[DM-MUG] Email Return Receipt / Mail Read

[kristau]

And even if you are paying for the services Matthew describes below,
there is still no guarantee. If the user has text-only mode turned on
or does not open HTML formatted messages, then the embedded picture
method will not work.

On Fri, Nov 6, 2009 at 12:30 PM, Matthew Nuzum <newz at bearfruit.org> wrote:
> 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
> newz2000 on freenode, skype, linkedin, identi.ca and twitter
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