links as a custom field

[DoctorsM]

We are wanting to send out an email that has a unique link in it for each recipient in our email list.  It is not a link to our website, but to an outside organization.  From what I've read, the Dynamic Link won't work because it isn't to our website associated with our account.

So what we want to do is have text that is clickable.

The contact list would be something like:

lastname, firstname, email address, unique link

Smith, Joe, email@email.com , link1

Jones, John, email2@email.com, link3

Johnson, Lisa email3@email.com, link4

We would like the unique link to appear something like

Click here to take the survey    where "Click here..." is clickable, but it is also a custom field in the "contact details".

I know this sounds confusing.  Any suggestions?

Thank you!

Leanne

[William_A]

Hello @DoctorsM ,

Due to how contact detail insertion works, it wouldn't be possible to actually link it from within the email editor. There are some email programs and apps that will automatically make typed-out URLs clickable, similar to how email and browser mobile apps will usually turn phone numbers into clickable links by default. 

Your best bet would be to have a raw URL for the custom field, and include instructions for people to either click the link (if applicable) or copy the URL into a new tab of their browser. 

[SUComms]

Checking in to see if there's been any additional functionality in this regard...or if William's solution from 11/17/22 is still the "best bet." Thanks.

[William_A]

There's been no changes to how custom fields work in relation to linking. Since custom fields are either date formats or raw text, and they don't actually show until sent out in a live email, there wouldn't be a way to hyperlink them within the editor.

[SUComms]

We sent our personalized urls just fine as a custom field in an email last week. The link was to a survey. We had 350 responses to the survey. But curiously, in CC "reporting" I'm told we had only 45 clicks on the email. Please advise: do clicks on links sent within custom fields not get counted in click count reporting? 

[William_A]

Hello @SUComms ,

If the URL isn't a live, clickable link prior to being sent out, then our system won't be able to do the conversion that allows for click tracking.

[DanielD9240]

Are there any plans to add this functionality on your roadmap? We need to send custom links into a web application for each of our clients. We've created our templates and are surprised to find that a simple feature like mail merge isn't available in Constant Contact.

Printing the url in plain text, hoping and the email client turns it into a link and forfeiting the tracking isn't a great solution for us.

Any other advice or options would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!