Online Ads: How Google and Apple Privacy Updates Impact Your Marketing

Does your small business rely on social media advertising to bring in new leads? According to a study from BIA/Kelsey, 77.6% of small businesses report using social media to promote their business. If you’re one of them, then you’re probably concerned about how new privacy changes from Google and Apple might affect your online ads strategy.

But don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Keep reading to learn everything you need to know about the changes, how they’ll affect you, and what you can do about it.

What are Apple’s privacy changes?

This spring, Apple released its new iOs 14.5 after much fanfare and trepidation. Many consumer advocates applaud Apple’s efforts to protect the privacy of its users, while advertisers worry that it will mean the end of easy and inexpensive lead generation.

The biggest changes aren’t that you can’t track the activity of your clients on your app. You can, in fact, still do that if you get their approval first. While many of your users probably won’t give permission for your app to track their activity, some still will and you’ll be able to continue with business as usual.

How does this affect your online ads?

If you’ve enjoyed the many benefits of social media advertising over the past few years, then you too might be concerned about how this update will affect you. In some ways, it might affect you quite a bit. However, it could also mean new adjustments and focusing on different areas that could be even more cost-effective.

On the one hand, this update only affects Apple users. Your customers who visit your app on an Android phone can still be retargeted with online advertising. As of 2019, Android users make up 51% of all users online with Apple only claiming 34% of users in the US.

Unfortunately, you won’t be able to implement the same targeted online ads for Apple users anymore. This could affect your bottom line, since your marketing efforts will be more diluted and less effective. Additionally, your ad campaigns will likely have a higher cost per click.

What’s Google’s privacy update?

Similar to Apple’s updates, Google is also rolling out new updates to their Chrome platform. Google Chrome will join Firefox and Safari in prohibiting cookies to track the activity of visitors on their browsers. This will inhibit website owners from using cookies on their websites to retarget their visitors on social media.

Google is phasing out cookie usage over the span of a few years to give advertisers time to build new strategies for their digital marketing endeavors. Consumers are asking for more privacy when they’re online. And many of these tech giants are working to provide increased privacy for their users.

How will Google privacy changes affect your marketing?

The first thing to note is that Google’s not banning all cookies. They are banning non-consented and third-party cookies. So, with consent from your consumers, you can still track first-party cookies on your website or app.

When your clients give their consent you can still track their activity on your website only. This ensures your clients can trust their information isn’t being used elsewhere and without their knowledge. As we’ll outline in the next section, there are other ways you can still have an effective and profitable marketing plan without third-party cookies.

How this may affect small business owners

With these new changes, business owners will need to adjust and adapt to the changing digital landscape. For you, this means you should focus more of your effort on the marketing platforms where you own your customers’ information.

The number one platform you should focus on is your email marketing strategy. With built-in email marketing, WellnessLiving offers you the ability to keep in contact with your clients. The biggest benefit to email marketing is that not everybody sees your social media posts thanks to confusing algorithms.

But everyone checks their email. So, take advantage of the autoresponders and email marketing capabilities through our app. Second, to avoid getting lost in crowded inboxes, consider building your SMS marketing strategy using our app as well.

Lastly, you have the ability to adjust your retargeting efforts with your social media marketing. It might not be as seamless or automatic, and your budget will likely increase, but you can still take advantage of social media marketing.

Using your email list you already have, you can create lookalike audiences on Facebook. You do need to hope that your customers used the same email address to sign up for your offers as they did their Facebook account. But aside from that small inconvenience, you can still use lookalike audiences much in the same way as you did with retargeting.

With new privacy policies explained – you still have options

Marketing for small business owners has been easy and inexpensive for several years now. However, due to increased customer demands, you will no longer be able to get as many new leads for such a low cost. But this doesn’t have to be a bad thing.

Your online ads can still be effective. And you can still target lookalike audiences using your current email list. But you will need to get creative, your workflows might not be as automated, and your budget will increase. To combat these drawbacks, you can instead focus your marketing efforts on the platforms you own.

That’s where we come in here at WellnessLiving. With our app, you can communicate directly with your clients through automated email and SMS marketing. So, if you’re ready to take your digital marketing strategy to the next level, then book a free, no-commitment demo today to learn more.