Top 10 Email Tracking Software Solutions for 2020

Looking at the number of generated sales alone doesn’t tell you much about your email marketing campaign. While you can label a campaign successful if you hit certain goals, you won’t have any clue as to what works and what doesn’t. Without additional insights into the email open and click-through rates, you’ll still be taking a stab in the dark with the next campaign. 

The idea behind email tracking is to assess the performance of each individual email within your campaign. Once you know what type of content your audience engages with the most, and which CTAs (calls-to-action) work the best, you’ll be able to replicate the success of the current campaign in the future.

So, how do you track emails, and what can the stats tell you about your campaign?

What Is Email Tracking and How Does It Work?

In the early days of online marketing, you would send out a bunch of emails to your subscribers and hope for the best. There was no way to tell whether they received your emails, opened them, interacted with them, or clicked any of your links.

Nowadays, there are dozens of software solutions that can provide you with all the data you need to tell exactly where each of your emails ended up and how your subscribers engaged with them. 

The insights you get from email tracking software will help you tweak your email marketing campaigns to perfection. You’ll know exactly what type of content to send to your audience and when, as well as which offers get the most clicks and generate the most revenue for your business. 

That said, the question still remains — how does an email tracker know when an email has been received and opened? The concept is rather simple — the software adds an invisible image pixel to your emails, which detects and notifies you when a subscriber interacts with each email in your campaign.

There are a couple of different things email tracking tools allow you to keep an eye on:

• Deliverability

• Open rate

• Click-through rate

Deliverability

An email tracker won’t notify you whenever your electronic messages hit someone’s inbox. That would only result in hundreds of notifications that nobody would want to go through. 

Email Deliverability

Image source: DigitalMarketer

Instead, most email marketing software solutions will give you a percentual representation of your campaign’s deliverability. At the very least, you’ll see the percentage of your emails that reach the subscribers’ inboxes. Advanced trackers can also provide you with a list of email addresses that “bounced” your emails. 

The email bounce rate refers to the percentage of email addresses in your mailing list that never received your marketing message. 

Bounces occur when an email cannot be delivered, because:

1. The email address is fake

2. There’s an issue with the recipient’s ISP (Internet Service Provider)

Regardless of what the cause of the bounce is, you’d want to remove those addresses from your list. High bounce rates lower your sender score, which results in more of your emails ending up in the Spam folder instead of the inbox. 

Open Rate

The open rate of your emails is an invaluable KPI (Key Performance Indicator) that indicates how appealing your emails appear to your subscribers. 

Email Open Rate

Image source: Bounceless.io

It’s vital to understand that your marketing messages will likely be competing with dozens of different emails in each subscriber’s inbox. If your emails never get opened, you won’t even get a chance to convert a subscriber into a customer, regardless of how amazing your offers may be. 

Opet rates apply to both the campaign as a whole and to each individual email. In both cases, a low open rate signifies that your email subject lines just aren’t grabbing the subscribers’ attention and that you need to come up with a more compelling copy for them.

Average open rates vary from one industry to another, but in general, you want to be aiming above 10%. 

The fact that you can see open rates of each email in your sequence is crucial. Even if your campaign as a whole is underperforming, you will be able to identify individual messages that drive the most and the least engagement and compare the different subject lines. 

Some email marketing software tools enable A/B testing, so you can try out different subject lines and see which approach gets your subscribers to click and read the email. Once you nail this part, you can move on to testing different CTAs, visuals, and email copy to maximize your conversions.

Click-Through Rate

Getting people to read your email is one thing, but getting them to click the link in it is a whole different story. You need to write powerful email copy that piques their interest, as well as to present them with an enticing offer that they can’t refuse. 

Again, there’s no way to know what works beforehand. Email marketing is more of an art than a science. Even the most successful email marketers can only give you pointers and general advice, but you still need to figure out what approach, offers, and vocabulary drive your target audience to take action.

Email tracking apps can help you monitor the click-through rate of your campaigns as well. The principle’s the same as with the open rate — a pixel is included in your links, and the tool will notify you when someone clicks it. 

Email CTR Formula

Image source: ActiveCampaign

In a month or so, after some testing and tweaking, the insights an email tracker provides will help you understand how to frame your offers the best. This, in turn, will help you maximize your click-through rate and push more of your subscribers a step closer to making that buying decision.

Best Email Tracking Software in 2020

Now that you know what email tracking is, how it works, and how it can help you optimize your campaigns, let’s take a look at the best email tracking tools on the market. We’ll go over both free email tracking software and paid tools and compare their functionality so you can choose the one that best aligns with your email marketing needs. 

