A 2 minute read.
On June 7, 2021, Apple announced the release of the latest update for iPhone, iOS 15, which brought many consumer-focused features, new functionality for FaceTime, Weather redesign, UX updates, and a series of changes marketers should know about. More specifically, iOS 15 provides enhanced privacy controls.
iOS 15 includes the Mail Privacy Protection feature, which doesn’t provide email senders with information about whether or not the email has been opened. It also hides the recipient’s email address, which keeps their location unknown. Thus, email marketers cannot see the precise open rates stats for the email marketing campaigns they send.
Another feature called Hide My Email lets users hide their email addresses and generate random ones while registering on websites or applications. That way, the information they select to receive will be forwarded to their accounts, but websites don’t see their actual email addresses.
The latest iOS update brings many changes to the way companies can measure the results of their campaigns. Open rates have become useless, forcing marketers to start making some adjustments. Rather than focusing on open rates, marketers should consider using click-through rates and conversions to measure the effectiveness of their campaigns.
iOS 15 privacy changes accelerate the shift from display to lifestyle marketing, making brands more dependant on the first touchpoint. Any channel that relies on third-party data to target customers and personalize email messages will degrade, making it more difficult to acquire new customers.
Marketers can adapt to the change while taking the following steps:
- Companies should focus on customer retention. They should provide tremendous value to their clients to make them share their details. Rather than gathering new clients at every turn, marketers should focus on retaining existing customers using add-ons and subscription models.
- Rather than bombarding customers with the information they do not need, marketers should show they are on the client’s side and show how much they value the information clients share with them. One of the most effective ways to collect zero-party data is to invite users to participate in polls and quizzes on your site. In email marketing, companies can invite customers to decide whether they’d like to receive promotional, informational, or emails related to their accounts.
The release of iOS 15 is Apple’s latest push to make a world without individual tracking a reality. Email marketers should apply extra effort to adjust to the new reality. If your company needs help modifying digital marketing strategy and building trusted relationships with its audience, the Atypical Design team is always willing to help.