getsidekick - see who opens your emails

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apexblue
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getsidekick - see who opens your emails

Post by apexblue »

It is better to remain quiet and have one think you are stupid, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt....

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PW in Polemi
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Post by PW in Polemi »

Good idea, but it doesn't seem to work with Mozilla Thunderbird ... :(
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Normandie
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Post by Normandie »

Is there a downside to it - like it takes over my pc and reports back to the NSA? :wink:

Not that I think the NSA will be after my raspberry ripple cake recipes or kitten photos. :lol:
johnandtahra
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Post by johnandtahra »

HubSpot are reputable, so no worries there, but be aware that embedded links in emails are occasionally regarded as indicators of spam emails and certain email clients and/or privacy settings might therefore result in your outbound email being classified as junk mail. I don't know whether this applies to this particular product, but it might do.
Beachcondo
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Post by Beachcondo »

I use it and is mostly satisfied. It's very good to know when the recipient has opened the email.

My problem is that I use a computer, tablet and smartphone to look at my emails and sometimes one of the above will indicate that the email has been opened even though it's just me who have been checking details, or my husband has been checking the emails on his end.

It usually states the location of where the emails were opened, but not always.

I know that one can block IP addresses, but as I travel a lot, it usually doesn't work so well.

I also found that the 200 emails that one gets for free per month get used up very quickly, so now I'm on the limitless $10/month plan.
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Post by Nightowl »

I use it too, and have bought the $10 limitless plan.

It doesn't track mails I send out via PIMS (my bookings software) so if I particularly want to know that a mail has been received, I can forward that mail from my copy in my inbox and then it will be tracked.

I have found it very useful - when people start opening and looking at the mails several times, it often is followed by a booking request.
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Normandie
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Post by Normandie »

I know I should read the blurb on the site but does the recipient know you are tracking their behaviour with your email?
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teapot
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Post by teapot »

All sounds a bit spying...I know now why I get spam, too many robots collecting data
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kevsboredagain
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Post by kevsboredagain »

Normandie wrote:I know I should read the blurb on the site but does the recipient know you are tracking their behaviour with your email?
Quite possibly. Nearly all these systems work by embedding a hidden pixel in the email. The pixel is located on a special server and the access can be detected. If you have images turned off, it cannot work. That's why most of these systems will never achieve 100%. I would say more like 50-60% in my experience.

Some solutions work by being a browser plugin and interfacing to your web based email. Others might have an Outlook plugin or simply an additional field you add to the email address so that it goes through a 3rd party system to have the tracking added.
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Post by Nightowl »

I send emails to my husband a lot, he said there is nothing obvious, but as an ex-IT techie he says if he wanted to find out he probably could...

But none of my contacts have ever commented on it.

I don't think it collects data (ie for spam purposes) - I already have the person's email address as an enquirer and I'm responding to information they have asked for.
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roxytoo
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Post by roxytoo »

I use streak. I don't think the recipient knows but if you know you can be tracked you can turn images off
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kevsboredagain
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Post by kevsboredagain »

The same technique is used by spammers to know if an email address is live. That's why many email programs turn off images by default and you would only enable them for trusted contacts or emails. Having the default on for all emails is not a good idea.
tavi
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Post by tavi »

jeez I've always known that some tracking opening etc...is possible but it still gives me the creeps.

I'm all for effective marketing but is it only me who finds this an invasion of privacy? I'm surprised that these emails can go out without a clear indication somewhere within them that they will track if I open them, what time, how many times I open them, and even possibly where I am?
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kevsboredagain
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Post by kevsboredagain »

tavi wrote:jeez I've always known that some tracking opening etc...is possible but it still gives me the creeps.

I'm all for effective marketing but is it only me who finds this an invasion of privacy? I'm surprised that these emails can go out without a clear indication somewhere within them that they will track if I open them, what time, how many times I open them, and even possibly where I am?
Many will have a setting to do exactly that.

Bear in mind that when you surf the web, the webmaster knows your IP address, where you came from, your operating system and your webbrowser, not to mention which pages you clicked on.
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Normandie
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Post by Normandie »

tavi wrote:jeez I've always known that some tracking opening etc...is possible but it still gives me the creeps.

I'm all for effective marketing but is it only me who finds this an invasion of privacy?
No, you are not.
Nightowl wrote:I have found it very useful - when people start opening and looking at the mails several times, it often is followed by a booking request.
Nightowl, this is me expressing my disquiet about the software, the degree of information fed back to you, and not you personally! :wink: but I wouldn't want a potential guest to realise that I am monitoring remotely the number of times they may open an email on their pc in their home. Eeek.

Indeed I would like to know that emails are seen by a recipient but I do feel uneasy about using something that gives me that level of surveillance and if I discovered a holiday property owner was using it on me, that would be any possibility of me booking with them blown out of the water.
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