Regarding Gated content. Does Marketo support the ability to pass a variable that lets me know to unlock the content only after someone has submitted the form?

[Anonymous]

Let me try asking this question through an example. Currently, folks have to fill-out the form located here:

http://pages2.marketo.com/siriusdecisions-marketing-automation.html

to get to the asset here:

http://pages2.marketo.com/siriusdecisions-marketing-automation-thank-you.html?aliId=65553979

The redirect URL above is published in the public source of the page, thus I can copy and paste that URL in any browser and read the article without having to submit the page.  It would take a savvy user to explore that route, but it exists and thus I have to explore additional options to see if they exist.

We can set-up a similar gated function by having the gated content living at an un-published URL and only redirecting users there via the hidden values of the Marketo form.  However, does Marketo support the ability to pass me a variable that let's me know to actually unlock the content only after they have submitted the form?

[Anonymous]

Hey SML - Of course a sophisticated web user can do nearly anything in a digital world. But you can't think from your hat as a savy marketeer, but rather as a general user. I think that you can create more work for yourself than is necessarily warranted.

But if you're really looking for another route, I can suggest you add a javascript redirect instead on the thank you page. This would keep the URL off of the registration page itself. Sure they could still find the Thank you page URL and once arriving there, would be automatically redirected. But you could add that layer of complexity into your working arrangement. I personally wouldn't.

What we do instead is in an effort to combat fake data being inputted into a form is send an email containing the link to the material requested. So it's a bit more logistics on the front end, but I think it produces nice results worthy of the effort. That way there's no possibility to see the correct URL unless a correct email address is provided.

[Brian_Law_-_Dem]

Hi, Another alternative would be to use segmentation on the thank you landing page and only show the link to download the content if a person submits the form. The solution will require a marketo only boolean (T/F) field. 

[Anonymous]

I like Adam's idea, as it also gives you a reason to explain to the user why you definitely need a real email address. Thanks Adam!