How to Know If Someone Opened Your Email & 5 Metrics for Better OUtreach

You're gearing up to launch your next cold email campaign. You've researched your target audience, personalized your emails, and crafted compelling copy. But what if no one reads your emails? You can optimize your emails to avoid the spam folder and improve deliverability. But in the end, all you can do is cross your fingers and hope for the best. What if you could know for sure if someone opened your email? Understanding how to know if someone opened your email can help refine your cold outreach strategies to improve campaign performance and drive meaningful results. In this blog, we'll explore how you can uncover this hidden email data and what it can tell you about your prospects. Keep reading to know the best cold email tips.

Inframail's email infrastructure solution can help you achieve your goals by improving email deliverability and performance.

Why is Tracking Opens Essential for Email Outreach?

man checking his emails - How to Know if Someone Opened Your Email

Tracking email opens is crucial for understanding your cold outreach campaign's performance. That’s because every email indicates someone is interested in your words. Sure, you want replies. But before reaching that stage, you must get past the first hurdle: getting your prospects to open your emails.

Gauging Email Deliverability and Inbox Placement

Monitoring your open rates will tell you if your messages are even landing in the inbox or if they’ve been ignored and sent to the spam folder. This is the first step to gauging interest and engagement. Open rates will help you determine how well your subject lines perform. If an email gets opened, you can safely say that your email's subject line or first line has worked well.

Calculating Email Open Rates for Cold Outreach

Email open rate is a metric that tells you how many recipients opened your emails. The next question is how you calculate it.

Email Open Rate

The number of emails opened/The total number of emails sent. For example, if you sent 200 emails and 100 folks popped them open, you'd have a 50% open rate.

The Goal Behind Open Rates for Cold Outreach

Even a few years back, the primary goal of open rates was to see if your prospects were genuinely interested in what you had to say. It was a metric to understand if your prospects have opened my emails or simply got ignored in their inboxs. Email open rates not only help you figure out if your messages are landing in the inbox or spam folder. Although the average email open rate differs based on the industry, companies should aim for 17-28% email open rates.

Subject Line Effectiveness

Sadly, that’s not a reliable metric anymore. Open rates are losing their relevance as the go-to metric for email deliverability. Don't worry, we'll discuss it in a moment. Open rates also give you an idea of how well your subject lines are doing. If an email gets opened, you can safely say that your email's subject line or first line has worked well.

How Tracking Email Opens Helps You Evaluate Engagement Metrics

Tracking email opens can illuminate client behavior mysteries and provide valuable insights into your email marketing efforts. Here’s how it can benefit you:

Engagement Metrics Evaluation: Email tracking tools provide a treasure trove of data on recipient engagement. Here’s how:

Advanced Email Tracking Features

Some tools deliver real-time notifications when a recipient opens your email and allow you to gauge immediate interest. Others allow you to set specific conditions for tracking email opens. If you choose this option, you can segment your audience and focus on email tracking practices only for those who meet specific criteria.

Identifying True Open Rates and Engagement Patterns

Another tracking system can indicate which emails were opened by clients and which by spam filters. This tracking data can provide valuable clues about accurate open rates. And many email tracking software allows you to see when your contacts open emails. For instance, if potential clients open your email during business hours, they’re actively engaged and might be receptive to a quick call to discuss your product further.

Real-Time Actionable Insights for Sales and Marketing

Imagine your marketing team has a tool with such features. They could send out a campaign promoting a new product launch and be notified when a potential customer opens the email. They could also send timely and personalized follow-up messages afterward and capitalize on the recipient’s initial interest while the information is fresh in their mind.

Tracking opens helps you understand audience engagement. As a result, you can tailor your email communications to get better outcomes, make a more significant impact, and build stronger relationships with your audience.

How to Know if Someone Opened Your Email

Email open rate tracking is going through a tough time. First, Apple Mail’s Privacy Protection preloaded all emails, thereby inflating the email open rate. Now, Gmail has started to block images, and thus the tracking pixel, from unknown or untrusted senders, deflating open rates. The brutal truth? Email open rates are no longer a reliable metric. Still, keeping an eye on your opens is worthwhile as low numbers may indicate deliverability problems.

Here are 5 ways to do so:

1. Use an Email Tracking Tool

The easiest way to know if someone opened your email is to use an email tracking tool like Inframail. An email tracking tool is software that lets you see data on your outgoing emails, including open and click rates.

Here’s how an email tracking tool works

n email tracking tool embeds a tracking pixel in all your emails. When the recipient opens your email, the tracking pixel contacts the email tracking server and registers the email as opened. The tracking pixel gives you confirmation when someone views your email. This one is the most reliable of all the methods listed in this post.

