What is Branch's recommendation on implementing the AppTrackingTransparency prompt?

We published a blog post on this recently, but here are a few high-level thoughts:

Showing the ATT prompt clearly interrupts your app's user experience. That's why most companies we spoke to originally expected to forgo access to IDFA with iOS 14 in order to avoid that interruption. The revised January 2021 language from Apple likely means that the ATT prompt will become the “GDPR cookie banner” of 2021 for companies that want any degree of access to device-level ads attribution.

If Apple's latest guidance means you're newly re-considering that approach, the good news is that we have initial best practices data from a few sources:

• Data on efficacy from companies that did originally plan to use the prompt and have tested mock scenarios since September (with opt-in rates as high as 40%).
• Long-term learning from other permission prompts (think geolocation, push notifications, etc.).
• Visible testing approaches from companies with tremendous scale, like Facebook.

First and foremost, go soft-prompt first. This means providing context about what the user is about to be asked right before you trigger the Apple-mandated modal. The “official” language can be a little scary from a user perspective, so providing a voiceover about why you’re about to ask for this permission is critical.

Our recommendation for the soft-prompt itself comes down to three core tenets:

• Show value to the user. Any company worth their salt wants the best experience for their users. How will approving this ask help your users? Could it include increased personalization, access to rewards, special benefits, or fewer ad interruptions? When a user can see how this will benefit them personally, you’re more likely to get their informed consent.
• Consider the timing. Onboarding is always a delicate process, so while getting approval for ATT is critical, consider when to best make the ask from a user perspective. Consider floating your modal after an early “success” that ties into the user value you plan to highlight.
• A/B test with rigour. Your paid media team has testing built into their DNA. Apply that mentality to the copy, creative, timing, and highlighted value prop that accompany your soft prompt. Work as a cross-functional marketing, product, and data team to guide your process.

So when should you start testing?

• Start testing your soft-prompt prior to iOS 14.5 with scoped audience segments. That way you can get a sense of what resonates best with new users from different install sources while IDFA is still available, and you can easily assess impact on down-funnel behavior
• Integrate the Apple modal whenever your dev team has time in the next month, but keep the actual modal behind a flipper until iOS 14.5 release. No need to reduce data availability before it’s necessary and if you trigger the modal today, IDFA will be zero’d out unless your user accepts ATT.