Open rates might be a dead metric for Apple Mail (?) 

Following this thread to keep updated with Klaviyo's response

Here’s a great video on the topic:

A lot of people keep claiming Open Rates are just a vanity metric, but Klaviyo’s pixel attributes sales based on opens, so this iOS update will directly affect revenue reporting. The update will block IP/Location, as well as the entire invisible pixel in emails, which will affect the customer’s journey. I’m curious how Klaviyo will address this to combat these issues. Also following to hear what Klaviyo has to say.

Hi @yzatolentino, 

This is a great question, and thanks so much for sharing it in our forum! 

For context to other members, this past Monday (June 7 2021) Apple announced a new set of features called iCloud+ at their World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC21). We're excited to hear that Apple has made huge strides towards their mission to protect users' data privacy!

The release of iOS 15 will bring changes to how emails are being tracked within Apple's native Mail App.
Currently, Klaviyo’s services remain the same, but our teams are aware of this announcement, and we're internally discussing how to best address our customers concerns surrounding how open rates and user activity tracking are affected.

As we learn more in the coming weeks from the news being released by Apple, we'll keep an open communication in this thread of all updates we can provide. Our co-founder and CEO, Andrew Bialecki, shared some more of his thoughts on this topic in this post, and we also have a blog post with advice on how you can get ready for this change.

I’d also recommend reviewing the following resources for further reading: 

- Apple WWDC21 Keynote
- The Verge: Apple's iCloud Plus bundles a VPN, private email, and HomeKit camera storage
- Medium: What Apple's Mail Privacy Protection Means for Email Marketing

Thanks again for sharing this with us in the Community, 
-Cass.
p.s. thanks @Empire Protege and @Joshua Chin for following along on this thread! Definitely good points and questions from the both of you – as mentioned above, we’ll be sure to update here with more details. 

Certainly interested in keeping up with this thread as well.

Is @Empire Protege correct in his assessment that the update will directly affect revenue reporting? (Great analysis, by the way!) If so, how are partners going to be able to keep clients using Klaviyo and prove that our marketing efforts are worth clients’ investment in our services if sales aren’t being reflected in the Klaviyo dashboard? My first thought would be to refer to Google Analytics tracking, but there is always a discrepancy.

@DanJacobs and @Empire Protege both raise really good points, while the positive spin from Klaviyo on an iOS 15 future is nice, being able to attribute revenue to email marketing seems pretty darn important - and I think worthy of a response. 

How have people been faring with iOS 15 and open rates? I have stopped looking at open rates in terms of a key engagement metric and switched to click rates and active on site.

Also wondering if Klaviyo has plans for a workaround in the future - they are always on the ball!

Hey @melanie-riverbendhome 

Thank you so much for your follow up on this topic! 

Klaviyo is working on plans to better handle the new iOS 15. As of now there is nothing definitive about what those plans looks like, as there are a lot of variables that we have to take into consideration (i.e. iOS vs. non iOS users, country of origin, legal requirements). Once there is a plan in place, Klaviyo will notify users of any changes that are being made.

As far as iOS 15 and metrics, I too would love to hear what other members of the community are seeing or best practices they have implemented in their own strategies!