Track Email Opens

Introduction

In this article, you will learn how to track email opens in BetterMerge. Open tracking allows you to monitor whether recipients have opened your emails and view basic engagement data. However, it has technical limitations that can affect accuracy.

Note

This feature is available on paid plans. See Pricing Plans.

How to Enable Email Open Tracking

To enable open tracking:

1. Create an new campaign.
2. Go to the Advanced section.
3. Enable the Track Email Opens option.

How to View Open Tracking Reports

You can view open tracking reports in two ways:

1. Campaign Report - Open the BetterMerge Google Sheets add-on or the web dashboard. Go to My Campaigns, select the campaign, and navigate to the Tracking Logs section to see detailed open data.
2. Google Sheets - In the Google Sheet storing your email list, the STATUS column will display OPENED for recipients who have opened the email. The LOGS column will show the date and time of the open event.

How Email Open Tracking Works

Email open tracking relies on pixel-based tracking, where a small, invisible 1x1 pixel image is embedded in the email. When the recipient downloads images, the tracking pixel loads, recording an “open.”

Technical limitations:

• Image blocking - Some email clients block images by default, preventing tracking.
• Email provider caching - Providers like Gmail may cache images, causing false opens or preventing multiple opens from being recorded.
• Multiple opens - Each image load counts as a new open, even if the same recipient reopens the email.

Pros and Cons of Open Tracking

Pros:

• Provides basic engagement insights.
• Helps identify active and inactive recipients.

Cons:

• Inaccurate due to image blocking and caching.
• Cannot track opens from plain-text emails.
• Multiple opens may inflate the actual engagement count.

Best Practices for Reliable Tracking

• Use click tracking - Link clicks provide more accurate engagement data.
• Add other images - Including additional images increases the likelihood of the tracking pixel being loaded.
• Combine tracking methods - Use both open and click tracking for better insights.

Conclusion

Email open tracking in BetterMerge offers a general indication of recipient engagement but is subject to technical limitations. For more accurate insights, it is recommended to combine open tracking with click tracking and other engagement metrics.