Preference center form isn't auto-populating lead data

[ameliamarie]

Hello! We have a newly designed preference center. The goal is for data to auto-populate if the contact is within our database. For example, a contact receives an email to update their preferences. Once they click onto the link, they are directed to the preference center landing page, which would auto-populate their email address and preference selections, if applicable. 

I understand that the link must be sent via email in order to populate the information. I've tested it a million times, both my work and personal email addresses, but can't get the data to auto-populate. I've checked that all fields within the form are set to autofill. 

Does anyone have any recommendations? Any help is appreciated. Thank you!

[SanfordWhiteman]

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I understand that the link must be sent via email in order to populate the information. I've tested it a million times, both my work and personal email addresses, but can't get the data to auto-populate. I've checked that all fields within the form are set to autofill. 

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Well, Pre-Fill, not autofill. Autofill means something else in Marketo (it relates to filling hidden fields from query params).

Ensure you’re not using sample emails (i.e. use real emails) and that you do not have an existing Munchkin session associated with someone else (i.e. use Incognito mode).

Double-check that Pre-Fill is enabled in Admin » Integration » Landing Pages » Settings.

[ameliamarie]

Hey @SanfordWhiteman 

Thanks for your response, I was hoping you'd chime in. 

I've tried sending the "Update your Preferences" email through the contact profile Marketing > Send Email, and I've also tried sending through a Smart Campaign. Neither work. Pre-fill is also enabled in settings. 

A layer of complexity (maybe?) is that I used custom code for the landing page and form, and have the actual hidden Marketo form submitting in the background.

I found this resource when doing research on this issue: Form Pre-Fill. External sites. No limits. You're welcome. — TEKNKL :: Blog And I'm curious if it would apply to this situation? 

[SanfordWhiteman · Accepted solution]

That’s a very important detail!

If the named Marketo form element* is hidden, then that’s the form being pre-filled. There would be no way for the Forms 2.o JS to automatically know that there are other elements on the page that might also want that pre-fill data.

You can of course read the mktoPreFillFields object yourself and use it to pre-fill the custom form.

And yes, you could use my cross-domain Pre-Fill JS here, but that isn’t necessary for a Marketo LP (though it does enable more functionality, such as pre-filling values even when someone has navigated away from the LP).

*N.B. If you use the form embed code on a Marketo LP, native pre-fill will not be enabled.  Native Pre-Fill is only for named form elements, i.e. elements present in the Guided LP template and selected from the forms in your instance. The form can be hidden but it must be named.