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Roxann_McGlump1
Roxann_McGlump1
Level 5
April 4, 2019

Form Pre-Fill Feature Upgrade

  • April 4, 2019
  • 142 replies
  • 55123 views

With the evolving best practices and awareness around data privacy, Marketo will be upgrading how we handle form pre-fill.

What change is being made?

Starting April 24, 2019, Marketo will only pre-fill form fields if the URL used to navigate to the Marketo landing page contains a valid mkt_tok URL parameter value (which occurs when users click tracked links in Marketo emails). What that means is, any time a person is viewing a Marketo landing page with a form, the URL being used must contain the mkt_tok token in the query string, otherwise the form on that landing page will not be pre-filled. If the URL in the browser window does have a valid mkt_tok tracking token, then the form within the page will pre-fill as expected with data corresponding to the person record associated with that mkt_tok.

Also note that if you are embedding Marketo Landing Pages within other web pages using an <iframe>, the mkt_tok would need to be passed from the parent page to the <iframe> URL if you intend for form prefill to work within the <iframe>

​How did it work before?

Previously, Marketo landing pages would rely on Munchkin tracking cookies to identify known person records, and forms would pre-fill based on that cookie. Form pre-fill did not require being linked to a Marketo landing page from a tracked email link.

Why is this changing?

This upgrade is being made to provide a more consistent and more secure experience with Marketo’s forms. We have identified that, in the past, people have experienced scenarios where data pre-filled into a form didn’t always correspond with the actual person viewing the page. For example, people using a shared computer or those who may have been cookied incorrectly by clicking through a forwarded email, could end up viewing incorrect data associated with a different person.

To provide a more consistent customer experience, and as a security enhancement, Marketo is upgrading the conditions under which the form pre-fill will display known customer information. In short, pre-fill will only work when users clickthrough links in Marketo emails, demonstrating that they have ownership of the email address associated with the known person record. Below is a list of different scenarios and how form pre-fill will work moving forward.

Please note, these changes to form pre-fill will not affect any other functionality of Marketo Forms, including the progressive profiling feature.

ScenarioWill the form pre-fill?Notes
Clicking a tracked link in a Marketo email to a Marketo landing page with a form which has pre-fill enabledYesThe email link must have mkt_tok enabled. Links that are not tracked or that have mkt_tok disabled will not work.
Navigating directly to a Marketo landing page with a form which has pre-fill enabledNoA direct link to the landing page will not have the mkt_tok present in the HTTP request.
Refreshing a Marketo landing page with a form which has pre-fill enabledNoThe mkt_tok is stripped from the URL after Marketo Landing Pages load so refreshing the page will not include the mkt_tok in the URL. As a result, pre-fill will not work.
Clicking a link in a sample email to a Marketo landing page with a form which has pre-fill enabledNoThe sample email will not have a valid mkt_tok attached to the link and so will not pre-fill the form. If you wish to test form pre-fill you will need to use a real email from a Marketo campaign.

Navigating to a non-Marketo page that includes an embedded Marketo form which has pre-fill enabled

NoThis behavior does not change with the upgrade. Pre-fill has never been supported for Marketo forms that are embedded on non-Marketo pages.
Navigating to a non-Marketo page that includes an <iframe> pointing to a Marketo Landing Page that includes a form with pre-fill enabledWith custom implementationThe form within the Marketo Landing Page that is being loaded in the <iframe> will pre-fill if the mkt_tok value from the original HTTP request is passed along to the <iframe> URL
Visiting a Marketo page with a mkt_tok that is not associated with the same person record as an existing Marketo Munchkin cookie currently stored on the browserNoThis will prevent the wrong person’s information from being displayed in cases where a computer is shared, or an email with a mkt_tok tracked link is forwarded to another person that may already be cookied as a known person in your database.
Copying a Marketo tracked link from an email and sharing/pasting it externally (email, blog, chat, social media post, etc.) that enables another individual to click the tracked linkYesThe tracked link in a Marketo email will redirect to a URL with the mkt_tok included, so anyone clicking this link will reach a page and see pre-fill data associated with the known person record from the “to” line of the email.
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    142 replies

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    A
    ajaymamgain1
    Level 3
    April 11, 2019

    Thank you for the reply @Sanford Whiteman​ we are using MktoForms2.whenReady function to auto-submit. So you mean it will not impact our functionality since Munchkin will associate the lead from previous sessions. If that's the case then I think we are good. Thank you for the clarification.

    SanfordWhiteman
    SanfordWhiteman
    Level 10
    April 11, 2019

    Yes, just do not include the Email field on your form. Then the previously associated lead will be updated.  This is the way Known Visitor HTML works, for another example.

    Dan_Brown1
    Dan_Brown1
    April 11, 2019

    @Justin Cooperman​ Thanks for the responses, That's really helpful.

    Yeah, By "see form progress" I did mean that as "Visitor will see a different blank field" so thanks for confirming.

    And thanks for making us aware of the "window.__mktTokVal" value, that will be very helpful.

    Overall I think this is good change for Marketo, to be privacy & security focused by default for common use-cases but provide options to developers (Tokens & access to mkt_tok parameter) to be able to selectively add extra functionality where processes may require it.

    As others have already said, A little more notice on such a change would have been great. I get that this may have been considered a non-breaking change since most of the core form functionality will still work but pre-fill did often work reliably for many user flows, so such a change does have the ability to affect existing processes therefore requiring time to review, discuss and update as required.

    Ronen_Wasserm26
    Ronen_Wasserm26
    Level 2
    April 11, 2019

    That is a terrible change, and I think it will harm Marketo in terms of its product quality

      Jay_Jiang
      Jay_Jiang
      Level 10
      April 11, 2019

      So I'd just like to demonstrate how pointless the "upgrade" is, with the below screenshots:

        Roni_Menashe1
        Roni_Menashe1
        Level 2
        April 11, 2019

        I see there is a WordPress prefill plugin that already supports this new change and also automatically passes the mkt_tok parameter to iFrame forms.

        https://wordpress.org/plugins/genius-marketo-form-prefill/

        Did anyone try it already?

        Jay_Jiang
        Jay_Jiang
        Level 10
        April 11, 2019

        @Yanir Calisar​ is that yours?

          Raquel_Babb
          Raquel_Babb
          Level 2
          April 11, 2019

          Two questions:

          1) How will this affect forms used in RTP/Web Personalization?  We have numerous campaigns that use embedded forms within a dialog campaign.

          2) Will this reduce the number of leads that get the wrong tracking information?  For instance, we have members who share an email address and member a receives an email to opt-in to something which uses a hidden form post.  They opt-in, assuming they used a shared device, and get cookied as member b.  This essentially changes member a's name to member b and gets tracked under member b's activity log.

          J
          Justin_Morris
          Level 2
          April 11, 2019

          Hi, one quick question.

          "This will prevent the wrong person’s information from being displayed in cases where a computer is shared, or an email with a mkt_tok tracked link is forwarded to another person that may already be cookied as a known person in your database.”

          What if it is forwarded to a person who is not cookied and a known person in our database? Will it still not be pre-filled?

          Jim_McLemore
          Jim_McLemore
          Level 2
          April 11, 2019

          So this will work after the "upgrade"?  Cool.

          Also, this change is dumb.  Customers that were concerned about this could turn off prefill in their forms at any time.  I understand that some people may be collecting extremely personal information (HIPAA, Financial info), but simply turning off pre-fill for those fields should allow you to get around that.

          But instead of Marketo letting it's customers choose where and when to pre-fill(functionality that already exists), they have turned it off for everyone.  This seems to solve a "problem" that few really felt was a problem and created many more for those who don't.

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