Apple iOS 15 Impacts on the Customer Experience in Email

By now, we’ve all heard about iOS 15 and the possible impacts it could have on our email marketing programs due to the new privacy features it includes.

This is the second post in a series going over the three areas of impact that iOS 15 will have on email marketing. Today, we’re talking customer experience! 

What you need to know about iOS 15

Starting this fall, Apple Mail will start to pre-open all emails for those that use Apple Mail and have opted into their new privacy features. It will mask details about the open including location, time, and even if the recipient opened the email at all.

“Mail Privacy Protection stops senders from using invisible pixels to collect information about the user. [It prevents] 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 their announcement.

This means content based on contextual information gathered at the time of open will likely be broken.

First Let’s Talk About Personalization – It Won’t Be Impacted

First, the good news. There will be no impact on your ability to personalize and animate images within Apple Mail. You can still use deep personalization to engage your audience. The bad news is that all the exciting advancements with real-time email content will likely be thwarted by Apple prefetching images with the iOS 15 privacy update.

This is because the images will be rendered when Apple requests them instead of when the user opens the email. That means the content could be outdated by the time your audience sees it. 

A Run Down Of Impacted Content Types

Here are the types of content that will likely be impacted by iOS 15: 

• Countdown Timers: Won’t be accurate for Apple Mail 
• Real-time data: Will populate at Apple’s pre-open 
• Time of day: Won’t be accurate for Apple Mail
• Using IP based Location for maps or weather: Won’t be accurate for Apple Mail
• Using Device types like mobile, tablet, or desktop: Won’t be accurate for Apple Mail

If you are using any of these types of content you’ll need to adjust and rethink your campaigns. If you choose to do nothing, you will serve up a broken experience to Apple Mail users. 

So Can We Fix Any Of These Experiences?

While some of these content types will need to be completely reimagined, many are good to go with a few small tweaks. Here are some ideas to get you started: 

Countdown Timers

Countdown timers are GIFs based on email open time. So, your countdown could potentially count down to the wrong time.

We’ve heard some rumors that Apple may re-request images every 24 hours. If true, you can likely count down by days. So, focus on ways you can use them.

A foolproof way to use countdown timers would be to use personalization. Use a date and then animate the date to draw attention to it instead of a countdown. 

Real-Time Content

Real-time content will instead turn into recent time. While this isn’t ideal, it’s not the end of the world either.

Many data sources will only update every 24 hours anyway, so lots of what we refer to as “real-time” is actually already “recent time.” The best way to deal with this is to include a timestamp to show the user when the information was updated.  

Time of Day

Since time of day will obviously not be accurate for Apple Mail Privacy, you need to base your content on something else. Try personalizing with 0 or 1st party data. 

Using IP Based Location 

A masked IP address means you need to get the location data from somewhere else.

You can pull location data from your own database if you ask for this information. Or you could even connect recent purchases or shipping addresses to location too.

Using Device Type

Since device type is blocked, you need to design for where the majority of your audience is first and make sure all other versions are usable. A great way to do this is to test and poll your audience! 

The Key To a Better Experience in a Privacy-Focused Future is Personalization

Personalization has always been the best way to engage your audience. Now, without many of the contextual data points we are accustomed to having, you need to use your own 0 and first-party data.

Using the data provided by your audience is a great way to make sure the content you are giving them is relevant. Since they provided it, you know they are consenting to sharing it with you. Use it to create their unique experience with your brand. It can really build a great relationship and help you increase customer lifetime value overall!

Create Segments Of 1

We know that most data is for segmenting lists and serving content that is generalized for the people in those lists. But this leaves a lot of opportunity on the table.

When you generalize and use data just for segmentation, you likely leave out lots of people that don’t quite fit the mold or could have been marketed to in a more specific way using that data. That’s why your data should be used for segmenting your audience AND enriching your content.

Segment your lists to receive certain content then personalize that content type specifically to each user. This type of personalization will work for all users, Apple or not.

Zembula can help you use your data to personalize your email content beyond just segmentation.

I’d love to chat with you about your strategy and how to deal with the Apple iOS 15 updates. Email me at cheyenne.ng@zembula.com

Cheyenne Miner

Director of Marketing

Cheyenne is the Director of Marketing at Zembula where she gets to collaborate and coordinate with a team of marketing masterminds. On the weekends, you can find her in the backcountry of the Pacific Northwest, or not, because they don’t have cell towers out there.

