Passing Adwords Data 1-page Layer Deep

[Anonymous]

Hi there,

So, i'm struggling a bit right now with setting up Adwords tracking in Marketo. We have a diferent scenario than most folks - when someone clicks our adwords we want to take them to a landing page that gives them a choice between 3 different types of trials. So, with that said, there isn't a form on their destination page - it exists one click deeper. 

It looks like our developer has setup some javascript that will forward search query values from Adwords across through the click into his database (for the first 2 choices), and I have the standard setup for the 3rd choice. But, I guess I'm still struggling with a few things...

1. How do I generate a custom URL on a landing page that doesn't have a form?
2. For the one choice that points back to Marketo - do I also need this same snippet to push values across from the choice page to the form or can Marketo figure that out on it's own?
3. Just generally, how do other companies work between multiple databases? We have one database we would not want to cross-pollinate with our Marketing/Sales, but it does seem to be an obstacle for us at times.

If anyone had any ideas or has been able to implement something similiar please let me know.
 

Thanks!

[Josh_Hill13]

1. Custom URL - do you mean you want to modify the Marketo page URL? Or you want to have a special url with url parameters?

2. Your developer will need to pass the values to a cookie on the Marketo page somehow. Marketo could figure it out if the URL params are passed and the Marketo Form knows about them.

3. Lots of opportunities to do this. Not sure how to answer this one without knowing more.

[Anonymous]

Hey Josh,

Thanks for the quick response! 

1. Custom URL - do you mean you want to modify the Marketo page URL? Or you want to have a special url with url parameters?

A: Yes, it seems like I'd need to use a special URL with the utm parameters in order for these ads to point to the choice page. Do you know if it's possible to do this without a form? I wasn't sure if perhaps a redirect was an option, but it doesn't look like that would work. I'm not sure if anyone else has tried to setup their programs in a similar way or how we'd best implement that.

2. Your developer will need to pass the values to a cookie on the Marketo page somehow. Marketo could figure it out if the URL params are passed and the Marketo Form knows about them.

A: Yes, so, our developer is passing values from the Marketo page over to a non-Coverity page, but he's mimicked the result of getting his forms to populate the same values. He then uses an API to push back to Marketo. This seems like it might be overcomplicating things, but we can't use a Marketo form for the first two choices.

It sounds like from what you're saying if they're landing on a Marketo choice page and then click to another Marketo page with a form that these values would likely be preserved - do I have that right?

3. Lots of opportunities to do this. Not sure how to answer this one without knowing more.

Basically, we have a few different databases - some that are specifically for developers to work within our software as part of our new cloud trial offering, and also for our Scan service to provide open source developers with a place to find/fix their defects for free. We've also added a new observer option so non-contributing folks can also watch improvements on their favorite open source projects. We don't want to be intruisive to the development community who basically just want to use Scan and the cloud for what it's intended for (no-marketing), but there are certain criteria that if they meet, we would then pass them to Marketo. With that said, I still want to make sure I can see the origin data so we can tell how our developers are reaching from Adwords to Marketo (with a few steps in between). I'm not sure if it's really possible at this point, but I think we're getting closer #babysteps.

Not sure if that helps?

[Anonymous]

We have faced a similar problem and here's how our implementation works: 

1) All Adwords data and tracking variables added as querystring params on the Adwords URL

2) Lead clicks on an ad and arrives at our landing page (typically part of our CMS, which is Wordpress). Landing page does not have any form on it. 

3) Some javascript code captures those parameters and adds them to a custom cookie. The cookie persists so the data travels with them wherever they go across the site and between sessions.

4) When the lead registers then either

a. If a Marketo form: hidden fields on Marketo forms grab the cookie values and map to the appropriate fields
b. if our own registration form that's part of our app: our developers have the reg form set up so that it will similarly grab the cookie values and pass into Marketo using the SOAP API. 

[Anonymous]

Thanks guys this is really great feedback - I think this will work!

Laura