Read receipts are nothing new. Snapchat, LinkedIn, and Instagram all inform users when someone reads or opens their message. However, there’s one service without the mainstream feature baked-in- Gmail.
But for a serial entrepreneur with a selfish desire to know whether his tactfully crafted content has been opened, being in the unknown has to be a problem.
Forever put the unknown to rest.
This month marks the two-year anniversary of when Gmail finally reached a billion active users. With so many people using Gmail for their needs, it’s quite astonishing that the service doesn’t allow users to enable native read receipts.
Fortunately, there is no shortage of useful apps and extensions. Currently, Mailtrack is the leader in this field with far more Chrome users than comparable services like Streak and Yesware.
The basic account is free and has extensions for Google Chrome, Firefox, and Opera users. They boast over 2.4 million users, 850,000 Chrome installs, and 26,000 customers paying for a premium subscription. Every read email will receive a checkmark (similar to Facebook Messenger) and you can also proactively receive push notifications.
The quest for transparency.
Email transparency might seem like a strange concept to some, but many startups such as Buffer and Stripe have embraced it with open arms.
There are many reasons we default to transparency at Buffer, and perhaps the most important is that I genuinely believe it is the most effective way to build trust.
-wrote Buffer CEO Joel Gascoigne.
This means trust amongst our team but also trust from users, customers, potential future customers and the wider public who encounter us in any way.
Email transparency also helps by reducing the number of follow-up messages asking someone if they read your previous email, which is something that doesn’t just apply to salespeople, folks.
Undoubtedly though, perhaps this service is best for salespeople and marketers for the recurring, ongoing utilization. However, if you want to get a good laugh, whenever a friend opens an email that you have tracked, send them a text saying I see you– just too funny.
