What is the Link Shortener?

The Link Shortener is a built-in feature that automatically converts long URLs into shorter, cleaner links in your social media posts. When you're sharing enrollment pages, blog posts, or tour booking links, this keeps your posts looking professional and easy to read.

The full URL stays visible in your content editor so you always know what you're sharing, but the shortened link appears in your preview and published post.

Key Benefits

  • Clean posts: Long URLs don't clutter your social content
  • Better experience: Parents see concise, clickable links
  • Auto-shortening: Automatically generates a shortened version
  • Post preview: See exactly how your post will look before publishing
  • Cross-platform support: Works across Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and more

How to Use the Link Shortener

Follow these steps to shorten links while creating social posts:

  1. Navigate to Marketing > Social Planner from the left menu
  2. Click + New Post > + Create New Post
  3. Select which social media accounts you want to post to
  4. Type your post content in the content box
  5. Click the URL Shortener icon next to the content editor
  6. Add your Link Name and Target URL
  7. Set up tracking details:
    • Select or create a UTM Campaign (utm_campaign)
    • Add custom UTM parameters like source, medium, or term
  8. Click Generate and Insert Link
  9. Review your post — the preview shows the shortened link
  10. Choose Publish now or Schedule for later

How It Works

Content Input vs. Preview: The original long URL stays in your input box so you can always see what you're sharing. The shortened version appears in the preview pane and in your published post.

Auto Conversion: You don't need to manually replace anything — just click the shortener icon and it handles the rest.

Link Tracking in Social Planner Statistics

Every link you create through the Link Shortener is automatically tracked. You can see how your links perform directly in the Statistics page.

What You Can Track

  • Total clicks on each shortened URL
  • Platform performance — see which networks drive the most engagement
  • Trends over time — understand when families are most likely to click
  • Campaign tracking — group multiple posts using the same link and campaign name

Note: Only links created through Social Planner appear in your statistics. External shortened links won't be tracked.

Viewing Link Analytics

Go to Marketing → Social Planner → Statistics → URL Tracking to view your link performance.

You can:

  • Filter by top performing or low performing links
  • Sort by clicks, date, or campaign
  • Click any URL to see a quick preview panel with detailed analytics

Campaign Tracking

When you create a shortened link, you can assign it a Campaign Name. All posts using that same link and campaign are grouped together in your analytics. This helps you compare performance across different posts and social platforms.

For example, you could create a campaign called "Fall Open House" and track all posts promoting your open house event across Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

Pro Tip: Use consistent campaign names across related posts. This makes it easy to see total performance for enrollment drives, events, or seasonal promotions.

Why UTM Parameters Matter

UTM parameters help you understand exactly where your traffic comes from. Without them, your analytics might just show traffic as "direct" or generic "referral."

Without UTMs:

  • You can't tell if clicks came from Facebook ads vs. organic posts
  • You can't compare which enrollment page link performs better
  • You lose visibility into which campaigns drive the most tours

With UTMs:

  • Track campaigns properly in Google Analytics or other tools
  • Compare performance across channels and content
  • Prove which specific posts and placements work best

The Link Shortener makes your UTM-heavy URLs look clean and professional, while the UTM tags do the important tracking work behind the scenes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will my social post show the long or short link?

Your published post displays the shortened link. The long URL is only visible to you in the content editor.

Can I customize or rename the short link?

Not yet. Short links are currently auto-generated and not editable. Custom URLs may be added in a future update.

Does the Link Shortener work on all social platforms?

Yes. The shortened link appears across all platforms supported in Social Planner, including Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and more.

Can I still use external link shorteners like Bitly?

Yes, you can manually add shortened links from other services if you prefer. However, they won't appear in Enrollio's link tracking statistics.

Do I need to do anything special to enable click tracking?

No. Click tracking starts automatically as soon as your post goes live. Every link created through Social Planner is trackable by default.