Whether you’re a small business or an individual user, there are plenty of reasons why you might want to track emails that you’ve sent from your Gmail inbox.
Until relatively recently, this functionality was out of reach without paying for expensive marketing plans or buying sophisticated email tracking software designed primarily for business use.
However, thanks to the flexibility and extendability of Gmail via Google Chrome, it’s now possible to track emails on Gmail for free.
This article will tell you everything you need to know. Let’s get to it.
What Is Email Tracking?
Email tracking is a process where email messages are monitored as they are sent and received.
This allows the sender to track whether the email has been read, when it was read, and whether any action was taken in response to the email (such as clicking on a link).
Email tracking can be used for both personal and business purposes.
For personal use, email tracking can help you stay organized and keep track of important communications. It can also help if you need to confirm a record of response and verify that an email was opened — similar to read receipts but without the confirmation.
For businesses, email tracking can be used to monitor outreach and customer engagement. With so many emails flying back and forth every day (even on a small team), it’s easy to lose track of prospects and forget follow-ups.
Email tracking software lets you see when an email was first opened and how many times it has been opened or viewed since then. This information can be incredibly valuable when you’re trying to gauge interest levels or follow up with potential customers.
The best part is that there are plenty of great email tracking tools out there that are either free or very affordable.
How Does Email Tracking Actually Work?
By default, Gmail doesn’t share when emails are received and opened by recipients. It will share the date and time of a reply, but the two are very different data points.
Since this information isn’t provided by the service, many email marketing tools and apps provide email tracking as part of their software package.
The most common method to track emails is via the use of tiny, invisible images called “tracking pixels” that are embedded in an email.
When the email is opened, the tracking pixel is downloaded from the email server and displayed on the recipient’s screen (even though the recipient won’t see it).
The tracking pixel can then be used to collect information about when and how often the email has been opened, since the server will report each time the recipient reloads the image. This provides some insight regarding how often a recipient returns to the message after the first email open.
Email tracking can also be done using clickable links (link tracking), or via the use of Google Analytics, if you’re a small business looking to code that functionality into your email set up.
The concepts for both methods are similar to how tracking pixels work. Once the email is loaded on the user’s email client, the server is notified, and the interaction is reported.
Keep in mind that statistics like open rates, bounce rates, etc., are often tracked and reported as separate metrics and aren’t usually covered under the umbrella of email tracking.
How to Track Emails from Gmail
While Gmail will allow you to request a read receipt if you’re on a Google Workspace account, you won’t be able to track emails using Gmail without the use of an extension.
Here’s the fastest and easiest way to set up email tracking in Gmail for free:
Step 1: Set up a Gmail account and download Google Chrome.
If you don’t have a dedicated Gmail account already, you’ll need to create one. Head over to the Gmail website and follow the instructions to create an account.
You’ll also need to download Google Chrome since most email tracking extensions work through the Chrome browser. If you don’t have the browser, download it and install it.
Take some time to familiarize yourself with these tools before moving to the next step.
Step 2: Download the Free Email Tracker for Gmail extension and create your PandaDoc account.
Once you’re familiar with Gmail and Google Chrome, head over to the Google Chrome web store and download the Free Email Tracker for Gmail app.
Once installed, the app will prompt you to sign up with your PandaDoc account. Follow the instructions to create a free account (or use the Google sign-up button) to enable and then authorize the extension.
Once this is done, you should be redirected to your Gmail account.
What’s changed?
If you already have mail in your Gmail account, you’ll notice that two new checkmarks have been added in the email information bar to the left of your subject line.
- ✅One checkmark means that your email hasn’t been opened.
- ✅✅Two checkmarks mean that your email has been opened.
You can also hover over the checkmarks to see when and how often your emails have been opened and viewed.
Step 3: Compose and send mail like normal
Once everything is installed, all you need to do is send emails like you normally would. The extension will add the tracking information and report back to you when emails have been opened and viewed.
