However, there is an incredibly rich data source that many people overlook: email. If you can understand how people interact with your emails, you can understand your prospects. And once you have it, there’s nothing stopping you from creating a great email marketing and sales strategy. That’s why we believe an Outlook email tracker is one of the best investments you can make as a sales rep.
- what are outlook email trackers?
- how does email tracking work?
- top 8 email tracking tools for outlook
- the limitations of outlook email trackers
- why do you need to track emails in the first place?
- how to choose the right tracker tool proper email
what are outlook email trackers?
normally when you hit send from microsoft outlook you have no idea what your customers are doing with it. many questions remain unanswered:
Do you open it, leave it unread and throw it away right away? which customers are most likely to read them? Do they click on any of the links within your email? if so, which ones? What device did the client use to open their mail?
Email tracking refers to any method of tracking how recipients interact with emails. Not only do Microsoft Outlook trackers send you read receipts and other information about customer behavior, but some can be integrated into your CRM to help you put that knowledge to use. Cirrus Insight’s Buyer Signals feature bridges the gap between email and the sales force, giving sales professionals a streamlined selling experience.
With a wide range of free and paid email tracking tools, anyone can track responses to emails in outlook. however, the people who benefit most from this process are business owners, marketers, sales representatives, and customer service staff.
how does email tracking work?
Although it sounds high-tech, Orwellian even, tracking an email actually relies on simple technology.
When you use an email tracker, the software adds a small, virtually invisible 1×1 tracking pixel image into the body of your email. once the invisible tracking pixel is loaded, it is assumed that the recipient has opened the email. once this change is observed, the user is notified that their email was opened.
Of course, this is just a basic overview of the inner workings of outlook email tracking. the most sophisticated and advanced systems use a combination of different technologies to give you the data you are looking for, tracked automatically.
top 8 email tracking tools for outlook
1. cirrus insight: outlook’s leading solution
Price: There are three different pricing plans available, ranging from $10/month to $29/month.
More than just an email tracking software, Cirrus Insight comes with a whole host of features. Beyond tracking email opens and customer activity, users can create individualized sales sequences, sync their inbox and calendar with Salesforce, and more.
Cirrus Insight’s email tracking feature, called Buyer Signals, gives users more than just the ability to view email opens. By measuring all activity, including link clicks and attachment openings, Cirrus Insight can score and rank each customer. once a customer’s activity reflects an ideal behavior, users will be notified that their leads are ready for a sales boost.
Removing the guesswork, buyer signals give reps full visibility into their funnels. Try the Buyer Signals feature today with a 14-day free trial, no credit card required.
Watch this video tutorial to see exactly how cirrus insight works!
2. yesware – powerful email tracking software
Price: There are three different pricing plans available, ranging from $15/month to $65/month.
Yesware is a powerful email tracking software that lands your messages in the inbox, not in the spam folder. With valuable integrations with LinkedIn Sales Navigator and Salesforce, reps can use Yesware to bring their email marketing to the next level.
With over 6,000 partners, yesware is designed to help teams sell better with the key features they need.
3. contact monkey: email tracking included with beautiful email templates
price: three price plans, quoted for each client/company.
Designed to be simple and for email marketing specifically, Contact Monkey focuses specifically on email tracking as a feature. Easily track email opens, website clicks, location, and other important recipient information with this simple add on.
Separating itself from other simpler solutions, contact monkey offers a library of beautifully designed email templates. professionals can use these templates to send sales emails that have been proven to be effective.
4. bananatag: drag and drop email build
price: there are three different price plans available, quoted for each client/company.
Like its contemporaries, BananaTag allows users to track emails, measure customer activity, and identify noticeable trends among leads and customers.
What sets bananatag apart, however, is its drag-and-drop email builder. With a simple design, the solution allows you to create beautiful, responsive and multimedia-rich emails with ease. users can also schedule emails, track attachments, and access detailed email analytics.
This plugin is perfect for users focused specifically on email marketing campaigns.
5. hubspot: full crm with email tracking
Price: Three different pricing plans, ranging from $45/month to over $800/month depending on the scale.
In addition to giving businesses the ability to produce content for websites, such as blogs and landing pages, hubspot gives users tools for email campaigns. while more expensive than other solutions, hubspot is not your run-of-the-mill email tracker. Unlike its competitors, HubSpot is a full featured CRM with powerful email tracking capabilities. the software also has calls, chat, scheduling and many other features.
hubspot is best for businesses looking to improve their entire digital marketing strategy, along with simple email tracking.
