I understand that the only Smart Hubspot Content I can use on external websites are Smart CTAs. When I place the Smart CTA on a page and the content is triggered through an email I have no issuse. It works as expected.
The issue I am running in to is if I try to use a Hubspot LP to trigger the Smart CTA. I have tried using “Referrals” from said Hubspot LP to trigger the Smart CTA and also “Other Campaigns” to do so. Both to no avail.
Hubspot tracking is installed and firing correctly.
The Smart CTA and LP are associated in the same campaign.
Any suggestions for troubleshooting would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks 
Hi @Miller813,
Welcome to the HubSpot Community!
In order for a Smart CTA to work as expected:
- Your external website must have HubSpot tracking code installed and firing.
- The CTA’s embed code must not be stripped by the external CMS/page.
- If you’re using multiple external subdomains, you’ll need to add them to Additional Site Domains in your reports settings and ensure Automatic cross-domain linking is enabled, or HubSpot won’t be able to associate these visitors as the same person across subdomains.
You mentioned that your tracking code is firing as expected, so I recommend taking a look at the second and third criteria. You also mentioned you’re using a HubSpot landing page to trigger a Smart CTA. To clarify, is the CTA located on an external thank you page? Any further information you can provide will help determine best next steps forward!
Best,
Jorie
Jorie,
Thanks so much for getting back to me. I just confirmed that the embed code has not been stripped and we do indeed have Cross-Domain linking enabled.
So to clarify. I have a Hubspot LP, that LP has a CTA. That CTA brings you to an external page where I want to serve up a Smart CTA based on coming from that Hubspot LP.
As a referral source for the Smart CTA I have tried “Referralls - Links on other sites” and “Other Campaigns” and chose the campaign that the Hubspot LP is associated with. Neither have worked.
The aforementioned external page triggers the Smart CTA properly when the referral source is an email. However when the referral source is that Hubspot LP it will not trigger.
Hey @Miller813,
Thank you for clarifying your set up! Given your set up, when you disable cross domain linking, does the externally embedded CTA fire as expected?
With this feature enabled, HubSpot sees your landing page and external site page as the same site. For this reason, traffic coming from your HubSpot hosted landing page wouldn’t be bucketed as referral.
If the issue continues to persist after taking this step, let me know and we can continue to troubleshoot together!
Best,
Jorie
Jorie,
Sadly it did not work. I appreciate you taking your time to think this through though. You’re the best.
Steve
Hi @Miller813,
Thank you for your patience! Could you link to the HubSpot landing page and external page with the embedded CTA so I can take a closer look?
Best,
Jorie
@JorieMunroe
I appreciate your continued help on this. The Hubspot LP is here:
http://whitecloudelectroniccigarettes-2165120.hs-sites.com/dynamic-test-2018
It is just a test page to try and resolve the issue we are having, so dont judge the design
The green “Try It Now” CTA will take you here:
The Smart CTA we want to trigger to display is an image CTA and if it is working right this is the image they should see
https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/2165120/Dynamic%20Banners%20(website)/Category-boxingday2016.jpg
Users who do not click through that Hubspot LP and simply come to the page will be served a 1 pixel white image that is too small for the user to see. The logic behind this is to insure that the user clicking from the LP see the offer and no one else does. Since we can not use Smart content on External Pages we are using the Image CTA as a way of offering up the content we want them to see.
I hope all that make sense.
Again, thanks for all your help. It is very much appreciated.
Steve
Hi @Miller813,
Thank you for your patience! I set up a similar configuration on my site and experienced much of the same behavior. After doing a bit more digging, I was able to confirm that regardless of where the CTA actually lives (on a HubSpot hosted site, external site, etc.), the javascript of a smart CTA will compare its query parameters to the domains you have listed as tracking domains.
As a result, HubSpot analytics is considering any traffic moving from http://whitecloudelectroniccigarettes-2165120.hs-sites.com/dynamic-test-2018 to
Products – White Cloud Electronic Cigarettes as direct traffic rather than referral traffic.
Best,
Jorie
Thank you so much for all your help on this I really appreciate it. You’re the best, the best.