Do we seriously need to know how to code to create a landing page template?

Hey Leticia,

One thing that can take a bit of wrapping your head around if you've worked in other platforms (Hubspot, to highlight one in particular), is that templates function slightly differently in Marketo. For me, it is something I really really like about Marketo.

Yes, working in the template requires developer knowledge, but working in the email editor generally doesn't - unlike a lot of other platforms, Marketo's email editor does allow dragging and dropping of modules (as long as you're working from a template that was built using the syntax to support it, like all the OOB templates are). Biggest plus of this for me is that it allows you to have one "master" template instead of a dozen different ones. As someone who does code, I found platforms like Hubspot enormously frustrating in this regard. In Marketo, I can have one "master" template with dozens of modules, and those modules can be included, excluded, ordered and duplicated however I want within hundreds of emails - with no need to code within those emails. Personally I find it so much more flexible and efficient.

So: yes, you can move modules in the email editor without needing to know how to code. If you can't do this, your email template needs syntax added to support this.

For landing page templates, yes working in the template is the same regardless of whether you choose free form or guided. It's editing landing pages built on that template that is a different experience. Free-form is more of a drag and drop editing experience (personally I don't like using it as I find it too flexible, I'm not sure how others on community feel), guided requires text areas etc to be included in the template (though they're still editable in the landing page editor). I prefer guided as I find it easier to ensure brand consistency and responsive use, though it doesn't allow for the same drag and drop reordering (however many of us will use module hide/show toggles as a bit of a work around here).

Most users do find that they eventually need a developer or a third party to create the perfect templates for their needs (and there are plenty of fairly affordable third parties with comprehensive knowledge of Marketo's syntax). I would recommend that you start off in the email and landing page editors working from the OOB range of templates and play around with the options available within the asset editors themselves to get a feel for how it works. OOB email templates can be selected on the first screen when you create a new email, and you can download some landing page templates to import into your instance here: Guided Landing Page Templates - Marketo Docs - Product Documentation​.

Long but hope that helps a bit

Hi Letitia,

One of our Support Engineers wrote some nice documentation on guided templates that might help you feel more at home with them.

Getting Started With Guided Landing Pages:

Editing Marketo Guided Landing Page Templates, Pt. 1 - Elements:

Editing Marketo Guided Landing Page Templates, Pt. 2 - Variables:

Hi Laeticia,

There might be some confusions here because the term "email template" does not mean the same thing in all MAP products.

In Marketo, unlike other products, an email template does not contain real text nor real images, only place holders and all the graphical contexte (fonts and font size, colors, etc...). Creating those requires coding.

Using these, you can create emails with content in template programs. For instance a template event. this can be done in the WYSIWYG editor. Then you can clone template programs for actual scenarios (for instance an actual event) and edit the assets of this event in a WYSIWYG editor. The same applies to Landing pages. This 3 step mechanism makes in fact Marketo superior to all other products on the Market, because when you clone the program, you not only clone all the assets and workflows it contains but also all the links between these asset. This is a huge time saver.

-Greg

We do have a drag and drop landing page functionality: Create a Free-Form Landing Page - Marketo Docs - Product Documentation

Leticia,

Thank you for bringing this point up, I completely agree with you. It is pretty confusing and difficult to create landing pages in Marketo without some coding experience. Same applies to the emails, in my opinion. For that reason, we don't really use Marketo landing pages very often at my company.

In terms of emails, we found that using BeeFree.io worked great for us. It does not solve for your landing page issues, but I am sure there is a simple drag and drop editor out there if the instructions linked above in the other comments do not work for you.

For everyone that posted links to the Marketo Free-Form instructions, thank you!! I am going to take a look at those myself and see if I can create some decent looking pages for my company. I have some HTML coding experience, but not enough to really create a page on my own. Also, I am very rusty as it's been a while since I got my hands dirty with HTML.

We're experiencing the same in our company and have tried using different templates without hiring a developer. We have coded some of our landing pages to get us by but have come to realization that it has been difficult to scale across our digital marketing landscape.

We have recently signed up to Unbounce free 30 day trial and realized that this is how landing pages editors should work. It would be nice if Marketo could make their landing page editors a bit more user friendly and update the old templates. They are very 90s.

