I was trying to use custom fields to set specific links for subscribers.
So, within a sequence I would set a subscribers custom field to a specific url. Then, in a campaign email, use that custom field to set a link destination.
However, I have been told by support that that merge fields aren’t designed to work this way.
Does anyone have a solution to this issue? Wanting to set a custom field (or some other data point) for a subscriber within a sequence and then later use that data point to set a url
if you insert the Custom field directly into the email, without linking it, 95% of all email systems will automatically turn it into a link for you.
I’m assuming that you are trying to somehow ‘mask’ the actual URL to make it look nicer?
If that’s the case, lmk and I’ll see what I can find out.
Thanks,
Jeff
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@Jeff_Gaudette, what works nicely is to use a custom text field for the URL in the contact record and then add that custom field merge field into a CAMPAIGN link. That way you can use a button or text and configure that button or text to link using the campaign link.
@Jeff_Arnold Not trying to make it a pretty url, just assigning a unique url to each subscriber. We have a sales page that is specific to each type of injury a person might have. So, we use the custom field to send the url to the users based on their injury.
The url doesn’t work and IS confirmed that custom fields were not meant for URLs and suggested I post here.
@Cheryl_Hunt I think that is what I am doing. We set custom field for a user and assign it a link: 2019-01-18_1410 and here we are setting that field: 2019-01-18_1411 and then we use that in a button and link: 2019-01-18_1411
But, this doesn’t work. IS says the custom field can’t be a url 
Your process used to work the way you described it. One additional step is now needed after you set the value in the custom field. Instead of using the custom field merge code behind the button…you need to put that custom field merge code in a Campaign Field and put the campaign Field merge code (with the custom merge field inside it) behind the button.
You don’t happen to have PlusThis, do you?
They have a feature called ‘smart links’ that allows you to insert one URL into the email, and then, when clicked, it will redirect them to the right link based on something in their record (tags, etc.). That would allow you to set up one static link inside the email, then, based on the tag that indicates their selected injury, send them to the right page.
They just rolled out a limited plan for $39/mo that gives you just 2 of their tools, so that may be a good option for you.
Jeff
Jeff Arnold
4Spot Marketing • 4SpotMarketing.com
11700 W Charleston #170-160 • Las Vegas • NV • 89135
O: 702-721-9763 • C: 702-525-9763
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Thanks, Cheryl. This doesn’t work, however. IS says url must not be a merge field: 2019-01-19_1334
Ah, you’re trying to put the custom merge code in a Campaign Link…it needs to go in a Campaign Field. Then you add that Campaign Field merge code behind the text or button in the URL spot.
You don’t happen to have PlusThis, do you?
They have a feature called ‘smart links’ that allows you to insert one URL into the email, and then, when clicked, it will redirect them to the right link based on something in their record (tags, etc.). That would allow you to set up one static link inside the email, then, based on the tag that indicates their selected injury, send them to the right page.
They just rolled out a limited plan for $39/mo that gives you just 2 of their tools, so that may be a good option for you.
Jeff
I already pay upwards of $600 a month for Infusionsoft. If they don’t have this functionality I’d rather move to another provider than signup for yet another monthly service.
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Sadly, that doesn’t work either
Just leads to a blank Infisionsoft page: Powered by Keap
I am assuming I did it correctly.
- Set the custom field value to a link: 2019-01-21_0656
- Set campaign merge field to the custom field code 2019-01-21_0655
- Tested with a new user. Verified he has the correct custom field link
@Jeff, looks good so far. Then are you putting the Campaign Field merge code behind a button (or text) as a Link URL?
I’m sure you tested the email by adding a contact to the campaign sequence, correct?
That’s correct. I took the campaign merge field code and inserted it as a button. Then I assigned a contact to that campaign, made sure they had the custom field assigned, and then sent the email
Hi Jeff, I am trying to do a similar thing as Jeff_Gaudette. I have a webhook link that I’d like to add to a custom field in IS, then include that link in an email button (to mask the webhook URL). Any ideas on how to do this?
I know this is a long time later, but I think I know where @Jeff_Gaudette ran into the issue. As it turns out, you can put a merge code into a URL, but it won’t work if you click Test, it will only work if you publish the campaign and then send out the email normally.
I followed all of @Cheryl_Hunt’s advice and was about to give up when I saw a mention of this on some other website where it seemed they were also embedding merge codes into URLs.
For what it’s worth, you can actually skip the part where you convert the contact field into a campaign field.
So for example, I created a custom field called “QuoteId” and set it to be a whole number. In the email, I checked the merge field for that and used it in a link, so put a URL something like this:
https://example.com/quote/~Contact._QuoteId~
When I sent this using the Test function on the email designer, failure. When I published the campaign anyway and sent it normally (I had it trigger on adding a Tag), worked great.
I’m sure Jeff’s long since past this, but for anyone else that stumbles on this thread, there you go.
I can confirm that it works as a regular send.
The merge fields doesn’t work when we send as TEST.