Did my email get read? Are they going to respond later? Did my link get clicked? Luckily, there are programs out there that allow you to track when your emails are opened, your links clicked, and whether or not you have received a response from the recipient. This last option will be important later. First of all, you’re going to need a program called ToutApp. It’s free for two weeks, but then you’ll have to spend some money on a monthly basis for a paid plan. There are other alternatives out there, such as Yesware and Bananatag, but I personally use ToutApp and like it the best. It’s easy to setup. You can integrate ToutApp into Gmail, Outlook, or CRM software. Alternatively, you can just use the web app. Here are some things that ToutApp makes easier.
Taking advantage of templates
If you often have to send similar emails out but don’t want to constantly copy and paste, you will love ToutApp’s templates. You can create templates and place them into the appropriate categories. The cool thing is that it accepts shortcuts, such as {{first_name}}, which pulls the name of the contact that you have saved. It will not magically guess their names–you must save the contact’s name yourself. The bulk of the emails I send are personalized so I can’t always rely on a template. Even though the emails are different, I still hit the template button to fill out the window and then I make small changes to each individual. Here are some screenshots below to show you what I mean: The first screenshot shows a template that I will send out occasionally to more than one person.
This second screenshot shows me editing a specific email for one individual. ToutApps’ template feature makes emailing groups of people easier without sacrificing personalization.
Setting reminders
One of the most important parts about email outreach is the followup. People are busy, which means they may not always see your email. In fact, they may have seen your email, but forgot to respond. Luckily, you can set reminders. Maybe you’re the one who is really busy, but you know you need to email someone at a future date. Set yourself a reminder and move on.
Tracking email opens, clicks, and reply status
In my opinion, these are the most important features of ToutApp. ToutApp’s official Twitter page states that they “…use pixel tracking to determine email opens, which is the standard for any marketing newsletters as well.” What this means is that the program automatically inserts a 1×1 pixel into the email which then alerts you that your sent email has been opened. As a side note, it only works when the images are enabled in the recipient’s email program, and the pixel is displayed. Right now, I’m in the process of contacting website buyers and sellers for my company. This is dependent on the people actually opening the email, so I know what steps to take next.
As you can see from my screenshot, everyone viewed the email and one replied, but no one clicked the link to our website marketplace that was in the email. If there aren’t any clicks after about 30 emails, I can assume that I need to clean up my email copy, and make it more tempting to click. The beauty of email tracking is that you’re able to gauge the success of your emails. Combined with the template feature, I have two different versions of the first email outreach, a short and long copy, which I compare against one another to see which gets the most clicks. Also, knowing who clicked lets me determine who’s more interested in what I have to say, giving me a list of people I need to follow-up with in a week. If you’re not tracking your email’s success rate, you are blindly firing without an optimal plan for when it doesn’t engage your recipient completely.
