Best Practice for event lead tracking

[AdeleBriggs]

Hi Just checking what everyone is doing regarding event lead tracking? We have recently been to a tradeshow and rather than fill in the lead form the team decided to just use the scanner provided by the event organiser, which means a lot more data processing.

We have another event coming up and we don't have time to install our own scanner. curious to see what everyone else is doing.

thanks.

[SaurabhGoyal_GN · Accepted solution]

Hi @AdeleBriggs - As per my understanding, even without a full scanner setup, bringing a few tablets or phones and:

– Create a simple, mobile-optimized Marketo form to capture key lead details (name, email, interest).

– Embed the form in a Marketo landing page with pre-filled UTM or hidden fields to track event attribution.

– Optionally, create a QR code to let leads self-submit via the form from their phones.

Otherwise, you can set up a dedicated Marketo event program for each trade show. Whether leads come from scans, forms, or manual entry, import them into that program. Also, use different program statuses (e.g., “Scanned,” “Engaged,” “Followed Up”) to track lead progression and handover to the sales team accordingly.

I hope that helps.

Thanks! 🙏 

[AdeleBriggs]

Thank you. I do these already. It is just this year they are saying the event is too busy and they don't have time to fill in the form. They want to just scan their badge. 😒

[SanfordWhiteman]

So put a simple barcode (no need for a QR code even, it can be a 1-D barcode) on the badge that links to a Marketo Personalized URL (pURL).

Google Lens can scan that barcode and open the URL. The page can be set to auto-submit the form (usually not advisable btw, but for this case it’s perfectly safe).

Cannot get easier than that!

[AdeleBriggs]

thank you for your advice. I am not sure I 100% follow. 

this is a trade show that we don't have access to their badges. 

These delegates are unknown to us.

[SanfordWhiteman]

You said the requirement was "They want to just scan their badge." How could this ever be possible if you don't manage the badges and you won't use the event manager's scanner? This an impossible requirement.

[beth-corby]

@AdeleBriggs  

One other thing to consider in the future is event integrations and automating some of the manual tasks off your team, especially if you're hosting numerous events throughout the year.

Tools like AtEvent or Cvent can feed lead data directly into Marketo in near real-time. Some even let you pre-map fields to match your database structure, apply tags or program statuses, and trigger nurture campaigns automatically.

• AtEvent - When field teams need an app-based solution to capture conversations and sync directly to Marketo
• Cvent - If you're already using it for registration, it can sync with Marketo programs pretty smoothly

These tools help reduce the lag between event interactions and follow-up, and they also clean up the ops side by reducing CSV imports and data mismatch issues.

[AdeleBriggs]

thank you. I'll check out the AtEvent - that sounds interesting. I have looked at one scanner, but it requires the full implementation of a platform which I didn't want to do at this point.

[derelict_wombat]

Captello is another service that you can look at.  It can integrate with some tradeshow scanners, or a mobile scan where and the booth rep can add more details to the form after scan.  Data can sync to directly to Marketo.  We use it for both large shows as well as for smaller sales seminars. 

[rcoppol98]

Hi, there are a few ways to navigate this.

Option A: Have the team upload the list of scans into a CRM campaign (that represents the event/tradeshow), and then reference that campaign to update program statuses in the Marketo program.

Option B: Upload the scans into the Marketo program via a static list, and then reference that list to update the Marketo program member statuses.