Strategies for tracking email marketing analytics amidst rising privacy protections

Tracking email marketing analytics helps practitioners identify whether their email campaigns are providing the desired results, or if they need to be tweaked to improve their effectiveness

Seventy-three percent of U.S. households that use the internet report “significant concerns” about their online privacy according to the most recent Internet Use Survey conducted by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. This has prompted several online services to increase consumer privacy protections, making it harder for practitioners to track their email marketing analytics.

One example is Apple’s Mail Privacy Protection (MPP). When consumers open the Mail app on their iPhone or iPad, they can adjust the settings to make it more difficult for email senders to get certain information. The data that can be blocked includes allowing the sender to see whether they’ve opened your email. Users can also disable the sender’s ability to see their exact location.

Email marketing analytics and the consequences of privacy protection controls

The main benefit of privacy protection controls is that consumers get to decide what personal information is shared online. They can determine the level of privacy they want, then adjust the settings within an app or online platform to reflect this. The drawback to these protections is that it makes it harder for businesses to determine effectiveness via their email marketing analytics.

Email open rates are often used to measure engagement, for instance. A low open rate suggests that the subject line on your emails need to be more compelling. Or it might be a sign that you need to better segment your list.

If some of your recipients are blocking you from getting this information, you won’t have a clear idea of whether patients are taking the time to look at the information you’ve sent to them — or if they are discarding your communication before even checking what’s inside. This hinders your ability to make the necessary changes to improve your email campaign’s results.

Alternative strategies for determining email campaign effectiveness

Although patients can stop you from receiving certain information, there are still ways to determine your email’s effectiveness. One is to focus on metrics that aren’t affected or cannot be altered by consumer privacy protection controls.

The email marketing platform Constant Contact shares that this includes:

• Click rate – the number of patients that click on a link within your email
• Conversion rate – the number of patients that take a certain action, such as ordering a specific dietary supplement offered at a reduced rate via an “email-only discount”
• Email forwarding and sharing – the number of times your emails are being forwarded or shared by email recipients
• List growth rate – how many new email subscribers you are gaining, as well as how many you’re losing due to hitting “unsubscribe”
• Overall ROI – the return on investment of your email marketing campaign, which is measured by calculating how much you’ve spent, then comparing it to revenues gained

Tracking email marketing analytics can help practitioners identify whether their email campaigns are providing the desired results, or if they need to be tweaked to improve their effectiveness.

Implementing changes to improve trackable data

Understanding which data is still trackable with increased privacy protection controls enables practitioners to create email campaigns that target this information. Since you can still track the click rate of links contained in your emails, for example, including links in every communication you send offers the ability to help identify whether your content is compelling enough to inspire action.

This might involve linking to a particular product or service on your website, depending on your email’s purpose. You could also link to a specific blog post, encouraging the email recipient to “learn more” about the topic discussed in the email.

Identifying anonymous email engagement

Another way to track protected email marketing analytics is to use software that tracks anonymous users. Just because consumers have the ability to hide their personal information doesn’t mean that you are without data. It only means that you can’t tell exactly who interacted with the emails you’ve sent.

Taking this approach enables you to see overall engagement trends, providing a big-picture view of whether your email campaign is working while still honoring your patients’ privacy rights. Yes, you lose the ability to see specific demographics, but you can still gain enough insight to help decide if changes need to be made to improve your results.