Yet More Email Privacy Changes for Marketers and Brands

Another year, another iOS release…which means another round of privacy improvements for 57% of the US population, which then seems to create a domino-effect for the policies seen on Android users over time. In time, it’s safe to say this approach will likely be a shared experience for all Mobile users. What’s the change? It’s call Link Tracking Protection, otherwise known as LTP.

LTP Explained:

Instead of rephrasing it poorly, allow me to quote MoEngage:

Link tracking, most often used by marketers and digital advertisers, is a process of embedding unique identifiers in URLs. These identifiers help marketers and advertisers track how customer interactions and gather insights into their behavior.

Link tracking enables marketers to measure the effectiveness of campaigns, understand customer engagement, and optimize strategies.

However, it naturally raises privacy concerns because this level of tracking enables third-party platforms to gather personal information about consumers.

Here’s what’s removed automatically, and below is what is retained.

Tracking Parameters Removed

gclid / Google AdWords / Google Analytics
dclid / Google Display Network
fbclid / Facebook Advertising
twclkd / Twitter Advertising
msclkid / Microsoft Advertising
mc_eid / Mailchimp
igshid / Instagram

Tracking Parameters Retained

UTM’s / Urchin Tracking Module
pk_* / Piwik
piwik_* / Piwik
mtm_* / Matmo
hsa_* /Hubspot
epik / Pinterest
ef_id / Adobe Advertising Cloud
s_kwicid / Adobe Analytics
dm_i / dotdigital
_branch_match_id / Branch
mkevt / eBay
campid / eBuy
si / Spotify
_bta_tid / Bronto
_bta_c / Bronto

OK…so how does this actually affect your Brand? Two ways in particular:

1. It’s going to be harder for your Marketing team to definitively say whether or not a website visit/conversion was connected to a specific campaign

   1. Data helps us draw conclusions, but when less and less data is available due to limited inputs, the gaps have a tendency to get filled-in with bad assumptions

   2. Basically, if there’s less data, Marketing teams are going to have to back-off drawing such broad conclusions and be more comfortable saying ‘I’m not sure about the effectiveness of that campaign because our data was limited’

1. Retargeting will continue to become more and more of a challenge because the data after the click can become less and less reliable

   1. Because tracking users is becoming more and more challenging, it’s going to get harder to lean into retargeting efforts with pin-point accuracy

   2. Mail Privacy Protection (MPP) sort of kicked this trend off by obscuring open and click rates, and this seems to be the next logical step towards reducing ‘fingerprinting’ of users

What’s the one thing you can/should do for your Brand if those two above impact your Marketing plan?

Duh: just focus on you Brand. The relationship you have with your audience cannot be taken away from you if Apple/Google/Microsoft make changes to their approaches to privacy. Full stop.

You might not be able to control the irrational associations with your Brand, but you do have complete control over the rational connections. You control your website, you control your emails, you even control your segmented mailing lists. Most importantly, you control your message.

Focus on your Brand. Focus on your message. Tell your story. If your Brand can be tanked because you can’t use an algorithm to get in front of your audience 7 times before they make a decision, then I’m sorry, you don’t have much of a Brand. Focus on your Brand and let Big Tech make all the privacy changes they want. If your Brand and Marketing Strategy are as strong as you think they are, you won’t even notice a change.