Link not able to be forwarded

[Ric_Kolibar]

I want to send people a email with a URL link after they fill out a form in marketo, but i would like it that if they forward it the URL link would not work.

Can this be do in some way?

Maybe tokens?

[Grégoire_Miche2]

Hi Ric,

No, this is not possible. This is a feature that many CMS offer, and I agree, it would be welcome. I entered a similar idea in the past, a long time ago, and cannot find it, so if you enter it, I'll vote.

-Greg

[SanfordWhiteman]

How could that possibly be enforced?  A link that has never been clicked by a lead before they forward it has no knowledge of the "real" lead's environment.  

That is, if I forward from my work account to my personal account, the click from the personal account doesn't contain any identifying information that would lead the tracking server to say, "Oh, that's another guy."

While you could technically lock down a link so it could only be clicked by the first mail client who clicked it, that would mean that if I click something from my phone, I wouldn't be allowed to click it later from my PC (accessing the same mailbox). Bad!

[Grégoire_Miche2]

Hi Sanford,

From what I have seen on other systems: the system generates a personalized URL which part of the url is a randomly generated string. Each visitor filling out the form will have a different URL. For instance :

info.mydomain.com/pi5bqg72hugouyfcsjk96derkhjgz/mydocument.pdf

Furthermore, the link is only valid for a certain duration (The admin can set the duration) or a max number of clicks (the admin can set the number). When the duration expires or the number of clicks is reached, you are redirected to the landing page with the form.

2 advantages :

• The link cannot be "reverse engineered" to identify other document and short-circuit forms
• As the link expires, you can only forward it number of times

The whole thing is supposed to enable to get more leads.

IMHO, it's so easy to download the doc and transfer it, instead of transferring the URL, that the advantage is in fact limited.

-Greg

[SanfordWhiteman]

Furthermore, the link is only valid for a certain duration (The admin can set the duration) or a max number of clicks (the admin can set the number). When the duration expires or the number of clicks is reached, you are redirected to the landing page with the form.

But neither of these measures actually has anything to do with preventing forwarding, except by coincidence and/or optimism.

If I get an email and forward it to someone else before the link expires, nothing stops them from clicking it.   If I wait too long before forwarding it, yes, then it will have expired.  For me as well as them.

True, the intent of expiring links is to prevent sharing (not only via email but socially) but I like to be precise about what it's actually doing.  (As you know, I am always precise!)

[Grégoire_Miche2]

I fully agree with you unless you set the max number of clicks to 1, but in which case, many visitors are going to be upset....

-Greg