Question regarding email link clicks

[ckim]

⚠️ This post has been edited by a moderator for accuracy. An incorrect AI hallucination has been marked.

Hi,

We have an audience list that is being synced to Meta and LinkedIn via the ad integration.

I can see that people are being tracked cause of the UTM parameters we're using and I do see the parameters in the anonymous report.

If one of the anonymous people clicks a link in a Marketo email, would their existing web activity history be merged and we can filter for it using the visited web page + querystring constraint?

I asked perplexity and this is the reply that I received:

So when an anonymous person clicks a link in an email, does that also merge and record their anonymous web activity or is that only captured if they fill out a form?

Answer

When an anonymous person clicks a link in a Marketo email, it triggers the merging of their anonymous activity into a known person record, but it does not necessarily capture their full anonymous web activity history.Here's what happens when an anonymous person clicks a link in a Marketo email:

1. The email link click is recorded as an activity and merged into the newly created person record.
2. Any anonymous activities that occurred within 5 minutes prior to the email link click will also be merged into the person record.
3. However, anonymous activities that occurred more than 5 minutes before the email link click will not be merged automatically. To merge these older anonymous activities, you would need to use Marketo's API to associate them with the known person record.
4. Filling out a Marketo form is another way to merge anonymous activities, as it also creates a known person record. In this case, all anonymous activities associated with the user's cookie will be merged.

So in summary, clicking a Marketo email link will merge the click activity and recent anonymous activities, but not necessarily the full anonymous browsing history. To capture the complete anonymous activity, the person needs to fill out a Marketo form or be associated via the API. The 5 minute window for merging pre-click anonymous activities is a limitation of the email link click merge process.

[ckim]

I also see this on the product documentation center:

https://experienceleague.adobe.com/en/docs/marketo/using/product-docs/core-marketo-concepts/smart-li...

An anonymous activity is merged into a new or existing person when someone:

• Clicks a link in a Marketo email.
• Fills out a Marketo Form.
• Uses Marketo’s SOAP or Munchkin API (for developers) to associate an anonymous person with a known record.

[SanfordWhiteman]

I asked perplexity

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I cannot stress strongly enough that you cannot trust AI-generated answers about Marketo Engage.

In this case you’re getting a completely incorrect hallucination. The “5-minute window” does not exist.

(Frankly, even pasting that incorrect answer here adds to a climate of misinformation.)