According to HubSpot’s Blog Research from 2023, the average email open rate was around 46% to 50%. Now, depending on the industry and a few other factors, an email campaign might have a significantly higher - or lower - open rate.
But what’s more important is the question, how does a marketer know if someone read the email? It is an important metric that potentially determines whether an email campaign was a hit or a miss.
To find out whether someone has read the email or not, there are a few different methods a business can try.
Quick Links:
After reading this article, you'll gain practical knowledge on setting up and utilizing various methods to confirm if your emails have been opened, enhancing your effectiveness in email communication and management.
Let’s get started.
The method of finding out if someone read the email is through “the email read receipts”. These receipts are notifications - like the blue ticks on WhatsApp - that indicate that the recipient opened the email.
When a business knows how many recipients opened the email and how frequently they do that for different email messages, it can help them optimize their email campaigns. That way, they also plan email marketing strategies better, especially when using premium email lists from providers like BookYourData.
They work in a simple way: when a business wants to know whether the recipient opened the email, they send a request for read receipts to the email provider (e.g. ProtonMail, Outlook, or Gmail).
That way, the provider might agree to send a notification when the recipient opens the email. Moreover, Gmail and Microsoft Outlook offer this feature as part of their email settings.
However, it is important to note that such receipts can vary in detail. For instance, some read receipts reveal:
There are several benefits of getting email read receipts, for both personal and professional communications. The following seem to be the most relevant in most of the cases:
It confirms that the email was received on the other end. For urgent communication or when sending important documentation online, it can be extremely helpful to know that the message was delivered. Another instance is when sending invoices or legal contracts, in which case, confirmation of delivery is important.
And, even better, if you use a B2B prospecting service to build your list, such as BookYourData, our real-time email verification will ensure that you never hit a dud email address again!
[CTA1]
Another benefit of read receipts is that they help with follow-ups. When the marketing team knows the specific time that the recipient opened the outreach email, they can plan follow-up emails strategically. This also helps avoid unnecessary reminder emails that might look like spam.
Through read receipts, businesses also optimize their communication efforts. For instance, the sales team can find out whether the lead opened the email or not. They might do this through read receipts or their email tracking software to assess the engagement level of leads. However, it is important to first find the right emails to make sure you’re tracking potential leads and not random users.
In the legal context, read receipts help keep a clear record of important documentation messages and contractual communication. It also confirms if the recipient saw and engaged with the critical message.
Furthermore, email tracking through read receipts can increase communication efficiency. If an email went ignored, then it might be time to try different outreach methods to engage the recipient. For instance, using verified list-building services can help target the right users and ensure email tracking effectiveness.
Since read receipts also offer real-time insights into email activity, businesses can use them to make better decisions. Creating strategic follow-up email plans is one of the great examples of that.
A 2024 Forbes Report revealed that over 80% of companies use emails in their marketing efforts. But, how does a business know that someone has read their outreach email? Interestingly, there are several methods to do that which include read receipts or other lead generation tools as well.
The first method is using read receipts. It is easy to use this feature in Google Workspace by simplifying navigating to the email settings. The sender gets a notification when the recipient opens the email message.
The second method involves using email tracking software like HubSpot and Mailtrack which are quite popular. This is by far one of the most popular methods because it allows detailed analysis that reveals the open rate, location, and device usage too! Simultaneously, many businesses use email search engines to expand their email lists to get more leads.
Sometimes, senders use an embedded image in their messages. Thanks to email tracking software, there’s a “pixel tracking ” mechanism. When the image loads, it sends a notification that the recipient opened the email.
The fourth method is using delivery receipts. But unlike read receipts, these don’t reveal if the email was actually opened. Instead, they only confirm to the sender that a particular email has reached the inbox.
Since there are so many email platforms that offer the “read receipts” features, it is important to know the different receipt options that exist. Here are a few that every business should know:
When there’s an automatic read receipt setting, the recipient doesn’t need to do anything. The notification automatically reaches the sender that the email was delivered and opened. On the other hand, manual receipts are when the recipient has to approach the sending of the receipt.
Some email tracking platforms and software solutions also tell the exact time when the recipient actually opened the email. Meanwhile, others only give an estimate. So, using advanced email tracking tools can help with getting the precise time to better plan future strategies.
