurement has now become more difficult or, to put it mildly, not completely. The ad that drew Simon to those beautiful homes in Amsterdam? It now seems less effective than it actually was!
The fact that marketers and advertisers no longer know how many conversions a campaign produces is one thing, but Facebook itself no longer knows! Optimizing a campaign is also becoming more difficult for the algorithm and we are getting further and further away from home. Retarget a group? Success with it.
What a negative story, sorry! Fortunately, the great thing about continuous change is that it makes you very flexible. Even now there are plenty of tricks that we immediately started working with. Registering domains, setting up the conversions API and that kind of jargon. We also console ourselves with the idea that companies like Facebook want to make sure that advertising remains attractive. After all, that is their business model.
So at Brightlot we continue cheerfully: keep up with those campaign requests! Do you now also know what topics are going through our heads 😉
PS Personas also deserve a happy ending: Simon now lives happily in his new house in Amsterdam. We have not been able to track, but it is fun for the story.
NL
NL
EN
DE
ES