Knowledge Base

What is email tracking?

Email tracking functions are used by companies that want to know when their sent emails or links were opened by their customers. Email tracking allows you to see when any email or link sent from within Pipedrive was opened by a recipient.

This is done by adding a tracking pixel to each email where tracking has been enabled, which will register when an email has been opened by the recipient and if links in that email have been clicked.

How to enable email tracking

To enable email tracking in your Pipedrive account, go to Personal preferences > Email sync.
If you have connected an email account through the email sync feature of the Advanced plan, you will find email tracking options listed there.

• Open tracking information about when the recipient opens your sent email.
• Link tracking information about when any links embedded in your emails are clicked by the recipient.
• Notifications for tracking activities information about the above tracking data through the notification bell of the Pipedrive app.

Learn more about customer tracking software

Using the email tracking feature

When these options are enabled, your send mail functions – in the Mail tab and detail views – will have the icons to enable the tracking options.

To enable tracking for the email you’re about to send, click the “Track link opening” or “Track email opening” options in the send email area.

Once you have sent an email, the tracking settings will be saved and set as default for future emails until changed. Email tracking information is only available per user and cannot be shared with other users.

When you’ve sent an email with these options enabled, you’ll be able to check in on this information within the sent email itself in the Mail tab. The sender can also view the information in the detail view by hovering your mouse over the associated open and link icons. You’ll also receive a notification in the Sales Assistant.

Once an email has been opened or a link has been clicked, the icon will become opaque and hovering over the icon will provide information about when the email was opened or when the link was clicked.

The Sales Assistant will also display a notification informing you that the email has been viewed and if the link was clicked.

Pipedrive won’t be able to provide any tracking information for emails if your customers have settings within their email client that prevent the tracking of email opens and link-clicking.

If an email is sent to several recipients – for example, through cc'ing or forwarding – Pipedrive won’t be able to tell you which recipient opened the email but will still inform you that the email was opened at a specific date and time.

This will allow you to track if an email was opened by multiple recipients, but it’s worth noting that it only applies to the original recipients. If the email is subsequently forwarded, this will not be tracked.

Filtering

You can filter for tracked emails while in the Mail tab of your Pipedrive account.

To filter for emails with tracking enabled, go to the Mail tab, click the “Filter” button and select the “Tracked emails” option.

Email tracking and the GDPR

If your company is based in the EU – or deals extensively with EU customers – keep in mind that you must meet the requirements of EU laws. The EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) protects people’s privacy and places responsibilities on anyone collecting, using, storing, or otherwise processing personal data.

European data protection authorities have expressed the opinion that email tracking requires that recipients have opted into the collection of tracking data. While not at the same level as the GDPR itself, such opinions are often taken into account when resolving disputes.

Pipedrive recommends that you understand the requirements of the GDPR and consult a professional, if necessary.