Apple’s iOS 15 email privacy updates are revolutionizing how email marketers pull data. Data allows us to figure out what’s working and what’s not. With the new updates, email open rates will be impacted in a big way. We talked about what this iOS email privacy update is, but how can you adjust Your Email Marketing Strategy to fit this new change?
One
With the unreliability of open rates, it’s time to revaluate which email marketing metrics you focus on. Opens and clicks no longer hold the power they once did. Email clicks hold more weight than they used to. Consider focusing on the conversion rate, list growth rate, overall ROI, click rate, and the number of emails being forwarded and shared.
- Conversion rate: the number of conversions (a specific action such as sales) divided by the total number of visitors
- List growth rate: the rate at which you’re gaining new subscribers versus contacts unsubscribing
- Overall ROI: the amount of money earned for every dollar invested in email marketing
- Click rate: the percentage of recipients who click a link in your email
- Forwarding/sharing: how often recipients forward or share an email, expanding campaign reach
At the end of the day, the most integral part of strategy is relying on metrics that drive your central business goals. Alignment is key.
Two
It’s time to revamp the triggers in your automated email series. Stray away from triggers related to open rates. Set triggers around whether someone clicks a certain link, time-focused triggers, date-focused triggers, and triggers driven by ecommerce, perhaps someone leaves a full cart at checkout.
Three
With MPP, you don’t know how many people are opening your emails. But, it’s critical that your emails are opened! Now is as good a time as ever to re-focus on engaging email subscribers.
Email subject lines are the first thing a consumer reads when deciding to open an email or click delete. Put yourself in the shoes of your audience. If you were reading the email, what would make you click?
Consider the contact sender’s name in the from section of your newsletters. This needs to be a name that consumers know and trust. Following subject lines, preheaders (words that show in an email preview) are an important email component. Preheaders are a great location for a call to action.
Four
Since we’re shifting from email open rates to click rates for measuring engagement, it’s important to create content that makes consumers click. As a general rule of thumb, don’t include your most valuable content in an email. Leave readers with a curiosity gap to click through to your website.
Five
To get the most out of your emails, add interactive elements to engage subscribers. Polls and surveys invite your consumer to contribute to the conversation.
In the ever-evolving digital landscape, know that there will be more changes to come. Being able to pivot and adapt your strategy over time is one the strongest tool in your email marketing toolkit.
