Are click-throughs always real?

[ScottG810]

We've noticed click throughs that seem unexpected; like clients who aren't generally otherwise engaged. Or, report says that ALL the people at one organization seem to have clicked through. Are there other reasons why a click-through might be recorded when someone didn't actually click through themselves? Do email programs open and test the clicks before presenting an email to the recipient? How can we getter a better idea of who REALLY clicked on a link and is thus a more engaged prospect? Any tips or insight?

[ScottG810]

Hello @ScottG810 ,

If their network or email program uses some kind of security tool that "opens" emails and "clicks" their links to check for malware, it can result in that kind of data. In all honesty, the only suggestion I normally have is to setup your account for self-authentication, however you've already got this on your account. This can show the security algorithms that emails being sent through us by you are effectively coming directly from you, and avoid triggering the clicks/opens from bots, but it's unfortunately not a guarantee as some security programs are simply built to function like this.

Beyond that, there's not much else you can do from your end. Our devs are constantly trying to identify the various programs that utilize this functionality, so they can set our system to ignore the behavior and triggers from these particular programs. If, after setting your account up for self-auth, the click rates continue to be inflated or worsen, then it may be worth calling in. That way our general support or higher level technical team can see if there's any further info that can be gleamed from the content of the emails with you live on the phone, or to see if the domains of the contacts that are seeming to bot-click them show any other particular consistencies we can track.

A more manual way of checking out these stats would be exporting your click reports, and then eliminating contacts that clicked every single link within 1 minute of receiving the email. This obviously isn't a precise method, but it would be the most straightforward method of removing the most likely security bot "clicks."

[William_A]

Hello @ScottG810 ,

If their network or email program uses some kind of security tool that "opens" emails and "clicks" their links to check for malware, it can result in that kind of data. In all honesty, the only suggestion I normally have is to setup your account for self-authentication, however you've already got this on your account. This can show the security algorithms that emails being sent through us by you are effectively coming directly from you, and avoid triggering the clicks/opens from bots, but it's unfortunately not a guarantee as some security programs are simply built to function like this.

Beyond that, there's not much else you can do from your end. Our devs are constantly trying to identify the various programs that utilize this functionality, so they can set our system to ignore the behavior and triggers from these particular programs. If, after setting your account up for self-auth, the click rates continue to be inflated or worsen, then it may be worth calling in. That way our general support or higher level technical team can see if there's any further info that can be gleamed from the content of the emails with you live on the phone, or to see if the domains of the contacts that are seeming to bot-click them show any other particular consistencies we can track.

A more manual way of checking out these stats would be exporting your click reports, and then eliminating contacts that clicked every single link within 1 minute of receiving the email. This obviously isn't a precise method, but it would be the most straightforward method of removing the most likely security bot "clicks."