Customers nowadays are more aware of the protection of their privacy. They don’t want all their information and personal data to be out there without any restrictions. Big companies, like Apple, have already taken action regarding the matter. The new IOS 15 update in September 2021 released with Mail Privacy Protection, which brought a lot of speculation on how it would affect email marketing practices.
Thanks to a recent HubSpot survey, we have a clearer understanding of how the iOS 15 updates and data privacy is affecting email marketing. The results show that 47% of the respondents determined it had a neutral impact on their email marketing strategy.
Right now, we are still adapting to a cookieless world. As a consequence, there are a lot of worries among marketers around the world. New privacy rules impact email strategies directly, making it harder to know how our consumers are interacting with our content. Moreover, If we can’t collect certain data about our email activity, how can we guarantee our efforts?
The solution is complex, but not impossible. Email marketing is not dead, it is just a matter of adapting as soon as we can to these changes.
Both IOS 15’s update and GDPR laws trigger us to think out of the box and offer more value to our subscribers. Relying on good content and deliverability is key to overcoming this landscape.
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How Apple’s iOS 15 is Impacting Email Marketers according to Data
Something kinda obvious, but it’s still important to make it clear: iOS 15 is only available for mobile devices (iPhones, iPads, iPod touches). Even though the amount of iOS users in the U.S. is over 56%, the worldwide alternative software is more popular. For that reason only 27% of the global population use iOS.
There are a lot of important areas that are influenced by both GDPR and iOS updates. For example:
- Reduced access to user data;
- Decreased ability to operate location-based strategies;
- No ability to see the open rate or click-through rate;
This doesn’t mean the end of email marketing or that it leaves us handcuffed. Solutions and alternatives are already being tested by professionals and are already providing very interesting results.
Let’s take a look at some of them!
Some alternatives proven by professionals
Prioritize KPIs
The first action taken by marketers was to re-prioritize their success indicators. According to Hubspot, up to 62% of impacted email marketers started taking into account different KPIs to measure the effectiveness of their marketing efforts.
In other words, they decided to analyze other KPIs, such as clicks, spam rate, web traffic, unsubscribe rate, or surveys. They even considered A/B testing to check the results of their campings.
Use alternative channels
At this stage, you should already know that you can’t trust a single channel for your communications. Being present in other channels helps you to have better segmentation while spreading the word.
One of the biggest (but underrated) alternatives is SMS Marketing. Remember, 3.8 billion people around the world carry a cell phone. Why not make the best of it by just sending a message?
And if you are not yet convinced, let me tell you that SMS has a 98% open rate, while only 3% of marketing emails have an open rate above 50%, according to a Campaign Monitor research.
Offer value and deliverability
Another step is to avoid elements that can hurt your email deliverability, such as poor content, using URL shorteners, or single opt-in. In this new scenario, 28% of email marketers responded to privacy changes by focusing on improving email deliverability, as reported by Hubspot. And we all should do the same.
On the other hand, if you don’t want to end up in the SPAM box, you should always make sure to deliver valuable content and benefits to all your subscribers. Some advice for making better content emails strategy are:
- Monitor the latest design trends.
- Touch your consumer pain point through good copy, titles, and CTAs.
- Get out of the ordinary, and start trying interactive content
- Give a human touch by personalizing your recipient’s name
Build trust
Relationships are based on trust, and marketing is not an exception. Transparent communication is key to gaining your customer’s reliability. Let them see your business’s human side and be always truthful to your values and principles. Share your own experiences, data, and surveys, to let your audience know you are very committed to your mission.
If you do this, your customers will have more confidence to give their personal information to you. And the best part is that you are already building a long-lasting relationship while protecting their privacy.
In conclusion
GDPR and Privacy are here to stay. They are already shifting social media and advertising marketing. In order to make the most of the resources spent on our email marketing campaign, it is necessary to make some changes to our priorities and KPIs, and be focused on delivering the best content for our subscribers.
Start thinking out of the box and see how your marketing efforts are all worthy!
