Difference in click tracking from IS

API Q&A
#1

Here’s an interesting one, and I’ve heard other’s mention it as well but am seeing it as my own facts:

We use our own link tracking. Every link in an email goes through our database to register first. and yet…IS is reporting a significantly higher number than we have in the DB. The only link in the emails we sent in broadcast that isn’t run through us first is the ‘unsubscribe’ link and the difference isn’t anywhere near that number. Anyone else see this before or have an explanation as to why IS is registering links that HAVE to first go through us to register in order to even get to IS’ servers?

Thanks! Hope someone has a thought as I’m scratching my head here lol

#2

I cannot verify any of this. But it is a bit ironic that @Kathy_Lewis posted this the other day: Recreation of an Infusionsoft "Referral Partner Activity Summary".

Kathy is doing the same thing as you in logging the information in the database, but there is differences between what is being reported.

The problem is that we do not have full Infusionsoft database access, so we do not know how the information is being stored and generated.

There is something that springs to mind though. If you are storing the data in your own database, then how does it deal when Infusionsoft Contacts and other records are either modified, merged or deleted? Then you will start seeing some differences between your data and Infusionsoft.

#3

Wow… interesting. Indeed a head-scratcher. In our case, our tables are synced with the data from Infusionsoft via a nightly script. Decided to switch to our tables as our performance was a little bit better than doing direct api calls in order to recreate our “activity summary report”. However, when I used my initial script which uses direct Infusionsoft API calls (instead of our tables)- we noted the anomalous results when compared with the actual Activity Summary Report displayed in the Infusionsoft dashboard… After much time debugging/checking my code I then had that sneaking suspicion that there are most likely in-house method-calls that are available to those folks at Infusionsoft, but not available via the API :cry:

#4

@Pav, We store custom fields with each link click. ie when an email is sent, custom merge fields pass additional data to the link to store with the link click. The IS link is part of the setup of that tracking link and it is forwarded to as soon as the link registers on our end. Not a single test that has been done has failed to forward successfully so I doubt it’s not “getting there”. I might have to export the IS report and run a NOT IN (SELECT … on the two tables to find out what’s happening but it shouldn’t be having so many more link registrations especially taking into account that the DB Clicked value also includes a few tests and possibly cases where someone clicked the link in the email and only then after unsubscribed.

We did this both to independently create counts separate from IS as I’ve heard too many times about their numbers not being right with link clicks but also so that we could have a product agnostic way to track individual link data like email, item purchased, record id etc.

So the DB numbers, unlike what @Kathy_Lewis has indicated, are independent of IS’ reporting.

#5

@Kathy_Lewis, @John_Borelli, unfortunately we do not know how the data is being dealt with or how its being reported. From what I see you are getting the data via two different ways, but are having the same issues when comparing your data back to Infusionsoft.

The only way to see what’s wrong is to run tests alongside Infusionsoft and their Development Team. Its either going to be Infusionsoft, or your code, or combination of both being wrong. Or maybe something else that has not been factored into the data.

Although I have not provided any practical solutions, just my thoughts on what is maybe happening here.

#6

@Pav, yeah, Scott Desgrosseilliers (Wicked Reports) responded on FB and says that IS counts EVERYTHING (social media, unsubscribe, individual links) as a link click. SMH, that is no way to accurately track information :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

#7

Thanks for the insight on this. Out of curiosity, how would one contact the Dev people about conducting such a test?

#8

You would really have to rely on your own testing. Obviously, IS information won’t really be helpful if it differs so you’ll need something that tracks information external to IS. You can use google tracking but we (our company) have chosen to use an in house tracking system that records specific additional data like email/IS Id etc., which is why we found out about this in the first place. We separately track unsubscribes as well as each and every link individually and even go as far as link tracking campaign steps, emails etc so we have accurate metrics. So I mention that to say that you’ll need to define first what and how much you want to track and then decide what method will be most effective for that.