3 Things to Know About Apple’s Mail Update
Thanks to Tina Radcliffe for forwarding me MailerLite’s article on the new Apple Mail update, rolling out September 20, 2021. This is going to impact most of us who send newsletters or engage in other email marketing.
These changes will currently impact Apple Mail users, but look for other mail services to follow suit. (This isn’t small potatoes…iPhone Mail and Apple Mail on computers rank #1 and #3 in popularity for mail clients.) Generally, we’re talking about a large share of email recipients.
You can read the full MailerLite article here, but this is my take on three things to know right now.
I’ll include screenshots from MailerLite’s article in each
1. Unreliable Open Rates
Apple will be obfuscating data.
It will automatically report an email as “opened” once it has been received. This will INFLATE your open rates, making Open Rate reporting no longer reliable (to the degree that your subscribers use Apple Mail).
Apple will also include other data that will hide your subscribers’ IP locations and other personal info.
2. Gauge This Impact on YOUR Subscriber List
How many of your subscribers use Apple Mail? You can find out.
This knowledge will let you know how severe this privacy update will impact your metrics.
See the screenshot below for MailerLite’s instructions on how to identify which email clients your subscribers use. (If you use another email service, they should have similar reporting. Search their knowledge base for directions.)
3. Clean Your List Now
If you haven’t done any email list housecleaning lately, now is the time. Purge inactive subscribers while you still have the credible metrics to identify them.
Moving forward, we’ll have to use other (more creative?) tools and data to measure list health.
All in all, I think any move towards consumer protection and greater privacy for individuals is a good thing in this age of invasive Big Tech. What do you think?
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Heather is a freelance marketing specialist and author. She writes a weekly blog for AuthorCompany to help Christian authors navigate marketing technology and engage their target readers. She lives in sizzling Louisiana but dreams of mountains, chilly days, and a little snow wouldn’t hurt, either.
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