How to Track an IP Address | Geoplugin (2024)

You can learn how to track an IP address to identify customers in your target location for marketing. This helps improve marketing ROI, local footfall, and marketing relevancy. Using IP lookup tools can be part of a marketer’s arsenal to fight your competitors for new customers.

We’ll share how to track IP addresses for email and cell phones. This gives you more options to track customer locations based on the data you have to work with. We present several strategies so you can pick the one that best aligns with your preferences. Let’s start!

What Is IP Address Tracking?

IP address tracking is the process of monitoring and recording the internet protocol (IP) addresses. This relates to devices accessing a particular network or website.

Note that every device that connects to the internet has a unique IP address, which serves as its digital identifier.

There are a number of different reasons to use IP address tracking, which are as follows:

• Network administration: Network administrators track IP addresses to monitor network activity and identify potential security threats. Furthermore, they can troubleshoot connectivity issues and optimize network performance.
• Website analytics: Website owners use IP address tracking to analyze visitor demographics, behavior, and geographic locations. This information helps understand user preferences and target marketing efforts. For example, you can craft geotargeting campaigns with the website analytics you gather.
• Security investigations: Law enforcement agencies and cybersecurity professionals use IP address tracking to investigate cybercrimes. This includes hacking, fraud, and online harassment. Furthermore, you can track IP addresses to help identify the perpetrators and gather evidence for legal proceedings.
• Digital marketing: Marketers use IP address tracking to personalize content, target advertisem*nts, and measure the effectiveness of online campaigns. Also, by analyzing IP addresses, marketers can tailor marketing strategies to specific geographic locations. This is ideal if you want to increase local footfall to your shop or service location.
• Content delivery: Content delivery networks use IP address tracking to deliver content efficiently by routing requests to the nearest server. This reduces latency and improves website loading times.

How to Track an Email IP Address

Are you interested in learning how to track an email IP address? There are several tools available for how to track IP addresses for an email. We’ll share the best options so you can quickly compare an IP backtrace using the most convenient method.

View Email Headers

Most email clients allow users to view the full email headers, which contain information about the email’s routing and origins. This includes the IP address of the sender’s mail server.

Examples of email providers that allow you to get the public IP address include Gmail, Yahoo Mail, Microsoft Outlook, and Apple Mail.

Each email provider has a different user interface and displays the information differently. However, there’s an overall theme that you can follow. Figuring out one provider allows you to understand the rest.

Use Email Tracing Services

There are online services and software specifically designed for tracking email opens. This allows you to gather information about email recipients, including their current IP addresses. These services usually embed tracking pixels or unique links in emails to collect data when the recipient interacts with the email.

There are many reasons to use email tracing services, which are as follows:

• Timestamp analysis: Timestamp analysis helps to understand when the email was sent and from which time zone. This provides valuable clues about the sender’s whereabouts.
• Sender identification: Advanced email tracing services use techniques to identify the sender. This includes cross-referencing with other databases or using artificial intelligence algorithms.
• Email header analysis: These services can analyze the email headers to uncover hidden details about the sender. This includes the route the email took to reach its destination and any intermediary servers it passed through.
• Geolocation: Some services offer geolocation features, which provide information about the physical location of the sender based on their IP address. This is ideal if you want to execute location-based marketing campaigns.
• IP address tracking: Email tracing services often provide the ability to trace the IP address of the sender. This can help determine the location and potentially the identity of the sender.

Can You Trace the Exact Location of a Person’s IP Address?

No, you can’t track the exact location, but you can receive an estimate based on where they connect to the internet. IP addresses have a design that allows you to trace the location, which is handy for geo-marketing.

The resolution with which you can uncover the location can vary based on what the internet service provider shares. This can include the street, neighborhood, city, and country. The nature of your location-based marketing reveals what resolution you require.

Can a Cell Phone IP Address Be Traced?

Yes, you can trace the IP address of a cell phone. However, there are several factors that you need to think about for best results:

• Dynamic IP address: Most cellular networks assign dynamic IP addresses to mobile devices. These addresses can change each time the device connects to the network, making it more challenging to trace a specific device over time.
• Carrier logs: Mobile carriers keep logs of IP address assignments for their subscribers. Law enforcement agencies and certain authorized parties may be able to access these logs with appropriate legal authorization.
• Location data: While the IP address alone may not provide precise location information, you can combine it with other data. This includes cell tower information and GPS coordinates to estimate the device’s location.
• Privacy concerns: Tracing a cell phone’s IP address raises privacy concerns. Access to this information has restrictions for only authorized entities under specific circ*mstances. This might be criminal investigations or emergency situations.
• VPN and proxy services: Users can hide their real IP address with a virtual private network (VPN). This severely restricts your ability to uncover the location of the target users.

How To Utilize IP Addresses for Effective Geotargeted Marketing

Now that you understand how to trace an IP address, you can think about the best way to use the data in marketing campaigns. There are several useful strategies you can implement. Here are the top ones for your consideration:

• Geofencing: Implement geofencing techniques to target users within a specific geographic area, such as a radius around a physical store or event venue. Geofencing also allows you to deliver targeted messages, such as when users enter or leave a specific area.
• Location-based offers and promotions: Create location-based offers and promotions tailored to specific geographic areas. For example, you could offer discounts or promotions to users in certain cities or regions. This helps drive foot traffic to local stores or encourage online purchases.
• Targeted advertising: Serve targeted advertisem*nts to users based on their geographic location. Platforms like Google Ads and social media advertising platforms offer options to target users based on IP address data. This can increase the marketing ROI to new heights.
• Localized content: Tailor your website content, advertisem*nts, and promotions to specific geographic regions based on the IP addresses. This includes displaying localized language options, currency, or region-specific offers.
• Mobile marketing: Leverage mobile marketing strategies to target users based on their mobile device’s IP address. This could include sending location-based push notifications, SMS messages, or mobile ads to users in specific areas.

How to Track an IP Address: Is It Worth Learning?

Yes, It’s worth tracking an IP address to boost your marketing efforts. It’s a powerful tool that allows you to find users who might be interested in your products. Also, you can save your marketing dollars by increasing the targeting of your offers.

Now that you have the recipe for how to track an IP address, you can use the strategies to improve customer targeting. Therefore, you can beat competitors who don’t use location-based marketing as part of their approach.

Do you want an effective plugin that helps uncover user IP addresses? Then, you can check out geoPlugin. It’s an IP Geolocation and reverse IP geocoding technology. It’s about detecting requests from your visitors and locating them worldwide.

You can narrow them down to the city based on their IP address. Sign up today to check out geoPlugin for yourself.