Links in autoresponder emails with address-dependant parameters?

9 replies
I'm new to all this and trying to choose an autoresponder.

I want to be able to include links in newsletters that have address-dependant parameters in them, for example ...

subscriber 1 will get a link to [page url]?key=abc
subsriber 2 will see the same thing but the link will send them to [page url]?key=def
subscriber 5027 (I wish) would get [page url]?key=zyx

Which autoresponders (if any) support this type of thing?

Obviously I'll have to specify which key goes with which address and ideally I'd like to be able to do that via an api so I can generate and update them programatically.

I hope that makes some sense.

In case it helps explain ...

On the website I want to be able to include user-specific content without the user needing to log in and provide a password. They should just get it without further action when they follow the link.

I don't want to use the email address directly because someone else can too easily impersonate that person. That's why I want to use a separate key.

Also, a subscriber's email address would stay constant but I'd want to change the keys used for each newsletter. ie the email address / key association is temporary.

There are no security issues. If someone gets hold of and uses someone else's key it doesn't really matter. I don't want that happening much but from time to time or if the some people forward the newletter to others and they use the same links, that's OK.

The autoresponders I'm considering at the moment are aweber, getresponse and inmica but other recommendations welcome.

Price is important, so would tend towards inmica. But if I can do this with one and not another, that would be the deciding factor, not the cost. If none of them support it then I need to re-think things a bit.
#addressdependant #autoresponder #aweber #emails #getresponse #inmica #links #parameters
  • Profile picture of the author Doug Slaton
    If I understand what you're trying to accomplish, here's some ideas but I may be missing the mark horribly.

    I was thinking you could pass the parameter as part of the link like so:
    http://www.YourDomain.com?KeyABC

    Then on your website you use PHP to parse the HTTP Header, find the key then redirect to the proper page. Of course for this you would need some way to increment or decrement your key with the auto responder company.

    Another possibility would be during the initial subscriber sign-up, once again using PHP, save/set a cookie (flash cookie would be best) with a unique key and then once they return to your site from your link in the autoresponder you parse the Header to decide where to redirect based on the cookie.

    Hope this gives you some ideas, good luck with your challenge.
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  • Profile picture of the author trafficwave
    One possibility would be to create or install a script on your web hosting account that randomly generates the code you are looking for on each visit.

    Then put the parameter field in to your autoresponder subscription code.

    With TrafficWave Autoresponders, you could put that in as a custom field in your autoresponder code. That field would be collected along with any other information such as name, email, etc..

    In the letters you are sending out, you would use the campaign token to generate each individual URL, such as:

    www.domain.com/?[token]
    Signature

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    Brian Rooney, CEO
    TrafficWave.net Email Marketing AutoResponders
    Email Marketing Blog

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  • Profile picture of the author nicknax
    Thanks Doug and Brian!

    I'm currently playing with your suggestion, Brian, in Trafficwave - it works fine if I drop the requirement to be able to change the tokens later. I've also been playing with GetResponse and Imnica. I couldn't get truly hidden fields with getresponse (can hide on the sign-up form but the user can still see and edit the field later) so though I like it a lot I've pretty much ruled it out.

    Aweber is frighteningly pricey starting out - Getresponse drew me in with the free no-credit-card details trial period.

    So at this point in time Trafficwave is ahead in the race - the long term pricing strategy is seducing me too. Shame it doesn't seem to give you a spamassissin score - or have I missed something? Not so easy to get a feel for see what's making my latest test messages go to hotmail junk.
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  • Profile picture of the author trafficwave
    We'll be adding a Spam Assassin Scoring feature very soon.
    Signature

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    Brian Rooney, CEO
    TrafficWave.net Email Marketing AutoResponders
    Email Marketing Blog

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    • Profile picture of the author nicknax
      That's good to know.

      I'm on a learning curve here and just came across something else you will know the answer to wrt Trafficwave ...

      I read in another thread about HTML vv plain text messages. I use thunderbird and am not myself keen on the warnings that show for html messages - I rarely choose to show remote content.

      I'm getting the same with my trafficwave test messages and can't see how to send a pure plain text message. I'd like to be able to offer subscribers the choice of plain v HTML but it seems that you get an HTML version even if you only fill in the plain text bit for a new letter.

      Is there a way around that? Am I missing something?
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  • Profile picture of the author trafficwave
    If you don't want to send HTML content, just leave the HTML window empty. Whatever you send in the Text version will be what is sent.

    Some email readers will automatically convert the content from text to their own rendition of HTML, especially if you use links in your message body.
    Signature

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    Brian Rooney, CEO
    TrafficWave.net Email Marketing AutoResponders
    Email Marketing Blog

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    • Profile picture of the author nicknax
      Re Trafficwave HTML...

      What I'm getting if I just use the plain text area and enter only a line of plain text is, in Thunderbird, is the message "To protect your privacy, Thunderbird has blocked remote content in this message."

      Also the content type in the header says: multipart/alternative; boundary="----------=_1290596452-13955-98"

      Looking at the source I can see the html - style stuff at the top and the html for the trafficwave footer.

      The remote content is the image tag for the trafficwave logo.

      I think that's the only remote content.

      What would be good would be able to turn the HTML off for users who elect to receive non HTML messages. If I can't do that I can't offer the option.

      A half-way house would be to leave out the trafficwave logo so there's no "remote content blocked" warning.

      I'm not having this issue with Imnica (but can't get links with parameters working as I want with them at the moment, which would be a show stopper if there's no solution).
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  • Profile picture of the author trafficwave
    This is a new one for me. I'm going to have to check with my brainiac IT dept and see what they have to say.

    I would also recommend opening a support ticket so you can give our tech team your username and any other details. That will provide a much more streamlined avenue for us to look in to this for you and see if we can provide a solution.
    Signature

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    Brian Rooney, CEO
    TrafficWave.net Email Marketing AutoResponders
    Email Marketing Blog

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    • Profile picture of the author nicknax
      Yeah, raising a support ticket is the right way to approach this and I'll do that right now.

      Thanks for your input on this, Brian.
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