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How Apple Privacy Policies Affect Your Marketing Metrics

Apple Privacy Policy Affects Small Business'

Pumpkin Spice season approaches, and that means the next iOS is right around the corner. Just like the last couple updates, Apple has announced a repertoire of new privacy features for iOS 16 to help protect users’ privacy. Android 13 released just yesterday with some new privacy features as well but for now is still behind Apple. Data protection is important for users, but how does it affect the metrics you collect for effective of your marketing?

Data Collection and Privacy

The data you receive from consumers, users, and your audience is incredibly informative. Information like what products someone views or what pages someone visits, allows you to tailor your promotions or content to their interests. It lets you communicate effectively and efficiently. It shows you what marketing is working and what is not. All of that can help your company grow. That data and the metrics they create are incredibly important for your business, but for users, that data is also precious. It is something they trust you with, and they do not want that trust and their privacy breached. 

Data privacy has become an increasing concern on the internet. In a KPMG survey from last year, 86% of users were concerned about their data’s privacy. That worry is valid. The past month saw a dozen security violations with large corporations. A mother and daughter were recently shocked and angered when Facebook gave Nebraska police their private message logs. User information is not just a shopping cart or wishlist. It also includes more sensitive, personal information like messages, emails, addresses, and credit cards that users are regularly providing businesses. In turn, many nations and the European Union have passed legislation that restricts when, how, and what kind of data companies can collect. The FTC in the US announced just five days ago that it would be “cracking down on commercial surveillance and lax data security practices.” Software developers and device manufacturers like Apple have also been increasing the default privacy protections they provide. This is great for users’ security but affects the kind of information you can collect and how. 

Apple Privacy – Mail Privacy Protection

Last year, Apple released Mail Privacy Protection (MPP) as part of iOS 15. MPP hides users’ IP addresses so senders cannot see their location, related internet activity, or even whether they opened the email. That’s all potentially valuable information for a business or marketing team. Android lacks a similar feature, but in Canada, over 57% of people are using iPhones. In email tracking services, MPP can also falsely inflate your open rates. Any inbox with MPP active will be recognized in the tracker. However, MPP can open an email without the user ever actually opening and seeing the email for themselves. Unfortunately, a tracker cannot tell the difference whether this was an MPP “open” or your recipient’s. 

Those false positives lead to bloated open rates and a false, larger discrepancy in open-to-click rates. Most email services will allow you to ignore MPP opens, and it is best to do so. They are simply not a reliable or informative data set. Remember, MPP only affects open rates. Your click rates will still be accurate. Focusing on those clicks will allow you to keep track of your engaged audience and ensure your catering to their interests and preferences.

MPP will still deny other information that may valuable, such as location and other internet activity. The goal then, is conversion rates: getting recipients to visit your site, where they can provide you with more information. 

The End of Third-Party Data

The information users provide to your site when they access and use it is first-party data or cookies. This is any information you gather from your customers directly. For the past while, internet advertising has relied primarily on third-party cookies. Third-party data works through websites sharing information between one another. This is how Google Ads and Meta Business (Facebook and Instagram advertising) work. They use a user’s wider internet activity to target them with appropriate ads according to their browsing history. This is why if you put something in your cart on one site, you might suddenly start seeing ads for that very product elsewhere or even everywhere.

More recently, marketing has started moving away from third-party cookies. Some internet browsers have started blocking these trackers by default, like Mozilla Firefox and Safari (remember that 57% market share of Canadian phones?) Apple and Android have similarly been allowing users to block tracking in apps. Notably Google Chrome, which 65% of people worldwide use, still allows third-party trackers. Google has said they will also be blocking them for the past two years, but last month again delayed those plans to 2024. Third-party ads are still an important part of Google Ads, which makes up 80% of the company’s revenue. Similarly, Facebook advertising is a staggering 98% of Meta’s revenue. Those same ads have also been especially important for small businesses. The move away from third-party ad targeting is and will more severely affect smaller businesses that have relied on them to grow and reach potential customers and clients. They will need to invest into new marketing efforts.

Leaving Third-Party Data Behind

So, while third-party cookies will still work for targeting Chrome users, companies should also focus their marketing on first-party data. Your emails and websites can still gather valuable information about your audience and customers as the world moves away from third-party data. As a result, marketing should focus on converting customers. Creative marketing on social media is a productive method for attracting and expanding an audience and convincing potential customers to visit your website. Effective email automations will have customers regularly returning. Fun, survey quizzes with a bonus discount code are a great incentive for customers to provide you with more detailed information.

Rosewood Can Help 

Currently third-party tracking can still prove beneficial for small businesses, but they will see increasing decline in ROI in this sector as Apple and other companies increase dedication to privacy. Rosewood recommends every business start investing into first-party data collection with effective social media, tailored email automations, and creative content that drives conversion rates. 

