How do you know if your e-mail has been read?

The easiest way to know for sure if an email sent as part of your email marketing campaign has been read is by use of a return receipt, this works well for people who want to make sure people have opened their email, but don’t necessarily want to compose a reply to them.

However, it is only as useful as the person on the receiving end complying.  Recipients are able to circumvent return receipts by configuring their email client so that it denies these requests.  On the other hand there is software available for senders of emails who are not content to depend on voluntary responses and are so determined to know whether or not their email has been read that they are willing to pay for it.

How it works is that the users have to send an email through the service provider’s server by tacking their website address onto the recipients email address.  The service provider in turn tags the email with a ‘web bug’ and forwards it onto the recipient.

Email analytics can help you to find out if the email was opened, they also report on how many times it was read, how long it was open for and when it was opened.  Bringing in a professional email marketing company to manage your campaign will also include reports on the success of your emails and help you see how your marketing strategy is bringing you a return on your investment.