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Email Infra

GMass click-tracking off ≠ GA4 attribution off — diagnose funnel from BOTH sources

From legacy section: SEO NEO / Workbook

Pattern: Cold-email campaign showed 38.9% open rate (good) and 0 clicks in GMass report. First hypothesis: body isn't earning the click. But Jim had intentionally disabled GMass click tracking (link-rewriter redirects trigger spam filters on cold-email domains). Pulling GA4 with utm_source=poly_email&utm_campaign=medspa_audit filter showed 1+ session on /audit/ despite GMass's 0-click report. The body WAS working — visitors WERE clicking through. The funnel leak was at the landing-page level (TTI 9s on /audit/, form below the fold), not the email. Rule: When diagnosing a cold-email funnel where GMass shows 0 clicks, don't assume the body failed. Check GA4 by UTM filter. If GMass click tracking is intentionally off (deliverability), GA4 is the only source of click truth. Email body diagnosis order: 1) check GMass send/open rate to validate subject+deliverability, 2) check GA4 sessions by session_campaign_name for actual click-throughs, 3) only conclude "body is broken" if GA4 also shows zero traffic. Otherwise the leak is downstream. Why: Surfaced 2026-05-11 during medspa cold-email diagnosis. Spent 30 minutes proposing body rewrites before realizing GA4 had clicks GMass couldn't see. Funnel leak was actually /audit/'s TTI 9s + form-below-fold layout, not email copy. How to apply: Any cold-email campaign with click tracking off, build the GA4 attribution query into the campaign brief: dimension_filter on sessionCampaignName + sessionSource for the specific UTMs. Add to the email-campaign launch checklist. Also: GMass + GA4 numbers will diverge by definition when click tracking is off — set expectations upfront with whoever's reviewing the campaign metrics. Date: 2026-05-12