Update: As of 2019 this tactic no longer works, it was broken as Infusionsoft updated the way their links redirected – when I (and others) asked them to restore this functionality they indicated that they a) didn’t know it was working that way, and b) had never intended this to be a feature. I still have my fingers crossed that maybe they’ll enable this ability again, but I’m not holding my breath. *sad trombone*
This is the story of how a broken link was able to fight against all odds, and scrape it’s way into becoming a learning lesson, a training video, and ultimately a blog post.
If you send a lot of emails, this story might sound familiar. It starts off embarrassing for me, and then hopefully ends up putting a new ninja trick on your tool belt (Jump to the video if you can’t wait).
You see, I’ve been a little busy lately. The usual work stuff, yes, but also some travel (three national parks in 14 days), and then most recently Sara and I moved. We’re still in San Diego, but we moved from an apartment to a house.
The truth, as you’ve probably noticed, is that between all this commotion I haven’t focused on my blog as much as I usually like to. Yeah, that’s an excuse, but as I’m sure many of you can attest, creating unique content is exhausting.
And sometimes, like when you’re hiking in Death Valley without wifi, it’s just plain impossible.
So, between unpacking boxes and mounting TVs late on Sunday night, I found a few minutes to edit and format a blog post that my good friend Paul Sokol had written for me. I created the tracking links with all my google UTM parameter
s, and I scheduled up an email for Monday morning, and various social posts for the week (this is what I use to create my links).
Then, Monday morning rolls around, and I head off to a Chiropractic appointment, and sure enough, by the time I check into my inbox at 10:00 am I have a dozen people kindly informing me that my email that went out is littered with broken links. (By the way, thanks to everyone who helped point it out, I appreciate you for taking the time!)
So now I’ve got a predicament. I’ve sent an email to all my blog subscribers and I’m driving them/you to a broken link – a 404 page. That’s a real #facepalm moment. And I certainly didn’t do Paul, or his charity, and favors by making it hard for people to get to his link (sorry Paul).
(Silver lining: At least my 404 page is a lead capture. Proof.)
So, I’ve got a few options.
Option A: I can send a follow-up “oops” email with the right link. You know, they say “oops” style emails have dramatically higher open rates because people wanna see what you messed up…
Option B: Or, I can bust open my bag of ninja tricks and go fix the broken link. Did you know that you can change the URL a link is pointing to, even if it’s already in their inbox?
Being the marketing nerd that I am, I chose option B. I fixed the link. I recorded a video of me doing it. I created a “learning moment”. And now I’ve turned the whole dang thing into a blog post.
Almost like I planned it.
[The video was removed because this tactic was broken by a 2019 Infusionsoft update.]
Great tip Greg – this is exactly the type of tip I read all of you posts hoping to learn. Ninja tricks from the master.
Well, haha, then it’s about time I delivered! Thanks for reading Nancy, hope you’re doing well!
I am doing well Thanks Greg! You deliver or I wouldn’t keep reading – LOL.
Awesome! Feel free to send me any suggestions if there are things you want covered!
Hey Greg – would love to hear about HTML/CSS/jquery tricks for forms and extra stuff that Infusionsoft does not really cover.
I have a few CSS items that I use on Campaign notes, but I am sure you know tons of other ways to make the application look great for clients.
Thanks for asking.
Great idea! I’ve been thinking about putting together a “ninja hacks” manual, or maybe a mini-course. Sounds like it might be time!
Can’t you also update the link from the email working inside the Campaign Builder?
YES, you absolutely can and should. I demonstrated the automation link method because that will work for emails that are sent through the broadcast builder as well.
But if your email is in the campaign builder, then all you’d need to do is update (NOT REPLACE) the link in the email that it’s in, and publish. This will affect links in emails that have already been sent as well.
Nice call Ron, thanks for making sure that was called out!
Awesome!
Thanks for reading Nathan, hope life is good in NYC!
Wouldn’t it be amazing if Infusionsoft integrated utm links as standard (as per Mailchimp). Drives me mad having to do this manually.
That would be pretty slick. I imagine they will get there, but right now I’ll take what I can get!
Does Jordan Hatch’s old WordPress Plugin still work with Infusionsoft and does it recognize the UTM? If anyone knows Greg it would be you and I would love to see you expand on this topic.
I don’t know, but I know someone who might. Haha, I’ll see what I can find out.
The plugin still works as far as I know. It doesnt use the UTM codes – its only for the Infusionsoft Analytics stuff.
Good stuff. Thanks for the lesson 🙂
Happy to share! Thanks for taking the time to check out this post. Hope things are good on your side of the pond!
So if you sent 10,000 emails, you’d have to change each one manually? I’d rather send the oops! email. 🙂
Haha, absolutely NOT. That wouldn’t be a good use of your time at all. You need only fix each link once. So, if your email included 3 broken links (as mind did…), you’d have to fix each one of those once, and then you’re all set.