Apple has rolled out the next annual iOS update, which powers the world’s most popular smartphone, the iPhone. This time, iOS 18 brings a major new machine learning-flavoured feature to the table: Apple Intelligence, an AI platform with the potential to revolutionise how we communicate, create and market on the platform. From generating text and images to creating custom avatars like GenMoji, Apple Intelligence will be woven into every corner of the operating system – including Siri, iMessage and, crucially, for marketers, Mail.
Any change to Apple’s Mail app is significant to those in email marketing – according to Litmus, Mail has a 48% market share as the primary email client worldwide, making it the most popular in the world. And with the likelihood of these changes rolling out to MacOS later down the road, the way businesses organise and target email communication is about to change dramatically.
At the heart of iOS 18 is Apple Intelligence. The central new feature that comes with iOS will impact how Mail will sort and section emails with on-device categorisation. This AI will be the new commander of sorting through the bevvy of emails that we receive every day, and does so with the following features:
Apple Intelligence will automatically sort emails into four main categories: primary (personal and time-sensitive), transactions (receipts and order confirmations), updates (news and social notifications), and promotional (discounts and marketing messages). While users can manually adjust these, Apple’s AI will act as the gatekeeper, sorting emails unless instructed otherwise.
Inbox Summary will replace preview lines on Apple Mail. Instead of showing the first few lines of an email, Apple Intelligence will create a brief summary of the email’s content right within the inbox. For users, they will be able to know the content of an email at a glance, but for email marketers, this will disrupt their control over the clarity of their messaging.
This new feature pulls together recent communications from a single business into a seamless scroll. It’s similar to how some mail apps thread emails by subject, but Apple goes one step further, organising by brand. This could declutter inboxes, making it easier for users to catch up on emails from a specific business. However, for marketers, this means less room for error – your emails must be consistently engaging to avoid being mass deleted.
Apple is also introducing Priority Messages, a feature that will prioritise emails like boarding passes or same-day event invitations. Plus, Priority Notifications will rank some emails higher than others. Although it’s unclear how Apple will determine which emails take precedence, the quality and relevance of content will likely influence these rankings.
With these changes, it might feel like email marketers have had a limb torn off them. However, it’s worth remembering that Gmail introduced similar automatic sorting over a decade ago. Email marketing survived then, and it will survive now.
In fact, landing in the right category at the right time can be beneficial. A well-targeted promotional email is far more likely to resonate with users when they’re in the mood to browse offers, rather than interrupting their personal or work emails. However, unless a user chooses to move your emails to their primary folder, it’s likely that promotional content will remain in the Promotions tab – so, how can email marketers adapt?
The rise of AI-sorted inboxes means that personalisation is more important than ever. The better you understand your subscribers – and the more tailored your content is to their interests – the more likely your emails will be seen, read, and engaged with.
Effective segmentation is a must. Divide your audience into four categories: high, medium, at-risk, and non-engagers. Then, craft different messages and send frequencies for each group. Personalisation based on user behaviour will give you a better chance of landing in front of engaged readers.
Though Inbox Sorting may seem like a setback for businesses, users are given the option to recategorise their emails, and herein lies a golden opportunity. With iOS 18’s focus on categorisation, now is the time to pivot away from overly promotional emails and create more relevant, valuable messaging. This could build trust and lead to users recategorising your emails into the primary tab, where they’re more likely to be noticed.
It’s no longer just about crafting a powerful subject line – your email’s content must be impactful and cohesive too. Craft your email copy to be sharp and relevant to direct Apple Intelligence towards an Inbox Summary that perfectly captures the essence of your message.
The Digest View may sound like a double-edged sword, as users can now mass delete emails from a business with a single swipe. While many may see it as a reduction in the amount of opportunities you can get to engage with a customer, this feature has a flipside – it ensures that customers never miss out on an email communication. You won’t have to be so reliant on timing, it’s still an important factor, but customers are far less likely to miss out and can more easily catch up with offers and promotions. For marketers, this means ensuring every email adds value, as multiple communications from your business will be viewed as one continuous thread.
Finally, make sure your emails are designed with Apple’s AI in mind. Move from image-based emails to dynamic live text and pay close attention to coding – errors in the main content blocks could lead to incorrect AI-generated summaries, damaging your carefully crafted message.
The key message to email marketers? Focus on building quality email campaigns where each email serves a purpose to the fullest. Here is a rundown of the best practices you should abide by to master email marketing with the new Apple Mail update:
For more advice on how to craft the perfect messaging for your emails, read our guide to creating calls to action that inspire action.
For more information on how Brave can help you engage your customers and boost your email campaign performance, contact us today to learn more about our email marketing services.
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