How many times have you received an email or newsletter from someone and opened a new tab to search for them on Twitter, Facebook or G+? You want to either research the person a little to see if they’re legit or to connect with them on another network so you start searching. Yes, there’s an app for that! In this article I try to offer an unbiased look at this free relationship management tool so you can make an informed decision.
Relationship Marketing Starts With That Initial Contact
Table of Contents
The Rapportive plugin for Gmail is a free relationship management tool right inside of your Gmail account. You simply install the Rapportive Chrome Extension and connect it with your social networks. Now whenever you open an email, including newsletters, Rapportive finds their social presence on the Twitter, Google Plus, Facebook and LinkedIn. There’s even a note section so you can include private notes about the contact that only you can see – all without leaving your Gmail.
A Few Rapportive Details
Rapportive has been around for a while, over four years, but I’m sure this tool will help bloggers that realize the importance of connecting and interacting with contacts beyond that of our blogs. You’ll also benefit by seeing an image of the contact, see where they’re from and even what they do. I even see their latest Facebook post right inside of my Gmail right column (pane).
A Little On Privacy
Apps and plugins that connect with my email accounts make me a little uneasy. Before I installed the extension, I checked Rapportive’s Privacy Policy and you should too BUT you’ll also want to check LinkedIn’s Privacy Policy since they own Rapportive
A Few Couple Of Things To Consider
- Keep in mind that same public information you gain from others is also available about you for others to see. You can edit the information that is shard about you by editing your profile right inside of your Gmail account.
- This extension seems to replace the Google Ads and information normally displayed in the right column. I do miss the Google Plus widget that was there but Rapportive gives me that information and more.
- There seems to e a little lag time but it’s worth the wait if it’s someone you really want to connect with. I’ve also seen a couple of older reviews that indicate the service has been spotty or even dropped off for a time.
- There hasn’t been an update on Rapportive’s blog since the acquisition by LinkedIn announcement almost 2 years ago or an update of their Twitter account since April of last year so it looks like the tool is run completely by LinkedIn now and we never know what these big networks will do to ruin a good thing (Just my two cents).
Use Rapportive To Find An Email Address?
It’s a little involved and I haven’t personally taken this step yet but there’s a nice post on Jeff Bullas’s Blog that shows you how to use Rapportive to get the email address of nearly anyone.
Action Step & Recap
Okay, the fun part. First, check the privacy policies I linked to above. Then, if you use Gmail and Chrome and you decide you want to give this relationship management a try, install the Rapportive Chrome Extension from the Chrome Web Store. Open Gmail in a new tab or window and open an email from someone you want to connect with. You’ll see the available information from that person in the right column where the Google Ads used to be. You’ll also notice a few buttons where you can connect the app to your social networks. Click those and connect the accounts you want to use fm your Gmail account.
Have You Searched To Connect Further With Your Email Contacts?
I’m not the only one that has gone to Google search to find social profiles, am I? Have you used Rapportive? Do you have any advice or comments to share? Questions? Do you have another relationship management or relationship marketing tool we should look at? I’d love to see your comments below.
Disclaimer note: I’m impressed with Rapportive as a relationship management tool but I have NO relationship with Rapportive or the people involved. This IS NOT an advertisement, sponsored or affiliate post. In fact, I have had no communication with Rapportive.
About Brian D. Hawkins
Hello Brian,
Gmail is indeed wonderful platform which has awesome features. And yes you are right we can easily connect with the people have contacted us.
Thanks
It is becoming a tool beyond just email Samir.
Hello,
Yes relationship starts with initial contact so gmail is ofcourse a great management tool for relation ships
Thanks Vicky
Hey Brian,
I love this tool and have been using it now for probably a little over a year. I think it was Carolyn that introduced me to it and it’s so helpful for when I get generic emails. I can at least check out these people a little more and if I want to connect with them on social media all their information is right there at a click.
I think it’s really a handy tool and I didn’t know that they were owned by LinkedIn so I learned something new, thanks for that.
Great write up and I think everyone should be using it myself.
~Adroemme
I’m new to it Adrienne but it’s already improved my Twitter and G+ experience. I’m connecting with people I hadn’t considered connecting with before this app.
BTW, You went into spam again and Mitch Mitchell and I just tried a test where I used my phone to comment and it was approved right away. My comment just before that from my laptop went straight into spam. I have no idea why but feel free to test it here if you like.
That’s great to hear Brian and keep it up.
Yeah, Mitch told me and I did test it out and I got through as well. As he shared with me though I was at home on my Wi-Fi connection so it was the same IP address so why did that one go through and not the one from my computer. This just boggles my mind.
“Use Rapportive To Find An Email Address?”
This. I’ve used this tip to find the email addresses of very hard to reach people. Most of the time, just enter their first name @ company name (eg. john@company.com) and if a Rapportive profile comes up, you’ve got a match!
That’s a nice tip Jay, thank you. I just tried it using “compose” for a new message and it worked great. I also tried it be starting the email address in the search bar but that doesn’t work, only the compose.
Thanks for the info. I’m definitely going to try this tool out. I often have several tabs open with email contacts website or social accounts to refresh my memory about them before I respond and this might be a big time saver.
Thanks Tiffany, I hope it helped. 🙂
Hi Brian,
I’ve started to use Rapprotive recently. I found it very useful for relationship marketing. And the most amazing thing is I think, to find an email address through Rapportive. Its way cool. Thanks for sharing a great review for this amazing extension
Thanks Andrew, I’m still enjoying the easy contact methods without searching all over the place. I just connected with someone on LinkedIn today that I invited for an interview. I wouldn’t have had that way of contact if I hadn’t seen it with Rapportive.