Here are the top ten email trackers in 2020:

1. Boomerang

2. Mailtrack

3. Mixmax

4. MailTag

5. Hunter MailTracker

6. Vocus

7. Hubspot Sales

8. Yesware

9. Streak

10. SalesHandy

Boomerang

Boomerang is an email tracker that also supports email scheduling and reminders. It’s not exactly an autoresponder, in that you can’t create complex email sequences with Boomerang. In fact, the app merely reminds you to send an email later, but you still have to do it manually.

Boomerang Homepage

As you’ve probably ascertained from the image above, Boomerang is actually a browser extension, meaning no download is required. You can add it to Chrome, Safari, Opera, and Firefox with a single click and set it up in minutes. Simply connect the extension with your email account and you’re all set. 

Another useful feature of Boomerang is that it also comes in the form of an app for both Android and iOS. If you’re constantly on the move and are attending business meetings around town, getting a reminder and being able to send that crucial business email from your phone can come in handy.

Mailtrack

Mailtrack is an email tracking Chrome extension that puts focus on open rates. Instead of dealing with percentages and statistics, Mailtrack lets you see exactly how many times each of your emails were opened, and by whom.

Mailtrack Homepage

The extension introduces checkmarks to your inbox, which signify the number of email opens. This way, you can get a general idea regarding a specific email’s open rate at a glance. If you’re interested in detailed info, you can simply hover your mouse over the checkmarks. 

Apart from the number of opens for each email, Mailtrack can also show you when the email was first opened, as well as who has engaged with it most recently. 

Mailtrack is completely free to use, but there’s a catch. Every email you send while you have the extension installed will include “sent with Mailtrack” in the signature. Paid plans, starting from $6/month, allow you to get rid of this nuisance and include a variety of useful features apart from simple open rate tracking. 

MixMax

Email tracking is just one of many features MixMax provides. Although it’s not an all-in-one email marketing tool per se, MixMax does cover everything you need to launch and monitor the performance of your email marketing campaigns. 

MixMax Homepage

Although we’ve never heard of the term “closers” in our lives — and we’ve been doing email marketing for over a decade now — we have to say that MixMax is indeed a great tool geared towards conversions, or “closing the deal,” if you will.

With the free plan, you can track up to 100 emails each month. If you opt to upgrade to one of the paid plans — ranging from $5/month to $49/month per user — you’ll have access to a myriad of other useful features. These include:

• Calendar integration — Make it easy for subscribers to book a consultation call or a demo from the email itself

• In-email polls and surveys — Add surveys and polls to your emails and see the results in real-time

• Email scheduling — Schedule your email sequences to send the right message at the right time

• Automation — Create contacts, import leads, add triggers and events to segment your audience, etc. 

• Integrations with popular third-party apps — Salesforce, Pipedrive, LinkedIn Sales Navigator, to name a few

MailTag

If you want to sell stuff to Chuck Norris, MailTag is the right tool for the job! 

MailTag Homepage

Jokes aside, the extension is quite useful if you’re looking for real-time desktop notifications for every email open.

Apart from open rates, MailTag also tracks clicks, generates signatures automatically, and allows you to automate your follow-up sequences. The tool also comes with a dashboard that provides a detailed overview of all the relevant metrics of your email marketing campaigns. 

You can also download the MailTag app on your phone and stay on top of your email activity on the go. 

There is no free plan for MailTag, but the company does offer a 14-day free trial. The paid plans start from $9.99/month. While not a powerful tool for professional marketers, MailTag is a decent option for bloggers, affiliates, and small businesses who are starting to dip their toes in the waters of email marketing. 

Hunter MailTracker

Hunter’s MailTracker is a simple and straightforward tool that lets you see when your emails are opened, which subscriber opened them, and on what device. 

Hunter MailTracker Homepage

That’s pretty much all there is to MailTracker. The extension doesn’t track click-through rates, and it doesn’t come with automation capabilities or a dashboard of any kind. 

The company’s main revenue-generator is a robust email finder — Hunter — and it would appear that the free MailTracker is intended to work as a unique lead generation tool for the paid product. 

All in all, if you’re only interested in tracking open rates, MailTracker is a solid option. It’s completely free, so there’s no reason not to try it out. 

Vocus

Vocus.io is an email outreach tool. As such, it also includes email tracking features, allowing you to see how your cold leads interact with your email marketing messages. 

Vocus.io Homepage

The intuitive dashboard provides all the details regarding the performance of your campaign, all in one place. The tool tracks each email’s status and shows you when a prospect opens the email, clicks on a link, and replies. 

Another thing worth mentioning is that Vocus allows you to manage multiple email accounts, which makes it a solid option for sales teams. The tool also integrates with your calendar and popular CRMs, allowing you to streamline your outreach efforts.

