Blank/Empty "MailTo" Link Possible In A CTA Button?

[michellechopin]

Hello Community friends!

It's been a while since I asked a question and while it's not Friday, it's close enough 😋 Looking for some advice/knowledge from my esteemed peers.

One of the current emails I'm working on requires a blank "mailto:" link in a CTA button that's edited from the module information on the right side/pane. When I add mailto:?subject=your%20subject&body=your%20body into the settings (I'm also playing with some additional content for subject and body content) and test the link (either in preview or in a sample email), it opens up a new, blank window; no email editor pops up (I'm using Google Workspace if that helps troubleshoot).

It looks like, from other posts I've read, that it might not be possible in a CTA module vs a text area (I'm sure I've used them in more than just text links but perhaps I'm misremembering) , so I was wondering:

• Is that the correct assumption?
• If so, can I use a token to make this work?
• If so, would a velocity token work best here?
• If so, can someone guide me on how to write that? 😋 (It's a skill I've yet to master beyond really basic use of them)

Appreciate any and all guidance before I go back to my stakeholders to tell them that we need another option for this email 😆

Michelle

[NiharikaGoyal · Accepted solution]

Hi @michellechopin I tested the mailto: link you shared by adding it to my test email. After sending a test and clicking the link, I was able to see the following window:

After setting my default email, I clicked the link again and the following window appeared.

May be that would be the case no default e-mail client is configured, then it opens a blank tab or nothing at all.

Hope that would helpful.

Thanks!!

[SanfordWhiteman · Accepted solution]

First order of business with a mailto: link is to disable tracking.

No reason I know of why an untracked mailto: in a Marketo email would behave any differently than that same link on a random webpage.

[SanfordWhiteman · Accepted solution]

First order of business with a mailto: link is to disable tracking.

No reason I know of why an untracked mailto: in a Marketo email would behave any differently than that same link on a random webpage.

[michellechopin]

@NiharikaGoyal and @SanfordWhiteman - appreciate both of you checking things out.

I don't know if it's because I'm using a Google Workspace email but when I click the CTA with either "mailto:" or the version with the subject line in it, I see this (the entire window is blank beneath it; no option to choose a mail client outside of the inbox, and it doesn't automatically open a Gmail message when clicking from my inbox):

This is where I'm editing the information for the module:

To @SanfordWhiteman 's point about disabling tracking, when I do so, the CTA copy disappears in the editor, but appears to still function/show in the preview; I still get a blank window after clicking on the button though.

I am sure I've used mailto: links in CTA/buttons before and never had this issue so not sure if I'm missing something or doing something entirely wrong here. Hopefully that helps give more information to solve this - it's for our huge event going live next week and would love to solve this ASAP if possible 🙏

Update: I just tested the mailto: with my own email added in and I still get a blank page with no email popping up (same if I disable the tracking). I also just tested this in a text link and I get the same issue. Would this potentially be a template issue then?

[michellechopin · Accepted solution]

I asked my team and it's because we use the web browser for Gmail/Google Workspace.

I tested the link on the Gmail app on my phone and it works. Will still disable tracking @SanfordWhiteman for each of them.

Thank you for the validation that this should work and that a CTA/button shouldn't break that functionality.

I will mark ALL our answers correct if I can 🙌

[SanfordWhiteman]

Well, a lot of your recipients will be in the same boat!

That’s why mailto: is inherently an unreliable mechanism. It requires that the end user have a working mailto: protocol handler application. The Gmail web app can be set as the protocol handler, but it’ll never happen automatically for security reasons. So you have to assume mailto: links won’t work for a wide swath of users. And that’s even if they’re untracked (tracking breaks them in even more cases).

Which brings us to the bigger question: what’s the functionality you’re looking for here and why are you using a mailto: link for it? Do you want to let people send an email with a pre-fab subject line to their friends — and you’re worried about people abusing a (hidden) LP + form that could do the same?

[michellechopin]

I completely agree with you, @SanfordWhiteman!

