Facebook vs. Apple ad battle is a PR battle: Kindred Ventures' Jang
CNBC
Facing up to the music and your face in the mud
Has Facebook peaked, are they facing an existential threat?
Steve Jang thinks so.
User numbers are in decline (due to the numerous and notorious controversies in Facebook’s recent history) so if the current trend continues or exacerbates, there may well be big changes afoot for Facebook’s dominance of social network cyberscape.
Long-term, should agencies and businesses be running like rats from a slowing sinking ship?
Not yet because the Facebook fleet is still the best at sea. But it never hurts for sailors to be prepared for approaching storms, whether you descry them on the horizon or not.
Necessity is the mother of invention
Will Facebook survive by developing their e-commerce and goods and services through Facebook marketplace (to replace ads revenue)?
Hans Tung thinks so, saying that Apple is forcing Google and Facebook to innovate.
Is Apple shooting itself in the foot?
By taking the moral high ground, they may end up merely strengthening their already strong competitors. This can only be a benefit for agencies and companies who will end up reaping any rewards that trickle down from big solutions sought, found and shared by the likes of Facebook and Google with their partners in business.
Only time will tell!
Will Apple’s NEW iOS 14 2021 Privacy Update Affect Facebook Ads?
Ash Davis - Lead Generation Specialist
Who should be worried or going white in the face?
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When you make Facebook ads, you can choose the placement of where your ad appears: newsfeed, messenger, Instagram, audience network...
Does your client's company place ads on an audience network?
Then it will be a problem for free app companies with ads on the audience network. Unless you find a solution they will die, they will make no more money from this:
Solutions: in-app purchases or subscriptions.
No probs if the leads and conversions come from the Facebook or Instagram newsfeed.
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Solution:
To generate leads, start with broad different interests to target people.
Create a good ad about a problem someone has.
You don’t have to start specific because Facebook will show it to a wide range of people, in the beginning, to see who reacts well and start converting, then you generate more leads, then Facebook will only show the ads to those types of people (lookalike groups), who are most likely to convert.
“How will this change affect you?
Well, it depends on HOW you’re using Facebook ads.
First of all, this is mainly going to affect ads in the Facebook audience network.
Now from a lead gen and digital marketing perspective, which is what myself and my clients mainly use Facebook for, most leads do NOT come from the audience network.
Most leads come from the Facebook or Instagram news feed.
The audience network is more effective when it comes to building brand awareness and retargeting people and those kinds of ads.
So if you’re running ads mainly to generate leads, appointments, and clients… You can check right now where most of your leads come from and I can almost guarantee most of your leads will come from either the Facebook or Instagram news feed.
So, who will be affected by the Facebook audience network?
Well, I think the biggest businesses that will be affected will be businesses that have their own app that relies on ads to generate revenue.
So, if that’s you, this change is going to be bad for you. And that’s why Facebook themselves said that this change will affect apps that are free and rely on ads to generate revenue and that’s why they are going to either die because the apps can’t make any money or they are going to have to switch to a subscription model. Where the app is no longer free and you have to pay for it.
And Facebook is obviously going to lose a lot of money in this process and if apps do switch to a subscription based model, this does actually help Apple, they get a percentage of the revenue made from in-app subscriptions and purchases.
So it will be interesting to see what happens next year. Facebook have said they’re working on ways to get round this, so we’ll just have to wait and see if they figure something out… But if they don’t, it might mean next year we say LESS free apps with ads and more paid apps.
So that’s who this change is mainly going to affect.
But for most people watching this video, who are using Facebook Ads to generate leads, you should be fine.
And remember most of the data Facebook uses comes from the Facebook pixel being installed on thousands of information-based websites” and not apps.
How Apple's IOS 14 Will Affect Facebook Ads
Aaron Bermingham, digital marketing agency Xorvos
Here’s “what exactly I recommend doing going forward when tackling Facebook Ads. I highly recommend you stay until the end of the video in order to fully understand the exact situation and what I think is crucial going forward when it comes to your online business.”
But if you lack time and/or the inclination, here’s the straight dope:
The changes affect companies pushing apps and e-commerce companies pushing their web conversion events, meaning: page view, add to cart, initiate checkout, purchase.
App developers may see less app installs, so be careful about what data you’re collecting.
It was possible before to disable tracking but was harder to do, now it's a pop-up when you open the app.
What percentage of customers use iPhones? This stat may help with calculations and predictions for future market strategies.
“45% of US smartphone users use an iPhone”. Besides that great market share, Apple users both shop online and use social media more.
If your companies distribute budgets based on audience sizes, they should bear in mind that they will probably see a decrease in the custom audiences due to the ios 14 update.
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Diversify traffic sources (in case Facebook ads become too expensive to use or it dies out leaving you stranded) with other platforms like Google, Twitter, Pinterest, Shopify, TikToc, Snapchat, Reddit.
Think about what ad strategies to use on those platforms, to improve reach and how to connect in new ways with existing and potential customers (who didn't just disappear because of the impact on Facebook, who are not the be all and end all).
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You’re my best friend
You go and save the best for last
As promised, the most important piece of advice was indeed last but not least:
Consider customer retention via growing your SMS and email channels, which are king, your best friends, to boost the lifetime value of your customers. As acquisition costs rise, you need to squeeze every dollar you spend on advertising, even a $10 margin added gives you the edge over your competition.