Email Tracking in the Business Environment — Tool Capabilities

Internet marketing for B2B has several features: low traffic, high average check, long sales cycle, and prohibitive rates in contextual advertising. Therefore, Internet marketers working in B2B have to maintain the highest possible quality of statistics used for end-to-end analytics — otherwise, it is impossible to optimize traffic channels. Many of the specialists offer custom development for Zendesk using an individual approach. In most B2B topics, customer requests come in 4 ways:

• calls — call tracking is used to track them;
• applications — based on web forms on the site;
• online chats — through the service class of the same name;
• email — using email-tracking.

Moreover, if call tracking, web forms, and online chats are popular solutions, few marketers use email tracking for analytics of hits that come by email. In this article, we will tell why email tracking is needed and how a finished product differs from individual development.

What is email tracking and how does it work?

Email-tracking is a special technology that helps to track the requests of potential and current customers received by e-mail and link them to an online or offline traffic channel. A code is installed on the website that replaces the main email address of the site with a tracking email address: a unique one either for each user or for each traffic channel. With the help of email tracking, you can also track offline sources — for this, a dedicated email address is assigned to a specific traffic channel.

There are three types of email tracking listed below

Dynamic

A unique email is assigned to each user of the site, which is generated for a specific user and is not repeated. This is the most accurate type of email tracking; cases of assigning the same email address to different users are excluded.

Static

A dedicated email address is assigned to a specific traffic channel. It is possible to track offline sources: for example, applications that come from printing materials handed out at conferences.

Mixed

Combined type of email tracking: both dynamic pools of email addresses and static ones are used.

If email requests work well on your site, then using email tracking you can significantly strengthen effective channels and get more feedback from the mailing process. Plus, with proper integration with a CRM system, you will be able to assess the profitability of your marketing campaigns.

Email tracking with Zendesk tools

Zendesk Support does not include direct tools to track the process of opening emails. However, this tool has separate settings to help remedy the situation. As a result, you will get some pretty valuable information about the interaction of a potential or current customer with an email. Detailed statistics allow you to study in detail which methods of influence are effective in this case and which ones are better to refuse.

With these settings, you can see a detailed report on the number of open letters as well as the exact number of ignored messages. Information about the approximate time interval between receiving and opening an email message is also available. This allows you to get the most complete picture of the results of the advertising campaign.

Features and benefits of implementing email tracking

Everything happens around the site visitor: created a cookie and a unique email address. Then the client’s letter goes to a separate mail server, where it is processed according to special rules and only after checking according to several criteria is transmitted to the CRM system and Google Analytics as a new lead. After the lead gets into CRM, the lead is enriched with Internet marketing data collected during the user’s session on the site. Email tracking information is stored in a separate database. The main advantages of the process are listed below:

1. The quality of the end-to-end analytics data is increased to the highest possible level — it becomes easier to properly manage the advertising budget.
2. It becomes possible to track the flows of Internet marketing channels to attract customers.
3. There is a full assessment of contributions from offline sources.

The Zendesk email tracking app creates a separate note with date and time information. Next, you will receive a notification that your letter has been delivered to the addressee. If the message was read by the user, then the application will also notify you about this. The last option is configured depending on your wishes — push notifications can be disabled at any time.

A private note with the information regarding the email opened

Performance analysis and GDPR/CCPA assessment

There is a so-called transparent reporting feature in the email tracking application. Bounce rates help determine the ineffective number of messages that are bounced back to you unopened. A subscription to such an application costs only $2 per month. Beforehand, you can get a trial version for 14 days, which is provided free of charge. Cancellation of the subscription is also issued at any time, if necessary.

Email Tracking Reporting

Regardless of geolocation, you can use email tracking capabilities without violating the GDPR and CCPA. However, before using the capabilities of this tool, you must obtain consent from your users. Also, the application has automation of work following the rules of the GDPR and CCPA.

To get started with the email tracking tool, you need to follow a few steps:

1. Open the Zendesk Marketplace on the device you are using.
2. Click the “Install” button.
3. Select a valid Zendesk account and sign in.
4. Refresh the browser tab.
5. Go to the application menu and set the desired settings.

The email tracking process will help you optimize the performance of your advertising campaigns. Thanks to the timely information received, you can adjust the strategy used or improve tactics. This is extremely important if you want to be better than your competitors are. An automated process will give you more time and do the hard work for you.