#34 - Navigating Bot Clicks

Yeah, bots.

Something changed with the inbox providers ever since end May (possibly due to the ever increasing phishing emails out there).

Inbox providers now use bots to click links to ensure they’re not malicious before a real user clicks on them, leading to some profiles appearing more engaged than they are, along with incorrect conclusions being drawn from campaigns.

Here’s what we’re doing to navigate this.

How Do I Know If This Is a Problem (for me)?

Quick check you can run 👇

1) Create a Segment
This segment will be for users who clicked email in the last ‘X’ days, with X being the no. of days of what you use for engagement (eg: if you use 90 use 90) and with filter ‘Bot Clicks’ equals ‘True’.

2) Run the #s
With the above segment, check to see how many % of your list has bot clicks.

3) If # > 50%
Then unfortunately, this is a problem, and you’ll have to move onto 4.
If under, you may also choose to run this for your benefit as well.

4) Set up dedicated click tracking domain with SSL
Essentially, what this does is display your domain on links customers can click on (vs the long Klaviyo chunk) when hovering over it.

As an average customer, they also might be more likely to click on a link going to a known site, vs an unknown one.

Also, this creates alignment across your brand as inbox providers consider the reputation of all domains used in your messaging, and you’ll now have the same root domain in your tracking/emails.

Attaching a short guide here you can replicate so I don’t bloat the email with technicals.

Segmentation Recommendations

You wanna run bot click = false in your engaged segments over bot clicks = true, as you run the chance of including real, engaged profiles.

And to clarify, bot clicks do not necessarily = bots (confusing I know). But in essence, these people could still be engaged customers, except now bots are clicking for them so we don’t recommend excluding these users.

Impact on Deliverability

Short answer is not directly, except your reports on click rates and engagement will have to change.

Impact on Bot Clicks

Due to the bot clicks, attribution is going to be even more complex.

If the customer bought an item and is within the attribution window of the bot click, it’ll be attributed to Klaviyo as a sale, bloating revenue numbers (if you’re on the bigger end this shouldn’t be ‘a problem’ as you likely have multiple sources of truth/attribution. If you’re on the smaller end just something you have to keep an eye out for)

It will also affect what you think are good campaigns, as engagement might be high but could be the result of bot clicks.

And that’s a wrap!

It really doesn’t get easier in the space 😂

But if you’re seeing an increase in clicks, hope this brings a little clarity and sanity (you’re not going insane, we see it too haha).

If you’ve any qns regarding the clicks, or want a sounding board, feel free to respond to this email, and our team will do our best to get back to you.

Have a great weekend :)