[DM-MUG] Email Return Receipt / Mail Read

[Matthew Nuzum]

For marketing purposes the common way is to embed an image in the
email (like a logo or something) so that when people read the email
the image loading on the server is recorded as a hit. So for example,
if your website has a file called logo.php that shows a picture of
your logo, you can use:

    <img src="logo.php?email=xyz&recipient=123" alt="company logo">

And then put some code into your logo.php file that not only returns
the image but also stores a record in a database indicating the email
image was viewed. However, some email clients (MS Outlook, gmail, etc)
don't show images by default so you can't be certain that the email
was unread. You can also embed similar codes on links in the email so
that when they click the link a record is created. This works even if
the user has images turned off.

Some email sending programs can add a flag to the email that will
cause their mail server to send you a notification when the email was
delivered to the user's mailbox. However this does not mean the email
was read and the mail server may ignore your request for notification.

Some email sending programs request that the person's email reader
send you a notice when the email is read. Most email programs these
days ignore this request and the ones that don't ignore it instead ask
the user and gives them a warning which they usually ignore. This is
not a good method.

The only way to be sure to know if someone read a message is to send
an email w/ a link to the message. "Hi, I've sent you a message, to
read it, click here" and then when they click it a record is made.
People don't like reading these though, they seem very spammy, and
most people will just ignore your email entirely.

The best method I've seen is the first method above (tracking image
combined w/ tracking code in the links). You will need to develop a
solution or look for an open source solution that does this. The
common terminology is "campaign tracking." Just realize that some
unknown percentage of the recipients will read the email but not be
recorded in your system.

If all of this sounds complex, you're right, it is. This is why
companies like salesforce and mail chimp charge for the service. :-)

On Fri, Nov 6, 2009 at 12:17 PM, mauri booton <woohoowoohoo at me.com> wrote:
> I use Mail on my iMac. I would like to find a way to implement a
> "return receipt" or "mail read" using the mail software. I've read
> about some commercial services that provide this option, but I was
> wondering if it can be implemented without using a paid service that
> limits the number of emails that can be sent with the feature?
>
> Any suggestions?
>
> ~~ mauri ~~
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-- 
Matthew Nuzum
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