Hey email marketers, guess what? Apple has made a few changes (again). You may want to note these to avoid a negative impact on your email strategies.
Why does the iOS 17 update by Apple matter?
To begin, it's not all doom and gloom for email links yet, so that's a start! 😅 But you still need to note the changes and potential impact that the newest iOS 17 release may have on your email campaigns and links.
Why should I care? You may be asking yourself. To provide some context as to why this is something to be considered, allow this statistic to percolate:
Almost three out of every five emails are opened on Apple Mail (58%). That’s more than twice of Gmail (28%), and over seven times that of Outlook (4.2%)...
Now, do you see why keeping an eye on Apple's changes needs to be a regular practice? 👀
How the new iOS 17 impacts your email links?
Midway through September this year, Apple released their new operating system update for iPhone - iOS 17.
Many email marketers panicked, expecting some spectacular changes like those enforced by the release of Apple's Mail Privacy Protection which impacted the tracking of open rates in a big way on Apple devices.
If you're in the game of sending emails, you may have heard of iOS 17's Link Tracking Protection (LTP), which is one of the privacy enhancements that Apple has released with this update. This enhancement is the main cause for concern amongst email marketers.
Allow us to explain, and allay your concerns while providing a few pointers on how this update could impact your email efforts.
Your email links and iOS 17
Apple's LTP essentially strips some variables and parameters from shared URLs 🔗
This means removing certain tracking information from links that users share in Messages and Mail, as well as removing the same tracking information from links when these are accessed in Safari in Private Browsing mode.
The good news is that UTM parameters aren't being impacted (for now).
That doesn't, however, mean that this is good news for conversion tracking...
Email conversion attribution
If you're using custom tracking parameters, you may have a problem getting an accurate depiction of your conversions 📉
Sometimes these tracking parameters in URLs are used to understand who clicked on links and to measure campaign success. Because these are now removed, it becomes tough to attribute website visits or conversions back to specific campaigns.
This is your major concern, however, if you use UTM parameters, you can mitigate some of the impact this has on your conversion tracking.
This link contains a comprehensive list of parameters that may be, and already are, impacted by the changes within the new iOS 17 update.
Mitigating the impact of iOS 17 on email links
With Apple, no email marketer is ever really out of the woods. To begin, here's what you need to do to avoid being caught unaware when future changes occur in the Apple environment:
☝️ Monitor any future changes or updates
✌️ Test and adapt your emails as a constant practice
👌 Find smart ways to obtain data directly from your audience
You'll make things far easier for yourself by keeping a close eye on this.
And there's the (Apple) tea this month ☕ Have you seen any impact of iOS 17 on your email strategy yet?
In case you missed it, click here to grab a copy of our detailed Database Growth Playbook for Email Marketing to help you grow your database further and support your efforts 👇
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