In 2021, the digital advertising industry saw a massive shift with Apple’s app privacy changes in their latest iOS update.
In particular, the new App Tracking Transparency (ATT) feature gave users the ability to control when their data is shared with the apps on their iPhones. Advertisers that had relied heavily on this first-party data targeting on major social media platforms were now faced with an even more strenuous task to reach their target audiences. Not only are the data restrictions resulting from ATT making targeting more difficult, but they are also making advertising more expensive with CPMs increasing around 15% on average from 2020 to 2021. These increased costs come at an inopportune time where businesses are still recovering and feeling the effects of a two-year pandemic. Whether their KPIs were focused on e-commerce sales or brand awareness, many brands relied heavily on social media advertising with its robust targeting features and efficient CPMs.
Little Dot Studios uses paid social advertising to not only reach your preferred audiences but more importantly to retain, grow and build dedicated audiences through our unique approach to media buying. Given the recent iOS privacy changes, this is an even stronger value proposition than in years past. While first-party data restrictions may continue to evolve and change, your ability to leverage your own audiences and followers for retargeting purposes now looms larger than ever. A dedicated and engaged consumer that you can reach and retain is rapidly becoming a hot commodity as the advertising landscape gets more and more restrictive and competitive.
Little Dot Studios prides itself on building real audiences and engagement via our media buying efforts and will continue to develop this strategy to deliver long-term value while overcoming new restrictions and changes.
This Thought Leadership piece was written by Steven Hellmann, Senior Paid Media Manager at Little Dot Studios.