Image of a hand holding an iPhone with application icons on display.

Apple has announced Mail Privacy Protection for their Mail app which will roll out in the Fall of 2021. This latest move to protect privacy will allow users to prevent their IP address from being tracked/used for remarketing purposes and hide their open data.

As of now, 58% of people use Apple services for their email. While this update will only impact Apple users, it’s thought that Android and other operating systems will soon follow suit with their own set of privacy protections.


What Does This Mean For Email Marketing?

Without the ability to collect open data, email marketers will no longer be able to tell when an email was opened, from where, or on what device. The Mail app will remotely load all email messages making them appear as “opened,” in turn skewing a long-admired email KPI – Open Rate. We will still be able to accurately report on clicks and conversions from all email campaigns.

This will also affect any automated campaigns or subject line testing triggered by email opens.


How We Are Adjusting Our Strategy

While we aren’t sure exactly what this will look like until the update starts rolling out, we have a plan in place to further optimize and manage our campaigns. There are many tools that we already use to ensure optimum deliverability and engaging subject lines. We will be testing different strategies to allow for more intent-based user behavior and are working on growing our product offering to include SMS automation.

As your marketing partner, we are always looking for opportunities to improve the services we provide and continue to be adaptable to the many privacy changes we’ve seen this year. If you have any questions please feel free to contact your Account Executive at clients@firm-media.com.

For more information on what this update means for consumers, please review Apple’s official press release here: https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2021/06/apple-advances-its-privacy-leadership-with-ios-15-ipados-15-macos-monterey-and-watchos-8/


By Brandi Trunick
Brandi has been a Firm Media team member since 2014 and serves as the Digital Communications Specialist. With a Master's Degree in Internet Marketing, Platinum Certification in SharpSpring and being highly active in the Women of Email networking group, Brandi helps our partners develop compelling email strategies to win the battle of the inbox.

Join Our Newsletter