Apple’s recent iOS 15 privacy changes bring forward a whole host of new privacy features providing exceeding control over email and browser data; thereby, having a deep impact on email marketing.

Before getting into details of how this recent update impacts email marketing, let’s first get to know about the latest changes:

Apple Mail Privacy Protection

If users choose to opt out, this hinders email senders (marketing professionals) from seeing if and when a recipient has opened an email in Apple Mail.

Mail Privacy Protection also conceals the email recipient’s IP address, so marketing professionals cannot track their location.

iCloud+

Apple is now delivering an extra iCloud subscription named iCloud+. It allows visitors to access added privacy features so that they can avoid tracking on Safari. It also tells users which websites they’re sending their data to, giving them the chance to stop sharing their data.

Conceal My Email

Users can decide to disguise their email to stop brands from seeing their real email address. Rather, brands will find a fake email address as a replacement, until users determine whether or not to give them permission to their real email address.

What iOS 15 Means for Email Marketers?

Similar to the iOS 14.5 update, Apple’s iOS 15 has numerous implications that marketers must consider. These include:

• Open Rates will now be a depreciated metric.
• The IP address will be masked by the Apple
• Send time optimization will be impacted
• From-name and Subject line testing will be impaired

How Retailers Should Prepare for iOS 15?

A handful of the tasks that merchants will want to execute involve:

Launch Any Open Data-Dependent Tests Immediately

Retailers must begin A/B testing and develop benchmarks for the components of email such as:

• Pre-headers
• Subject lines
• From-names
• Day-of-the-week
• Subject times

In addition to calculating the open rates of these campaign components, retailers are also suggested to start measuring the power of each component based on the number of clicks.

Rebuild and Revisit All Engagement Segments

Retailers must modify their criteria to incorporate alternative metrics, for instance:

• Click engagement,
• On-site activity and
• Purchase behaviors.

This will prove to be a better alternative for keeping achieving well-targeted engagement segments.

Communicate with Tech Partners on the Impact of iOS 15

Retailers must invest time to communicate with their email service provider to comprehend how Apple’s iOS 15 update will impact their platform. Simultaneously, sellers must think beyond their ESP and have conversations with any other technology partners to comprehend the scope and make required arrangements.

Create Benchmark Reporting

Benchmark is the process of correlating a company’s information with industry data from different brands to deduce the performance of a business. So, marketers need to remain informed of main industry metrics such as revenue per delivery, click rates, unsubscribe rates etc.

Remove Inactive Subscribers by Executing Re-engagement Campaign

It is a good practice for retailers to run a re-engagement campaign to specify contacts who should be eliminated from the brand’s email list. In addition, it will provide sellers with the chance to optimize their email list and enhance their lead quality along with sender reputation.

Invest in SMS Marketing

Retailers must consider alternatives like SMS and push notifications as a way of broadening their reach and staying connected with mobile customers. A recent study proves that SMS conversion rates elevated by a remarkable 108% in the recent period.

Final Thoughts

As with iOS 14, the upcoming changes to Apple’s operating system have created quite a bit of anxiety among marketers. Nonetheless, this does not imply that email will not withstand. There is probable to be some difficult period ahead for email marketers till they gain their footing in this emerging arena.

If you want help reorienting its efforts in light of the iOS 15 update, reach out to Zoom Digital’s marketing specialists. Our team of marketing gurus can help your company to alter its approach to email optimization, engage in SMS marketing, connect with customers via social media messaging apps and put together a comprehensive strategy for mitigating the felt impact of Apple’s latest alterations.