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How to create links in drag and drop campaigns

This article explains how to create links to a URL, an email address, a phone number, a website anchor, or a document when using the new drag and drop* editor.

What is a hyperlink?

A hyperlink is when a word or phrase has been selected to connect to a specified URL, email address, phone number, or an external link like a survey; it makes the word or phrase clickable and brings the user to the chosen destination. Within the copy of your campaign, you can add hyperlinks to any word or phrase so that when the user clicks on it, they are automatically connected to the destination you have chosen.

Are hyperlinks trackable?

Hyperlinks, or links for short, can only be tracked in certain circumstances. Links in your campaigns are trackable because the links are routed (redirected) through our server on their way to their final destination, allowing us to record the click. The process happens very quickly and is virtually invisible to the person clicking the link. However, there are a few scenarios when links in campaigns are not trackable. Specifically, links are not trackable these scenarios:

  • Regardless of bracket formatting, certain personalization tags do not track at all, such as the tags that create the manage preferences link, opt-out link, signup link, and webview link.
  • When the linked text contains personalization tags. For this reason, buttons with personalization also will not track.
  • If you are using an image map, links in that image map will not track.

To help you better understand this, we’ll let you know if each of the hyperlinking instances below are trackable or not at the end of the description. You can also refer to this article for more information on clicks, links, and tracking.

How to add hyperlinks to text

Regardless of which end destination you choose, the first few steps are the same when adding a hyperlink to text. Here’s how to get started:

  1. Navigate to your Campaigns tab.
  2. Open a saved drag and drop draft or click on the Create new campaign button to create a new campaign from scratch.
  3. Click on the paragraph, title, or list block in the right panel and drag it over to your mailing.
  4. Enter your copy into the text block.
  5. Use your cursor to highlight the word or phrase that you want readers to click on.
  6. Click on the chain link icon in the toolbar.
  7. Click on the Link type dropdown menu and select the appropriate option. Follow the instructions below to fill in the requested fields.

URL

  1. Click on the Link type dropdown menu and select URL from the list.
  2. In the URL field, type or paste the URL for the website that you want to reader to be sent to.
  3. Check or uncheck the Underline link box, depending on how you want your link to appear.
  4. In the Text to display box, you’ll see the text that you highlighted when you clicked on the chain link icon. This is the text that the link will be behind. If needed, you can make changes to the text here.
  5. In the Title field, enter a name for the link. This name will appear in your response data and is used for easy reference.
  6. In the Target dropdown menu, you can choose whether you’d like the link to open a new window.
  7. Click on the OK button.

Email address

You can also link a word or phrase to an email address within your mailing, doing so will open up a ‘mailto’ email form that’s pre-filled and ready to be sent to you. An example of this is an “email us” link that’s been included in the body of your mailing, which means the message will be routed to a specific email address within your organization. Here’s how to do that:

  1. Click on the Link type dropdown menu and select Email from the list.
  2. In the Email field, type or paste the email address you would like to direct your readers to.
  3. Check or uncheck the Underline link box, depending on how you want your link to appear.
  4. In the Subject field, enter some text for a pre-populated subject line.
  5. In the Message field, enter some text for a pre-populated email body.
  6. In the Text to display box, you’ll see the text that you highlighted when you clicked on the chain link icon. This is the text that the link will be behind. If needed, you can make changes to the text here.
  7. In the Title field, enter a name for the link. This name will appear in your response data and is used for easy reference.
  8. In the Target dropdown menu, you can choose whether you’d like the link to open a new window.
  9. Click on the OK button.

File manager

Because so many servers block emails with attachments on entry, it’s not possible to include attachments with your mailings. Instead, you have a document library located in your Campaigns tab that allows you to easily post your files to our server and link recipients right to them. Here’s how to do that:

  1. Click on the Link type dropdown menu and select File manager from the list.
  2. In the new popup window, select the desired document from your library. If you haven’t uploaded the document to your account yet, click on the Upload button to select a file from your device.
  3. After you select your file, you’ll be returned to the Insert link window and the URL box will be automatically filled in with the correct URL for your file.
  4. Check or uncheck the Underline link box, depending on how you want your link to appear.
  5. In the Text to display box, you’ll see the text that you highlighted when you clicked on the chain link icon. This is the text that the link will be behind. If needed, you can make changes to the text here.
  6. In the Title field, enter a name for the link. This name will appear in your response data and is used for easy reference.
  7. In the Target dropdown menu, you can choose whether you’d like the link to open a new window.
  8. Click on the OK button.

Telephone

Another option is to link to a phone number, which will make the number a click-to-call link when your mailing is opened on a mobile device.

  1. Click on the Link type dropdown menu and select Tel from the list.
  2. In the Number field, type the phone number that you want contacts to call when they click this link.
  3. Check or uncheck the Underline link box, depending on how you want your link to appear.
  4. In the Text to display box, you’ll see the text that you highlighted when you clicked on the chain link icon. This is the text that the link will be behind. If needed, you can make changes to the text here.
  5. In the Title field, enter a name for the link. This name will appear in your response data and is used for easy reference.
  6. In the Target dropdown menu, you can choose whether you’d like the link to open a new window.
  7. Click on the OK button.

SMS

You can also create an SMS link; this will open up the text app on the recipient’s phone with the number pre-populated so that they can send a text to it.

SMS links are not supported by every inbox provider. Specifically, Gmail, Outlook.com, and Yahoo typically do not support the protocol used to create SMS links.

