Email Confirmation Software
You first need to know that your email has been successfully sent and successfully received. After all, if you cannot distinguish between a client who simply doesn't respond and a client who never gets the email, you could be investing hundreds of man hours into changes that don't need to take place. Furthermore, having email confirmation is essential to ensuring that your message gets out and, if it does not, to understanding why it doesn't. For instance, a large number of unsent emails could point to a problem with your server, your ISP, or your account. You want to be able to determine what those problems are and correct them immediately to keep your marketing campaign rolling.
Email Tracking Software
Most email marketing software that is worth the investment will include some tracking software. This software lets you track whether emails are opened by recipients and, if opened, whether the links are clicked on or followed. Knowing this information can provide insight into how effective your emails are.
Consider that an email is received, but never opened. This could be a result of your subject line being ineffective or it could be because the email ends up in a spam folder. This is where testing comes in handy in that you could test two different email approaches for the same product or service. If both emails are received and never opened at about the same rate and that rate is high, then you can be pretty sure your email is ending up in the spam folder. You will then want to investigate why. If one email is opened more than the other, then you know the likely problem is your subject line and you can use the differences between the two emails to better understand what "speaks" to your clients.
Email Tracking Software and Click Through Rate
Getting a client to open an email is only half the battle. You also want him or her to follow up or act on the information contained within the communication. Email tracking software can track click through rates to give you a good estimate of how effective and interesting your message is. You can then use this information to improve future communications.
The Essence of Email Tracking Software
Marketing is a social science and it rests upon understanding behavior and motivation in humans. Email tracking software can give you access to what motivates your specific clients by tracking how they respond to your messages. This allows you to improve your offerings and make future email communications more applicable to clients. In the end, this means that clients get informed about the things that are important to them and you get recognized as a company that provides outstanding service. A win for everyone.