iOS 15: A Milestone Update for Mail
As tech giants attempt to get to grips with consumers’ increasing appetites for privacy, it has jolted marketing companies’ reliance on long-standing tools. Cookies are already being discussed as a product of the past; the terms ‘opt-in’, ‘first-party’, ‘sign-up’ and ‘surveys’ are gaining more of the limelight. And now with iOS 15, Apple’s impending software update has sent a shockwave through the marketing industry. Released this autumn, iOS 15 is aiming to further conceal email users’ information from tracking tools and email marketers.
The marketing industry is paying particular attention to Hide My Email and Private Relay. Hide My Email generates a new address for a user, but an email will still land in their true email’s inbox. You’ll get wind of an email address, but it won’t be the real one. Apple is obscuring as much as possible, but this isn’t end of the world.
iOS 15's Impact On Tracking
The most important takeaway from iOS 15 is its impact on open rates. If a prospect is using the iPhone Mail App, any email that lands in their inbox will automatically be registered by trackers as having been opened. Have a 20% open rate? That will jump to 70-80%, overnight.
What Does the iOS 15 Update Mean For You?
This sounds like a problem. But, in reality, it’s not. That’s because open rates are a vanity measure. Readers may open your emails, but unless they engage with your content, they’re not going to become the hot prospects you want them to be. Engagement rates, such as the clickthrough rate, are more important as they allow you to see the bigger picture. They tell you what your prospect is actually engaging with, where, and for how long. You can get a feel for what the prospect actually wants to know, which will improve your conversations and build your rapport.
So – yes. Expect an inflated open rate. But pay attention to your clickthrough rate, your website tracking, and your prospect activity across other areas. Your prospects don’t just speak to you from one source. Every action they take with your company is another conversation; listen to it all.
Adjustment, Not Devastation
If anything, iOS 15 serves as a timely reminder for us marketers not to rest on our laurels. Mutual benefit is a big pulling factor for consumers, and this is only increasing. It’s a good thing that we have to work to earn their engagement and their interest; it only builds trust.
Marketing is moving in the direction of ‘first-party’ data as opposed to ‘third-party’; information coming from the audiences themselves instead of through trackers and other websites. The more you directly engage with your consumers, the more valuable the data.
Reaching Your Audience After iOS 15
iOS 15 is ultimately urging companies to personalise their content. At popcorn, we encourage this through our PRM NOW approach. PRM NOW, our free 6-step training course, highlights the importance of engaging with every prospect individually, so you can know them better as people and as possible customers.
Take this approach throughout your entire sales process; keep track of where each prospect is going through your sales pipeline. Make the most of your contact and leave no piece of information behind in your CRM.
popcorn joins all this information together to show you the bigger picture, by flagging up engaged contacts as hot, warm and cool prospects. This will be a combination of your prospect’s activity, such as their place in your pipeline, their website engagement and—importantly—their clickthrough rate. When they become a hot prospect, it shouldn’t surprise you, as you can see you’ve already put in the work.
Make sure your company is ready for the privacy changes iOS 15 is bringing by tweaking your sales behaviours. Marketing doesn’t need to be dependent on open rates. In the end, you are dependent on your prospects—and if you can nurture trust, you can nurture a sale.
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