SMS tagging campaign: How to create customized short links? | Community
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Anonymous
October 10, 2018
Question

SMS tagging campaign: How to create customized short links?

  • October 10, 2018
  • 2 replies
  • 16540 views

How can I set up a tagging campaign using SMS with a custom short link so that people clicking the link are taken to a Marketo page, uniquely identified, and cookied with their activity tag.

Similar to an email tagging campaign, but for SMS.

The main issue I think I need help overcoming is how to create custom short links that include the user's unique identifier to include in all the SMS messages.

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2 replies

Grace_Brebner3
Grace_Brebner3
Level 10
October 10, 2018

Marketo can't natively do this, but there's plenty of third party applications that can.

Someone with more API skills might be able to advise a way to build this yourself, but in the past for this need I've been able to do this at some scale with Zapier and various different solutions that plug into it - plus I think Zapier itself has a URL shortener.

SanfordWhiteman
SanfordWhiteman
Level 10
October 10, 2018

Needs more than just a URL shortener, though, because the link also needs to contain information about the lead.

    Grace_Brebner3
    Grace_Brebner3
    Level 10
    October 10, 2018

    True, I wasn't super clear on that. Meant that when I go Marketo > Zapier, I parse lead information into a UTM string format, then pass it onto the URL shortener, and then on to wherever else it needs to go

    SanfordWhiteman
    SanfordWhiteman
    Level 10
    October 10, 2018

    This is 2 questions in 1, Mark.

    (1) How do you embed identifying information in a link, other than a Marketo email link, so that visiting the page automatically associates the Munchkin session?

    (2) How do you shorten a link before sending it via SMS?

    One answer to (2) is that you can use a webhook to invoke the Bit.ly (or similar service) API and get back the shortened link, saved to a Lead field.  Then send the SMS when that Lead field has been updated, including the {{lead.token}}. The more elegant answer to (2) IMO is to use a webhook to call a service that both shortens the link and then connects onward to your SMS gateway in the same request, so you don't have other flow steps + triggers to manage.

    The answer to (1) is to use a technique like this one: Generating Munchkin Associator Tokens in SFDC/Apex or FlowBoost/JS​.

    Ideally, you can use a single webhook to create and append the Munchkin associator token, shorten the link, and send the SMS. I like the simplicity of such approaches. Or you can use a chain of different webhooks.

      Jay_Jiang
      Jay_Jiang
      Level 10
      October 11, 2018

      Could you use personalised urls in the SMS for the identifying link?

      SanfordWhiteman
      SanfordWhiteman
      Level 10
      October 11, 2018

      Sure, as you long as you fix pURLs so they actually work. Fixing Marketo pURLs

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