Email Tracking: 3 Typical Use Cases of Inbox Read Receipts

Smart communication lies at the core of every successful business. We exchange a lot of information with email, but how exactly can you optimize this process and maximize the benefits in each message?

Learning as much as possible about your recipient is one of the best ways to do it.

This is the point where all the existing analytical, data collection, and sales acceleration software comes into play, among which email tracking applications deserve special attention.

In this article, we'll take a closer look at this helpful tool and examine the 3 actual use cases of inbox read receipts.

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First things first - how does Email Tracking work?

The email tracking technology relies on a 1-pixel image in the email. If a person activates email tracking for a specific email, the corresponding application includes a hidden 1-pixel image with a unique mail-ID into the outgoing message.

Once the recipient opens the email, their mail client or web service sends a request to the sender’s server in order to load the hidden 1-pixel image.

The information about such requests (mail-ID and the date/time) is being collected and stored on the sender’s server.

Thus, it can be passed further on to the corresponding software, which, in turn, displays it to the mail user. If you want to learn more, you can check out our email tracking guide.

How can I use Email Tracking?

With email tracking, you always know if the recipient has actually opened your email.

It provides you with the necessary information to plan your next step in communication with a person, which can be extremely useful for business purposes.

Communication with business partners

Imagine you’re a sales manager hunting down an important customer for your company. After having sent him an email, you haven’t heard back for two days. What is the best way to react in this case?

Normally you would think of sending a reminder.

However if the potential customer hasn’t even read your email yet, this might not be the best option. On the other hand, waiting for some more days might make you lose the customer.

Email tracking gives you a better understanding of your current position in the correspondence.

If you know that the first email has already been read, you can proceed with a follow-up email.

If it has not been read, you should rather wait for some more days, or send them an email that reiterates the previous offer.

Communication with customers

Open rates of your emails give you direct insight into your content performance. You can see how your customers react to different newsletter headlines, designs, and topics.

Try splitting your recipient list into several equal parts and experiment with your newsletter by changing only one component at a time (for example, the title, then the design, etc.).

By analyzing this data you can:

• Determine what to work on in your emails to make them more effective, and
• Choose the best communication strategy for each group of recipients.

More awareness of your customer behavior means better chances to compose your emails in such a way that they get more responses; and finally, leads to more conversions.

Communication with colleagues

You can also use email tracking within your working team on a daily basis for better task supervision.

We often delegate tasks on short notice because of their urgency, and it’s extremely important that the person in charge gets the information as soon as possible.

Knowing that the recipient has already read the email with the assignment saves the sender nerves and time spent on supervision.

Moreover, if you're using Apple Mail and an IMAP or iCloud email address, you can use Mailbutler's Per Recipient Tracking feature (on the Professional+ and Business plans).

This feature allows you to see exactly which one of your recipients - in this case your colleagues - has opened your message, so you know exactly who has the required information and who you need to follow up on.

Gain deeper insights to your emails with Mailbutler

Email tracking, when smartly used, has great potential to raise your productivity and effectiveness and to take your sales rate to a whole new level.

Mailbutler offers a powerful tracking tool for Apple Mail, Outlook and Gmail that keeps you informed of your email status. You can even keep track of important details such as open date, device, location and more.

"For me, tracking my clients’ opening of emails is a real game-changer. It helps me plan, it lets me know what to prepare for our next call, and it gives me a sense of peace knowing they’ve seen what I needed them to see. I love this app!"

Erica Yocom at Virtual Personal Assistant

 

Whether you want to reach out to your leads strategically, test the best communication strategy for your newsletters, or keep your colleagues in the loop - Mailbutler offers you one of the most powerful email tools that will raise your productivity and communication effectiveness in no time.

Make sure to also check out our blog post on tracking links inside your emails. Or if you would like to explore all of our posts on Mailbutler Features, you can find them on: More Tips?

FAQs

Why would you use a read receipt when you send an email?

The main goal of using email read receipts is to improve your email communication. Knowing if and when your recipients opened your emails allows you to plan your next steps.

Email read receipts can come in handy when you communicate with business partners, current and potential customers, and, of course, teammates.

For example, receiving a read receipt when you send an email to one of your hot leads helps you decide whether or not and when to send them a follow-up message.

Why do people use read receipts on Outlook?

Outlook account owners use read receipts to save time, get valuable insight into their email communication with key contacts, and ultimately boost their productivity.

Outlook users can request delivery and/or read receipts for all or some of the emails they send. However, it’s important to note that their recipients have the right to choose whether or not to send the requested receipt(s).

Getting read receipts in Outlook is possible with third-party email tracking tools, too.

Mailbutler is one of the most powerful email trackers for Outlook currently on the market. It lets you see when, where, how many times, and what device your contacts used to open your emails.

Are email read receipts legal?

Yes, they are. However, as a business owner, you should use email tracking technology responsibly to ensure a good customer experience. Basically, this means you should determine how and when to follow up on your emails after you receive read notifications.

You should also consider letting your email newsletter subscribers know that you’re using an email tracking tool.

To avoid any negative scenarios, you should make these decisions before you install an email tracking extension.

Mailbutler is a powerful productivity extension for Apple Mail, Outlook and Gmail that helps professionals and teams email smarter to get more meaningful work done. Get started today for free.