Rosewood’s web design and marketing services will make sure you are collecting and effectively using that precious data from (potential) customers. We will soon be officially offering email marketing services as well. We are familiar with a suite of both third- and first-party tools and services so you can learn more about your customers and help your business grow in the face of increasing internet privacy. With an elegant website and effective marketing, users will want to trust you with their information.

New Privacy Policy Changes Information Gathered From Customers.
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5 Tips to Get Those Instagram Reels Rolling

Rosewood Marketing Instagram reels tips for making short video.

Want to grow your business and reach your dedicated community? It may not be for everyone, but consistency is key for staying at the top of your followers’ feeds. You may have posts and stories worked out, but what about Reels? Don’t let them fall by the wayside with these tips for great Instagram reels. Instagram currently prioritizes Reels for suggested content. This means they are the best way to reach your target audience and grow your following and reach on the platform. 

Need some tips to help get you started? Here are 5 to get your Insta Reels rolling:

  1. Take advantage of the all the features: Instagram’s algorithm prioritizes creators who use the new functions and features. Adding filters, camera effects, audio, and/or text to your video will give your Reels a leading edge for appearing in viewer’s feeds. Just don’t add too many. Instagram prefers a little over a lot. Bonus – Captions: The majority of video on social media is watched without sound, so adding text or captions is essential for reaching most viewers. Your content will be more discoverable and also more accessible to anyone with hearing difficulties. 
  2. Not too much production: Pretty, produced videos are great for selling your product(s), but people also love seeing what makes your brand tick. Informal and genuine short clips from behind the scenes are a great place to start for Reels. They’re easy to make, take little planning and time, and have a personal touch. Just make sure to keep the video quality high. Neither Instagram’s algorithm nor viewers like a blurry Reel.
  3. Use trends and brands for inspiration: Look through the Reels tab see any current trends and aesthetics that are consistently popping up. Look at other creators you like or members of your industry for ideas. But don’t just copy. What are they doing? What do you like? How can that content work for your brand?
  4. Be authentic and sincere: Sell what your brand is, not what it isn’t. Don’t underestimate the ability of a customer to see right through false or insincere content that’s hopping on another major trend. Your followers were drawn to your brand in the first place, so make sure to keep emphasizing that niche and give your content that unique touch.
  5. Share content from your community: Not only is this content you didn’t have to make, but it’s also a genuine positive response to your brand. Sharing that content engages with your community, strengthening that connection and making people feel a part of your brand. Don’t just share though. Some extra text creates engagement, and Instagram deprioritizes content that is simply reshared.

These tips should give you a better handle on making great Instagram Reels. Don’t forget to have fun and flex those creative muscles. A couple other general tips. 

  • Include a call-to-action that drives viewers to the link in your bio. 
  • Share your Reels to your main feed and add hashtags to increase discoverability. Just 3 to 5 will mean reaching more viewers.
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Creating An Effective Content Strategy For Social Media Doesn’t Have To Be Time Consuming

A graphic with the text "Creating an effective content strategy for social media doesn't need to be time consuming. The text is in purple. The background is in blue with a white boarder.

A lot goes behind creating an effective content strategy for social media.

Writing engaging captions, creating graphics, picking hashtags and everything else that goes into managing a social media account on a regular basis can be pretty time-consuming.

And even more so, if you are doing it all alone.

This is why a lot of people find that creating a content strategy for their social media platforms can be beneficial, but a bit daunting because in the beginning, it can take time.

However, it doesn’t have to be time-consuming if you know where to look. Let’s take a look at the more efficient ways of creating an effective content strategy without spending too much time.

Steps To Creating The Perfect Content Strategy For Your Social Media Platforms

Set Proper Goals

Setting specific goals for your business will enable you to have a better understanding of the content you want to create for your audience. Some of the chief goals that brands generally focus on include – lead generation, growing your audience, increasing web traffic and increasing engagement.

Planning Your Content Strategy

Pre-planning your social media content is a great way to help cut down on time. You can do this by creating templates for posts that you can build engaging content off of. Base these off of what your audience already responds well to. This is a great first step if your goal is to see a surge in the engagement of your posts.

Using in-app analytics can help with your content planning. Facebook and Instagram allow their users to take a look at their analytics if they have a business account. Taking the time to see which posts generated a higher engagement rate can help plan what content you want to focus on.

Accurate Promotion and Distribution of Content

Creating promotion posts itself will not be enough unless your audiences are actively distributing the content. So how does distribution of content work?

Say for example that you have put up a flash sale post on your story to promote sales. Try making the caption of the story more engaging by asking a question, creating a poll or allowing your audiences to re-share it. Adding a “call to action” (CTA) in your caption will help increase engagement.

Pro Tip: Great content is relatable, relevant and sharable.

Creating a content strategy doesn’t have to be time consuming. Start by planning out your goals and doing comprehensive research before designing a content strategy. This will save you time and enable you to create more engaging and effective content for your business! Knowing who your followers are, what they interact with and what posts get the highest engagement rate are all great places to start creating a strategy for your content.

Don’t have the time? Book a call with us today to go over how we can help you with your social media!

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