"Email and SMS didn't undergo a seismic shift in 2025, but they did change in ways that materially affected performance and strategy. Three updates, in particular, reshaped how messages are delivered, displayed and engaged with across email and SMS campaigns: Based on what we are seeing in the back end of programs entering our agency's pipeline in late 2025 and early 2026, there is significant room for improvement for brands looking to fine-tune their email marketing in the months ahead."
"iOS 18.2 was released at the end of 2024, but the updates and their impact became clearer as 2025 unfolded. First, the updates: Inbox visibility changed: New tabs were introduced, reducing Primary inbox exposure. AI-generated previews expanded: Apple's AI summaries replaced preheaders in some views, limiting marketers' control over first impressions. Engagement signals became harder to read: Grouped emails, untrackable "See more" clicks and existing Mail Privacy Protection further clouded already limited open and click data. Live text gained importance: AI summaries rendered more effectively from HTML and live text than from image-heavy emails."
"Optimize for engagement, not opens: Double down on personalization, segmentation and journey-based sending. Make subject lines work harder: Highlight offers, urgency and promotion duration to stand out in tabbed and grouped views. Use transactional emails: Drive engagement and send them from the same environment as marketing emails. Prioritize live text over images: Improve AI summary quality and accessibility. Plan for inbox grouping: Design content calendars with send succession and visual differentiation in mind."
Email and SMS experienced incremental but material changes in 2025 that affected delivery, display, and engagement. Apple iOS 18.2 introduced new inbox tabs that reduced Primary exposure and expanded AI-generated previews that in some views replaced preheaders. Engagement signals became harder to read due to grouped emails, untrackable "See more" clicks, and existing Mail Privacy Protection. Live text and HTML renderings became more effective for AI summaries than image-heavy emails. Recommended responses include optimizing for engagement over opens, increasing personalization and segmentation, strengthening subject lines, leveraging transactional sends, prioritizing live text, and planning for inbox grouping and visual differentiation.
Read at MarTech
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]