Removing mkt_tok from an email link tracking

[Anonymous]

We add UTM parameters to all of our emails links and when we track these UTMs in Google Analytics, we notice that the UTMed links sometimes are being shown with a long mkt_tok string at the end, for example,

/URL/?mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiWTJVd05qTXpPVE01WVRkbSIsInQiOiJGYUs3MCtDMitqXC9acUNWbExud2tWMFE1Qnk1eGVOeUpDM1c2SXZ0V2JPSHREeTlGNVBtWEZsM3Vzc2xwaHBNVll3RjE3WTZva3F6S2V0bUFPQkV0cmhBaVpEXC9BcEMzR3hmQjJ0ejA1a0dLSEpHM01IWk9SbG82VFwvTUUzb1wvMHgifQ==

Would unchecking "Include mkt_tok" in the link editor solve this issue? And if this option is unchecked what are the risks?

This document here  says

"Unchecking just Include mkt_tok will still allow the link to be tracked, but after redirect, the destination URL will not include the mkt_tok query string parameter. This parameter is used by Marketo Landing Pages and Munchkin to ensure proper tracking of person activities (like when a person unsubscribes from an email). You should avoid using this feature unless you're seeing weird behavior on your website due to the parameter being present."

I wonder whether this is applicable only to unsubscribe links?

[SanfordWhiteman]

It's not applicable to unsubscribe links, but to all links, and you definitely do not want to turn off mkt_tok unless you have a website problem that is so compelling that it's worth losing tracking. (Your web sessions will be anonymous, even if they start with an email click, without mkt_tok.)

It sounds like what you want is to exclude the mkt_tok parameter in GA so it will not longer be used to differentiate URLs. That's a GA thing.

[Anonymous]

Hi Sanford, thank you for your response. Could you clarify what you mean by excluding mkt_tom in GA? We need to track those links in GA, but ideally we would like to see them there without the long mkt_tok string.

[SanfordWhiteman · Accepted solution]

Could you clarify what you mean by excluding mkt_tom in GA? We need to track those links in GA, but ideally we would like to see them there without the long mkt_tok string.

In your GA console, you apply pre-filtering so the URL for reporting purposes doesn't include the mkt_tok.

In brief, this is done in the Filters area...

...via an Advanced RegEx Search & Replace...

The other way to go about this is to prevent the mkt_tok from being logged to GA at all, but that's another ball of wax and isn't as easy as people think because of Munchkin's particular needs.

[Anonymous]

Thanks, Sanford,  I will try that.

[Robert_Solis1]

Marketo utilizes the mkt_tok URL parameter to identify a Lead when they arrive as a tracked web page through a Marketo Email.  This ensures no matter which computer or browser a Lead uses to click an Email link and view it in a browser the system will be able to identify the Lead and append the View Web Page activity to the Lead.  If you use the option to not include the mkt_tok the system will still be able to track the link being clicked and it will also still track the page being visited but two scenarios can occur with the visit:

A) If the Lead was already identified on the browser viewing the page then the Visit Web Page activity will be displayed in the Lead's Activity Log.

B) If the Lead has not been identified on the browser an Anonymous Lead record will be generated and the Visit Web Page will be associated with this Anonymous Lead.  If down the road the Lead becomes known on this browser the Anonymous Lead will be merged into the Known Lead.

[SanfordWhiteman]

That's not Olga's question, Robert. The Marketo part is already settled: it's about how to discard the mkt_tok in GA so it doesn't erroneously differentiate URLs.