How To Insert Dynamic Links

[Hannah_M]

UPDATED: January 2019

At this time it is not currently possible to insert dynamic links in the third-generation editor. A workaround we suggest is putting the entire code into the custom field, instead of just the dynamic variable. This custom field can then be inserted in your campaign as a standard contact detail. This work around will not hyperlink the URL, causing recipients to have to copy/paste the URL into their browsers.

The information below is only relevant to our second-generation editor.
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Do you want to customize a URL in your email to personalize it for your contacts? You can do this using dynamic links! Just a heads up, this does require some HTML knowledge and the links you create like this won’t be trackable and won’t be included in your reporting.

 

To add a dynamic link to your email:

1. Click into the edit mode of your email

2. Click to edit the block you want to put the link into.  

3. Line your cursor up with where you would like the link to appear

4. Click Insert on the left and then the plus sign next to “link”

5. In the “Text to display as link” field, add the text you want your contacts to see

6. Uncheck the track option as a dynamic link won’t work properly with tracking turned on.

7. Enter the URL into the Link URL field and add the variable to the end of the URL.

For example: http://www.yourdomainhere.com/$Subscriber.Email$

8. Click Insert to finish.

 

We recommend sending yourself a test (Please note, this test will need to be a live send!) to make sure the link in functioning the way you would like before you send the email to your entire contact list.

 

[Clique_Marketing]

Certainly an important tip. But your example could have been a bit more useful.

In addition, where does the user get the variable names that they can choose from?

When would an email address on the end of a URL be something that would have a purpose.

Perhaps I'm missing the application for that.  What did you have in mind?

[Hannah_M]

Hi @Clique_Marketing 

Thanks for asking, there are a couple of use cases I can think of off the top of my head. Some sites are set up to show specific content based on the user and the unique identifier for the user may be email address in some cases. Also, I've heard some users that use their own tracking on their site and rely on email address in the URL to identify who got to the page.

The variables available are based off any contact information that's uploaded to your account. There's a list here but any custom field information specific to your account could be used too. 

[MaggieT66]

Can you explain why dynamic links are not trackable in Constant Contact?

Was this a recent change?

Will you ever track dynamic links?

Thanks!

[Samantha_O]

Hello @MaggieT66, 

Dynamic links are not trackable because of the way that we track links currently.  When someone clicks on a tracked link they are brought through a redirect to the URL that you inserted into your email.  With the redirection of the link, the variable that you are inserting cannot be populated, since this information is added per each recipient as a unique url when the email is sent.  This functionality has not changed recently. 

Tracking dynamic links is not something that is currently on the roadmap to be implemented in the near future.  You can submit the idea here though to be viewed by product owners and voted on by other users.  

[JonathanB463]

Hi, I love this ability and want to use it to redirect users to verify their account on my clients website. Is there a way I connect this insert area to a randomly generated system. The devs I'm working with can make the randomly generated system but he want to know if he can use an API to connect it. the reason we want this extra step is to maintain security. So someone cannot sign up on with someone else account then just type in their email or whatever insert we use at the end of the URL to verify it. The safest option would be to make that link randomly generated. 

Thanks

[Frankie_P]

Hi  @JonathanB463

That's a great question! At this time dynamic links can only be inserted into our Newsletter Templates by putting the entire code into the custom field, instead of just the dynamic variable. This custom field can then be inserted in your campaign as a standard contact detail. This work around will not hyperlink the URL, causing recipients to have to copy/paste the URL into their browsers. However in your case you can use dynamic links in a custom code email, which is what the API uses.

[dannyboy]

This seems like such a basic functionality and CC can't do it.. 

[LeslieM764]

oh man, this is really surprising that you cannot do this with CC. I assumed it was a basic feature since every other ESP provides this.