How iOS 18 Will Impact Email Marketing: What You Need to Know

With iOS 18 rolling out, email marketers need to get ready for some big changes. In a recent CXL Feed video, Jessica Best, email marketing expert and CXL instructor, walked through the Apple Intelligence updates and how they are shaking up email marketing strategies. Let’s break down what you need to know and how to adjust your strategy to stay ahead.

What’s New in iOS 18?

Apple is rolling out Apple Intelligence—a feature that’s, among other things, going to change how emails get sorted, summarized, and displayed. Sound familiar? It’s similar to Gmail’s promotions tab, but with a twist. Here’s what to expect:

• Inbox Sorting: Emails will automatically be categorized into primary, shopping, and promotions tabs. While this might lower your email’s visibility, remember what happened with Gmail: users still check the promotions tab when they’re in the mood for deals.
  
• Inbox Summary: This is where things get interesting. Apple’s AI could generate a short summary of your email right in the inbox, letting users get the gist without opening the full message. Jessica sees this as “the biggest opportunity for email marketers”—if your email copy is on point, the AI-generated summary might do the hard work for you.
  
• Priority Notifications: Apple is also introducing smarter notifications, ranking some emails higher than others. It’s not clear yet how Apple will decide which emails get priority, but content quality and relevance are sure to play a role.

How to Adjust Your Email Marketing Strategy

As Jessica Best explains, copy is going to matter more than ever with iOS 18. Here’s what to do:

1. Focus on Quality Copy, Starting with the Subject Line

Your subject line and pre-header text are key. They’re already crucial for driving opens, but with iOS 18, they might influence how Apple’s AI scores and summarizes your email. Make these elements count, as they’ll help your email stand out.

Best practice: Write your subject line and pre-header like they’re pitching both the user and Apple’s AI. Clear, engaging copy here will make a difference.

2. Use Alt Text and True Text (Not Just Images)

Relying on images alone won’t cut it anymore. iOS 18’s AI may not recognize text within images, which could leave your email looking blank. And don’t forget about accessibility—alt text helps visually impaired users, and now, it might also help Apple’s AI better understand your email.

Best practice: Use a good mix of text and images, and make sure every image has descriptive alt text. This is already a best practice, but it’s even more important with these updates.

3. Test Across Devices

It’s a good habit to test how your emails display on different devices. Tools like Email on Acid and Litmus let you preview your emails in various environments, so you can see how your content looks in both dark and light mode, across screen sizes, and on different operating systems.

Best practice: Start testing your emails now on iOS devices, so you’ll be ready for the iOS 18 update. Check your designs on multiple screen sizes and configurations to ensure your emails look great everywhere.

4. Avoid All-Image Emails

Emails that are just one big image aren’t a good idea anymore—if they ever were. If Apple’s AI can’t read the text in an image, your message may not get summarized properly, and if images don’t load, your email could appear empty.

Best practice: Shift to a more balanced design that uses both text and images. Make sure your emails deliver value even if the images don’t load.

What to Watch For

As iOS 18 rolls out, stay tuned for updates. According to Jessica, tools like Email on Acid should offer previews of how Apple Intelligence will process and summarize emails. These insights will help you keep refining your strategy.

Final Thoughts

The iOS 18 update is going to bring some big changes to email marketing, but you don’t need to reinvent the wheel. If you’re already following best practices—using alt text, balancing text and images, and testing across devices—you’re in good shape. As Jessica puts it, “Start avoiding all-image emails now, and use alt text because accessibility already deems that important.”

By focusing on high-quality content, keeping an eye on new developments, and making your emails easy for both users and AI to read, you’ll be ready to succeed with iOS 18.