So if you think this iOS privacy change didn’t affect everyone, think again. It’s something I constantly talk about because I believe this is what’s impacting companies the most when it comes to growth and acquiring new customers. It’s now starting to show in the larger DTC companies and even SaaS companies. In the last few years, call it 2015, we’ve been spoiled as marketers with heavy data from platforms like Facebook to allow for effective targeting.
A few months, things have drastically changed. With one change from Apple, the digital landscape of targeting customers online changed. And here we are.
From CNBC.com: Applies Ad Privacy Change Impact Shows Power It Wields Over Other Industries
Summary:
- Over six months later, it’s clear most iPhone users did opt-out, and the feature, called App Tracking Transparency (ATT), is now presenting challenges to companies ranging from Snap to Facebook to Peloton.
- Meta, Facebook’s parent company, warned last month that adoptions of the features had hit “critical mass†and made its ads less effective at targeting lucrative potential customers.
- Peloton, which is an advertiser and doesn’t sell ads, said last month that Apple’s privacy feature hurt user growth.
- 86% of iOS devices are running a recent enough version of the software to be presented with ATT prompts, according to an October report from AppsFlyer. Of the people who see the pop-up, 38% are opting-in, and 62% are opting-out.
- “As Apple changes make e-commerce and customer acquisition less effective on the web, solutions that allow big businesses to set up shop right inside our apps will become increasingly attractive and important to them,†Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said.
- Peloton is one example of a company that can no longer acquire customers in the same way it did before the change, citing challenges related to Apple’s privacy change. But Peloton also said that it believes it can adapt and that its app business will remain an important way to acquire customers.
As companies across industries adapt to a post-iOS world, no one can stop acquiring new customers. GROWTH is always king. So, we’re already seeing this play out in customer acquisitions costs (CAC) rising across the board.
Recommended READ: The Real Solution For Marketing In A Post IOS14 Privacy World: ADAPTATION
From the SDC 8k: “SmileDirectClub Chief Financial Officer Kyle Wailes added, “The third-quarter results do not fully reflect the investments we have made to grow our brand, as the macro-economic environment for our core demographic, along with Apple privacy changes earlier this year have presented significant challenges to digitally native brands such as SmileDirectClub.“
