Whether you want to send one, ten or several thousand email messages, with PoliteMail you can send them all at once within Outlook and track the response. Now you will see who has opened your messages, if they clicked any links and if they opened any attachments.
How does email tracking work?
Tracking is quite harmless, and is accomplished using commonly used standard tracking devices known as cookies and web beacons. When you send a tracked email message, whether it’s a simple text message or a graphical html message, the system embeds a tiny, invisible tracking image (a single-pixel gif, sometimes called a web beacon) within the content of the message. When the recipient opens the message, the tracking image is referenced. When they click a link or open an attachment, another tracking code is activated. In each case a separate tracking event is recorded by the system. These response events accumulate over time in a database, and using this system you can view reports on both individual response as well as aggregate response over time.
What about privacy and spyware?
Rest assured, this system is doing nothing of out the ordinary, other than providing you with simple, convenient access to tracking information that already exists. The tracking mechanisms utilized by the system are simple first-party cookies and web beacons. This has been the standard method for tracking email and website activity for years. The system is doing nothing more than recording what a standard web log also records. Almost every website you visit tracks activity using these methods, and any email marketing messages you have received have likely been tracked using these methods as well. There is no malicious code involved. No malware, spyware or other code is ever silently installed on your or your recipients computer either. < These tracking devices are not spyware. As far as privacy goes, if your company’s privacy policy already states that you may utilize tracking devices such as cookies and web beacon’s (and most do, as they are common devices for web analytics) then you are not in violation of your privacy policy by using this software. See the privacy policy section for more details on compliance language.Will the recipient know I am tracking my email or notice anything different?
Unlike read receipts, this system does not interrupt the recipient with a pop-up in order to track an open or a click. Tracking codes are harmless and invisible to the user reading your message.Will I always know when my email gets opened?
Not necessarily. If your recipient has graphics turned off, or is blocking external links, the system will not see (or record) the open event and you will not receive any tracking notification. Many email clients, such as Outlook 2003, have graphics turned off as a default setting, and if left with these default settings will not trigger an open event. While people tend to leave default settings in place, given today’s graphics rich message environment many people find these defaults too limiting and will turn graphics and external links back on.Will I always know if my links are clicked?
Yes, if the recipient clicks your links and visits the corresponding web page, you will receive a click thru event notification. If external links are turned off (which again is a pretty limited setting), the email client will notify the user and ask if they want to visit an external link. If they choose not to, there will be no click thru.Can attachments be tracked?
Yes. This system provides "smart attachments" which are handled differently than standard attachments. Smart attachments are not appended to the message, but are instead referenced within the message as a link to the file stored on our secure server. This significantly reduces message size, which in many situations helps your email to get through, particularly if it is a large attachment. Using smart attachments also reduces your mailbox size, as it eliminates duplicate copies of the attachment within your email system.Will I know if my message is blocked or diverted by a spam filter?
No. This system, like most all email systems, is unaware when email is automatically routed into a spam folder.Will I know if my message gets bounced?
Yes. This system automatically manages bounced (undeliverable) messages, and will automatically flag the email address for you when this occurs. There are many types of bounces, so it is worthwhile to check the system’s undeliverable folder to review and process these returned messages.Can I prevent someone from tracking email sent to me?
Of course. If for some reason you're worried about senders knowing you opened the email they sent you, simply turn off images in your email client. In Outlook 2003, images are off by default, and you may elect to download a specific image, or to only display images from senders on your which many find to a limited setting.
You can change Outlook's image blocking to be on or off by following these steps:
If you don't don't click any links, or visit their web site, then that activity can not be tracked either. Also, if your clear your cookies prior to visiting a web site, those sites will not be able to recognize you, but may write a new cookie on your system. In most cases, email and web site tracking is not invasive or dangerous.