Recipients unable to click links in Marketing Emails

[SMitchellB]

We've had reports that some of our B2G recipients are unable to click through to links in our Marketing emails if they aren't links to our company website (which is a safe URL in their corporate system). This also impacts hyperlinked images with external links, where the image fails to load if the link doesn't use our company's domain.

How can we overcome the cautious nature of public sector firewalls and blocked sites?

Is there a way to include our company domin in the other links in our Marketing emails?

[karstenkoehler · Accepted solution]

Hi @SMitchellB,

If your recipients have strict email policies, then your recipients have strict email policies. There's unfortunately not much you can do about that except for asking for allowlisting (which you apparently did).

There is no way you could "inject" your own domain into a someone elses link, at least not that I know of, and if there is, it would probably still be flagged by the same policy (as it should – or else the filter / policy wouldn't be doing its job very well).

If the links you're sharing are typically from the same domains, you would have to ask your recipients to allowlist these as well. If that's not an option, I'd recommend approaching this from a different angle and maybe publish blog posts, for example, that collect certain links, or landing pages that then link to whatever external resources you want to highlight.

Best regards

[d-lupo · Accepted solution]

Hi @SMitchellB,

Public-sector firewalls often block links and images that originate from non-allowlisted domains. Since it's not in your power to change those security policies, a potential workaround is to try to route external links through your organization’s own allowlisted domain using redirects.

For example, instead of linking directly to an external site, you could use a URL such as:
https://links.yourcompany.com/go/page

When a recipient clicks the link, the browser first loads a trusted address on your domain, which is configured to immediately issue an HTTP redirect to the actual external destination (assuming the links have been properly reviewed and verified for security beforehand).

This approach could help bypass certain firewall restrictions, as the initial request comes from a trusted source. However, it’s some systems potentially may still detect and block the redirect.

That said, this method can become cumbersome if you manage a large or frequently changing set of links. It also introduces important security considerations, such as preventing open-redirect vulnerabilities and ensuring redirects are properly validated and logged.

Without knowing your exact use case, I would generally agree with @karstenkoehler's suggestion and consider exploring alternative approaches if possible.

Did my post resolve your question? If so, please consider marking it as the accepted solution to help others in the community.

Kind regards
Dennis

[STierney]

Hey @SMitchellB - thanks for posting in the Community!

To my understanding, this would be need to be handled externally to HubSpot (like in tangent with your company's IT team, for example), but I'd like to tag in some experts to see if there's any specific advice regarding this! @RomyFuchs1, @AdamLPW, and @CateDuarte - any suggestions here?

Shane, Senior Community Moderator

[karstenkoehler · Accepted solution]

Hi @SMitchellB,

If your recipients have strict email policies, then your recipients have strict email policies. There's unfortunately not much you can do about that except for asking for allowlisting (which you apparently did).

There is no way you could "inject" your own domain into a someone elses link, at least not that I know of, and if there is, it would probably still be flagged by the same policy (as it should – or else the filter / policy wouldn't be doing its job very well).

If the links you're sharing are typically from the same domains, you would have to ask your recipients to allowlist these as well. If that's not an option, I'd recommend approaching this from a different angle and maybe publish blog posts, for example, that collect certain links, or landing pages that then link to whatever external resources you want to highlight.

Best regards