2. Request a Read Receipt

A read receipt confirms that the recipients have opened (but not necessarily read) your email. A little pop-up window appears when opening your email, asking recipients to confirm they've read it. While reading receipts provides transparency (recipients can see you’re tracking opens), some find them intrusive or rude. You can request a read receipt when sending emails in popular email clients like Gmail and Outlook. For Gmail, you need a paid account to send read-receipt requests.

Here’s how to request a read receipt in Gmail:

When you enable read receipts, Gmail adds an invisible web beacon to your outgoing emails. If the recipient opens your email, the beacon downloads automatically to notify you the email was opened. Nevertheless, read receipts are turned OFF by default in Gmail and have certain limitations.

If you want to use read recipients on Gmail, here’s what you need to know:

For Google Workspace Users

Only an admin can enable read receipts for your domain. They can allow all users to get read receipts.

For Regular Gmail Accounts

Read receipts are not available. You can access this feature only if you upgrade to a paid Google Workspace subscription. If you have a paid Google Workspace account with admin access, you can use this method to know if someone opened your emails. It’s easy and only takes a few seconds.

Here’s how to enable read receipts in Gmail:

Step 1: Go to Settings in your Google Workspace admin console.

Step 2: Click on “User Settings.”

Step 3: Scroll down and turn on the “Email Read Receipt” option.

This will allow you to see if someone has read your email sent from Gmail. If you don’t have admin access, request your Google Workspace admin to enable read receipts for you. This will allow you to check if your emails are open.

Requesting a read receipt in Gmail lets you ask recipients to confirm opening your email. Nonetheless, recipients have the option to reject your request. So, Gmail read receipts aren’t a surefire way to track email opens.

How to Request a Read Receipt in Outlook

Even if you use Outlook, you can request read receipts to know if your email was delivered and opened. Here’s how to enable read receipts in Outlook:

Step 1: Log in to your Outlook account.

Step 2: Go to the “Options” menu at the top.

Step 3: Check the boxes for “Request a Delivery Receipt” and “Request a Read Receipt.”

This is how you can request a read receipt in Outlook. Nevertheless, remember that recipients have the right to decline your request. So, this isn’t a foolproof way to know if someone checked your email.

3. Use an Email Tracking Chrome Extension

Another simple way of tracking opens is by installing a Chrome Extension. These extensions often work with Gmail and will add a tracking pixel to all your outgoing emails. They will notify you when someone opens your email. Here are some Chrome extensions that track email opens:

Mailsuite: Tracks your emails in Gmail. You can see your email's read status in your Gmail sent folder. You can also send email campaigns with the Advanced Mailsuite plan ($5.99/month).
Free Email Tracker by cloudHQ: Also works with Gmail. This extension ensures you won't miss any open as it can notify you via SMS, Desktop, and email notifications.
Mailtag’s Email Tracker: Tracks opens and clicks and can send automated follow-ups to your recipients. Includes analytics dashboard.

Convenience vs. Limitations

Chrome extensions are a convenient way of tracking opens as they integrate with Gmail and are lower-priced than email automation tools. Nonetheless, their limited scalability (not ideal to send many emails with) and potential privacy concerns (some non-reputable companies may get access to all your emails) may lead you to look elsewhere.

4. Add an HTML Image Tag to Your Emails

If third-party email tools and read receipts don’t appeal to you, there is another option to know if someone opened your email.

Image Tags

You can add image tags in HTML and they can function almost like email tracking pixels. Here’s how image tags work:

Insert a tracked image into the HTML code of your email. When the recipient opens your email, the image downloads and notifies you of the open event. The advantage of using this method is that image tags don’t require recipient approval like some Gmail read receipts. Nevertheless, you need working knowledge of HTML to add the code yourself. Plus, there are bigger issues too.

Here are some privacy concerns with image tags:

They can collect recipient data without consent if encryption isn’t used. Your email content could be exposed if the image host isn’t secure. If you want to use image tags safely, here are some key points you should keep in mind:

Use end-to-end encryption and secure image hosting.
Disclose tracking and get opt-in consent where needed.
Only track activity relevant to your purpose.

With proper precautions, image tags provide a way to see email opens without reading receipts. Consider privacy before going ahead with this email tracking method.

5. Link Tracing

Link tracking is a way to monitor how people engage with the links you include in your emails. This includes tracking KPIs like clicks, shares and opens of a link. If your emails contain links, it offers another way to track our success. If people click on it, they’re interested in what you share. A unique code is attached whenever you send an email with a link. This code is like a fingerprint that helps identify where the link came from. When someone clicks that link, your cold emailing tool collects data about the action, like their IP address.