6. saleshandy – unlimited email tracking (free)
price: free plan available; regular plan starts at $9/month
saleshandy is specifically designed to improve reach and cold email campaigns.
Unlike most of the other options on this list, saleshandy offers free, unlimited email tracking with no strings attached. For an additional fee each month, users can get more detailed features and analytics.
unlike other plugins, saleshandy focuses on its core function: email tracking. users who want more features like sales sequences and more should look elsewhere.
7. boomerang: a free email tracking tool
price: free plan available; personal plan from $4.99/month
Designed to be economical and concise, boomerang for outlook provides tracking capability for little or no cost. basic boomerang accounts get the most important features like response tracking, read receipts, and click tracking completely free.
While the features are relatively similar to the competition, the lower cost contributes to a less streamlined user interface, leading to potential problems. this tool is best for those looking for an easy way to improve their email marketing campaigns.
boomerang also offers a companion product for gmail users.
8. mailtrack: another great free tracking tool
price: free plan available; professional plan starts at $4.99/mo
As simple as its website, mailtrack provides representatives and a free, easy-to-use tracking tool. Leveraging a pixel-based tracking method, MailTrack can tell users who opened their emails, how customers are interacting with their messages, and more.
mailtrack’s pricing reflects its basic nature, as the sole purpose of the product is to track customer activity on emails. As a result, this product is best for those looking to get into email tracking, but aren’t ready to break the bank yet.
how to choose the right email tracking tool
While the options are great, they don’t necessarily help the actual buying process. every business has its own specific challenges and needs, which means the perfect match is different for every organization. use the following questions to help guide your own decision:
- Is the software easy to use or does it have a learning curve? Do I have the time and resources to learn how to use the software to its fullest potential?
- Do you track open rates and send read receipts? Can you also track link clicks, website visits and attachment downloads? what other recipient behavior can you track?
- does it integrate with my current email client? Does it connect to my crm and other business software?
- Does the tracker also provide email templates that my team and I can use?
- Can the tracker also automate workflows? work or activate certain tasks? based on customer behavior?
- Does it provide detailed reports, analytics and other information?
- Is it just an email tracker or does the software have some other functionality?
the limitations of outlook email trackers
While this guide covers the benefits of using email tracking software, it’s worth noting that even the best tools have their limitations. there are some cases where email tracking will be inaccurate or completely unusable.
on the one hand, errors can occur. there is always the possibility that the recipient has opened your email, but because the pixel did not load. Either because attachments are disabled or the feature simply worked incorrectly, users may miss notifications due to bugs in the solution.
Similarly, tracking solutions open a report email for users who did not read an email. this might be because the pixel was rendered as part of a message preview, which less-optimal crawlers might notice as “open.” Inaccurate tracking can also occur if the recipient has adblock or another type of tracking blocker installed.
Ironically, the largest problem comes from the users themselves. The security systems for individual reps or entire companies can unintentionally block any kind of tracker, meaning user data will not be measurable. As a result, representatives can be left blind, whether or not a customer opened their email.
Despite the limitations, however, email follow-up remains an essential tool in any sales professional’s arsenal. even without 100% accuracy, the information obtained provides enough information to reliably manage a pipeline.
why do you need to track emails in the first place?
Is email tracking really worth it? There are many reasons why having an email tracker for your prospect can improve your selling experience.
first, it helps you keep track of which customers have read your email and which have not. From here, you can create custom follow-up emails to the right person.
Secondly, based on your open and click rates, you can figure out which sales tactics work and which don’t. then you can refine your future emails so that they use more of the old ones and are more effective in addressing your customers’ needs.
Third, knowing how your customers are interacting with your emails can give you valuable insight into which prospects are the most “loving” leads. these are often the people who open their email multiple times and tend to open their emails quickly upon receipt.
Lastly, email tracking can be useful even on the business/operational side. if you’re sending bills, contracts, and other important documents, those are things you’ll definitely want to keep an eye on.
buyer signals are an effective way to boost your business
Email tracking isn’t perfect, but it’s a pretty simple yet effective way to boost your business. Knowing what happens to your emails once you’ve sent them is the key to creating better email marketing campaigns, understanding what motivates your customers, and improving performance for you and your sales team.
To learn more about cirrus insight’s premier sales management solution and its wealth of features (including email tracking), click here.