Apple’s hotly anticipated rollout of iOS14.5 finally happened this month, causing all digital ad platforms relying on use of advertiser identifiers to wait with bated breath for the impacts of the App Tracking Transparency (ATT) framework.
We have been working closely with each of our key partners to understand the expected impact to advertising campaign measurement, targeting, and optimisation - and how advertisers can best prepare for this updated landscape. In this deep dive, we shift our focus to the latest social kid on the block, TikTok, who also recently explained on their own blog, how developers and advertisers can prepare for the privacy changes.
In this segment, we dive into
- New campaign type for all App Install campaigns
- Expected impact on TikTok advertising capabilities
- Priority actions advertisers can take to mitigate the impact
Impact
TikTok has evaluated its data strategy in line with Apple's ATT framework and SKAdNetwork (SKAN) Solution.
In late April TikTok launched their functionality to target only 14.5 users and above within a specific campaign, therefore enabling users to segment their activity according to operating system version; 14.5+ versus 14.4 and below.
The limitations surrounding the reporting and attribution from the SKAdNetwork solution (aggregating and delaying data sets) mean that campaigns not segmented in this way, face further inefficiencies due to the TikTok algorithm becoming confused by the signals it receives.
As per the summary above, Non-Dedicated Campaigns will continue to deliver to iOS 14.4 and below versions after ATT enforcement, but audience sizes will likely decrease as more users upgrade to iOS 14.5 so it's important to create iOS 14 dedicated campaigns to reach iOS 14.5 users and enable effective reporting data from the SKAN solution.
While the full impact of Apple's privacy update is yet to be analysed, TikTok recommends marketers take action on measurement, ad delivery and campaign management.
Recommended Actions
Review your Measurement Partner Settings (if used): Updating to the SKAN-supported version of your Mobile Measurement Partners’ (MMP) SDK will ensure that your app is registered for SKAN-based attribution and allow you to optimise, and measure installs and post-install events from iOS 14.5+ users.
- Update to the SKAN-supported MMP SDK
- Complete the conversion event configuration in the MMP interface
- Send all unattributed events to TikTok via your MMP
Create Dedicated iOS 14.5+ campaigns: There are going to be changes to the iOS 14.5+ ad delivery and potential fluctuations in campaign performance. Creating a Dedicated 1OS14.5+ campaign using the app install objective or catalogue sales objective will enable you to deliver pre and post iOS 14.5 activity as efficiently as possible.
Create a new Dedicated campaign for iOS 14 traffic; In the campaign setup, select the iOS app and set the toggle for 'Deliver to iOS14+ conversion events' to ON at the ad group level.
- Monitor the performance of your iOS 14 app campaigns continually and adjust budgets and bids to achieve your goals, if necessary.
- Adapt reporting and optimisation methods for SKAN API reported (aggregated) data.
Streamline your account: Due to the limitations of SKAN API, there will be a limit of 11 active campaigns and 1 ad group per campaign for each of your iOS apps.
Where possible, consolidate your app campaigns to a single account (max- 2-3).
- Group similar targeting such as locations, lookalike and interest group audiences where you have similar bids or performance to measure against to get as many data points as possible.
- Regularly evaluate your targeting and ad assets by A/B testing to find the optimal ROAS combination.
Note: You will also need to wait for at least 72 hours after a campaign has ended to free up a slot for a new campaign, so prepare ahead!
Summary
The full impact of the privacy changes will still not be known for some time, whilst we await adoption of the latest operating system, and the consent levels associated with individual apps.
Apple's privacy update will not be the final chapter in this story either. We expect Google to phase out the 3rd party cookies in late 2021 or early 2022.
As this situation evolves, marketers should ensure they have the foundations in place to drive efficiencies – align campaign structures and optimisation tactics to the latest best practices, and ensure you are measuring performance holistically to account for the changing measurement and targeting functionality to stay one step ahead of competition.
This article is a part of the Apple iOS14 - User Privacy Update and Partners Series. Check out the other articles in this series:
