Emails are now a natural part of the modern person’s workday. Everyone get various messages in their inboxes – from social channel notifications to business promotions and even spam.
Companies today are interested in keeping their leads and customers engaged with the latest news. However, the unlimited emails they get each day means that they can’t possibly read all of them.
That’s why the email tracking pixel was invented. It’s an excellent way for marketers to monitor who has recently opened and read your emails.
Although not everyone uses email tracking capabilities such as this type of pixel, many still employ them to gauge the performance of their email marketing campaigns.
So, what exactly is a tracking pixel?
What Is an Email Tracking Pixel?
An email tracking pixel is a 1 x 1 pixel used to monitor a person’s behavior after they’ve accessed an email. Although a pixel may be present in an email, users don’t readily see it since it’s embedded in the header or footer section of a message and is extremely small.
These tracking pixels are designed to be used in email marketing so that people can understand how their recipients behave. A tracking pixel utilizes HTML code to identify whether a subscriber would move through the sales funnel or not.
For marketers, pixel email tracking offers a simple yet straightforward way of creating more personalized email campaigns. Thanks to how easy it is to apply and how direct it is, many businesses can easily adopt tracking pixels to improve their business growth initiatives.
How Does an Email Tracking Pixel Work?
Senders can add tracking pixels to their messages by inserting HTML code in their email, and the code comes with its own external link that leads to the server of the pixel.
Whenever a person opens an email with a tracking pixel, the code gets processed and then a notification is sent to the server’s log files regarding the action taken.
Apart from that, the pixel also gathers specific information about the user. Such details include:
- The operating system that was used
- Whether the email was accessed on mobile or desktop
- The program used to access the email
- The screen resolution of the client
- The time and date the message was opened
- The user’s IP address, location, and ISP
Types of Tracking Pixels
Besides the standard email tracking pixel, marketers also use other types of pixels today to monitor their market. The two other common pixels are retargeting and conversion pixels.
These two also let marketers keep track of their marketing efforts and identify which campaigns are doing well, as well as which ones aren’t.
Let’s take a closer look at each one below.
Retargeting Pixel
The retargeting pixel is designed to track the relevant user behavior of a subscriber. It works by following a user to the various websites and social channels they visit to monitor what they’re doing after triggering the pixel.
Whenever a subscriber activates a retargeting pixel, it increases the brand’s opportunity to convert them. This is especially true given that it catalogs their past interactions, showing that they’ve done enough to be qualified as highly interested prospects.
A significant advantage of the retargeting pixel is that it reintroduces a product or service back to a user who has previously shown interest in the brand. It also happens immediately, encouraging them to come back and consider the offerings once again.
Conversion Pixel
The conversion pixel is a code that is often applied on ad platforms. It’s similar to a standard pixel except that it’s added invisibly to an email.
Conversion pixels are used to keep track of user actions, particularly after making a purchase. It can show brands user actions such as adding new products to their carts, redirections to various pages, and purchase checkouts.
For entrepreneurs, measuring their activities is important as it lets them know how effective their investments have been. That’s why with conversion pixels, they can have a better understanding of their customers and can efficiently quantify their returns.
Why Should I Set Up a Tracking Pixel In My Domain?
As you can already tell, there are many advantages to using a tracking pixel and applying it to your email marketing campaign. There are two main benefits that email tracking with a pixel can provide to marketers.
These are:
Pixel Tracking Improves Personalization
When you apply pixel tracking in your email campaign, you create new doors of opportunity for you and your brand. This is because it provides marketers with insights about their leads and customers and how they engage with their emails.
There’s no guesswork once you start receiving the personal data from a tracking pixel. Marketers will be able to see how people browse, where they are going, and what they are doing. If you think that cookies are great, pixels are even better.
A huge benefit of a tracking pixel is that it helps marketers make their campaigns more personalized. It allows them to develop messages that are tailormade for their audience without confusing them with irrelevant content.
Apart from this, you can make improvements to your subject lines through personalization. This should result in a higher open and click-through rate compared to your past approach. Besides subject lines, you can also work on personalizing your messaging, calls-to-action, content, relevant links, and more.
Allowing Marketers to Change How They Connect With Audiences
Although using a tracking pixel is just one way marketers can monitor the behavior of their subscribers, it can be quite effective when used right. This type of email tracking allows them to see how certain emails perform when sent to their target recipients.
Marketers will be able to know just how effective their email content has been recently and whether or not they are delivering their desired impact. It also shows if the content is driving the clicks and engagement than they expected.
But once other metrics such as open rates, bounce rates, and click rates are taken into account, marketers can start developing a more in-depth online marketing approach. This kind of strategy should be able to help leads go through the buying journey smoothly.
Email marketing continues to be a vital tool in the toolbox of any digital marketer. With tracking pixels for email, these capabilities can provide marketers with more in-depth information on the performance of their digital marketing strategy.
Marketers who want to go deeper with their brands should start by using pixel tracking. Pixels provide marketers with vital information that they can pass to their design and development team members to help them build more effective campaigns that drive conversions.
How to Set Up a Tracking Pixel for My Emails?
Setting up your very own tracking pixel for email marketing is actually quite straightforward. It can be done even for people who aren’t savvy with the technicalities involved in email.
Here are two ways you can apply a pixel to track your emails:
Attach a Tracking Pixel Manually
- Create a square image that measures 1×1 — a single pixel. You can ask your graphic design expert to help you with this step if necessary.
- Save and export the file as a transparent GIF. On most programs, you can do this through File>Save As and then changing the format to .gif. This step may vary depending on your chosen image creation tool.
- Compose the message in your email and insert the tracking pixel you just made at the end. However, this will depend on the email client you are using as their instructions might be different. Some would require people to type the HTML code manually.
- You’re done. You can check the metrics via your email client.
Using Google Analytics for Email Tracking
- Create a Google Analytics account (for those who aren’t Gmail users) and create your 1×1 tracking pixel.
- Set up a trackable URL where you can place the image. Visit the Google Analytics page if you want more information on how to do this.
- Attach the image tag in your email before you send it.
- You can then use Google Analytics email tracking to see how your emails are performing.
All Set Up, But Now What?
Now that you’ve already set up your email tracking pixels. It’s time to make sure that you are doing it the right way moving forward to maximize their effectiveness.
Here are the best practices to follow:
- Each campaign should have its designated tracking pixel: Make sure that you have a new tracking pixel assigned for each campaign you work on. This should give you insights into your email marketing efforts and let you continue sending out great content to your recipients.
- Use a different tracking pixel based on buyer persona: Using a unique tracking pixel for each of your buyer personas can be useful in crafting personalized emails that are relevant to their habits and preferences. Adding segmentation to this approach should give you a better understanding of individual demographics.
- See whether subscribers prefer mobile or desktop for emails: You should tailor your future emails depending on whether you have more mobile or desktop users accessing your messages. If they are usually on mobile, you should make sure your emails are compatible with small screens.
- Inform recipients that you use tracking pixels in your emails: Unlike cookies, marketers aren’t required to ask permission from their subscribers to include tracking pixels in their messages. Data protection advocates require everyone to inform people about using cookies for user privacy. But to gain their trust, you should inform them via your email campaign’s terms and conditions when signing up for your newsletters. Letting your recipients know that you use tracking pixels can go a long way to winning them in the long run.
Do Email Recipients Get Any Benefits When Using Tracking Pixels?
The main goal of using tracking pixels is so that marketers can provide their subscribers with more personalized experiences. Brands often use the details they receive from email tracking pixels to understand what their leads and customers value, and it also helps them know whether their current email marketing campaign is working or not.
When they have information on what they need to improve, they can slowly change their campaigns and optimize them. Each campaign will eventually evolve to include the preferences of its target audience.
Will Users Know if I’m Using a Tracking Pixel?
Most recipients won’t know that you’re using a tracking pixel unless they have an email tracking tool that detects such features. It’s safe to assume that most email marketing communications now have their own pixels attached to them. But not everyone knows that.
This is why it’s important to let your subscribers know that you are using these pixels to improve your email campaigns. Not only does this help gain their trust but they’ll also feel more comfortable knowing that you’re doing your part in enhancing their experiences.
Conclusion
An email tracking pixel is one of the more unique add-ons that you can have for your campaigns. Their ability to provide marketers with information about their recipients can transform the way they approach their email marketing strategies in the future.
When you can track your users’ behavior, you’ll be able to build more relevant and personalized emails that promote engagement. Engagement is particularly important in email marketing nowadays with more and more people seeking brands that can provide for their needs while keeping them intrigued.
But pixel tracking isn’t just about measuring open rates and click-through rates – you can also use it to retarget interested prospects and monitor conversions. Innovative marketers can use the different tracking pixels available to develop a robust email marketing approach that can bring their brands to the next level.
If you haven’t yet started using a tracking pixel, now would be a great time to start. The process to get started is quite simple but the benefits you’ll get in the long run will be substantial.
By following the best practices provided above, you should know how to apply tracking pixels effectively in your campaigns.
