It’s common for marketers to send out proposal emails to prospective clients they may wish sell products or services to. In many cases, you’ll get no response. It can be a painstaking process, wondering if someone has received your email, looked at the links you’ve sent, or is planning to follow up with you.

You may wonder what is the ideal time to follow up, if you should. The answer? It’s best practice to follow up whenever possible for proposals, reminders, and notifications you plan on sending to prospective leads. But, how can you determine the ideal time for a follow up? You’d love to know when recipients are at their computer, because this is the best time to schedule a call or to send another email. People are generally busy, but, when they’re at their computer, they’re prepared take a call or receive another email message from you.

Quite simply, you can determine when potential customers are receptive to your re-marketing efforts with the power of email tracking. Chances are, if you receive a notification that someone has opened your email, they’re at their computer or looking at their phone. When engaged in this way, prospective customers are likely receptive to a follow up call or another email, hence the importance of email tracking.

Your first step will be to install an email tracking application. Prior to launching your email campaign, you must have an email software tracking app integrated with your computer. While there are many software programs available, the best ones are Bananatag, Boomerang, MailChimp, and HubSpot. Once you sign up for their automation features, these programs offer free email tracking functionalities. When activating your software of choice, you will receive live notifications via dialog boxes that alert you to when someone has received, opened, or clicked through one of your emails.

Keep in mind that there are three varieties of email tracking you can potentially take note of. “Open tracking” refers to when the email is opened or viewed by the recipient. “Click tracking” refers to when a user clicks on any portion of the email, and “link tracking” tracks what link clicks are made that function to direct readers to other websites.

Once you get your email tracking software up and running, ensure that the setting is activated across all your emails. Then, begin crafting your email campaigns. For easy management, don’t skip the step of databasing your contacts. Not only can customer relationship management tools such as Streak, Google Contacts, and SalesforceIQ allow you to create specific boxes for each prospective client you market to, but these types of software can also aid in tracking interest volume.

If you’re still short on activity, plan a general follow up email at least once a week. If you receive an “open” notification and no response, it’s best practice to wait about three days before following up with a specific customer.

Email tracking is the best tool in your email marketing arsenal. It’s effectiveness as a follow-up tool is second to none, and its functionality will allow you to generate a greater number of leads and sales.