Did you know that HubSpot also reported that the average email open rate in the business industry is around 34%? And it turns out, businesses can use different ways to set up the read receipts to know when someone has read the email
Businesses, after they set up official email campaigning accounts, can navigate to the email settings in Google Workspace. There, they can simply toggle the option to “request a read receipt” before sending a new message.
Popular platforms like Microsoft Outlook also make it easy to set up email read receipts. All a professional needs to do is click the “receipt request” option when drafting an email message.
But before setting up such features, marketers often make sure they’re sending to the right recipients by searching emails with names. With BookYourData, this is easier because businesses get their hands on segmented email lists.
To set up a delivery receipt in Outlook, for example, a user will have to toggle the option in email settings. As a result, the sender will get a notification when the recipient receives the email in their inbox.
HubSpot also shared that the average open rate across a few popular email marketing tools was around 26% to 40%. Considering that, it makes sense to use third-party options for email marketing and tracking.
There are different tools like Mailtrack, Mailsuite, and HubSpot that offer a range of features as part of their email tracking platforms. However, such third-party software solutions have their pros and cons as well.
Pros
Cons
Businesses use a ton of different third-party options for tracking email activity. Some of the most popular options include:
These types of platforms also help track emails sent to purchased email lists along with organically generated ones.
The process of setting up an email tracking tool for an individual or mailing list is simple. The marketer will first sign up with the chosen third-party service provider and then add or install the extension to the browser.
Next, the user will either integrate with the existing CRM system or their email to set up tracking preferences. Then finally, the professional will create or import email addresses after which, the platform will automatically track interactions once the emails are out.
An optional but effective step is to verify the email addresses in the list before sending emails.
With an unlimited email tracking tool, businesses can enjoy greater flexibility and deeper insights into the performance of their emails. This not only tells them about the email engagement and open rates but also helps with fine-tuning the overall email strategy.
Thanks to email tracking, marketing teams can get real-time notifications when someone reads their email. That way, they can take immediate action to move leads.
Moreover, since they’re getting real-time notifications, timing follow-ups become easier. Additionally, a useful tip is to build dedicated B2B contact lists (and also B2C, if your business model allows it) to create and time emails for effective follow-ups. For instance, marketers can register for free and get high-quality leads from BookYourData to build B2B databases.
In addition to follow-up emails, marketing teams can coordinate with sales teams to create targeted email messages that help them encourage leads toward the final action.
Since many tools offer automated email tracking and management features, businesses have more time on hand to spend on other key decisions.
Through email tracking, businesses can also increase accountability in internal communications.
A lot of third-party tools also share deep insights through data analytics. This helps businesses improve their email campaigns for higher engagement in the future.
There’s a list of factors that affect the open rates of emails, especially cold emails that are usually a part of outreach marketing strategies. Some of the most important ones include:
An additional factor that impacts open rates is whether you’re targeting the right email addresses. There are several email finder tools that also help with getting to the right email owners for effective communication.
Some of the things that make an email stand out include the same tips as before - i.e., the factors that affect the open rate. For instance, the more engaging and personalized the subject line is, the higher the chances that the recipient will click on it.
In the same way, the main content of the email has to be highly relevant and appropriate to match the recipient’s pain points or latest search queries. Moreover, you could use segmentation through services like B2B databases to make your emails stand out for different recipients.
In addition to that, using multimedia content like embedded images and videos with links to engaging landing pages - or even useful resources like whitepapers and eBooks - can make emails stand out.
So, there are various ways to find out whether someone has read the email or not. The most popular methods include read receipts and email tracking. Moreover, there are service providers like HubSpot and so on that also offer a detailed analysis of email campaigns.
It is advisable to combine different methods to increase the effectiveness of email tracking strategies. By knowing when someone opened and read the email, businesses can plan strategic follow-ups and other communications better.
The difference is simple: read receipts tell if the email was opened and delivery receipts tell that the email reached the inbox of the recipient.
Users can enable the read receipts through email settings when creating an email.
Yes, the recipients can choose not to send read receipts. This can limit the effectiveness of this email tracking method.
In addition to email tracking, combining a lead generation platform such as BookYourData can help you achieve ROI very quickly.
You can sign up with BookYourData today and receive your first 10 leads free.
[CTA1]
[CTA2]