Woah Apple, slow down! We just discussed how recent changes in iOS 15 are transforming the advertisement business for big and small players alike and guess what? Apple announced even harsher privacy controls for iPhone user's IP addresses in the email app and a whole new set of privacy-tightening features for iCloud.
Let's give it a quick look.
The most notable feature Apple announced that is relevant for marketers is its new IP masking in the iPhone's Mail app. Essentially, Apple is making the information about when, how and where a user opened a marketing email inaccessible for advertisers. Apple also targets email "pixels" that are used by businesses to collect information about their newsletters and promotional materials. This will more likely cause your marketing emails to be stopped in a "Spam" folder without reaching the iPhone audience using the stock mail app and will make it much harder to collect relevant stats about email campaigns.
Next, Apple is introducing the new privacy dashboard in the settings, making it more clear to turn on the "ask app not to track" feature that I discussed in my last blog. This dashboard will make it easier for the user to control what app and what service is allowed to use the iPhone's unique identifier and send any kind of private information (and marketing-relevant data!) to a third party.
Lastly, Apple is introducing a VPN service that would be added to its existing iCloud paid subscription and will help user reroute their web traffic through Apple services to ensure user privacy.
What do iOS 15 changes mean to us? Well, it will be harder for you to reach out to your customers via email. It is most likely, that your copywriters will have to come up with more engaging and even more (!) relevant material (This, however, is a good thing in our opinion). More links to stimulate higher click rate, more interaction with the material and more eye-catching content. For now, only time will tell how Apple’s push for privacy will affect your marketing.
Stick around for more of my privacy-themed blogs to get more tips on how you can prepare for big changes in the industry.
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