The request for the CTA to open up an email vs sending people to a LP is because the target audience is eligible for event ticket discounts but they are dependent on the account (there's not a single discount applicable to them all). So the events team wants to give recipients the option to send an email to their rep (they will have to add the email address themselves given that there's multiple) and find out personally. I don't love it but because the process is complicated, a landing page would likely run into the same issues (mailto: link would be general or a form submission would have to be manually directed to the right contact).

I'll be updating the team with this information and perhaps it will change the perspective behind it (last year people were directed to a landing page, so perhaps they made it more complicated this year without realizing the consequences 😝). 

[SanfordWhiteman]

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 a form submission would have to be manually directed to the right contact).

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No it wouldn’t, you Send Alert to the Email Address they enter.

[michellechopin]

@SanfordWhiteman I didn't see your reply sooner, so a very late reply here 😜 The form submission alert would need to be manually routed to the right internal contact - not the person filling out the form.

BUT, after the first email where we got feedback from someone that:

a) the link didn't open up properly for them (think they had the same issue I did)

b) thought they had to email someone to register

c) didn't know their internal contact's information to send an email (they have to connect with their CSM for discount codes)

So, with that in mind, we got the team to move away from using a mailto: link and we're directing people to the registration page as normal (there's a note in the email itself to connect with their CSM; we're just not handholding them to get there). Thought I'd share the update because of the great feedback here and valid distrust of the mailto: option 😊

[SanfordWhiteman]

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So, with that in mind, we got the team to move away from using a mailto: link and we're directing people to the registration page as normal (there's a note in the email itself to connect with their CSM; we're just not handholding them to get there).

That page simply needs to set a custom field value to their CSM’s email address. Then you alert that field.

[michellechopin]

I was hoping to use that field for the original link in the email (before realizing that mailto: was inherently messy on its own!) but there are apparently challenges with doing so due to either number of fields or the way they're used, so it couldn't be relied upon to direct people accordingly (or at all). 

Definitely keeping this thread on hand for future questions or issues though - I learned a lot!

[SanfordWhiteman]

Sorry but I just don’t get what you’re referring to here?

Triggered alerts can go to {{lead.tokens}}. If there’s an email address in a field, that’s where the alert goes. It’s totally reliable in my experience.

[michellechopin]

The SFDC fields used to identify CSMs aren't reliable for us to use in Marketo - it's something to do with the way the fields are setup in SFDC and how that data would get pulled in via a token (you're correct; nothing wrong with the token functionality!). I don't have good insight into it as that's outside of the scope of my role these days (and I'm still very new to this team!) 😝

[SanfordWhiteman]

But to return to the mailto: model, you were asking people to type their CSM’s email (with the mailto: link), right?

So why would you need to use an existing field? Have them choose the CSM’s First/Last or Email from a list, or have them type it directly in a field. It’s the same effort you were expecting with the mailto:.

[michellechopin]

But to return to the mailto: model, you were asking people to type their CSM’s email (with the mailto: link), right?

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Yes, you're correct (this was the final option after my initial idea of using a token to pull in the Account Owner Email Address wasn't going to work).

For the form, yes, people could have manually typed in the person's email address (and then the alert would run from there) or select from a list (if the SFDC field to pull it in was reliable); however, from the person who gave us feedback, they didn't even know who their CSM was (not surprising as we're emailing multiple people within an organization) so setup aside, if people don't have that information to hand in the first place, we'd run into those additional challenges in any scenario.

I like your ideas and will make this suggestion for next year's events (scoping was already in progress before I started) so that we can guide people to their appropriate internal contact and avoid the heck out of using mailto: (I've used it outside of work too and realizing how many people are likely accessing their Gmail on a browser makes me dread to think how many emails organizations have potentially missed out on simply because it didn't work!).

[SanfordWhiteman]

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The form submission alert would need to be manually routed to the right internal contact - not the person filling out the form.😊

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I’m aware of that and am referring to the internal contact, stored in a Marketo lead field.

[NiharikaGoyal · Accepted solution]

Hi @michellechopin I tested the mailto: link you shared by adding it to my test email. After sending a test and clicking the link, I was able to see the following window:

After setting my default email, I clicked the link again and the following window appeared.

May be that would be the case no default e-mail client is configured, then it opens a blank tab or nothing at all.

Hope that would helpful.

Thanks!!