On September 20th Apple released the newest version of it’s iOS and iPadOS operating systems. The updates include a new feature called Mail Privacy Protection which will have wider implications to those who work in email marketing.

When users first install the update, they’ll be prompted to select either “Protect Mail Activity” or “Don’t Protect my Mail Activity”. Human nature, as well as other similar privacy updates by Apple, would suggest the vast majority of users would pick the former option. Nearly half of emails opened in the US are on an Apple device, meaning the changes will have a large impact on email marketing. While there will be an impact for cinema marketers, where email is a key communication tool, below we share the ways Movio is already well positioned for this change.

The end of open rates as a KPI

At a very high-level, the Mail Privacy Protection feature will make it very difficult for Email Service Providers (ESP) to accurately determine who is actually opening an email. While this might sound hugely problematic at first it doesn’t actually need to be the case.

Open rates have been a bedrock KPI for email marketing across all sectors for many decades. While they do have advantages as a metric of engagement, a superior headlining metric for email marketing is one that focuses on conversion over simple engagement. In the world of theatrical exhibition this translates to Visitation Rates, or butts-in-seats if you will. The ubiquitous Open Rate was really all that early email marketers had to measure the effectiveness of campaigns.

With Movio’s direct integration to Vista Loyalty and other POS systems, we have the unique ability to see transactions across all types of sales channels. This makes Movio well positioned to aid exhibitors’ transition to a more advanced and direct way of evaluating the success of email campaigns, beyond Open Rates.

How can you prepare for this change?

In addition to shifting KPIs, there are also several direct operational changes which exhibitors should examine. For example, if you regularly use email opens as a mechanism to trim audiences down, you may need to refactor your snapshots to focus more on link clicks and visitation as a measure of engagement. If you aren’t already doing so, now would be a great time to implement Web Tracker. Filtering by those who are actively logging into your exhibitor website is a great supplementary way of addressing the guest base which is the most engaged.

If your organization is utilizing additional third party personalization tools like LiveClicker or Moveable Ink to augment your Movio campaigns, you may need to evaluate the approach to see if you’ll be impacted. While geo targeting and open-based personalization are relatively low they may still be impacted by the changes.

Additionally, Movio’s current approach to A/B subject line testing will be heavily impacted by the upcoming iOS changs. Our Product team will be actively monitoring the iOS 15 landscape and looking to update Movio’s feature set accordingly.

While the upcoming iOS 15 changes may seem drastic on the face of it, Movio is already well positioned to aid exhibitors through the changes. If you have any questions about how the upcoming iOS 15 changes will impact your organization please feel free to reach out to your Movio Account Managers directly.