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Dynamics 365 Community / Forums / Customer experience | Sales, Customer Insights,... / Track email engagement...
Customer experience | Sales, Customer Insights,...
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Track email engagement for transactional emails

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Posted on by Johanna1902 39
HI, my predecessor, who left the company, sent transactional emails and was able to track email engagement like e-mail opens, clicks etc for e-mails sent via customer journeys.. How does that work? I actually thought this was only possible for commercial emails. 
I'm still working with outbound marketing. 
Categories:
Dynamics 365 Customer Insights - Journeys
I have the same question (1)
  • Albert_Beri Profile Picture
    Albert_Beri 38 on at
    Your predecessor likely used outbound marketing’s real-time insights, which allow tracking of email opens, clicks, and interactions. Even though transactional emails don’t require explicit consent, they can still be monitored if they’re sent through a configured marketing system that supports tracking. 

    Check if the emails were sent via a marketing journey or if they were using Customer Insights, Journeys, as these provide tracking capabilities. You should also look at the email templates and delivery configurations used before to see if tracking parameters were included. If your organization is using a third-party email provider integrated with Dynamics, tracking might be enabled through that service. You may want to check with your IT or marketing team to confirm the setup.
  • Verified answer
    Daivat Vartak (v-9davar) Profile Picture
    Daivat Vartak (v-9d... 7,835 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at
    Hello CU21020931-0,
     

    You're right to be curious! It's a common misconception that email engagement tracking (opens, clicks, etc.) is limited to commercial emails in Dynamics 365 Marketing (Outbound). Your predecessor was likely using a combination of features and settings to achieve this tracking for transactional emails sent via customer journeys. Here's how it likely worked:

    Key Mechanisms:

    1. Web Beacons (Opens):

       

      • Dynamics 365 Marketing inserts a small, transparent 1x1 pixel image (a web beacon) into HTML emails.
      • When the recipient opens the email and their email client downloads images, the web beacon is downloaded from Dynamics 365 Marketing servers.
      • This download is registered as an email open event.
      • This functionality is not inherently limited to commercial emails. It works for any HTML email sent through the system.
    2. Link Wrapping (Clicks):

      • When you include links in your Dynamics 365 Marketing emails, the system automatically wraps them with a redirect URL.
      • When the recipient clicks a link, they are first redirected to Dynamics 365 Marketing servers, which records the click event.
      • Then, they are redirected to the actual destination URL.
      • Again, link wrapping is not restricted to commercial emails. It applies to all links in emails sent through customer journeys.  

    3. Customer Journey Settings:

       

      • Even though transactional emails are often sent without explicit consent, the customer journey itself still tracks interactions.
      • The "Email" tile in the customer journey records email sends, deliveries, opens, clicks, and other interactions.
      • Your predecessor likely configured the email tiles in their customer journeys to track these interactions.
      • The settings of the email tile within the customer journey is what enables this tracking.
    4. Interaction Data:

       

      • Dynamics 365 Marketing stores all email interaction data in the "Insights" section of the email record and the contact record.
      • Your predecessor likely used these insights to analyze email engagement.

      5.  

    How It Worked for Transactional Emails:

    • Customer Journeys: They used customer journeys to automate the sending of transactional emails.
    • Email Tiles: They configured the email tiles in their journeys to track opens and clicks.
    • HTML Emails: They used HTML email templates to enable web beacons and link wrapping.
    • Insights: They analyzed email engagement data in the "Insights" section.

    Important Considerations:

    • Legal Compliance: Even for transactional emails, it's crucial to comply with relevant privacy regulations (e.g., GDPR, CAN-SPAM). While tracking is technically possible, you should ensure that you have a legitimate interest in tracking and that you are transparent with recipients about your data collection practices.
    • Explicit Consent (Commercial Emails): For commercial emails, you must obtain explicit consent from recipients before sending them.
    • Suppression Lists: Ensure that you have appropriate suppression lists in place to prevent sending emails to recipients who have opted out.
    • Transactional vs. Commercial: The key difference is the legal basis for sending the email. Transactional emails are sent to fulfill a transaction or provide essential information, while commercial emails are sent for marketing purposes.

    In summary, your predecessor was leveraging the standard email tracking features of Dynamics 365 Marketing (Outbound) within the context of customer journeys, even for transactional emails. This is technically feasible, but you must always consider legal and ethical implications.

     
    If my answer was helpful, please click Like, and if it solved your problem, please mark it as verified to help other community members find more. If you have further questions, please feel free to contact me.
     
    My response was crafted with AI assistance and tailored to provide detailed and actionable guidance for your Microsoft Dynamics 365 query.
     
    Regards,
    Daivat Vartak

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