Available with the following plans:
Email open tracking is a useful tool for understanding customer engagement with your email content.
This article will cover:
How open tracking works
Users on the Professional or Business plan who are sending emails from the Copper web app, mobile app, or Chrome Extension can enable open tracking.
Here’s an overview of how it works:
Tracking pixel: The email includes a tiny, invisible image known as a tracking pixel. This image is hosted on a server.
Email opened: When the recipient opens the email, their email client automatically loads the images in the email, including the tracking pixel.
Server notification: Loading the tracking pixel sends a request to the server where the image is hosted, notifying the sender that the email has been opened.
You must be on the Professional or Business plan and have Email Tracking enabled to track email opens.
Limitations and considerations
Although the tracking pixel is the most reliable tracking method available, several factors could comprise the accuracy of email open tracking, including (but not limited to):
No third-party app support: Emails will not be tracked if they are sent from third-party apps such as Outlook, Thunderbird, or Apple Mail or if they are sent from other mobile apps, including the official Gmail app.
Image blocking: Many email providers, clients, and browser extensions block images by default, including tracking pixels. This means that if a recipient does not enable images, the sender won't receive an open notification.
Tracking blocking: Many email clients have added mail privacy protections that allow end-users to specifically block open tracking.
False positives: An email might be marked as "opened" if the recipient's email client automatically loads images for preview purposes, even if the email wasn't fully viewed. Conversely, if images are not loaded, the email might be considered "unopened" even if it was read.
“Self” false positives: Copper attempts to block the IP address of the sender from registering as an open, provided the sender is viewing the email from Copper — the web app, the mobile app, or Chrome Extension.
💡 Tip
Customers on our Business plan also have automatic link tracking, which provides deeper and more predictable insight.
Enabling or disabling tracking
First, be sure your Copper account was created with and is synced to your Google account. If you need to change the email address associated with your Copper account, please reach out to support via the in-app chat in the bottom right of the web app.
Enabling open tracking for emails sent from within Copper
Open the Copper web app and navigate to Settings > Personal Preferences > Email Settings & Templates
Under Email Preferences, select Send and Reply from Copper
Scroll to the bottom of the page to the section Email Tracking and check the checkbox
Enabling open tracking for emails sent from Gmail
First, be sure you’ve followed the steps above to enable the right settings in the web app.
Open Gmail and the Copper Chrome Extension
Compose a new email
Next to the Send button, check the checkbox to enable tracking on that email, as shown below
Disabling tracking for all emails
Open the Copper web app and navigate to Settings > Personal Preferences > Email Settings & Templates
Scroll to the bottom of the page to the section Email Tracking and uncheck the checkbox
To un-track a specific email that you previously sent
Open the Copper web app and navigate to My Tracked Emails in the left-hand navigation
Hover your mouse over the email you wish to un-track and click the trash can icon on the right-hand side
Where to see tracked emails
You can see all tracked emails in the web app by navigating to My Tracked Emails in the left-hand navigation.
In the web app and Chrome Extension, you will see an open envelope icon on the email activity if there are opens tracked. Hover over the open envelope icon to see the list of tracked opens, as shown below.
In the mobile app, you will see a clickable link if there are impressions, as shown below.
Depending on how your email was engaged with, the open tracking display may vary:
The person’s name or email will display if you sent the email to one recipient
“Someone” will display if the email was sent to multiple recipients and one of them opened it
“You or someone nearby” will display if Copper cannot reliably rule out other people who may be on your IP address, such as in-office coworkers, yourself on your phone, etc.
If you are using Copper Email Automations, you will see open rates associated with your automation in the details panel.
Disabling tracking notifications
Our email tracking feature notifies you when your email is opened. It is available in the Copper web app and the Chrome Extension. You will receive browser notifications when an email open event occurs.
To turn off these notifications:
Navigate to your Chrome Extensions
Find the Copper Chrome Extension and click Details
Under Extension Options, check the box for Turn Off Email Tracking Notifications as shown below
FAQs and troubleshooting
Open tracking can provide valuable insights, but it’s important to keep in mind that email open tracking is becoming more challenging due to stricter privacy regulations and new tracking-blocking methods by email providers.
If you’re seeing intermittent or unexpected results, it’s more likely a result of these industry-wide limitations rather than a bug in Copper. However, if you feel you are experiencing a bug, please reach out to support via the in-app chat.
Why is it showing opens that I know were from me?
Why is it showing opens that I know were from me?
If you open an email from a different IP address than it was sent from, such as your phone’s Gmail app, a false positive may be counted.
Why am I seeing an open when the customer swears they never got the email?
Why am I seeing an open when the customer swears they never got the email?
Some email providers load email content and open images on a proxy server before the email is delivered to the recipient’s inbox. This may result in a false positive.
Some email clients, such as the Gmail mobile app, load emails next to an email that is being viewed. This may cause the tracking pixel to load even though the recipient hasn’t viewed the email yet.
Some email clients, such as older versions of Microsoft Outlook, will load the entire email when the user marks the email as read but not actually opened. It’s possible that your customer inadvertently marked the email as read.
Why am I not seeing any opens on an email the customer replied to?
Why am I not seeing any opens on an email the customer replied to?
First, be sure you have email tracking enabled. In addition to the considerations and limitations listed above, you may not see opens because:
Some browsers or email clients block images
The recipient may be using a browser extension that deliberately blocks tracking pixels
If our tracking pixel is blocked, there is no way we can identify if an email is opened
Why aren't I getting browser notifications for opens?
Why aren't I getting browser notifications for opens?
If you are using ad-blocking extensions on your browser or a browser with default privacy protections, you may not be able to receive notifications from Copper. Please whitelist Copper or disable your ad blocker, then try the email tracker again.
Have a question? Contact our Customer Success Team using the in-app chat 💬
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