Marketo tracking links breaking when velocity script tokens used

[Barry_Moffat2]

Running into an issue where email links (that use script tokens) are breaking when the Marketo tracking link is added on test or live sends.

Basically our script token adds a specific web subdomain (e.g. "Sandiego") to URLs depending on the local office of our client. For example, the HTML for the link would look something like this:

<a href="https://{{my.branch-link-subdomain}}.examplewebpage.com"> text I want to hyperlink</a>

On the preview, everything populates correctly using live leads and the link works. However when the email is sent and Marketo redirect tracking link is added, the links no longer work. When clicked, users get either of the following messages:

OR

If I remove tracking on the link, it works fine.

Has anyone come across this? Is there a known issue with the use of script tokens in links?

Appreciate the advice.

[SanfordWhiteman · Accepted solution]

When you use Velocity tokens, output the entire <a> tag including the closing </a> from Velocity.

This is a known requirement to emit tracked links from VTL.

[Barry_Moffat2]

Thanks, Sanford. Appreciate the help.