If you rely on email marketing for lead nurturing and engaging customers, now is the time to modify how you measure success and segment your data. The iOS 15 update is imminent, and it’s a watershed moment for email marketing.

If you keep abreast of digital marketing news, you are probably aware of the iOS 14.5 app tracking update, which allowed users to opt-out of tracking on apps such as Facebook and Instagram. This autumn will see the introduction of iOS 15 and Apple’s Mail Privacy Protection, which will allow users to hide their:

• IP address
• open data
• email address (iCloud+ users)

This will make it much more difficult to collect reliable data on email open rates for campaigns and automations. In fact, it means open rates as a metric are pretty much dead.

Although currently only Apple Mail users (around 58% of the global market share) will be affected, this may be the first step towards an industry-wide revolution. Tests show that Apple Mail is likely to report 100% open rates for its users, which will affect both your deliverability and list cleansing efforts. Going forward, open rates will not be relied upon to make data-driven marketing decisions.

Nevertheless, we should treat this with a certain degree of optimism. This is a valuable opportunity to learn, grow, and generate more trust between your customers and your brand.

Keep it fresh and change the way you measure campaigns

The release of iOS 15 requires a fresh approach to measuring campaigns and segmenting subscriber data.

• One of the most significant metrics will now be the number of clicks, as it more effectively demonstrates the level of subscriber engagement. Open rates should only be used as a secondary measure, if at all.
• If you’re not already doing so, track website activity and purchase behaviour as part of your campaigns. Most email marketing platforms will integrate with eCommerce platforms and allow you to track activity – after all, a purchase or lead is the ultimate goal of your marketing.
• Be brutal when validating subscribers and keep your lists clean. Many marketers fear losing all their subscribers by sending specific campaigns asking if they want to keep in touch. You are likely to lose some, but the remaining subs will be far more likely to engage with future campaigns. There are also third-party tools available to remove unwanted bots and spam email addresses if this is a problem.
• Monitor negative metrics such as unsubscribes, bounces and spam complaints. These often indicate potential issues with your list and content and can adversely impact the deliverability of future campaigns – or see you blacklisted by mail servers!
• Consider using a double opt-in process for subscriptions. This is a process whereby a new subscriber receives an email confirmation message after subscribing to a mail list or newsletter. It is a great way of ensuring that the email address and the subscriber are not bots.
• Placement testing (AKA inbox testing) allows you to identify and fix delivery problems before you send to your list. This will give you an idea of the performance of your campaign and its placement in your subscribers’ inboxes.
• Be on the lookout for opportunities to improve your content’s click-ability with additional interactive elements and features in your campaigns. Consider adding a ‘Forward to a Friend’ button, links to relevant products or articles, or links to your social  channels.
• If you’re particularly savvy, you may be familiar with A/B testing for email subject lines: the higher the open rate, the more effective the subject. Moving forward, we will most likely need to use click-through rate (CTR) to measure performance. Remember, though, as with any experiment, the more variables you introduce, the more difficult it is to identify which variable has caused the result.

The new rules of segmentation

Segmenting your email lists is the most effective way to offer truly personalised communications – giving subscribers what they want, how and when they want it. However, the death of open rates means that it’s time to consider alternative ways of grouping subscribers into usable, manageable lists.

• Subscription date – highlight older subscribers who are more likely to become inactive. This is an effective way to keep you lists clean and increase engagement rates.
• Type of clicks – prioritise which clicks are more important and segment your subscribers by who has clicked what in your most recent campaigns.
• Conversion rates – these offer a useful measure of how successful your campaigns are in generating significant actions such as a purchase or lead
• RFM (recency, frequency, monetary) analysis – plays an important role in creating a customer lifecycle map:
  • Recency – how recently the subscriber has clicked on a campaign
  • Frequency – how often they engage with campaigns
  • Monetary – (for example, average order value, customer lifetime value – what are they worth to your business?)

What is the future of email marketing?

Despite the bad reputation that it often receives, and the hesitance that many organisations have in investing in email platforms over more ‘trendy’ channels (such as social media), email marketing is still one of the most effective ways to engage customers. It is particularly important for small businesses in ensuring their brand stays top of mind and stands out above the noise, especially during periods of uncertainty such as the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Don’t be put off by changing metrics, now is the perfect time to up your email game. The results will speak for themselves.