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How to Use Image Personalization to Drive Action

Engaged customers are loyal customers. They tend to buy more often and make larger purchases. 

All that sounds pretty good, right?

There’s only one small problem, turning a regular customer into one that’s super-engaged is hard. It’s understandable why. With few exceptions, customers have their choice of brands and products, so having a bad experience with one means moving on to the next.

You’ve got to do something that will help you both stand out from the competition and drive your customers to take action. 

Image personalization can help. Here’s how.

Have the right technology

Zembula’s editor focuses on two types of image personalization: Smart Blocks and Smart Banners. All you have to do to use them is paste a snippet of HTML in your email templates.

From there, we do all the work for you, ensuring your customers see content personalized to them through dynamic emails. 

The simplicity of the platform comes from machine learning. Our AI allows you to optimize your personalized images. So rather than tinker with A/B testing and tons of back-end code, you can focus on engaging your customers instead. 

As a result, your customers get personalized images and notifications that tie in with their behavior, driving more action. It’s a win-win for you and your customers.

Always keep your customers up to date with Smart Banners

Smart Banners are image blocks that sit at the top of your emails. Using these for notifications, news updates, and personalized information means you can turn every email you send into something that’s customer-specific. 

There are tons of ways to use Smart Banners to drive action and engagement. 

Here are a few examples:

Use a banner to make sure your customer sees critical information about them and their accounts. It’s easy to miss a security alert email, but a bold, bright banner across the top of every email is hard to miss.

Abandoned cart campaigns are key for every retailer and eCommerce shop. But, what if you could turn all of your emails into reminders, making completing a purchase as easy as one click away?

Personalize Smart Banners to notify or invite customers to events. Have them make reservations for a VIP dinner, pop into the bar for the game, or check out a one-day-only flash sale.

With Smart Banners, there are a ton of possibilities. It makes it so easy to stay in touch.

Image personalization makes for dynamic email

Now that you see what you can do with Smart Banners look at another way to personalize emails with images, Smart Blocks. These are content blocks that you can easily drag and drop in your email templates. 

What’s incredible about Smart Blocks is anything goes. Combine them with Smart Banners or use multiple content blocks to make your emails truly dynamic. 

Here are a few ways Smart Blocks can help you drive engagement.

Use image personalization to level up your loyalty campaigns. Add in a bit of animation and gifs, and you can let your loyalty members know how many points they have, when they’ll hit their next tier, or when they’ve earned special bonuses or rewards.

Few things will grab attention more than your name in bold flashing letters. But, with personalized animated images, you can transform a conventional flash sale announcement into something that stands out. Plus, with personalized product recommendation content blocks, you’ll also help drive more clicks showing items that tie into your customer’s interests.

Customers want to know where their packages are and when they’re expected to arrive. If they don’t have that information, your customer service team could be inundated with where is my order calls (WISMO). Personalized package tracking can improve customer experience and help you build critical trust with your customers.

Are you full of ideas yet?

With personalized content, you’ve got so much potential to make your emails stand out. It’s time to really embrace what you can do to connect with your customers and drive more action. 

If you want to learn more, get in touch. We’re happy to chat about how Zembula can help with your needs.

Liz Froment

Liz Froment is a content writer at Zembula. A graduate of University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Liz is a travel aficionado, Boston sports fan, and maple syrup connoisseur.

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5 Ways to Feature Personalized Product Recommendations in Email

By now, you know personalization matters. Consumers want it, and you can deliver.

Creating personalized email content, personalized images, and personalized offers are excellent ways to drive action and conversions. 

But there’s another way to tap into personalization to lead your customers through the sales funnel and buy. And that’s with personalizing the shopping experience. 

A key to that is using personalized product recommendations.

Personalization drives conversions

Did you know that about one-third of all Amazon’s customer’s purchases come from product recommendations? We’ll let you do the math on how much revenue that adds to each year.

When the goal is to get customers to buy, you want to do everything you can to raise your conversion rates. Product recommendations can give you a secret weapon that packs an outsized punch, driving more revenue from fewer visits. 

Here’s another stat to highlight that. A study by Salesforce found that product recommendations account for about 7% of site visits but nearly 30% of revenue.

Research shows that using personalized product recommendations can improve your numbers across the board, improving click-through and conversion rates as well as the average order value. 

Some compelling reasons to start including product recommendations in your emails, wouldn’t you say?

Here are some ways you can use them in your email marketing.

A few examples of personalized product recommendation emails in action

One of the easiest ways to start including more personalized recommendations in your emails is to tap into your customer data. 

