Do you understand the difference between different Marketo form parameters?

[Sant_Singh_Rath]

What is the benefit of having various parameters with the Marketo form when you can simply capture the data with visible fields? Are you using hidden fields in your Marketo form? If yes then which one you are using? Do you understand the difference between various parameters?

If you have used or already aware then you can skip this read and if you haven't then no worries, I will provide my understanding for each one of them one by one and will also provide some examples, how you can use them with your business case. Also, if you find any mistake then your feedback is most welcome.

In our business case, we have used all of them to overcome some or other challenges and they are actually helpful with additional attribution which is necessary for reporting at the end of our campaigns. These parameters are really helpful even when something seems impossible.

Let's begin...

1. Use Default Value: By using default value you can hardcode or pre-define the specific value for that field. So, every time when forms will be submitted, this default value will be tagged with the lead. For example: In the below screenshot I have added main area of interest as hidden field in the form and added the default value as Animation.

2. URL Parameter: By using the URL parameter (website/landing page URL with query string) we can capture necessary information from the website/landing pages URL when a person is submitting the form and we can populate that information in the hidden field.

Note: I would always recommend to use this parameter defining default value as well so that at the end of your marketing initiatives, you are able to identify how many people have removed the query string during filling out the form. And by doing this, you are also helping your database to be normalized.

Example: In this URL (http://santrathaur.com?discipline=Learning-marketing-automation) I have used discipline query string with Learning-marketing-automation as value. When someone will submit the form here, in the main area of interest hidden field this value will be captured and if that person will remove the query-string then the default value will be tagged.

http://santrathaur.com/?discipline=Learning-marketing-automation

3. Referrer Parameter: There is a slight difference between the URL parameter and the referrer parameter. In the referrer parameter, you are still capturing the query string parameter value but not from the current page. You are capturing the value from referrer page (the page which redirected you to the current page).

Note: One of the use cases of referrer parameter is when you are actually promoting your website home page but your visitor might visit some other page (like contact us) and fill out the form there itself. In that case, you will miss the query string value or default value will be added. So if you have used the referrer parameter then it will pick the value from the referrer page.

Example: In the same URL (http://santrathaur.com?discipline=Learning-marketing-automation) after visiting this link, the visitor jumped to contact us page (unfortunately I don't have separate contact us page in my website but they might go to blog page.. ) then query string parameter will go blank. In that case, the method will pick the value from the referrer page.

4. Cookie Value: Capturing the data from cookies parameter is little tricky and you might need to take the assistance from your developer friend if you are not the one.

Do you know as server can store the information about an individual user, the browser, too, can store the information. One way to do this is with the use of cookies. Cookies are a great way to store data about a user on their machine, which you can fetch to your CRM on a particular event such as form submit, page load, etc. and Marketo form are very intelligent to grab the information from cookie.

Hope you will enjoy reading this and I would love to hear your feedback/suggestions/improvements.

You can also read the same blog in my website santrathaur.com . Website page link here.

Cheers,

Sant Singh Rathaur

Connect me on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sant-singh-rathaur/ 

[SanfordWhiteman]

Almost all the JS here is wrong and/or unnecessary, Sant.

1. You do not need to forward the Email value from one form to another unless you know that cookies are not enabled -- which cannot be the case here, since you're using a cookie to forward the value!
2. Even if you needed to save data to a cookie, you don't do it based on DOM events, you use the Marketo Forms 2.0 JS API event model (the onValidate event in particular).
3. You do not need to manually restore the value from the cookie. The whole idea of filling a form field from a cookie is that it happens automatically.  Of course, as noted above, you do not need the cookie at all.
4. Waiting for DOMContentLoaded doesn't make sense because this doesn't mean the Marketo form is ready (assuming you were trying to populate the hidden Marketo field from the cookie). Again, you would use the Marketo Forms 2.0 JS API, but none of this is necessary.

Please, you must test your code thoroughly before posting it. If you're not comfortable enough with the technical environment (DOM events, Marketo events, etc.) to test your code, that's a sign that it shouldn't be published. For now, the JS in this post should be removed.

[Sant_Singh_Rath]

Thanks Sire! Although this .js has been perfectly fine for us for past 1 year but if you are saying so then I will immediately remove it from this post.

[SanfordWhiteman]

It hasn't been fine, it simply hasn't been tested properly under a range of network and browser conditions. It's common sense that waiting for a DOM event that is not related to the form doesn't mean the form is ready.