SMS tagging campaign: How to create customized short links?

[Anonymous]

How can I set up a tagging campaign using SMS with a custom short link so that people clicking the link are taken to a Marketo page, uniquely identified, and cookied with their activity tag.

Similar to an email tagging campaign, but for SMS.

The main issue I think I need help overcoming is how to create custom short links that include the user's unique identifier to include in all the SMS messages.

[Grace_Brebner3]

Marketo can't natively do this, but there's plenty of third party applications that can.

Someone with more API skills might be able to advise a way to build this yourself, but in the past for this need I've been able to do this at some scale with Zapier and various different solutions that plug into it - plus I think Zapier itself has a URL shortener.

[SanfordWhiteman]

Needs more than just a URL shortener, though, because the link also needs to contain information about the lead.

[Grace_Brebner3]

True, I wasn't super clear on that. Meant that when I go Marketo > Zapier, I parse lead information into a UTM string format, then pass it onto the URL shortener, and then on to wherever else it needs to go

[SanfordWhiteman]

Right, that pipeline will work (I'm assuming you're making sure that all URL components are encoded separately) but that leaves out the Munchkin association part. Just lead fields won't do it.

[SanfordWhiteman]

This is 2 questions in 1, Mark.

(1) How do you embed identifying information in a link, other than a Marketo email link, so that visiting the page automatically associates the Munchkin session?

(2) How do you shorten a link before sending it via SMS?

One answer to (2) is that you can use a webhook to invoke the Bit.ly (or similar service) API and get back the shortened link, saved to a Lead field.  Then send the SMS when that Lead field has been updated, including the {{lead.token}}. The more elegant answer to (2) IMO is to use a webhook to call a service that both shortens the link and then connects onward to your SMS gateway in the same request, so you don't have other flow steps + triggers to manage.

The answer to (1) is to use a technique like this one: Generating Munchkin Associator Tokens in SFDC/Apex or FlowBoost/JS​.

Ideally, you can use a single webhook to create and append the Munchkin associator token, shorten the link, and send the SMS. I like the simplicity of such approaches. Or you can use a chain of different webhooks.

[Jay_Jiang]

Could you use personalised urls in the SMS for the identifying link?

[SanfordWhiteman]

Sure, as you long as you fix pURLs so they actually work. Fixing Marketo pURLs

[Julia_Rosentha3]

If it helps, I'm using third party for SMS sends via webhook at the moment. Tried Twilio but ended up going with ClickSend for the reporting capability and a few other additional features. Haven't set it up to include end to end process described here, but would love too! It would simplify the opt out process considerably!

[BlaneMcMichen]

If I include the {{lead.token}} as a URL parameter of a link to a page not hosted by Marketo, but I have the Munchkin code included on the page, will lead/person actions be captured by Munchkin?

Nevermind.  I missed a previous reply.  pURL will be the only way to manage with a Webhook.  Maybe I can use a Marketo hosted LP that has a JavaScript action to forward them to the external page after the lead is identified.  (Hmmm. ??)