You might already be using UTM parameters to track your marketing campaigns with Google Analytics, but are you capturing that information when a prospect is created in Pardot? Capturing this data is critical in order to assess the value of your marketing campaign and is a lead management best practice.
What are UTM Parameters?
UTM parameters are tags you add to a URL. Marketers use this to be able to track the traffic from a variety of sources such as email, social media, banner ads, etc. The tags can be sent back to Google Analytics and tracked which can be used to gauge the effectiveness of campaigns and identify the best ways to drive more visitors to your website.
Create New Fields
The first thing you need to do is create 2 new fields in Salesforce and in Pardot and map them. You don’t need to create a field for utm_source, we will use the standard source field in Pardot.
- utm_medium
- utm_campaign
Add The New Fields to Your Pardot Forms
Next, add the fields to your Pardot form. All 3 fields should be hidden and not marked as required.
Add Some Code to Your Landing Page Templates
This piece of code will parse the URL parameters and put the values into the hidden fields within your form. This code can be placed within your landing page template or within your form in the below form section.
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<script type="text/javascript"> // Parse the URL function getParameterByName(name) { name = name.replace(/[\[]/, "\\[").replace(/[\]]/, "\\]"); var regex = new RegExp("[\\?&]" + name + "=([^&#]*)"), results = regex.exec(location.search); return results === null ? "" : decodeURIComponent(results[1].replace(/\+/g, " ")); } // Give the URL parameters variable names var source = getParameterByName('utm_source'); var medium = getParameterByName('utm_medium'); var campaign = getParameterByName('utm_campaign'); // Put the variable names into the hidden fields in the form. selector should be "p.YOURFIELDNAME input" document.querySelector("p.source input").value = source; document.querySelector("p.utm_medium input").value = medium; document.querySelector("p.utm_campaign input").value = campaign; </script> |
Note: If you don’t use the field names outlined in this tutorial, you might need to update the JavaScript to include the correct field names.
Create URLs and Test
Now you’re ready to start creating URLs and testing your form. Use this handy URL builder to create your links and then fill out the form to see if the values go into Pardot.
Questions?
Send them to me via email, send me a tweet @jennamolby, or leave a comment
6 comment(s)
Lou
Hi Jenna, would it be possible to do this to the form handler as well? Thanks!
Jenna Molby
to Lou
Hi Lou, Yes, It's possible. You would need to add the hidden fields to your form handler and add the javascript to your page. You might need to make some adjustments to the javascript to match the selectors you define within your form handler code. Cheers, Jenna
Sean
Hi Jenna, If I add the code to the below form section in Pardot, how can i keep that text hidden on my form? When i click "view online" i can see the html below my form. Thanks!
Jenna Molby
to Sean
Hi Sean, Make sure you wrap the JavaScript in script tags. I've updated the example to include this. Cheers, Jenna
Andy
Do you also leverage the Google Analytics connector to pull in this information, or do it only through the hidden form fields?
Jenna Molby
to Andy
Hi Andy, you can use both! The Google Analytics connector only captures the UTMs once, so you could use that for the first touch and this method for the last touch. Cheers, Jenna