What is Apple Mail Privacy Protection?
In September 2021, Apple launched Mail Privacy Protection (MPP), which gives Apple device users more control over their data. For subscribers that opt-in, email marketers will no longer be able to accurately determine:
- Whether an email has been opened
- Where a subscriber is located when they open it
How does it work?
Email opens are detected when the images in an email are downloaded to a user's device. Until now, images were only downloaded when an email was opened.
For subscribers that opt-in, Apple Mail will now download images when an email is received in the subscribers inbox, not when it's opened. This means open rates may artificially increase. This will also impact other engagement metrics that rely on open rate, such as click-to-open rate (CTOR).
The IP address of the user (i.e. their location) will also be obscured. As a result our location data will be less reliable.
How does it impact my business?
MPP does not affect your ability to deliver engaging emails to your subscribers. However, it does provide an opportunity to look beyond the open rate when measuring engagement. Here are some things to keep in mind:
- Click rate ? Click rate is the most reliable measure of email engagement because MPP does not impact click tracking. We recommend testing strategies to increase clicks, such as strong Calls to Action (CTAs) and surveys.
- Segmentation ? Engagement segments and segments based on opens may become less reliable. Consider segmenting based on clicks instead. We don't recommend segmenting out Apple device users because they can't be reliably identified.
- Automation ? Similar impacts may apply for automated emails triggered by opens. We recommend switching your condition rules from was opened to had any link clicked or had a specific link clicked.
- A/B testing ? A/B tests will likely have a spread of Apple device users across A and B groups, so results may not be impacted. If you notice a significant change, try switching your A/B test goal from Increase open rate to Increase click rate.
- Location data ? IP address may not be a reliable indicator of location, which impacts segments based on location and features such as time zone sending. Consider asking new and existing subscribers to add their postcode, city or state in your preference centre or sign up form, and manually segment based on this data (make sure you explain why you're collecting this data).
- On-site analytics or tracking (i.e. Google Analytics) ? There is no indication of analytics tags being removed from URLs.
Helping you navigate these changes
We're committed to helping you to navigate these changes and optimise your email marketing program in this new privacy environment. A few recent updates we've made include:
Updated "Clicked" metrics
Given MPP impacts how opens are measured, the click-to-open rate (CTOR) will become less reliable. Therefore, we've updated the "Clicked" metric on our summary pages to show the click rate rather than the CTOR.
You can still view the CTOR by selecting the info icon. The CTOR can also be found in our detailed reports including Insights and compare campaigns.
Minimizing the impact of unreliable location data
We no longer record the location of a subscriber when we suspect it has been impacted by Apple MPP. This means that you'll likely see more subscribers where the last known location is "unknown", however this will ensure that inaccurate location data does not impact features such as Worldview, Time zone sending and campaign reports.
Apple Privacy category in the Email Client Usage report
The email client usage report (campaigns and journey emails) gives you a breakdown of the different clients and devices that recipients are using to view your emails. We've added a new category, Apple Mail (Privacy Protected), to the report to give you visibility of the portion of Apple Mail Privacy recipients opening your emails. This new category is available for emails sent after February 2022.