Hubspot Sales

Hubspot has a dozen email marketing tools in their arsenal. If you’re a marketing professional looking for a comprehensive CRM solution with built-in email tracking capabilities, Hubspot Sales has everything you need. 

HubSpot Sales Homepage

As you would expect from an online marketing giant such as Hubspot, their tool covers every aspect of email tracking — from open and click-through rates to subscribers’ interactions with your email attachments. That said, the tool doesn’t spam you with push notifications but instead lists the most important events in your activity feed within the app itself. 

Apart from email tracking, Hubspot Sales also offers:

1. Email automation

2. Templates

3. Meetings

4. Live chat

5. Sales automation

6. Reporting

7. Predictive lead scoring

The best part about Hubspot Sales is that it comes with a free plan that allows you to track up to 200 email opens per month. Given that the paid version is $500/month, you should take full advantage of the free plan and think long and hard before committing to a monthly subscription to the tool.

Yesware

The company behind Yesware understands that simply tracking email opens isn’t enough. That’s why they’ve created a set of tools for Gmail and Outlook that enable marketers to monitor all the relevant email metrics, automate their email marketing efforts, and optimize every part of their campaigns to generate more sales. 

Yesware Homepage

Apart from detailed email tracking, Yesware also supports:

1. Email scheduling

2. Automated follow-ups

3. Calendar integration

4. Salesforce integration

Although Yesware can be used by businesses of all sizes, regardless of the industry they’re in, it best integrates into the workflows of companies that primarily rely on cold outreach and employ sizable sales teams to handle communications with their prospects.

The tool facilitates collaboration between sales reps and ensures that you never miss a reply and that you engage each prospect at the right time. 

One major drawback of Yesware is that it doesn’t come with a free plan. If you’re only looking for email tracking, there are far better options listed in this article. 

For $55/month per user, you better make sure during the free trial that you’ll make the most out of every single feature Yesware offers before you commit to a pricey monthly subscription. 

Streak

Streak is a Gmail-exclusive CRM that can help you optimize your email-related workflows and turn your inbox from a chaotic mess into a revenue-boosting powerhouse. 

Streak Homepage

Email tracking is just one of many options Streak offers. It helps you “keep your pipeline moving” through a variety of useful features, such as: 

• Automatic data capture

• Tasks and reminders

• Email scheduling

• Call logs

• Mail merge

• Thread splitters

Streak allows you to integrate different email accounts with the platform, enabling your sales team to share all the relevant data with ease and operate at maximum efficiency. From the tool’s dashboard, you’ll have access to the pipeline data alongside your emails, so you’ll always know exactly how successful your email-related activities are and what areas you need to improve.

SalesHandy

SalesHandy is an email automation tool that helps you handle pretty much every aspect of running a successful email marketing campaign.  

SalesHandy Homepage

When it comes to email tracking, SalesHandy functions similarly to MailTrack, in that it leverages checkmarks to let you assess the performance of each email at a glance. As with MailTrack, you can simply hover your mouse over the checkmarks next to each email to see more detailed info — number of opens and times. 

The best thing about SalesHandy is the fact that it allows you to track an unlimited number of emails with the free plan! Paid plans provide access to other powerful features, including:

• Dozens of customizable email templates

• Automated follow-up campaigns

• Email scheduling

• Integrations with third-party apps

Skyrocket Your Revenue With a Powerful White-Label Email Tracker

When it comes to tracking emails, there are plenty of different tools you could use. Some are simple and straightforward, and others offer advanced features for experienced email marketers. Which one you opt for should depend on multiple factors, such as:

• The industry you’re in

• The number of subscribers you’re planning to reach with your email marketing campaigns

• Your offers and the type of action you want your email subscribers to take after reading the emails

• Your budget

The list we’ve compiled here should help you make an informed decision and choose a tool that meets the needs of your business the best. 

Apart from the tools listed above, another option worth considering is a white-label email tracker. At Sell SaaS, we specialize in developing powerful email marketing software that you can both use and resell under your own brand to grow your revenue. 

Our autoresponder lets you create automated email campaigns that get results. You can track open, click-through, and bounce rates, as well as craft visually stunning emails in minutes with our simple email editor. 

The best part, however, is that you can leverage our white-label email cadence software to create an additional revenue stream. All you need to do is add your company name, colors, and logo to the software, and you can start reselling it to your clients right off the bat! 

We’ll take care of everything else — from setting up payment links to providing customer support to your clients. You can just sit back and watch the sales pile up. For every sale you make, you get to keep between 60% and 80%, and you get to dictate the price!