On September 10th, YouAppi CRO Leo Giel joined a panel of executives in the mobile industry to talk about Apple's IDFA changes. The panel was hosted by Upnotch and titled: “The IDFA Tsunami: What’s Next for Mobile?” Panelists included Claire Rozain, UA manager at Product Madness; Growth Expert, Olivia Smith, and Garrett MacDonald, EVP of Sales at Kochava. The panel was moderated by Chris Cunningham, CEO and Founding Partner of C2 Ventures.

Below, read part two of our recap of the webinar covering key takeaways from the panel. If you haven’t already, check out part one of our recap series. You can read more about YouAppi's plans for iOS14 here.

 

Key Takeaway: With Apple's changes, Facebook analytics will be used more heavily  to optimize campaigns. 

Olivia: I think there are a lot of advertisers who have had their fair share of issues with FB analytics and have seen a lot of inconsistencies between their analytics and their actual data. So, I think there’s two parts to this question. Yes, I personally think I’ll be leveraging it a little bit more. But, I also think because Facebook is being heavily impacted [by the IDFA changes], I would expect them to take a second look at their analytics and really address a lot of the attribution issues that have been there before.

So, I wouldn’t be surprised if they started revamping and making things not only more clear but also more user-friendly. Maybe a bit more aggressive as well because I don’t know about anyone else here, but I’ve always taken Facebook analytics with a grain of salt. And, I’ve always gone outside either my internal analytics team or even outside third party tools to really validate that data and pinpoint the inconsistencies there. I wouldn't be surprised if people rely on their analytics more. I also wouldn’t be surprised if they really fine tune it because they’re just as affected and they want to keep their business as well.

 

Key Takeaway: More technology partnerships are certain to build solutions to the deprecation of the IDFA. It’s also likely that these changes will lead to more co-marketing brand partnerships that allow apps to pool user data for better UA and a larger footprint in the advertising space.

Garrett: With Kochava, I know we have a lot of things that are in the works in terms of developing our own solutions; partnering with both sides of the ecosystem to create solutions for connecting identity across both supply and demand. A lot of the growth that’s going to come in the next 12 to 24 months is going to have to come from partnerships. I think there’s going to be a lot of innovation, a lot of partnerships. Whether that means with direct competitors has yet to be seen. 

Olivia: I think we’ll see a fair amount of technology partnerships but I also think we’ll see a lot of brand partnerships as well. I know a lot of people in the space are currently looking at that on top of influencer marketing. To really leverage the user data and user acquisition, brands will start moving towards that. Especially with things like TikTok and all the newer platforms that are available for advertising.

A lot of times you see gaming and  more consumer focused apps like shopping on those platforms. I think we will see more brand partnerships from a co-marketing perspective. Also, apps that do not commonly take part in those types of partnerships (like banking apps, for example) to start taking advantage of them. Not only as a way of getting other apps to share user data so they can have better user acquisition. But, also just have a bigger footprint in the advertising space.

 

Key Takeaway: Apple's changes will lead to greater consolidation in the ecosystem.

Garrett: I think you’re finally seeing a lot of the consolidation we’ve been talking about for the last 8 years. You’re seeing companies that have raised large sums of money going into more difficult board meetings with the increased difficulty with monetization. Both on the ad tech side as well as in the app ecosystem. So, I think this will bring about a lot of changes. People are going to be sitting up a little bit straighter in their chairs. It’s really going to drive some of the innovation to really protect the industry from ourselves. Also, to clean up some of the nefarious actors in the ecosystem. Which is all good for the ecosystem. Anything focused on user privacy is a good thing for our industry. 

Having said that, I think a lot of marketers are reevaluating their decisions around technology. And, not just shopping around and educating themselves on what’s out there. But, really making decisions around a unified solution. So, something that has push messaging and SMS and in-app messaging integrated within the stack for both acquisition and reengagement. Also having solutions with consent baked into them. At the core of everything you do in marketing and advertising, with your measurement and analytics, there’s going to be a lot of companies looking for consolidated solutions. At least that’s what we’re hearing and seeing on the street.

 

Key Takeaway: The IDFA changes will spur innovation. They will also shift the focus from ‘what does our consumer journey look like’ to ‘how are we really taking care of our customers?’

Olivia: Obviously, this is a big hit to a lot of people but I’m really excited to see the strategization we’re going to see through the customer funnel. There’s sure to be a big shift in focus from ‘what does our consumer journey look like’ to ‘how are we really taking care of our customers?’.

Because, at the end of the day, if you take care of your customers and you build a really robust engagement system: one, it’s going to bring more customers to you and two, you’ll have grand brand alignment with your customer base. I’m really excited to see the strategization that goes into that to offset a lot of the costs. But, also with the new ways - like, brand partnerships and influencer marketing - that we can hack around this and still bring users in. I’m excited to see what comes of this and the creative ways that companies will make opt-in engaging and fun.

Leo: I think it’s going to bring the industry together. I think it’s going to be exciting. There’s going to be tremendous innovation. I’m actually more excited than ever before. I think that the results already are starting to be very promising. Look out. It’s going to be fun.

 

Takeaways

  • It’s been clear in Apple’s moves leading up to this that the changes were coming. What’s different about this announcement in comparison to prior changes (for example, Apple’s Limit Ad Tracking privacy opt-in first introduced in 2012) is the lack of clarity. Rather than the death of attribution, it’s clear that the complexity of the changes require the need for attribution partners.
  • Apple’s decision to postpone IDFA changes until 2021 is good news for all players. It means more time to plan, test, and innovate solutions.
  • This move looks like Apple making a strategic play to launch its own advertising solution. The task falls on developers to innovate solutions. These solutions should help advertisers create a seamless opt-in flow optimized to their user life cycle.
  • There are limitations to SKAdNetwork that necessitate the support of MMPs to innovate a frictionless user opt-in experience.
  • Apple's changes will prompt advertisers to innovate workarounds to the App Store.
  • While many advertisers have invested more in Android since the announcement, other advertisers have shifted more budget to iOS to leverage the decreased competition. 
  • It seems likely that Google will follow suit with GAID but will take a drastically different approach than Apple.
  • With the IDFA changes, marketers will rely on Facebook analytics more heavily  to optimize campaigns. 
  • More technology partnerships are certain to build solutions to the deprecation of the IDFA. It’s also likely that these changes will lead to more co-marketing brand partnerships. These partnerships will allow apps to pool user data for better UA and a larger footprint in the advertising space.
  • These changes will lead to greater consolidation in the ecosystem.
  • Apple's changes will spur innovation. They will also shift the focus from ‘what does our consumer journey look like’ to ‘how are we really taking care of our customers?’

 

For those of you who attended our webinar live, thanks for tuning in! Check out the entire panel discussion on YouTube.