Facebook Aggregated Event Measurement: What Is It?

Facebook advertisers who use events for conversion optimization now must use Facebook Aggregated Event Measurement.

Read on to find out how it all started…

It was a rocky start to 2021 for Facebook advertisers globally. If you’re anything like us, you’ve heard about Apple’s iOS14 update and wondered, how will Facebook fight back? With updates to Apple’s iOS14 causing the biggest shake-up in the platform’s history. 

In its infamous iOS14 update, Apple brought to the surface its previously buried ability for users to opt out of sharing their data – explicitly giving us the choice to allow or, more importantly, refuse permission for our data to be tracked and shared. 

Roughly 75% of the world’s iPhone users have already downloaded the newest operating system, with another 75% of those choosing to opt out. Meaning advertisers no longer have a reliable, built-in way to attribute users movements and actions across websites from the social media marketing campaigns they are running. 

What is Facebook’s Aggregated Event Measurement?

The Aggregated Event Measurement is a new method in Facebook’s arsenal that will continue to support app and web-based conversions in accordance with Apple’s iOS14 policies. Essentially, this method limits data capture while still supporting specific advertising use-cases decided by advertisers. 

It is important to note these updates do not affect iOS users targeted through Facebook Advertising only. Facebook is applying these changes globally, so they will affect everyone, including Android users. Adoption is necessary, not optional. 

What changes will the Aggregated Event Measurement bring?

Using the Aggregated Event Measurement, advertisers will now be limited to tracking 8 pixel events per domain across both standard and custom conversions. These 8 events will need to be ranked from highest to lowest priority for the business. 

Less data

Inevitably, a mass exodus from data tracking will sever the pipeline that has fuelled the social media advertising industry until now. This will have the greatest effect on remarketing and retargeting campaigns for advertisers. 

Reporting

Facebook will only record one event for users who opt-out of tracking. This event will be the highest priority event that a user converts on from those ranked in the Aggregated Event Measurement. So, if a business has both Add to Cart and Purchase as 2 of its 8 events and a user completes both, only the Purchase event will be recorded. Ultimately, this means fewer events overall will be reported on.

While purchase conversions are often the primary focus of a business, optimising towards, tracking and reporting on higher and middle of the funnel activity will continue to be key to a long-term advertising strategy; especially for new businesses. Thankfully, Aggregated Event Measurement rankings can be altered at any time, with a 72 hour processing time to take effect.  

Shifts within the tech space constantly keep advertisers on their toes. 

So what do these updates actually mean for businesses?

The short answer is, not much. For many advertisers, this will mean little more than a short-term inconvenience requiring an extra level of configuration. Great creative (and large budgets) still win. The principles of who gets cut through and how still stand. The value of killer creative and the right message remain unchanged.  

The long answer is still, nothing. Kidding, we could never get off that easy. 

Now, more than ever, businesses will need to define their goals and get their priorities in order. With a loss of fidelity compared to the ‘good old days’, advertisers will need to refine and consolidate their marketing funnels. Gone are the days of multiple, specialised funnels with highly customised events. 

The good news is, in-app engagement activity is here to stay. Advertisers may refocus their campaigns to prioritise engagement metrics such as video views and CTA clicks as their source data for remarketing. These updates could even mean a boost for Facebook, with more businesses making sales directly within Facebook’s apps instead of sending users to a website. 

At the end of the day, we all know that changes in technology are inevitable, and all that we can do is prepare, adapt, and when need be, call in the experts to make sure you’re getting the best possible outcomes for your business, iOS14 and all.