Look at what they’ve bought and recommend related products. There are a few ways you can do this. 

Recommendations in transactional emails

One approach is to include the recommendations in your transactional emails. For example, when sending your receipt or package tracking email from your customer’s current order, add a few related product recommendations in the email.

We all know transactional emails have higher open rates, so even a small conversion rate here can help boost your bottom line. 

Never pass up an opportunity to grab your customer’s attention and add more personalization to your emails!

Send dedicated product recommendation emails

Another approach is to send a dedicated product recommendation email.

You can see how key personalization is in the above email. You’ve got someone who has already bought; that’s a good start. Now, you can ask your customer to buy again by showing them only products that directly relate to what they’ve already bought. 

When your data shows your customer loves grilling, then the odds of them buying more grilling-specific products from you are pretty good. All you need to do is remind them!

Feature new product recommendations in emails

Another way to use customer data effectively is to send them emails featuring new versions of products they’ve already bought.

In this example, the email highlights a new flavor of coffee. For the customers who already love this coffee in other flavors, it’s a really easy way to encourage them to buy more. 

It often doesn’t take very much of a nudge to get customers already primed to buy to pull the trigger when given the opportunity. 

Include ratings and reviews on recommended products

Another key part of any product recommendation email is including ratings and reviews. This type of user-generated content from other customers is invaluable, so use them!

Customers really value the opinions of other people who’ve bought the products they’re interested in buying. So including lots of user-generated ratings and reviews in your product recommendation emails is a great way to attract attention and improve conversion rates.

Combine ratings and reviews with personalized product recommendations, and you’ve got a winning strategy.

Tie recommended products into sales

Many retailers and eCommerce brands use sales, including flash sales, to drive conversions and encourage readers to take action. Use image personalization those sale announcement emails in with product recommendations.

A flash sale creates a sense of urgency with your customer. It might trigger some FOMO (fear of missing out) too. Those combine in a powerful way to help drive customers to take action.

Tap into that by making it really easy to buy by featuring personalized product recommendations in these emails.

When you check out these examples, it’s pretty easy to see lots of opportunities for adding more personalized product recommendations in your emails!

Liz Froment

Liz Froment is a content writer at Zembula. A graduate of University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Liz is a travel aficionado, Boston sports fan, and maple syrup connoisseur.

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5 Ways to Use Image Personalization to Wow Your Customers

Personalized emails get more traction from your customers. In fact, it’s an experience that they find increasingly important. The numbers prove it; research shows 80% of customers are more likely to buy from brands that offer personalized experiences. The same study showed 90% of consumers indicated they like the idea of brands personalizing content.

Using personalized images in email is a way to give your customers unique animated gifs and pictures based on their behaviors and data. The exciting thing about using personalized imagery is there are unlimited possibilities. Go beyond the simple stuff like first names, and level up. Create coupon codes, special deals, featured products, and customer loyalty information. 

If you want to find a new way to engage your customers and capture their attention, this is the way to do it.

Feature product recommendations

Another way to help your brand stand out is with personalized product recommendations. Using your customer’s past transaction history means it’s easy to create emails that recommend products already related to what you know they love to buy. Send them special emails letting them know when a product they love is back in stock, or a new flavor has arrived on the scene.

Couple those recommendations with product ratings and reviews to pack even more of a punch. Consumers are much more likely to buy when they see ratings and reviews, so don’t forget to include them in every product email you send.

Celebrate special dates

It doesn’t get more personalized than a birthday or anniversary, does it? Capitalize on that. Celebrating special dates is an easy way to use image personalization in your emails and get an ROI for your brand in return. Research shows birthday emails generate much higher clicks, transaction, and revenue rates compared to regular emails.

With image personalization, you can do more than send a friendly email. You can include animated gifs and customized images unique to your customer. For added impact, throw in a special gift or coupon code. Don’t forget other special dates, such as anniversaries or when your loyalty program members hit important milestones.

Highlight abandoned carts

Reengagement is always a big focus for brands. We all know most of the people who visit your website won’t complete a transaction. But, it’s worth putting effort into getting those who thought about buying to finish the process. One way to do that is by sending effective abandoned cart emails.

Personalized abandoned cart data can help. What’s more, using Smart Banners ensures any email turns into one that provides updates and information. Beyond highlighting abandoned cart info, add countdown timers and unique coupon codes to entice your shoppers.

