Sharing With SubTag Links (Substitution Tags)

What Is a SubTag Link?

A SubTag link is a specially formatted URL that contains placeholder variables instead of real recipient details. When your email platform sends the campaign, it fills in those placeholders with each recipient’s actual email address and name. Tiled then uses those values to identify who clicked the link and attribute their session to them individually.

Unlike a direct share link (which you send one at a time) or a public link (which is anonymous), a SubTag gives you named-recipient engagement data at bulk-send scale.

Link type	Best for
Direct	Sending to specific individuals one at a time. Full engagement attribution.
Public	Broad open distribution. Engagement tracked but not attributed by person.
SubTag	Bulk sends through an email platform. Named-recipient attribution at scale.

Two Ways to Open the Share Modal

From the Library (Builder 1.0 & 2.0)

Select the share icon on the microapp card in your Library. In the share modal, select the SubTag tab — it’s the third tab after Direct and Public.

Using Builder 1.0? In Builder 1.0, the share icon appears in the bottom right corner of the microapp card. In Builder 2.0, it’s in the top right corner. Either way, once the modal opens, select the SubTag tab to proceed.

Right After Publishing (Builder 2.0)

After a successful publish, select Share from the success screen, then choose the SubTag tab in the share modal.

Generating a SubTag Link

1. Open the SubTag tab — in the share modal.

2. Select your platform — choose SendGrid, MailChimp, HubSpot, or Outreach. Tiled generates a URL pre-formatted with that platform’s substitution tag syntax.

3. Copy the link — select Copy to copy the generated URL to your clipboard.

4. Paste into your email platform — drop the link into your email campaign the same way you’d add any URL. The platform’s send engine fills in the placeholders for each recipient automatically.

Pro Tip: Don’t modify the substitution tag syntax in the URL. The exact format (brackets, pipes, braces) must match what your platform expects — changing even one character breaks the personalization.

https://s.tiled.co/pq5uI5/cab-invite-2022?dynamic=true&recipientId=customer@email.com&recipientName=there-Customer

Platform-Specific URL Formats

Each platform uses a different syntax for substitution tags. Tiled generates the correct format automatically when you select a platform. This table shows exactly what each URL looks like and the placeholder syntax used.

Platform	Variable Syntax	Generated URL format (example)
SendGrid	[%variable%]	...?dynamic=true&recipientId=[%email%]&recipientName=[%first_name%]-[%last_name%]
MailChimp	\|VARIABLE\|	...?dynamic=true&recipientId=\|EMAIL\|&recipientName=\|FNAME\|-\|LNAME\|
HubSpot		...?dynamic=true&recipientId=customer@email.com&recipientName=there-Customer
Outreach		...?dynamic=true&recipientId=&recipientName=-

SendGridMailChimp
Hubspot

Outreach

Once a recipient opens the link, the URL resolves with their real values. A working link looks like this:

https://s.tiled.co/pq5uI5/your-microapp?dynamic=true&recipientId=jane@company.com&recipientName=Jane-Smith

Heads Up: The URL Tiled generates is the same each time for a given microapp and platform. It only becomes unique when the platform inserts a real recipient’s email and name at send time. If you paste the raw URL into a browser yourself, the placeholders won’t resolve.

My Platform Isn’t Listed

Tiled currently shows four platforms — SendGrid, MailChimp, HubSpot, and Outreach — in the SubTag modal. SubTag links can technically work with almost any email marketing tool that supports URL substitution tags. The URL parameter format is:

...?dynamic=true&recipientId=YOUR_PLATFORM_EMAIL_TAG&recipientName=YOUR_PLATFORM_NAME_TAG

Replace the placeholder tags with the correct syntax for your own platform, following the same pattern. If you need help configuring this for a platform not listed, contact your Customer Success Manager.

Using a SubTag in an Email Campaign

Using a SubTag in a campaign is the same as adding any URL to an email, with one important condition: the URL parameters in the link must exactly match the substitution tag syntax your email platform is configured to use.

• Tiled does not resolve URL parameters that don’t match the expected format.

• A mismatch means recipient data won’t pass through, and Tiled will show the session as anonymous rather than attributed to a named contact.

• Always test a campaign with a small send before distributing to your full audience.

If the subtag has been used properly the link will look similar to the one below, except with your own recipients information:

https://s.tiled.co/pq5uI5/cab-invite-2022?dynamic=true&recipientId=john@gmail.com&recipientName=John-Smith

Try It Yourself: Send the SubTag link to yourself first before sending to a list. Open the link and check your Engagement Analytics to confirm your name and email appear as the viewer. If they don’t, the substitution tags aren’t resolving correctly.

Common Questions

Question	Answer
What makes a SubTag different from a direct share link?	A direct share link is sent one recipient at a time through Tiled. A SubTag is pasted into your email platform and sent to a full list — the platform inserts each recipient’s details into the URL at send time. Both give you named-recipient engagement data; SubTags just do it at scale.
Does the raw SubTag URL work if I paste it into a browser?	No. The raw URL contains platform placeholder syntax (like [%email%] or customer@email.com) rather than real values. The URL only resolves with actual recipient data after your email platform processes and sends it.
Why is my viewer showing up as anonymous in Tiled?	Usually because the URL parameters didn’t match your email platform’s syntax, or the platform didn’t replace the placeholders before sending. Check that your tag syntax exactly matches what your platform expects and test with a small send before your full campaign.
Can I use a SubTag with a platform not listed in the modal?	Yes. The URL structure is the same regardless of platform — replace the placeholder tags with your own platform’s syntax for email and name variables. Contact your Customer Success Manager if you need help.
Can the same SubTag URL be reused across multiple campaigns?	Yes. A SubTag URL is the same every time for a given microapp and platform. Reuse it across campaigns — just make sure to always publish the latest version of the microapp before sending.
Does the microapp need to be republished each time I send a SubTag campaign?	Only if you’ve made changes since the last send. SubTag links always point to the current published version, so if the microapp is already up to date, no republish is needed.

Related Articles

• Sending a direct share link— Sending to specific recipients one at a time with full tracking.

• Sharing a Microapp With a public link — Open distribution with session-level (not recipient-level) tracking.

• How to Publish a Microapp — Accessing the share modal from the Builder 2.0 publish flow.

• Engagement Analytics — Viewing SubTag session data and recipient attribution.

• HubSpot Integration — Connecting Tiled with HubSpot for deeper engagement sync.