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Some team members had a query recently where we were looking for a way to track clicks on mailto links and since they open in a mail client and not a landing page then this isn't possible. However a fix that was suggested was to create a html file which had a re-direct in the meta tag which re-directed to the Email address. So when a user clicks on an Email address in the Exact Target E-mail they will open this html file and in turn be re-directed to the mail client.

Since a html file would have to be created for each Email to be tracked this would be a lot of work. I wonder would it be possible to use a php file and then load Email addresses in a variable array? So that way we only have the one php file but could update the necessary Email address into the array. I'm just wondering if PHP is an option or perhaps a Javascript option would be more suited.

Anyways, just wondering if anybody else has any experience in tracking clicks to mailto links!

Thanks for any info

Morgan

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2 Answers 2

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If you have landing pages enabled on your account you can do this pretty easily like this:

Email

<a href="%%=RedirectTo(Concat(MicrositeURL(123456),'[email protected]'))=%%" alias="mailto">Email me!</a>

Note: replace 123456 with the actual landing page ID in your account

Landing Page

%%[

    set @email = QueryParameter('email')
    Redirect(Concat('mailto:',@email))

]%%

Disclaimer...

The downside to this is that even though you get the tracking you want, your user experience can be compromised. For example if a user is using the gmail web application and clicks the URL, a new tab is opened for the URL before the redirect is processed. Because you are now in a new tab the browser will open the mailto in the default mail client, in my case Apple Mail. This might deter your user from sending the email all together because they are now in a mail client they potentially do not use which can be annoying. I'm not sure what your use-case is for wanting to track these mailto clicks, but for me this UX issue out-weighs the benefit of knowing how many people clicked on the URL... but this is just my opinion.

Another option for you project might be to create a web form that a user fills out, which then triggers an email to the intended recipient with the reply address of the original users email. This would be an alternative way to get a conversation started.

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    Hey Jon, thanks for the reply. Yes, this landing page re-direct came to mind and yes I completely agree with you, the UX is greatly reduced when a default mail client opens especially if it's a mail client that you wouldn't normally use. Let me look into your second option. I will pass it by the team. This is more of a business requirement that we need to resolve which unfortunately means the user experience is sacrificed sometimes but I'll let you know how I get on.
    – Morgan Nolan
    Commented Oct 20, 2015 at 15:25
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I also found a bypass for MicroSites (if they are not provisioned) using CloudPages.

Click to unsubscribe

Where "77777" is the CloudPage ID.

Still not the best UX Experience but is a good workaround.

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