Promote upcoming sales

You already know planning a successful holiday season campaign is a big deal. But that doesn’t mean you can’t promote what’s going on with your brand year-round. Rather than sending out a standard sale email, which may get ignored, make it personalized and drive customers to take action.

There are a couple of fun ways to do this. Give your customers a personalized coupon code to thank them for being a loyal shopper, provide bonus points to your loyalty members, include countdown clocks to trigger a bit of FOMO, or showcase your nearest location for special in-store deals.

Share account information

Image personalization can also be a useful way to give your customers insights into their account information in a new and interesting way. Throw out the boring, and bring your emails to life.

Animate bank statements, account data, and loyalty points to show your customer not only where they stand now but the progress they’ve made over the years. It’s a great way to engage your customers and tap into a bit of gamification to help ensure they will keep clicking on your emails in the future. 

Add image personalization to your marketing today

These are just a handful of ways you can start utilizing more personalized images and animations in your emails. Curious about what else you can do with image personalization? Get in touch. One of our email experts would be happy to have a chat and explore your options.

Liz Froment

Liz Froment is a content writer at Zembula. A graduate of University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Liz is a travel aficionado, Boston sports fan, and maple syrup connoisseur.

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6 Reasons to Add More Personalization to Your Emails

Personalization has been around for a while. By now, we know adding a name to a subject line can move the numbers a bit. 

Stuff like that has worked, but like everything else, there comes a time where basic personalization doesn’t make the impact you need. Today, your consumers face overstuffed inboxes every morning. But, unfortunately, most of those emails get ignored. 

Finding a way to stand out means going deeper into personalized emails. It’s the perfect opportunity for you to catch the eye of your customers, increase engagement, and drive them to take action.

Here are a few reasons why you need to focus on getting more personalized.

Personalization works

Duh. Sorry, this is an obvious one but still important to restate. So here are a few key email personalization stats to remember:

• 90% of customers are more likely to shop with brands that send emails tailored to them.
•  72% of customers will only engage with marketing that has personalized messaging.
• Personalized emails see a median return on investment of approximately 122%.

The data doesn’t lie. When you personalize your emails, customers get engaged, and you see a nice boost to your bottom line.

Get more sales

Ultimately, that’s the goal, right? You want to get more customers and sales. With personalization, you can. Customers are driven to engage and take action when content is tailored to them. Show them recommended products, highlight positive product ratings and reviews, give them unique coupons, special access to events for loyalty members, and more.

Research shows personalized content reduces the length of the sales cycle while boosting conversion rates. And it can help lower customer acquisition costs too. When you have a legion of happy customers, it’s much easier to encourage them to keep buying.

Build a better relationship with customers

No one wants to feel like they are nothing more than a nameless, faceless customer transaction number. It’s not exactly the best way to build a solid relationship with your customers. If they don’t feel like you care, it makes it really easy for them to shop around.

Personalized emails help build loyalty and trust. When you show your customers content that matters to them and speaks directly to their needs, wants, and even location, that helps make them see you’re paying attention. That goodwill can go a long way to forming a long-term loyal relationship. 

Improve your overall customer experience

Customer experience really matters today. And it goes way beyond how a website works or how easy it is to buy. From that first touch to the communication you have after a transaction is completed, every step you take makes a customer more or less likely to buy from you again. 

Personalized email helps give you an edge over your competition. Use it to give your customers updates about their shipping information, tell them when they’ve got items left in their cart, and notify them of big announcements. You can do all that right from their inbox with image personalization.

You create better content

Sending generic emails that need to apply to everyone on your list isn’t exactly fun. But, when you know you can generate personalized content that applies to segments of your customers, you can go the extra mile and create something that’s both fun for you and interesting for them.

One example is a personalized holiday gift guide. Creating customized content based on your customer data is easier because you know what will move them to buy.

There are unlimited possibilities

Speaking of creating better content, personalization opens the door to unlimited potential. You can go way out of the box with how your emails look and feel. One way to do that is with image personalization. Check out this example:

Let’s face it, we all know paying the mortgage every month isn’t exactly fun. But, getting a personalized email that’s animated and feels like it’s gamifying the process stands out. It’s unique and creative and catches your customer’s attention.

In a world where attention is becoming more valuable than ever, personalization can make all difference.

Want to add more personalization to your emails? We’d love to help. Schedule a demo today.

Liz Froment

Liz Froment is a content writer at Zembula. A graduate of University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Liz is a travel aficionado, Boston sports fan, and maple syrup connoisseur.

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