if you’re a business owner, and you’ve recently heard about an update to apple’s privacy policy that requires users to opt-in to allow tracking of their behavior, you might be weary of how this may affect your business.
apple, recently rolled out their newest operating platform, ios 14. as users upgrade their software, they will have to opt-in to allow ios to record and track their behavior while using their devices. some may see this opt-in as a way to help protect their privacy, but, for small businesses, this could be a game changer.
but how?
if users do not opt-in to allow their behaviors to be tracked on apple’s operating platform, ads being run, particularly by small businesses, lose their ability to more closely target their customers or prospect customers with their ads that navigate social media on their mobile devices. this could mean already modest budgets that are being run on facebook could soon be watered down even more, as ads will be reaching a larger number of people and not necessarily the right audience. in short, a small budget will now be spread even more thinly.
but why are larger businesses not affected?
larger companies have more robust budgets. (well duh, that’s obvious.) a more robust budget means that not only can you reach a larger number of users on facebook, it also means that you can pair with a third-party data company, such as oracle, to pay for rights to target customers based on the data they provide.
small businesses, with smaller advertising budgets, typically will not use their small budget to purchase data from third parties. after all, let’s face it, once you pay for the list, you may not even have enough money left over in your budget to run ads.
small businesses often rely on geo-targeting and re-targeting of their existing customers with additional look-alike audiences. but, with apple limiting the data available to target, small businesses are left at a huge disadvantage.
so, is facebook going to do anything to help businesses?
yes, they are. facebook announced in early 2021 their plan to counter apple’s privacy policy. in a statement on a “speak up for small businesses” forum, they provided the following statement: “small businesses deserve to be heard. we hear your concerns, and we stand with you.”
in order to try to help small businesses overcome this newly enforced challenge, facebook is rolling out a page that will explain to users why tracking is important, and why it allows for personalization of their ad experiences. this page will be paired with apple’s newly established privacy policy and will be pushed to facebook users world-wide, over the next several months.
here at jaclyn michelle advertising, we understand that small businesses are often faced with unique challenges. and we’re here to help. we’re monitoring the situation as it progresses and will strategize ways to help your company overcome these hiccups. contact us today and let’s get your plan underway.