How To Track An Email: Everything You Need to Know

You've been asked to track an email. Maybe someone's been working on a project and hasn't had time to respond to your previous messages. Or maybe the person you're emailing with is taking a while to get back to you. Whatever the reason, you'll need to track that email so you can let the person know you're still interested in what they have to say.

What will you do with the information you collect? Is this just for yourself, or are you going to share the results with someone else? Are you going to save the email, or is it going to disappear once you finish reading it? These are all questions you need to ask yourself before you start tracking an email. Otherwise, you may end up with a large amount of unstructured data that is difficult to analyze and won't provide you with very much value.

Fortunately, email tracking doesn't have to be hard. With a little bit of creativity, organization, and maybe even a lot of patience, you can easily track an email and use the information you uncover to your advantage.

Keep Your Eyes Open For The Following Signs

If you're getting started, take some time to analyze your personal experience with email tracking. Did you discover any patterns? Were there certain types of emails you found easier to track than others? Did you have any problems during a specific phase of the research process?

Now that you have a good idea of what you're doing and what to expect, you can prepare yourself for the fact that email tracking is not a pure science. You will not be able to perfectly predict every stage of the research process, and that's okay. But as long as you keep your eyes open for the signs discussed below, you will be able to greatly increase the chance of successfully tracking an email.

Make Sure The Email Has Attached An Inline Image

A picture is worth a thousand words, and in this case, the picture is literally worth a thousand words. When an email contains an inline image, it loads much faster than a standard text-based email, so that's definitely worth looking into. Plus, it makes the content more accessible to users with disabilities or who are on lower-end networks.

Track The Email's Source

You don't always have to know who sent you the email. Sometimes, all you need is to know where it came from. When you track the email's source, you find out where the email originated, and that generally entails finding out where the server is that the email was sent to. Depending on your needs, you may not want to track the email's source. For example, if you just want to know where the email came from, you can accomplish that without having to track the email's source. You just need to look for the server's IP address in the email's header.

Look For Clues In The Email's Subject Line

Every email has a subject line, and it serves a vital purpose. When you're opening new email, the subject line contains vital information about what you're reading. It gives you a small glimpse of what the email is about without having to open the email first. If you're reading an email that seems to be related to your work, the subject line will guide you to that particular email. You can also use the subject line to keep track of your correspondence with a certain person. When you receive an email that doesn't seem to be related to your work, it can be difficult to remember what you were originally planning on doing with that information. Checking the subject line of the email can help jog your memory.

Pay Attention To The Email's Received Date

This is one of the most important dates to pay attention to when you're tracking an email. When you receive the email, you know when it was sent to you. But what happens when the email was sent to someone else first and then forwarded to you? You need to know when that email was received so you can track it properly. Checking the email's Received date can help you determine the email's original sending IP address. In most cases, the date will also appear in the email's header along with the name of the person who originally sent the email. If the email was sent to you via a forward, the original sender may not want you to have the information. But you can still find the email's original source by looking at the headers. Just be careful not to get the wrong information about the person who originally sent the email. For example, if you find out that the email was sent from an IP address in China, you'll have to look into whether or not that's actually the case.

Check The Email's Body For Keywords And Phrases

Searching through the email's body for keywords and phrases can help you uncover a wealth of information. Did the person sending you the email use certain words or phrases more than others? Was there a specific piece of information hidden in the email's body that you needed to find? Did you get a different answer when you asked the person for that information in a different way? Checking the email's body can help you determine the email's intent. It can also help you find information that was intentionally left out of the email's header.

Use Your Gmail Account For The Best Results

One of the best things about Gmail (and Yahoo! Mail, for that matter) is their amazing search functionality. With just a few keywords, you can easily retrieve any message you're looking for. Plus, Gmail (and Yahoo! Mail) provide you with numerous filters, so you don't have to wade through tons of emails in order to find a specific piece of information. You can use their efficient search functionality and their various filters to track an email.

Keep Track Of Important Dates And Information

Dates are essential in every aspect of our lives, and they don't play favorites. That's why it's a good idea to make copies of all your emails as soon as you send them. This can be helpful if you forget about a particular email or want to find out more about something you mentioned in the email. Checking your local library's copy of the email can also help you find the right page. Or if you need to look up a specific term, you can use your library's electronic databases to find the information you need.

Keeping track of important dates and information can be difficult. The dates on your birth certificate, death certificate, marriage certificate, and divorce certificate may not be important to you, but they are to the people you're related to. Your Social Security card details may not be important to you, but they're important to the person who's applying for credit in your name.

Make Sure You Have All The Right Information

Do you need a visa to travel to another country? Are there any restrictions on the types of jobs you can apply for? Are you allowed to work in certain industries? Did you leave something out of your application that you forgot about? Finding the answers to these questions can help you avoid issues when travelling to another country.

Use Other Apps To Help

Apps such as SalesBlink can help you keep track of your email, as well as provide you with advanced search functionality, notifications, and more. Their nifty feature, Auto-complete, can help you quickly find the email addresses and names of friends and colleagues. Plus, you can mark certain emails as being worth keeping track of, so that you don't lose track of what you've already said. This can be a huge time-saver if you frequently send emails to the same person. You can also use the app's email notifications to alert you whenever there's new email from someone you follow on Twitter.

Keep In Mind That This Is Just A Guide

You may think that email tracking is a straightforward process, but as we've discussed, it's not. This is mostly due to the fact that not every email will fit the guidelines discussed above. If you send out a lot of emails with a lot of attachments, the chances are high you won't be able to track them all. So keep in mind that this is just a guide. You probably won't be able to follow it perfectly, but it will give you a good starting point.