15% of Facebook web conversions are not reported. This isn’t the marketer’s fault. It’s Facebook’s, and also apparently Apple’s.
Facebook published a blog post in which they admit to underreporting about 15% iOS web conversions.
In other words, for marketers, don’t be surprised if your actual conversions (sales, leads, app installs, and so on) are higher than what Facebook shows.
Why is this happening
The quick answer: Apple’s ATT update.
People are refusing to allow mobile apps, including Facebook, to track them.
Based on recent data from Branch, an app analytics company, the opt-in rate for apps that display the ATT prompt is only 31.9%.
What you can do about this
Facebook outlined some actually useful steps you can take to improve your ad performance in their blog post.
Here are a few we like:
– Allow time to pass before analyzing your performance
Wait at least 72 hours before evaluating the performance of your conversion campaigns due to delayed reporting.
– Analyze on a campaign level rather than a creative level
This is because some estimated conversions are reported and aggregated with a delay.
– Our favorite: Experiment and learn. Continuously.
It may sound like a cliche, but it has never been more true.
If there is a Darwinian law in advertising, it is this: “Those who test the most, survive.”