Keep in mind that you’ll only be able to see the checkmarks when using a Chrome browser with the extension installed. If you switch to a different browser or if you open your email using a client like Outlook or Apple Mail, this information won’t be visible to you.
Why Track Emails on Gmail?
Many businesses rely on email tracking for sales and marketing, and there are good reasons for that. Email tracking:
- Ensures delivered emails are opened and read. This helps sales, marketing, and other outreach teams better understand how users interact with email and how to tweak the company messaging before the next email campaign.
- Reduces the need for manual follow-up emails. In many ways, email tracking acts like real-time notifications. Knowing that your emails have been opened and read may change your follow-up process from blind outreach to more direct engagement, depending on how the recipient engaged with your last communiqué.
- Allows you to see how users interact with content. Especially with cold email campaigns, seeing how users respond to content will change how you interact with them. If users are constantly returning to the same email or clicking links, reaching out to them with a targeted follow-up may be enough to push them into the sales funnel.
- Helps you purge your list when people don’t open. If users aren’t opening your emails, or if they’re opening and not responding, those interactions can tell you about engagement and email viability. For non-responding recipients, it might be time to update your CRM, mark prospects as inactive, and move on.
Perhaps most importantly, email tracking provides data that you can use to improve your service and your outreach.
By understanding email tracking data, you can make changes to your email communications to improve deliverability and ensure that your messages are getting through to the people who need to see them.
This information helps you understand when people are most likely to respond to your messages, allowing you to optimize your email communications for maximum efficiency.
Why Use an Extension Rather Than a Dedicated Email Platform?
Especially for smaller businesses, there is no shortage of dedicated email platforms to assist with sending emails, monitoring link clicks, and much more.
So, why (and when) should you consider using Gmail and a Chrome extension rather than a dedicated app or platform?
- Cost. Dedicated platforms are great for mass mailing and are loaded with email tracking features, but the cost of using them can be prohibitive to small businesses. Pricing often comes with a monthly fee, combined with the number of emails sent from the platform, which can make it difficult to know the true cost of paid plans.
- Scale. While great for sending emails to large audiences, platforms operate at a much larger scale and require more maintenance than you might be comfortable with. Sticking with Google Chrome, G-Suite / Google Workspace, and Gmail may be easier to handle.
- Convenience. To benefit from using a platform, you’ll need to use their systems. That means loading up emails through their interface, sending to customers using their send software, and reviewing your metrics via their software tools. If you’re looking for something simple and convenient, an email platform may not be it.
- No subscribers or lists. Email platforms are angled more toward marketing and sales. They operate on the assumption that you have a list of recipients and have tools to help you continue to boost engagement and acquisition. But you still have to manage all of that, which requires maintenance and upkeep beyond just sending emails.
- Better personalization opportunities. Because platforms are designed for mass marketing experiences, it’s difficult to create a personalized experience using those tools. If you aren’t operating at scale, sticking with a dedicated extension makes it easier to make outreach authentic, personalized, and unique.
It’s also worth pointing out that many of the features that were once exclusive to email marketing tools are now available in Gmail.
Using Gmail’s native tools, you can create email templates, use email scheduling when writing new emails, and even create a mail merge using Gmail and Google Sheets.
It’s true that platforms will still offer some features Gmail just doesn’t match, like IP address tracking, email open rate configuration, and dedicated customer support.
But even with those features in mind, Gmail is still one of the best email outreach tools for dedicated teams that would prefer to avoid platform complexity.
Get Free Email Tracking in Seconds
Looking for a fast and easy way to track your emails?
We’ve got you covered. The Free Email Tracker for Gmail by PandaDoc can help you know immediately once your email has been opened.
The app offers unlimited email tracking, tools to analyze email performance, the ability to turn tracking on and off, and much more.
Plus, it’s completely free. No paid plans. No ads. No data collection. Just fast and unlimited email tracking.
Download the extension to get started.
