Email Analytics

The impact of iOS 15 on the Email Marketing Industry

New privacy features on iOS 15 may be all the buzz among users, but for email marketers, this new “let’s ditch the sales guy” feature has become quite the challenge to overcome when reviewing email analytics. The new privacy trend is creating headaches for email marketers as they try to reach their target market, prompting them to change their traditional methods.

Apple is engaging in email tracing and surveillance, and many customers are opting for privacy protection. The feature is part of iOS 15, launched in September 2021.

Privacy Impact - Open Rates No Longer Accurate

A survey of 300 email marketers revealed that two-thirds reported a moderate-to-significant impact on their email marketing strategy. The privacy changes hit location-based targeting, open rates, and A/B testing, leaving many email marketers with no choice but to take another route.

They started using different metrics (KPIs-Key Performance Indicators) to measure the effectiveness of their marketing efforts. Email open rates were hit the hardest. The privacy update allows users to prevent marketers from seeing whether and when they opened a marketing email.

Email marketers are now focusing on clicks, click-through rates, and conversions to reach their market. Other methods used to measure analytics include surveys or feedback forms, website traffic, and leads. Over half are collecting user data from other sources, such as SMS, which reportedly has a 98% open rate.

Improving email deliverability is another method being used to cope with the privacy changes. Email marketers are focusing more on keeping a healthy email list, personalizing emails, using engaging subject lines and preview text, and providing easy unsubscribe options.

Understanding Your Own Data

When it comes to email engagement, remember that everyone’s definition of success will differ. Here are some things to keep in mind as you navigate your way through the muddy waters.

• Link clicks are a more reliable alternative, and they are accurately tracked regardless of the device the email recipient is using. It’s industry standard to embed a tiny pixel in messages that records an open when the message is loaded by an email recipient. Don’t be surprised if your click-through rates are under 10%. People may open your email, but not all will click through.

• When an email you send bounces, it is either because your inbox is full or because the recipient's email address is incorrect. Don’t let your weekly email bounce rate get above 7%. This is a sign you need to address a problem.

• Unsubscribes are not fun, but they are far better than complaints, which are triggered when a recipient clicks the ‘spam’ button in their email. Your unsubscribe rate records the number of people who have requested not to receive future emails from you.

Keep in mind that email marketing is all about trial and error. If one approach isn’t working, try something new. Pivoting and adapting, as we have all learned to do, is turning out to be the way of the future.

Leave the adapting to me. If you’re ready to see how link tracking and SMS can help in your marketing efforts, schedule a call today!