Custom Domain Tracking for Precise Insights

There are a couple of ways to do ink tracking. One way is by setting up a custom domain tracking system. It's like giving each of your emails its address. This lets you see exactly when and how often an email was opened. It's super handy for keeping real-time updates about your campaigns.

6. Let Email Automation Tools Track Your Open Rate

The most scalable and straightforward way to track opens is using an email automation or marketing tool. These can be traditional email marketing tools like Mailchimp, or email automation tools used for sales outreach like lemlist. All you have to do is create a campaign, send it out, and your open rate will be tracked automatically.

Limitations of Traditional Open Rate Metrics

Since open rates are no longer accurate, they only indicate how your emails are getting opened, but all other methods, except requesting a read receipt, face the same problem. The cool thing about email automation tools is that they also show you many other metrics that are more reliable than the traditional open rate.

5 Meaningful Engagement Metrics Beyond Open Rates

person checking her mails - How to Know if Someone Opened Your Email

Since you should no longer care too much about open rates, we must turn to other metrics to see how we're doing.

1. Click-through Rate (CTR): The Key to Understanding Email Engagement

This metric shows the percentage of recipients who clicked on links or buttons in your email. Clicking demonstrates they took action rather than just passively opening. CTR reveals how compelling your content and call-to-action are. It’s a measurable sign of interest rather than just a vanity number. Aim to optimize your emails for higher CTRs rather than open rates.

2. Time Spent Reading: The Secret to Understanding Email Engagement

This metric provides valuable insight into how long subscribers spend engaging with your email content before closing or leaving. More time spent indicates that your content resonated with the recipient’s interests. Very short periods may reveal content that didn’t capture attention. Analyze this data to create emails that spark genuine interest rather than just open. This drives more significant subscriber satisfaction long-term.

3. Goal Completions: The Real Test of Email Performance

For emails focused on specific conversions, track the percentage of recipients who complete your desired goal. If your email is promoting a sale, what % of people purchased? How many webinar signup emails are registered? These goal completion rates show whether your emails are successfully driving target actions. It's much better than just open data.

4. Subscriber Retention: Long-term Email Engagement

Keep an eye on long-term subscriber retention rates. How many subscribers consistently engage over time vs. frequently unsubscribing? Rising retention means your emails are providing ongoing value. Falling retention is a warning sign that you need to improve subscriber satisfaction.

5. Surveys: Get Direct Feedback From Your Subscribers

Well-designed email surveys provide direct feedback on what your subscribers like/dislike most about your emails. Ask for ratings on your designs, subject lines, content, and more. This insider intel can help continuously refine your approach.

Start Buying Domains Now and Setup Your Email Infrastructure Today

At Inframail, we are revolutionizing cold email infrastructure with unlimited inboxes at a single flat rate. We provide the following:

Microsoft-backed deliverability
Dedicated IP addresses
Automated technical setup to help agencies, recruiters, and SDRs scale their outreach efforts efficiently.

Main Benefits of Using Our Service

Automated SPF, DKIM, and DMARC setup
Dedicated email servers for each user
16-hour priority support daily

Unlike traditional providers that charge per inbox and leave you wrestling with technical configurations, Inframail streamlines the entire process. We handle the complex infrastructure setup while you focus on reaching more prospects.

Scalable Email Infrastructure for All

InfraMail provides the robust email infrastructure you need without the usual technical headaches and per-inbox costs, whether you're:

An agency looking to scale outreach
A recruiter connecting with candidates
An SDR driving sales

Start buying domains now and setup your email infrastructure today with our email infrastructure tool.

You're gearing up to launch your next cold email campaign. You've researched your target audience, personalized your emails, and crafted compelling copy. But what if no one reads your emails? You can optimize your emails to avoid the spam folder and improve deliverability. But in the end, all you can do is cross your fingers and hope for the best. What if you could know for sure if someone opened your email? Understanding how to know if someone opened your email can help refine your cold outreach strategies to improve campaign performance and drive meaningful results. In this blog, we'll explore how you can uncover this hidden email data and what it can tell you about your prospects. Keep reading to know the best cold email tips.

Inframail's email infrastructure solution can help you achieve your goals by improving email deliverability and performance.

Why is Tracking Opens Essential for Email Outreach?

Tracking email opens is crucial for understanding your cold outreach campaign's performance. That’s because every email indicates someone is interested in your words. Sure, you want replies. But before reaching that stage, you must get past the first hurdle: getting your prospects to open your emails.

Gauging Email Deliverability and Inbox Placement

Monitoring your open rates will tell you if your messages are even landing in the inbox or if they’ve been ignored and sent to the spam folder. This is the first step to gauging interest and engagement. Open rates will help you determine how well your subject lines perform. If an email gets opened, you can safely say that your email's subject line or first line has worked well.