iOS 15’s impact on email marketing: A letter from Omnisend

Those of us in ecommerce marketing know that change is a constant. When customer habits trend in a certain direction or technology evolves, we recognize and adapt.

The latest change is a watershed moment in email marketing, and it forever alters email marketing as we know it.

Apple’s announcement of privacy changes included in the upcoming fall iOS 15 release means that marketers will no longer be able to track whether subscribers open a brand’s email. This effectively ends email open rate as a trusted marketing metric.

While this move applies, for now, only to iOS users using Apple Mail apps, it has far-reaching effects across the entire industry. The inability to track email opens, even if only partially, makes open rate data unreliable. And if it’s not reliable, it plays no role in making informed marketing decisions.

The trickle-down effect impacts open-based marketing tactics, too, rendering remails (Booster sends) and non-opener re-engagement campaigns useless.

Apple’s decision equates to one thing: opens are dead.

We understand the fear of not knowing the true impact on marketing programs, as well as the uneasiness around unlearning traditional marketing tactics. We also understand the old way of email marketing is over. Marketers need to permanently shift their mindset and attention to strategies, tactics, and new best practices that create real engagement with their customers. Nevertheless, I don’t want you to panic, because we are fully committed to helping you through this defining time.

Omnisend is in a unique position to adapt quickly to industry changes such as this, because we built our organization to be customer-centric and nimble. We not only adapt to market changes but navigate them alongside you.

Just like you, we’re shifting our planning and tactics to address these new challenges, so you can more easily navigate them:

• We have several blog posts on our blog for all the latest news, best practices, and thought leadership around the changes iOS 15 is bringing to email marketing. They present various sources and points of view from industry experts outside of our company, providing an up-to-date pulse of the market.

• We are currently prioritizing the required product updates and will let you know as soon as they’re defined. Throughout all of this, our 24/7 support and Customer Success Managers are here to answer questions and guide you in other metrics and tactics to measure and improve your email marketing.

The concept of personalized marketing has been at the core of Omnisend’s mission since day one, and this announcement proves our commitment to this principle was correct. As customers take more control over their relationships with ecommerce brands, this level of personalization will only increase—and we’re prepared for it.

This announcement paves the way for us to provide you the tools to create a relevant and customer-centric marketing program, increase sales, and build a stronger brand.

After all, relevant marketing is what matters, not opens.