If you’re delivering email messages to customers on their phones, recent updates to Apple’s iOS 15 could impact one of the key metrics marketers use to measure email effectiveness.
An email open rate is a calculation that marketers use to determine the success of email marketing campaigns. It’s the percentage of your company’s total subscribers who open an email that’s delivered to them.
When your open rate improves over time, you can get a better understanding of the content that’s most interesting to your target audience. When it’s low, it could be an indication that subscribers aren’t reading your email at all.
Your email open rate along with other metrics such as click rate, click-through rate, deliverability results, delivery time, email frequency, and subject line analysis help you determine how well you’re engaging a desired audience and if they’re investing in your brand. However, the way email open rates affect your email marketing may change in 2022, due to new privacy features recently added to iOS 15.
Several privacy protections were implemented as part of Apple’s iOS 15 update in September of 2021. These enhancements primarily impact emails sent to Apple Mail on Apple mobile devices, which account for over 35% of the global email provider market share. iOS 15 is the latest update for Apple’s iPhone operating system, which can be installed for free on iPhones that support the update.
Right now, desktop email clients aren't impacted by this update. It’s also important to note that Google, Outlook, and other email providers have yet to announce any new privacy changes that could affect email marketers tracking open rate and IP data information.
The iOS 15 update includes both free and paid privacy features that help users better control and manage access to their data. They include:
Despite the way Apple’s open privacy changes can impact open rate tracking or email-based A/B testing, email marketers can follow these tips to keep their marketing success on track:
Because some email audiences might become less trackable, consider changing your goals for open rate success based on adjusted low, average, and high open rates.
Refocus on other determining factors for email marketing success. Here’s a list:
According to Email Product Manager Shane Janssens, HubSpot is considering the next best steps for those using the email tool based on Apple’s new features based on how they could impact HubSpot email analytics.
In the meantime, HubSpot's Email Health Tool will compare your open, click-through, unsubscribe, and bounce rates against HubSpot benchmarks.
If you need help creating email marketing campaigns that show success, regardless of Apple’s new privacy protections, connect with 11outof11. Request a complimentary call with an 11outof11 expert. Contact us to learn more.