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Before we dive into all the details regarding the latest Apple IOS update and what it means for digital advertising, I first want to clarify a few things about using Facebook and Instagram ads for your business.
Facebook and Instagram ads are like throwing fuel on a fire. If the fire is lit, Facebook and Instagram ads can exponentially help you sell a lot more of your product or service, but the fire has to be started. So if you can’t sell your product or your service without Facebook ads, then Facebook ads aren’t going to help you.
Running Facebook and Instagram ads for something that isn’t selling without Facebook and Instagram ads, is like throwing fuel on dry logs. Nothing is going to happen because the fire was never started in the first place.
The other thing I want to clarify is that when I say Facebook ads, I really mean Facebook and Instagram ads. Facebook owns Instagram, and when you’re running ads, you put those together in the same platform, whether they are running on Facebook or Instagram.
I also want to be really clear that even with this big Apple iOS update, Facebook and Instagram ads aren’t going away. In fact, over the last couple of weeks since some of the updates have started rolling out, we’ve seen lower cost per leads and lower cost per purchases!
So they’re not going away. It’s just a change, and that’s okay.
The other thing I need to clarify is that Apple is saying that the reason why they’re making these updates is because they care about your privacy…
But that definitely isn’t true. In fact, I believe the real reason Apple is making these updates is because they want to take away some of the massive market of digital advertising. 70 to 80% of all Facebook advertising spend is spent on Facebook and Google — and Apple wants a part of that.
If you don’t believe me, pull out your phone (if you’re an Apple user), go to your privacy settings and you will actually see Apple advertising. You’re also automatically opted in to letting Apple track you. So although Apple is making this all about your privacy, the real reason is because they are a public company. Their entire goal is make money and they want to steal some of that digital advertising market away from Facebook and Google.
Now that I’ve gone over those few clarifications, let’s discuss what you need to know about running ads for your business with the new updates.
If you’re an Advisori Insiders Pro member or an alum, we have all the trainings inside the program about how to deal with this from a technical standpoint inside the platform. But if you’re a current business owner, whether you have a service or a digital product, this is what you need to know about running ads for your own business:
The updates affect everyone
This is not just a Facebook thing. These updates affect everyone. It affects any app or website that is shown on an Apple device. You may have even started seeing pop ups in some of your apps asking whether or not you want to share data. This happened to me just the other evening while I was using a pregnancy app.
We don’t know how many people are going to opt out or opt in but the good news is, from an advertising standpoint, Facebook actually still gets to track one action from those who opt out, even with the new privacy settings. For example, if you’re using Facebook and Instagram ads for lead generation, you can actually still track people who have opted out of sharing all of their data, and know whether or not they became a lead from your Facebook and Instagram ad campaigns.
Now you don’t get to track everything. You’re not going to be able to track those who opt out. You won’t be able to track whether they became a lead or if they made a purchase — but you do still get to track at least one action they take. So it’s not all bad news.
Facebook & Instagram Ads should be part of your long-term strategy
The biggest change with this rollout is the attribution window. An attribution window, also known as a conversion window, is a defined period of time in which a publisher, or a website like Facebook, can claim that a click, or a view of an ad leads to someone taking an action, like becoming a lead or making a purchase.
Prior to this update, Facebook’s attribution window was a 28 day view, seven day click. In this case, if someone saw an ad in the past 20 days, or clicked on an ad in the last seven days, and then took an action, Facebook could tell you that the person saw or clicked on an ad. Now with these privacy updates, the attribution window is a lot smaller. It went from a 28 day view to a seven day view and a seven day click to a one day click.
So what does this mean?
It means that fewer actions that consumers take after seeing an ad are actually going to be attributed to your ad. Facebook is not going to be able to report all of these actions that people take after clicking on an ad one day ago or seeing an ad seven days ago.
Now, this is actually a good thing and a bad thing. It’s a bad thing because we don’t get to see the whole picture. But it’s a good thing because it forces us, as business owners, to stop treating Facebook and Instagram ads as a short term strategy.
Our business would not be where it is today without Facebook and Instagram ads, but Facebook and Instagram ads should not be a quick, short term strategy, they should be part of your long term strategy. You should not expect to spend $10 on ads today, and then immediately make a $50 return the next day.
This new shorter attribution window should really force us to evaluate our businesses as a whole because Facebook and Instagram ads do not run in a vacuum. I didn’t get to 17,000 followers on Instagram just because I got really good at Instagram. You know what helped me get there? Running Facebook and Instagram ads.
For example, someone can come across an ad and rather than clicking on it, they go check out your profile on Instagram, find your podcast, and finally purchase from you four months later. Now will you know that that person came from an ad? Absolutely not. But that’s why we should be looking at Facebook and Instagram ads as part of a long term strategy, not something that we turn on for promotions or because we want to make a quick buck.
They need to be part of your long term strategy, and you should evaluate things in your business as a whole, not just how your ads are performing in the last seven days. What you should be looking at are your sales this month compared to last month, how your sales this month compared to sales a year ago, and your sales outside of Facebook and Instagram ads.
You need to be mindful of delays in reporting
One of the major things that has come out with this update is delays in reporting. Facebook is now saying that conversions or actions people are taking, like becoming a lead or purchasing, may now take up to 72 hours after that action has occurred to actually be reported in the ads manager.
This means that you need to give your ads time to optimize. You cannot make quick changes based on something that’s happened in the last 24 hours. In fact, something that a lot of people don’t understand, is that Facebook ads are an auction. They’re like the stock market. Some days costs are going to be higher than others, and that’s because of how things change — whether it’s fewer people on the platform or more people running ads to the audience that you want to reach, costs fluctuate day today.
So what really matters when it comes to Facebook and Instagram ads is the average. Again, you need to look at the whole picture, not just that you spent $10 and you haven’t gotten $50 back in 24 hours!
The Bottom Line
Facebook and Instagram ads are still rocking it and they’re still going to continue to rock it. Like I mentioned earlier, since some of these updates have rolled out over the last couple of weeks, we’ve actually seen costs decrease.
If you want help with your Facebook ads or you’re thinking about using them for your business, head to Advisori Marketing to learn more about working with us. If you want to run your own ads, you can actually steal my ad templates for less than $50 today!
I would not be in the position that I am in today and I would not have the business that I have today without Facebook and Instagram ads. I still believe they are the best, cheapest, most efficient, and most effective form of marketing that will help you grow your business. So if you haven’t started them, start thinking about it. Tomorrow is too late. Do it today!
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