With the advent of new technologies almost every other year, most of what was termed as ‘essential’ a couple of decades back have now either become redundant or automated. Emails may have been around for a long time now but unlike a few other processes/mediums, they still remain very much relevant. While it is still a major mode of communication, the need is significantly greater now to use it cleverly & create personalized content if you want to elicit a response. This is where a solid email tracking software comes in handy.
What is email tracking?
It is the process of analyzing sent emails and using that to further create customized flows to increase rapport with your recipients. Simply put, it is a process which will help in making your emails stand out in an inbox which is almost always overpopulated.
Before we jump into that question, it is important to skim through an alternate process and why we needed to move away from that. A few email clients, including Outlook, have a read receipt feature in which upon request by the sender, the receiver can choose to communicate that he/she has opened the email. Apart from being unreliable and intrusive, it has its fair share of limitations as other than giving you information that your content was opened, it doesn’t really do anything else in order to build a connection.
What do you track and how does it help?
Most email tracking services currently typically use an image pixel embedded within the email. When your lead opens the email, this pixel is invoked immediately, giving you alerts about when it was opened, from which device it was viewed, how many times your prospect opened your email, etc. Also, you can track metrics like delivery, click & bounce rates instantaneously. What this means is that you now have real-time insights about what happened to your email. Which in turn guides you about the next best steps. By eliminating the ‘cold follow up’ approach, it helps in creating a standout multi-step process to get that coveted response.
What are the advantages of email tracking?
Many organizations still don’t track their email campaigns still. They think that sending an email is all they need to do. But that’s not right. Let me highlight some of the benefits of using an email tracking software
Stimulates a conversation –
This has to be the ultimate goal while sending an email. The sooner you get your receiver to hit the reply button, especially as a salesperson, the fuzzier the feeling in your stomach. Now, adopting such a tool isn’t a guarantee for a conversation (nothing can be!). But it will equip you to try & engage in an intelligent fashion. For example, if you see that a prospect has opened your email & clicked on the links which you attached, that would be your cue to make a relevant follow-up. Because you’re still on the top of his/her mind. Even with the follow-ups, the fact that you get to know the amount of engagement on them will help you modify the content accordingly.
Provides context
Apart from the metrics mentioned above, implementing such a tool will give you a detailed activity history with every prospect. This can give you a sneak peek into the lead’s mentality. Like, at what time do your leads typically open an email? What kind of subject lines work? At times, you even get the social profiles of your prospect. This will go a long way in finding that one point which will pique his/her interest. Understanding & using these will help you create better emails, those which are more likely to get you the desired outcome.
Helps create automated workflows
If you’re planning to set up a comprehensive marketing/sales process, tracking emails can prove to be a solid base on which you can build. Advanced tools allow you to build automations based on triggers (like an email opened or a link clicked).
This provides you with the creative power of defining a lead journey. For example – you can choose to send a predefined yet personalized follow up content as soon as a link is clicked. Or, wait for a specific amount of time after an email is opened before sending out the next one. In all such cases, the dream starts with a simple step – tracking emails.
The details provided by an email tracking software can make a massive difference. Among other things, this, in turn, creates a huge difference in the way your marketing & sales teams think. The way they operate also takes a turn because they are armed with data. No more sending blind emails and hoping for the best.
If you are looking for a good email marketing software, why don’t you give LeadSquared a try? It comes with advanced email tracking and automated and intelligent workflows.
