How to Track Email Opens & Clicks in Gmail

Most of us have had the experience of sending an email and waiting anxiously for a response, but having absolutely no idea of whether or not the recipient has opened and read it. There’s only one good way to eliminate all that uncertainty – email tracking. This article will outline how easy it is to track emails in Gmail.

If you’re kept waiting for some time, you may be tempted to send a follow-up. But how soon is too soon? What if they’ve read it but just haven’t responded yet, and another email would be overkill?

Email tracking is a method of monitoring when a recipient has opened an email that you’ve sent – allowing you to make better, more informed business decisions. Get real-time insights on who reads your emails and who’s ignoring you.

Why not try out our email tracking feature today? Install Right Inbox and you’ll get access to email tracking in Gmail for free.

Can You Track Emails From Gmail?

Yes, you can. Right Inbox now offers the functionality to track emails right inside Gmail.

With our email tracking feature, you’ll be able to monitor and track:

• When your emails are opened
• What time they were opened
• What devices your recipients opened them on
• The location of the email open and the connected IP address
• Any links that are clicked on within the body of the email

It’s all the features you would expect from email tracking software – right inside Gmail.

How to Track Gmail Opens and Clicks

It couldn’t be simpler to use this feature.

Follow these four steps to enable it and start tracking emails.

Step 1. Enable the feature by clicking on the eye icon at the bottom of your Gmail compose window.

Step 2. Select whether you want to track email opens, clicks, or both. This is done via the pop-up you see in the image below.

Step 3. See real-time notifications in the bottom left of your compose window.

Step 4. Click on your sent folder and hover over the checkmark icon to see how many times the email has been opened. You can also see where it was opened, and on how many devices.

Email tracking is one of our customers’ favorite features. We want people to see the value in email tracking, so we’ve decided to add 5 email tracking credits to every free account. Download for free from the Google Chrome Store.

How Does Email Tracking Work?

The most common way software tracks emails is by attaching a small pixel image that is invisible to the recipient. When the email is opened, the image is loaded from the server and that data is recorded. The sender then knows that their email has been opened.

The Benefits of Email Tracking?

There are many benefits to tracking email opens:

• It reduces the need for follow-up emails – you already know if the recipient has opened your email.
• If recipients consistently don’t open your emails, you can cut down how many you send in the future.
• Tracking in real-time? You can send follow-up emails when you know the recipient is in their email inbox.
• If you know that someone has opened up your email several times in one day, they’re likely to be interested in what you’re emailing them about. You can then strike while the iron is hot.

Benefits of Email Tracking for Business
There’s no denying the massive impact that email can have on growing your business. Email marketing yields an average ROI of 4,300% and is especially useful when targeting new customers.

Unfortunately, there are many reasons you’re likely not seeing that return on investment. For one, your emails probably aren’t reaching their inbox, and you likely won’t realize it unless you’re tracking them.

Email ROI is 100% about deliverability. It’s imperative to find out if your emails are getting bounced by the recipient’s email provider or if they’re getting marked as spam. Email tracking also helps you make smarter business decisions when growing your pipeline.

Knowing key factors like when your recipient opened the email, how many times, and what content they engaged with can help you personalize your responses and optimize your email campaign cadence.

What Kind of Information Is Tracked?

This depends on what service you use, but the most common information that’s tracked is:

• Email opens and number of opens
• Clicks on links in the body of the email
• Time of day that emails are opened
• Devices that emails are opened on
• The location of the email open
• The IP address of the recipient 

How to Grow Your Business With Email Tracking

The beauty of email tracking is seeing results in real-time. Timely data means you can make on-the-spot decisions that better your chances of closing a deal, booking a meeting, or simply starting a conversation. Beyond knowing who opened and when, you get helpful insights like what device they’re using, and whether they’ve clicked links to your sales deck, landing page, or custom quote.

Send Your First Tracked Email

Reach out to start a conversation. Without getting your feet wet with an initial email, you won’t have data to work off of. Optimize your initial email to better your chances of getting a reply. Make it relevant, keep it short, personalize if possible, and make the call-to-action clear and concise.

Prioritize Your Activity

Chances are you feel like there’s already never enough time in the workday to get everything done. Thanks to email tracking, you can make sure the time you have is more effective by prioritizing your hottest leads.

You know which leads are interested based on engagement with your email. Opening it is a start. Opening multiple times or clicking links is the kind of engagement that tells you they’re interested, and is worth prioritizing for a follow-up. 

Optimize Your Follow-Ups

Email tracking will help you send more effective follow-ups. Following up on an email that’s been opened is very different from following up on one that hasn’t been touched. 

You could set custom cadences that will send specific emails depending on whether the previous email you sent was opened or replied to, or whether a certain link was clicked. If they did open your email and engage with it, then you can choose to tailor a more personal follow-up email. 

Clean Up Your List

Data grows stale for various reasons, and updating your list regularly can provide more accurate reporting. Start by saying goodbye to people who never open your emails. They can be deleted, or you can give a last-ditch effort “break-up” email to say goodbye and let them know it’s the last message you’ll be sending them. 

Take things a step further and use a tool like VoilaNorbert to remove any duplicates, filter out invalid email formats, and get rid of inactive, invalid, or parked domain accounts.

The ability to track opens and link clicks in emails reduces the stress that comes with uncertainty, and helps you to work more effectively and efficiently.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) — Email Tracking in Gmail

What Are The Benefits Of Tracking Email And Gmail?

When you track emails, you’re able to get a better insight into how your recipients are responding to your messages. It also keeps you wondering when you should send follow-ups or proposals.

It also encourages a data driven Approach. Data is incredibly powerful in 2024 and beyond. By tracking your emails, you can ensure that you’re making high-level decisions.

How Can I Track Emails In Gmail?

You can use an app like RightInbox. By simply installing it in Chrome, in a few moments you can not only track your emails but also schedule reminders, follow-ups, and templates to go out.

Does Gmail Let Me Track Emails?

By default, Gmail does not have an email tracking feature on the level of an application such as RightInbox. That’s why many people choose to upgrade their email experience for marketing, promotion, or other purposes.

Can I See When Somebody Opened An Email In Gmail?

When you use email tracking with Right Inbox, you can see exactly when somebody opens the email and which recipient opened it. You can also see if they clicked on attachments. This allows you to track your campaigns at a deeper level and A/B test with precision.

Is It Legal To Track Emails In Gmail?

Based on the municipality, it is typically legal to track emails in Gmail. Additionally, users have the option to turn off tracking. Therefore, they can opt out of it, making it a non-obligatory feature.