Thread by @Stephakiwi

Recapping key learnings from the iOS15 Round Table with folks from @klaviyo @privy @omnisend @SparkPost @Sendlane @getdrip

#1 - Is Email Marketing Dead?

- No, but your opens are.
- Changes in open tracking will push the industry to comply with the privacy needs of subscribers

@omnisend has been aggregating lots of content on this topic at opensaredead.com

We need to look to downstream metrics to determine success.

List hygiene is going to be challenged due to loss of open tracking, so we need to shift to capturing confirmed opt-ins and enthusiastic consent from our subscribers in advance @g_schlossnagle

# 2 What are your top tips to prepare for iOS15 now?

-Test and learn NOW, define your baseline metrics
-Clean your list based on existing engagement data
-Define new NorthStar metrics now
-Be prepared to adjust testing and segmentation to move away from opens

"Flip The Funnel" @KadySrinivasan @klaviyo speaking on making sure the BOTTOM of the funnel is really well built out before you focus on acquisition.

Set the infrastructure first, and then you will have the personalized content you need in place.

Focus customer-first data.

If you have the customer data available upfront, you can then build out the personalized content we KNOW will work because we know email works.

Loss of tracking just forces us to listen to our customers, not make assumptions.

Are we really listening right now?

@jabbawy focus on growing your list by capturing HIGH-INTENT audiences on your site.

Multiple page views, high AOV, exit intent, returning customers, returning visitors, etc.

# 3 What other metrics should we look at? What is going to replace the open?

Must look at clicks in a very granular way, and WHERE are they clicking. If that click is on the unsub, then you need to evaluate the content you are sending.

Look at NEGATIVE metrics.

John Tedesco @getdrip

Map the customer journey and look at the specific customer behavior on-site, all the way down to the purchase.

@KadySrinivasan focusing on KAV - Klaviyo Attributed Value

Continue to focus on conversions and revenue coming from email in terms of overall attribution, and then work backward to determine which data points make the most sense.

Shift focus to clicks and purchases.

@KadySrinivasan focus on increasing your OWNED marketing channels (which includes email and SMS) to grow your audience.

@RytisLauris conversions are still a primary metric, clicks will be replacing the open.

On the ESP side, they need to provide a clear and simple way to understand where conversions are happening and how cross-channel engagement comes into play.

@jabbawy look at your average revenue generated from each email contact.

Ensure you are setting up automations and get your baseline average revenue per contact established and then optimize against that.

@g_schlossnagle its all about tracking conversions, but that means different things to different businesses.

This can be revenue, or event sign-ups, or form completions etc.

Define what the ACTION is that you are trying to drive, and track if that is happening.

@g_schlossnagle track what makes the most sense for YOUR business

# 4 - Can email still drive 40+% attributed revenue moving forward and how will we track that?

John Tedesco - from a mechanism standpoint yes, email will still perform the way we have seen it historically.

For measurement, those numbers could decline due to inaccurate opens.

Need to look beyond the open, and historical benchmarks for revenue are no longer going to be relevant.

This will create some initial anxiety for the industry, in addition to a unique opportunity for email marketers.

Need to shift our open-based attribution model.

The ability for us to create a standardized revenue attribution model that is universal would be a really good thing coming out of these iOS15 changes. "The new world order" for email attribution.

This will be good for marketers and merchants alike!

-John Tedesco @getdrip

@KadySrinivasan email revenue is going to continue to be strong and will likely not decline at all as long as that foundational infrastructure is in place.

@RytisLauris cookie tracking used to be standard and was more accurate but then it shifted to the open from an attribution standard.

Email performance and importance will remain the same, but we will need to make technical shifts in how we define data and attribution.

@jabbawy yes, email will still drive that 40%+ or MORE in terms of revenue, but people are anxious from the previous iOS changes that impacted paid ads and targeting on social channels.

Jimmy Kim @Sendlane says we really need to listen to the signals from our customers, and effectively replace some of the metrics we rely on today. But it will not fundamentally change the effectiveness of email as a marketing channel, just our ability to measure it.

Sorry! This was from @g_schlossnagle

Jimmy Kim @Sendlane we have always focused on last-click attribution, and we are going to need to reeducate on the importance of how we track this data.

# 5 How are ESP's making changes to tracking and assessing deliverability?

@KadySrinivasan deliverability is so much more than just opens, and is built on the holistic relationship with your subscriber.

@RytisLauris need to focus on the "quality score" of each email address and make sure you are continuously removing low-quality leads and acquiring fresh, high-quality leads.

Look at:

-Recency
-Refreshing/growing your list
-Engagement

@jabbawy @privy is looking at ways to incorporate responses to further increase the conversational element of the channel which will also increase deliverability.

@g_schlossnagle there are lots of mechanisms in place to track inboxing, but the challenges will lie in the specific tracking of WHICH users are engaged.

Potential for providers to develop new proxies and assess 3rd party customer data to determine how "active" an address is.

@g_schlossnagle historically, opens have worked really well and has been the default. But service providers have much more data they can look at to determine engagement and deliverability.

Jimmy Kim @Sendlane wants to see changes from ISP's and Postmasters based on the data they have available.

100:10:1 rule - sent/opens/clicks - ESP's will need to focus on how to distill this data to it's users, but we are all learning and testing right now.

John Tedesco @getdrip we can still see if emails bounce or aren't delivered, that won't change.

LIST SIZE IS A VANITY METRIC - need to focus on more proactive engagement and sunsetting lapsed users.

"GIVE ME ENGAGEMENT OR GIVE ME DEATH" - to quote @mattlady who quoted me.

# 6 What features are coming to solve these pain points?

@RytisLauris @omnisend is looking to simplify things and provide pre-built segments of engaged audiences, also easy options to clean the list. You will find presets in the interface that make it easy for users.

@omnisend is looking to enrich customer profile data with engagement data across OTHER channels (web push, SMS, etc.)

This is a GREAT time to build your SMS and other owned audiences so you can use that engagement data to tie back to email subscriber "aliveness"

@jabbawy @privy is super focused on making easy to launch plays on converting site traffic to email and SMS subscribers.

Key focus on reporting formats, and continuing to focus on revenue and conversions.

@g_schlossnagle it is a "fool's errand" to try to fight this, we aren't going to circumvent it, so don't waste your time.

We are trying to improve customer visibility into metrics and if they are impacted by the iOS15 changes.

Segment out "false opens" for more accurate view.

@g_schlossnagle incorporate other data points like panel data, inboxing, and conversion data to truly and effectively measure the "outer ring" of engagement data.

@Sendlane have been beta testing these 4 things:

-modifying how "experimentation" works (select control group based on device type)
-introduce "estimated open rate"
-auto-reengagement
-network effect - data from OTHER channels to define engaged users

@getdrip is focusing on making the data easy to interpret, understand, and act upon.

Look to tie it back to confidence intervals and concrete historical data.

Area of focus is on segmentation and how to incorporate MORE on-site behavior into dynamic segments.

@KadySrinivasan @klaviyo is focusing on the importance of SMS

SMS subscribers are FIRST CLASS, and need to work together with email on the same platform to drive more personalized communications.

Focusing on SMS to add additional value to existing email features.