iOS 10 prevents email marketers trapping users

Autumn sees the release of iOS 10, but with the public beta plenty of developers and marketers are already checking out the changes and new features. One of those is a change to the stock Mail app – a banner at the top of any email from a mass mailing list.

The banner appears at the top of emails that have been sent to a mailing list. It’s obviously helpful for users; it’s immediately obvious when you’re reading a marketing email and gives you a super-easy way to unsubscribe. The latter seems to have plenty of email marketers rattled.

Unsubscribing should be easy

Worrying about users finding an easier way to unsubscribe should be the least of your worries; if you’re hiding your unsubscribe link then you need to take a serious look at your strategy.

Once you start making it difficult for users to unsubscribe from your emails, thats when they’re likely to start hitting the Spam / Junk button.

Don’t trap your audience – engage them

Rather than worrying about a banner in iOS Mail making it easier for users to unsubscribe, the focus should be on creating interesting, engaging and original content. Give them a reason to stay subscribed to your mailing list.

If a user is able to take a break from your campaign then there’s every chance they’ll sign up again later. If you don’t give them that choice then your emails will end up marked as spam and you’ve lost part of your audience for good.

Keeping your audience interested is a much more effective strategy than trying to hold them prisoner by hiding the unsubscribe link.