In the past, sending an email was like putting a message in a bottle and setting it adrift in the vastness of the ocean, never knowing if anyone would find or read it. Clicking that ‘Send’ button was the end of the line, the only thing left to do was to wait and wait and wait.

This is no longer the case. Email tracking software gives your email the superpower of gathering actionable intelligence. Every interaction is traced, tracked and communicated back to the sender.

Email marketing is an important part of any digital marketing strategy. Research shows that 82% of B2C and B2B companies use some kind of email marketing technology. In fact, 95% of companies with an automated marketing strategy, have integrated email marketing into their approach. Most of these companies see a 50% increase in conversion rates when they implement an email marketing program.

Though there are plenty of email tracking tools out there, we review the top 5 to help you find one which suits your needs.

Here they are in no particular order:

1. Bananatag

Bananatag is a popular tool and is widely used among the top players of the industry. It has a high rating (4/5) on the Google Chrome Web Store. All metrics are displayed in attractive dashboards which allow you to quickly understand if your marketing efforts are working or not.

Features

  • Separate metric and resources dashboards
  • Single-click email tracking (+ automatic tracking of links)
  • Sent emails display the sender’s address
  • Tracking of detailed email metrics and interactions

2. GetNotify

GetNotify is a no-frills software with a focus on rugged functionality rather than design. The setup is simple and the free plans will suffice for small businesses or bloggers.

Features

  • Email tracking
  • Tracking hyperlinks in emails
  • Tracks reading duration
  • Fetches the recipient’s location and IP address
  • Fetches the kind of operating system and browser the recipient is using
  • Tracking is enabled by adding a ‘getnotify.com’ after the email address

3. Yesware

Yesware is one of the more powerful options out there. Aside from the basic tracking functionality, it also offers a more sales-focused approach to email marketing. It contains an activity feed which compiles data which salespeople can use to quickly make decisions. This tool has a 4.7/5 rating on G2 Crowd and is used by more than 600,000 users.

Features

  • Tracks opened emails and links clicked
  • Check the platform and device used to read the email
  • Create personalized email templates
  • Allows usage of hyperlinks and rich text
  • Tracks metrics such as: emails open, replies, response rates of individual templates, and link clicks
  • Customizable reports and analytics

4. WhoReadMe

WhoReadMe is a completely free tool which offers a simplified approach. It focuses on the most important aspects of email tracking—the basics. It offers no paid options and is rather limited in features.

The tracking functionality has to be manually activated by adding the “whoreadme.com” tag to the recipient’s email address.

Features

  • Track email events
  • Track recipient location
  • Track browser and OS details
  • Set an expiration date on content
  • Notifications of attachment download

5. ContactMonkey

ContactMonkey is designed to primarily serve the need of a sales team. Since the main purpose of email tracking is to refine the sales process, this software helps you integrate marketing and sales effort. It even allows you to see the likelihood of a prospect opening the email.

Features

  • Can be integrated with Gmail, Outlook or Salesforce
  • Real-time notifications
  • View and manage information about contacts and leads
  • Manage opportunities within emails
  • View likely outcome before you hit send
  • Manage open activities and history
  • Log calls, add events and tasks

Conclusion

There are a number of factors you should consider when trying to find the best email tracking software. You will need to check if your email service provider can support that tool, what kind of reporting and analytics are available in the software, the accuracy of the tracking function, availability of email templates, and CRM integration options.

Assess each of your top choices against these factors to make the best decision.