Hana_AlBarazi

Hi Sanford - cool experiment. The URI in Marketo is: data:image/jpeg;base64,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 And it does not render in Chrome or Safari: How did you get the URI you sent? ... View more

Thanks for the tip - I fixed it, but still no luck . Here's the new URI: <img src="data:image/jpeg;base64,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" /> ... View more

Hold on, I'm checking to see if it might be the image size that was too big... Update: Didn't make a difference. Anyway, I'll keep noodling on it over the weekend. ... View more

Actually, I uploaded my own headshot... . ... View more

Hi Sanford - thanks for the quick response. I'm trying to set up a form on a Marketo landing page where people can upload a headshot that we will place on our website. I'm just having trouble accessing the actual image after successfully uploading it using the script you provided. The field is being loaded correctly (I think) with the URI (pasted below), but when I paste it into my Chrome and Safari browsers, I get an error message, "The webpage at, [URI LINK] might be temporarily down or it may have moved permanently to a new web address. ERR_INVALID_URL". <img src="data:image/jpeg;base64,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" />  I also tried to embed the photo below, but this is the icon I get, in the place of where the photo should be. Also, here's my fiddle. So perhaps it's my limited knowledge of what I'm actually doing that is preventing me from understanding what the problem is, but I thought I followed your instructions pretty closely. Thanks for the guidance, it is much appreciated. ... View more

Hi Sanford Whiteman, this is really cool! Thanks for sharing. I am running into some major confusion as to how I can render the URI into an image, though. When I copy and paste into another tab in my Chrome browser, it doesn't load appropriately. Perhaps I'm too new to these things to understand the alternate ways I can access the data that you described, and I'm wondering if you can you point me to a resource that gives a basic explanation of how to access it in those ways, step by step? Thanks for your help! ... View more

Sanford, That's actually fantastic feedback, and it makes a lot of sense. I wonder if simply removing the "hidden" css would make it any different. I definitely hear your point about tracking web activity, and whether a desired action was taken to gauge campaign success over clicks, and I agree that's the best way to go. It's just tough to let go of clicks as a reliable metric! Thanks for being so thorough with your explanations. ... View more

Right, that makes sense. I've thought about it more, and I do think that setting up a dummy link in emails the way I described is helpful, but mostly in determining the variance of how many clicks could be due to bots - not necessarily in providing exact numbers. For example, we sent an email recently that included the dummy link. I created a smart list that included all people that only clicked on the dummy link, and the number was about ~900. Then I created a smart list that included clicks on any other link besides the dummy link, and the number dropped to ~200. This means that even if a percentage of those 900 people who have bots scanning their emails do actually convert to real clicks when that person opens the email and clicks, it's still a helpful data point for us to see what the spread is. It may not be an exact science, but it has helped our team re-consider our baseline and targets for email engagement. Thanks again for the thoughtful responses and feedback. ... View more

Hi Sanford, thanks for the feedback. I'm a little new to the scene with these types of things, so forgive me if that's showing through! So, it sounds like the real issue is the timing of the clicks, then? We need a better way to determine clicks that happen within the first seconds of the email being delivered (could be bots) versus anytime after that (could be humans). ... View more

Hi Michael, TLDR: Put dummy-links in your emails to capture bots . We have realized that around 90% of clicks in our emails are bots! We came to this conclusion after having the same problem you described. For a work-around, we implemented a hidden section in all of our emails that includes a transparent pixel image, which dummy-links to our homepage and has a utm code of "bot" added to the URL. We have inserted the code pasted below above our email banner, so it's the first link in all emails, but only a computer can see it because it's technically hidden from view.  <div class="mktEditable" id="HiddenLink" > <center> <span style="display: none; visibility: hidden; overflow: hidden;"><a href="http://www.homepage.com/?&utm_click=bot"><img src="Marketo_image_link_TransparentPixel-01.png"></a> </span> </center> </div> Then, we have two different reports/smart lists: clicks with bots, and clicks without bots. Because we have the "http://www.homepage.com/?&utm_click=bot" link, we can tell any smart list or report to count all of the clicks on that link, which we are assuming is a bot. We also have a smart list filters that will remove that "person" from the report if they've also clicked on any other link in the email, so we aren't accidentally discounting real people clicking. The reporting is a manual process, which I think Marketo could definitely implement some out-of-the-box solutions (including making the dashboard view customizable to modify filters to exclude or include bot-clicks: ) - but if you make the bot link default in email templates, that helps. I'm not a Marketo guru, so I'm not sure if you can include the dummy link in landing page click reporting. For example, counting if a person clicked on the dummy link, and also clicked on a link in a landing page, then they are a bot, etc. But obviously the timing of those clicks matters a lot - and I don't think Marketo can filter reports on that level of granularity yet. It sounds like this question is the bread and butter of this thread, but I wanted to throw in our work-around related to this issue in case it helps other people. Let me know if you have any additional questions! -Hana ... View more

Another huge win in having this feature for our team, is to filter out potential bot clicks from the clicks graph on the dashboard page. Our program managers often take screen shots of the dashboard view to share as a high-level overview of the metrics for each email. The default click metric is ridiculously inflated, as we've determined as much as ~90% of all clicks counted there are from potential bots, so being able to define the parameters of any metric displayed on the dashboard would be really helpful. ... View more