Apple’s IOS 15 update has been released and it comes with another big red flag for businesses generating leads.

Apple is allowing users to block the pixel that identifies whether an email has been opened.

If executed correctly, your email database is a huge source of potential leads. However, this latest update from Apple means that you will no longer be able to confidently track open rates of those people using Apple’s mail app (which is a significant % of the population).

This will have huge impact on how you measure the effectiveness of your email campaigns, particularly when it comes to split testing subject lines.

It also means any automation you use to resend to non-openers, or to remove email addresses after X number of sends without an open, will need to be reviewed.

We’d suggest moving away from open rates as a KPI and using CTR (click through rate) as an indicator of performance, together with conversion-to-lead %.

With some tweaking here and there, email should still form a core part of your lead gen strategy. It remains an effective method of getting your message in-front of an engaged audience at the right time.