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Both Mailchimp and HubSpot can report clicks on links in marketing emails. To track what happens after the click—such as a website visit, campaign attribution, or a purchase—you also need the appropriate analytics setup. Choose based on whether you need email engagement reporting, downstream website attribution, or contact-level history.
What “tracking email referrals” can mean
The phrase covers two related but different measurements:
- Email click tracking: whether a recipient clicked a tracked link in the message.
- Website traffic attribution: whether the visit to the destination site is recorded and connected to an email or campaign.
A click report does not, by itself, prove that a person completed a website session, converted, or made a purchase. Those outcomes require destination-side analytics or other configured tracking.
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| Decision area | Mailchimp | HubSpot |
|---|---|---|
| Email link clicks | Campaign reports show activity for tracked URLs, including total and unique clicks and recipient activity. Click tracking must be enabled. Mailchimp email reports | Marketing email reporting includes click rate, top-clicked links, a click map, and recipient-level engagement. HubSpot email performance |
| Website campaign attribution | Optional Google Analytics tracking can pass campaign information from email links to Analytics. Purchases require analytics conversion tracking; connected store integrations can also pass purchase data to Mailchimp. Mailchimp third-party tracking | Tracking URLs add campaign parameters, and HubSpot traffic analytics can classify email marketing traffic. HubSpot tracking code must be installed on the destination page for tracking URLs to connect visits to campaign analytics. HubSpot tracking URLs HubSpot traffic sources |
| Contact context | Reports show recipient activity; store integrations can provide purchase details. The reviewed documentation does not establish an equivalent cross-channel CRM traffic-source property model. | Original and Latest Traffic Source properties describe a contact’s first and most recent known interactions, with further source details. They rely on tracked interactions and can be affected by cookie blocking. HubSpot traffic-source properties |
| Setup and access | Enable email click tracking. Configure optional third-party tracking separately, and set up analytics conversions or a store connection if you need downstream outcomes. | Tracking URLs require specified Professional or Enterprise subscriptions, with a listed legacy exception. Revenue attribution and some advanced email insights have additional subscription requirements. Verify the current subscription requirements before relying on a feature. HubSpot tracking URL requirements |
| Important measurement limits | Mailchimp warns that bots may inflate opens and clicks. Mailto links and certain system merge-tag links cannot be tracked, and forwarded messages can complicate recipient attribution. Mailchimp click-tracking troubleshooting | Links that resolve to the same URL may be grouped in the click map even when their UTM parameters differ. Cookies, ad blockers, and tracking settings can affect attribution and contact identification. HubSpot email reporting HubSpot traffic-source properties |
How to track referrals in Mailchimp
Measure clicks in the email report
- Before sending, confirm that click tracking is enabled for the email or campaign. Mailchimp’s link-tracking documentation explains how to add tracked links: Add a link in an email.
- After sending, open the campaign’s email report and review click metrics and recipient activity. The report covers tracked URLs, not every possible link type.
Measure visits or conversions on the website
- Enable the optional Google Analytics campaign-link tracking if you want email links to carry campaign information into Analytics. Mailchimp documents this separately from built-in email tracking: Third-party tracking options.
- Configure the relevant analytics conversion events if you want to measure purchases or other website outcomes. A click alone is not evidence of a conversion.
- If you use a connected store integration, check whether it supplies the purchase data you need in Mailchimp.
How to track referrals in HubSpot
Measure clicks in marketing email
Use HubSpot’s marketing email performance reporting to inspect click rate, top-clicked links, the click map, and recipient activity. Confirm that the relevant open and click tracking settings are enabled; HubSpot documents these controls in Manage marketing email open and click tracking.
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Connect a link to campaign traffic
- Create a tracking URL for the destination page and campaign. HubSpot’s documented tracking URL feature has subscription requirements; consult the current article for the applicable account tiers: Create tracking URLs.
- Make sure HubSpot tracking code is installed on the destination page. Without it, the visit cannot be connected to HubSpot campaign analytics as described for tracking URLs.
- Review traffic analytics and the contact’s Original or Latest Traffic Source properties according to whether you need campaign traffic reporting or contact history. Cookie blocking and other tracking limitations can affect the recorded source.
Which one should you choose?
- Choose based on the outcome you need. For clicks inside an email, both document reporting. For later website activity, compare the analytics setup and campaign-tag workflow you already use.
- Prefer contact-level source history? HubSpot documents Original and Latest Traffic Source properties for CRM contacts. They do not guarantee that every visit will be identified.
- Already use Google Analytics or a connected store with Mailchimp? Mailchimp’s optional campaign tracking and store integrations may fit the downstream reporting you need, provided the corresponding conversion setup is in place.
- Check subscription access before planning around a feature. HubSpot tracking URLs and some advanced reporting have tier requirements; Mailchimp’s optional downstream tracking also requires configuration.
- Treat opens and clicks as imperfect signals. Bot activity can inflate Mailchimp metrics, and tracking or cookie limitations can affect attribution in either workflow.
Validate the setup before relying on the numbers
For a fair comparison, send a controlled live campaign to a test destination with distinct campaign tags. Then compare each tool’s email click report with the destination analytics report. This helps distinguish a recorded email click from a tracked site visit and reveals whether campaign parameters are being preserved as intended.
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