Hi Leticia,

While this does not address everything in your post, there is a collection of guided landing page templates you can download and play with. We've been able to tweak these with some trial and error, but that also included help from our web developer. I hope this is useful for you.

Guided Landing Page Templates - Marketo Docs - Product Documentation

I used Pardot in the past and found their email and landing page layout creators to be far superior to those found in Marketo. You shouldn't have to have developers code templates in order to allow Marketers to create emails and landing pages that are brand compliant. Every situation is a little different and the ability to make layout modifications is key.

Now that Marketo will be part of the Adobe family shortly, I am hoping that they will be able to bring in more user-friendly drag and drop layout creation features for both landing pages and emails.

Hi Leticia,

To answer your question directly: Yes. No doubt about it.

I was very frustrated at how much effort was required to set up campaigns in Marketo compared to other platforms I've used - and I'm very technical for a marketer. However, I was able to invest time to figure out ways to streamline program and content creation so that we could scale our marketing processes. It's worth the time and effort to either learn how to do it yourself or find a reliable party to help you.

Here is the path I've taken to get there. Maybe it can help point you in a good direction:

1. Landing pages: I followed Sanford Whiteman​'s instructions on how to embed Marketo forms into landing pages created in our CMS: Form Pre-Fill. External sites. No limits. You're welcome. They pre-fill, progressively profile, and play well within Marketo programs. Sanford is the truth.

2. Email templates: I learned how to create custom modules in Marketo's email templates. Email Template Syntax - Marketo Docs - Product Documentation. It was a lot of trial and error, but in the end I have a couple template emails that allow us to combine modules that handle almost all of our layout needs. I only occasionally need to revisit the templates to account for new designs. This allows me to stick with Marketo as my email editing tool which is essential to our workflow. Otherwise I wouldn't use Marketo.

3. Program creation: I figured out how to set up programs and use tokens to make cloning existing programs a snap. @Grégoire Michel​ (another good person to follow, as is @Josh Hill) points out that Marketo does a great job of preserving the relationship between assets in a program (smart campaigns, emails, forms, reports), which is true. Also learning how to leverage program tokens makes cloning very flexible - I use some tokens like a checklist to fill in for things like URL of the downloadable offer, campaign tracking values, etc. I don't think this makes Marketo more powerful, though. It just makes it work about as well as modern platforms when creating new programs.

So it took some doing, but now I have a solution that is scalable. In then end, it's totally worth the effort. Marketo is a powerful tool, but you are right - you need to code or have coders to make it really work well. The trick, I've found, is to invest up front in figuring out how to set up your programs, templates, and CMS integration for scalability.

Good luck!

Hi @Leticia DoPrado​,

I can appreciate the frustration here... I've heard this from more than one group as they were coming on board with Marketo. It's definitely a different paradigm than the other MAPs and there are advantages and disadvantages to it. I like @John Stalnaker​ and @Adam Pereyra​'s responses here in particular. There are a few different approaches to creative assets in Marketo, both with and without a developer. Hopefully this is a concise starting point:

1. Use third party development tools - Unbounce for landing pages and Knak.io for email assets are two that are common thought of best of breed. Using your own CMS like WordPress is also a common and cost effective option that I see used often.
2. Repurpose Marketo stock templates - Email templates are built into the interface or you can download samples from docs.Marketo.com. You might need some developer work, depending on the level of changes you need from these templates
3. Hire a Developer - It's good to have a contractor on hand anyways to help with scripting issues and ad hoc digital campaigns. All of my clients have either had an in-house designer or a creative agency on hand. Marketo's Email Syntax article that John referenced is pretty easy to implement for someone with HTML/CSS experience. If you're looking for people skilled in Marketo syntax, you might try contacting Email Monks.
4. Design it yourself - Admittedly it takes some trial and error if you're not used to this, but there are a selection of tools like Adobe Dreamweaver (yes, the same folks who are buying Marketo) that help to streamline this work. Lynda.com has some great instructional videos to help you quickly gear up if you want to take this route and that's usually free with a library card these days.

I really hope that helps! If you want to talk it through directly, feel free to PM me or give me a call and I can point you in the right direction: 704-469-5137.

All the best,

Michael Tucker

MUG Leader

Manufacturing Virtual User Group​