Email tracking is the ability to trace and monitor emails after clicking the send button. Email trackers can determine when and where emails are sent, what time and how often an email was opened, or which device was used to open it. A 2017 report by tech firm One More Company (OMC) revealed that more than 40% of all emails are tracked while 2018 Princeton University research discovered that 70% of email tracking software is used to collect customer data.
Email tracking is especially important for marketers and salespeople when it comes to gathering authentic, precise, and relevant information for continuous optimization of any email marketing strategy. The obvious implication, however, is privacy and customer discomfort about others spying their email movements.
So, when Apple announced, during the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC 2021), the new Mail Privacy Protection, there have been mixed reactions in the world of email marketing. The new privacy protection features for the Apple Mail app provide options for users to put limitations on email tracking activities.
“In the Mail app, Mail Privacy Protection stops senders from using invisible pixels to collect information about the user. The new feature helps users prevent senders from knowing when they open an email and masks their IP address so it can’t be linked to other online activity or used to determine their location.”
Apple said in its official announcement that its “Protect Mail activity” option will enable users to control the way their emails are monitored by third parties. This new feature applies specifically to the use of the native Mail app on the desktop email app as well as on their iPhones and iPads.
“Since Mail content may be loaded automatically after delivery, the time of Mail viewing will no longer be correct. And since that content is loaded without revealing people’s IP addresses and without detailed headers, the location and type of device reading the Mail aren’t revealed. And you’ll see your emails as being opened, regardless of if the user read it or not.”
The burning question is: with this new feature, will email tracking still remain relevant in 2021 and beyond?
Nothing is for certain but with the introduction of Mail Privacy Protection, Apple has challenged marketers and salespeople to get better with email analytics, email design strategies, and email marketing.
Here are some recommendations that will help maximize the benefits of email tracking to achieve business goals.
- Reflect on the way you measure the success of your email marketing. Make sure your efforts lead to achieving your business goals.
- Develop a more subscriber-centric set of performance metrics that extend beyond emails such as account logins, SMS engagement, website visits, and offline purchases.
- Don’t focus solely on open rates; rather, pay better attention to delivery rates, click-through rates, and other metrics to determine what is effective or not with your email list.
- Invest in quality content. No matter what kinds of changes roll out, good email copy that is relevant, engaging, and useful to readers will never go out of style.
- Leverage email validation tools to protect your email list health, reputation, and quality.
If you’re ready to see more from your email marketing efforts, SwaysEast can help. Try a free Riptide demo and see how our comprehensive email analytics tool can bring success to your email marketing performance.
