Often used to Google analytics for tracking visits to web pages and different mobile apps but the same analytics service can also be used for tracking your outgoing gmail messages in your account. If you want can add the Google Analytics tracking code to your Gmail messages and you can instantly know if your email message has been seen or opened by the recipient.
Email Messages with Google Analytics
This topic is simply thinking. We insert the Analytics tracking images to our outgoing email messages. While the recipient opens the message, the image box will download on computer and the visit will be logged in your own Analytics. Since Google Analytics supports genuine time reporting, Here you will see instant activity in the Analytics dashboard while an email is opened.
How you can add the Google Analytics tracking code to your Gmail messages
- Firstly go to your Gmail and compose your new email message. Specificly the recipients, subject and the body. You can also include add and inline images in your message. Now the draft message is ready, let it stay in your Drafts folder and do not hit the Send button.
- Now open the email tracker web app and authorize it. This is must required for the web app to send your Gmail drafts with the Google Analytics code.
- Lastly select your Analytics account ID from the drop-down, next select the Gmail draft from the drop-down and hit the Send Email button. Now your mail will get delivered to the recipient.
While the recipient opens your email messages, the event will be logged in your Analytics account.
Gmail Opens and Track in Google Analytics
Now how you can track the email open activity in your Analytics report.
Start open Google Analytics and select Events under the Standard Reports group. Then you should see new events with the selected category Email Open as people open your Gmail messages. You can touch the category to see the email address of the recipients who have seen your email and also the subject line of the message that they have just read.
The Analytics profile ID looks something like UA-xxxx-yy and you can easily find this ID in your Analytics Dashboard or account (Admin -> Property Settings ->Tracking ID). It will be must a good idea if you make a separate web property in Google Analytics for tracking Gmail messages.
Silently, when you send an email through the Google Sheet then it inserts the tracking image to your Gmail message with the help of a Google Script. Selected this tracking image is a 1×1 pixel transparent gif that will not be visible in the message body.
Think this tracking method will obviously not work if the recipient has disabled image downloading but now that Gmail auto-downloads images after caching, email open events are more such to get tracked.