  1. Click on the Link type dropdown menu and select SMS from the list.
  2. In the Number field, type the phone number that you want contacts to call when they click this link.
  3. Check or uncheck the Underline link box, depending on how you want your link to appear.
  4. In the Message field, enter some text for a pre-populated SMS message body.
  5. In the Text to display box, you’ll see the text that you highlighted when you clicked on the chain link icon. This is the text that the link will be behind. If needed, you can make changes to the text here.
  6. In the Title field, enter a name for the link. This name will appear in your response data and is used for easy reference.
  7. In the Target dropdown menu, you can choose whether you’d like the link to open a new window.
  8. Click on the OK button.

Trackable?

Are URL links behind text trackable?

Yes, links that lead to URLs are trackable, since they are redirected to another server where they are housed. However, they still follow the same rules about exceptions, as described above.

Are links that lead to an email address trackable?

No. Email addresses, telephone numbers, and SMS links will not be tracked since they are not redirected from our server to a final destination.

Are links that lead to a document trackable?

Yes, documents are tracked since they are redirected from the email to our cloud servers where the document is hosted. The same rule applies if the user hosts the document on their server.

How to add hyperlinks to buttons and images

To add a link to a button or image, simply click on the image or button block to open the Content properties panel.

Web page

For a standard web page URL, simply type or paste the desired URL into the URL box under the Actions section.

Other link types

Similar to links behind text, you can also add certain special links to buttons and images. To do this, simply click on the image or button block to open the Content properties panel. Under the Actions section, click on the Link type dropdown menu, select the desired option from the list, and fill in the required fields. The available options are Send email, Make call, and Send SMS.

Document

You can also add a link to one of the documents in your library behind a button, by following the steps below:

  1. Navigate to your Campaigns tab.
  2. Click on the Documents section in the panel on the left.
  3. If you haven’t yet uploaded the file that you’d like to link, click on the Upload button and select the file from your computer.
  4. Once you’ve uploaded the file, click on the corresponding dropdown arrow and choose Copy link from the list.
  5. Return to your campaign draft and click on the button / image to edit it.
  6. In the Content properties panel, paste the link that you just copied into the Link type > URL field.

Trackable?

Are URL links behind buttons and images trackable?

Yes, links that lead to URLs that are trackable since they are redirected to another server where they are housed. This is true even if the links are behind buttons or images.

Are email, phone number, and SMS links trackable?

No. Email addresses, telephone numbers, and SMS links cannot be tracked since they are not redirected from our server to a final destination.

Are document links behind buttons and images trackable?

Yes, documents are tracked since they are redirected from the email to our cloud servers where the document is hosted. The same rule applies if the user hosts the document on their server.

How to add a link to a previous mailing

You can also link to one of the previous mailings that you’ve sent from your account. To do this, you’ll just need to copy the URL for the webview of the mailing that is found at the top-right of the mailing’s Response overview, then use that URL link as you would for any webpage.

You can add a link to a previous mailing behind text, a button, or an image.

Are links that lead to a previous mailing trackable?

Yes, they are trackable.

Special links

Facebook

You can add a link to a Facebook profile using this link format: fb://username. You just need to replace the “username” portion with the Facebook username for the profile that you want your contacts to visit. Clicking on this link will open the Facebook profile on the recipient’s phone.

This type of link works on iOS.

Twitter

You can add a link to a Twitter account using this link format: twitter://twitter_handle. You just need to replace the “twitter_handle” portion with the Twitter handle for the account that you want your contacts to visit. Clicking on this link will open the Twitter profile on the recipient’s phone.

This type of link works on iOS.

Trackable?

Are Facebook and Twitter links trackable?

No. Facebook and Twitter links cannot be tracked since they are not redirected from our server to a final destination.

How to create an anchor link

Anchor links are also called bookmarks or jump links because they jump the reader down to an item somewhere else in the same email.

While anchor links can be useful, they are often a sign that a mailing is too long, which may impact deliverability and decrease the likelihood of contacts reading the full mailing. As a result, the new drag and drop editor does not have built-in functionality to create anchor links. Instead of using anchor links, best practice is to put essential information in your campaign and link out to your website or a landing page for full details.

If anchor links are non-negotiable for you, the workaround below will provide the same functionality as an anchor link. Please note: Due to limitations beyond our control, anchor links are not supported in mobile platforms. There are also some email clients that do not support anchor links, so you’ll want to be sure to send a test of your campaign to the different email clients in your audience.

  1. Drag an HTML block to the location that you want to use as the destination for the anchor link.
  2. In the HTML block, type the following code: 
    <a name=“ANCHOR”></a>

    You’ll need to replace ANCHOR with a unique word that you feel is appropriate.

  3. Highlight the text that you will use as the anchor link itself.
  4. Click on the chain link icon in the toolbar.
  5. Type #ANCHOR in the URL box. Again, you’ll need to replace ANCHOR with the unique word you chose in step 2.
  6. Click on the OK button.

The way this workaround functions, clicking on the linked text will take readers to the HTML block, so you could put it above or beside the content you want readers to associate with that anchor. The HTML block will be invisible, so it will appear as if it is anchoring to the desired content. Please note, in order to place the HTML block next to the content, you will need to be working in a row that has multiple columns.

Are hyperlinks that lead to anchor links trackable?

No. Anchor links cannot be tracked.

* In April 2022, our legacy editor was replaced with a new drag and drop editor. Accounts that existed prior to this change still have access to the legacy editor through their previously saved templates and campaigns, however new, from-scratch campaigns can only be created in the new drag and drop editor. Accounts that were created after this change only have access to the new drag and drop editor. Please refer to our new editor FAQ article for more information.