How to Audit Dynamic Content and Variable Tag Usage with the Pardot API

By Erin Duncan & Mike Cruezer

Incorporating dynamic content and variable tags is an excellent way to personalize your emails, forms, and landing pages. But viewing where dynamic content and variable tags are in use is a proverbial black hole. 

Not knowing where these items are used makes updating or deleting dynamic content and fields risky. You don’t want to leave a big blank space in an email template or send a prospect an email that says “We would like to offer you              for a limited time.”

Completing an audit can reveal all the places Pardot Variable Tags and Dynamic Content are in use. So, where do you start?

How we completed the Pardot Dynamic Content and Variable Tag audit

To solve this issue, I teamed up with the Pardot API Wizard Mike Creuzer to see what information we can pull via the API. With the API, Creuzer pulled the asset IDs and the full HTML (and TEXT for email templates) from the assets. We then took the raw data and looked for anything containing “%%” (or “{{“ if you are using HML). The end result being a giant Excel sheet like this:

Pardot Dynamic Content and Variable Tag audit

Using skills from the Excel for Pardot Admins mini-series, we then split this list out into one master list of all Pardot Dynamic Content and Variable Tags present in any assets. This allowed us to not only view which dynamic content assets are more frequently used, but also ensure we would not break any personalization in our assets while altering or deleting fields and content.

Getting Technical with Ad Hoc Reporting in Pardot

To get the data in the format above, we used the typical computer science ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) pattern at a smaller scale.

Extract

In this scenario, we had to go beyond what a typical Pardot export would get us, so we turned to the Pardot API. Using the API we pulled the full HTML and TEXT from all unarchived email templates in the Pardot instance. 

If you are new to using the Pardot API, you can shorten your ramp-up time with the Postman Collection for the Pardot API from Sercante Labs.

Transform

We used a regular expression to pull only the HML, PML, and dynamic content merge fields. This allows us to quickly skim the HTML and TEXT of our email templates and identify where dynamic content and/or variable tags are in use. We effectively tossed away all the other ‘stuff’ in the emails to focus on just the needed bits.


Load

“Load” means getting the data to its final destination. In our case, the destination is a shareable and usable spreadsheet. 

We included useful fields within our spreadsheet for people who are doing the dynamic content and variable tag review (i.e. template name, Pardot business unit, etc.). And there are seemingly useless bits like the template ID, which anyone can easily use to create a direct link to the template for editing. 

We also built in additional features, such as flagging when a TEXT version of an email is blank or where an @ symbol was used before %%current_year)yyyy% instead of ©. Finally, we pulled this process together in a programmed script to allow us to easily re-pull the data after dynamic content and fields were deleted, thus ensuring no tags were missed.

Audit your Pardot Dynamic Content and Variable Tags, and tell us how you did

With toolsets like this at your disposal, you can quickly and accurately get more work done. It’s easy to expand this process into other use cases after you’ve completed the process once or twice. For example, you can look for variable tags within dynamic content. 

What Pardot data would you like to audit with a process like this? Tell us in the comments!And remember to reach out to the Sercante team when the challenge calls for Pardot experts.

The post How to Audit Dynamic Content and Variable Tag Usage with the Pardot API appeared first on The Spot For Pardot.

By |2021-08-24T19:39:41+00:00August 24th, 2021|Categories: Content Marketing, Design, Email Marketing, Experiments, Integration|

Pardot Goodies from the Salesforce IdealExchange

This past year has been a great year for Pardot Admins everywhere. With each new release, Pardot has grown in functionality and has also become more integrated with Salesforce. This is fantastic as it allows for tighter data control, better personalization when communicating with prospects, improved user management processes. and an overall better user experience. In the wake of the new year, check out the newest Pardot features and updates on the Salesforce Spring 21 release notes to gain insights into what is coming in 2021.

As Pardot Admins, we often run into corners of the platform that require a little more creativity in order to solve a specific business need. Oftentimes, you can just “Google it” and voilà! Many in the Pardot community have the exact same question or problem you do, and although you find the answer (which is a huge relief), wouldn’t it be fantastic if there was a way for Pardot simply to add a fix for everyone?

Well my friend, grab a seat and let’s head over to the IdeaExchange!

What is the IdeaExchange anyway?

Back in 2006, the #Ideaexchange was born as a way to involve its customers (big and small) in a modern effort to crowdsource ideas for its product roadmap. This would ensure that the community got a platform that they could use to contribute their ideas and wishes. A place where the Pargods could go for inspiration if you will as they build the world of tomorrow.

How does one enter their idea into the IdeaExchange?

  • Come up with an idea and submit it to the exchange
  • You then get trapped and spend 2-4 hours going through other people’s ideas (definitely optional, but highly encouraged). 
  • If your idea gets enough votes (10+ points for you) then a Product Manager gets involved
  • The idea is developed and then delivered, and we all cheer!

Need more details? We wrote a little about the history of the AppExchange.

Our List of Top IdeaExchange Items 

To celebrate the IdeaExchange 14th anniversary this year, here are 14 wonderful ideas worth upvoting and adding to your wishlist, just in time for the new year.

Data Management

1. Ability to set field character limit for custom fields on Pardot side
This feature would help reduce conflicts between both platforms when it comes to character limits. We wrote about
how to fix this with Javascript.
Upvote >>

2. Country lists match between Salesforce and Pardot
This feature would help create more symmetry when it comes to Country values between the two instances. Currently, there are several different values between both. We wrote about how to fix this with Heroku
Upvote >>

3. Customize all list view columns
This feature would allow you to customize list columns for easy scanning of field completions and provide reporting-like capabilities.
Upvote >>

4. Notification on SFDC connector errors
This feature would allow Pardot admins to create notifications in summary of sync errors to make sure they are resolved promptly.
Upvote >>

5. Parameter in automation rules for “is changed”
This feature would allow you to see if there was a change in a field to trigger an action based on the change.
Upvote >>

Marketing Operations

6. Allow custom object fields to be used as email tags
This feature would allow email marketers the ability to inject values from custom objects into emails and other pieces of Pardot generated content.
Upvote >>

7. Ability to block competitor domains from all emails including autoresponders
This feature would ensure that none of your competitors receive the email you set up with your forms or enter your nurture series. 
Upvote >>

8. Conditional options for completion actions
This feature would allow marketing operations teams to save on automation rules and contain automations at the form level with some IF/THEN preferences based on user input on forms.
Upvote >>

9. Dynamic content based on list membership
This feature would enable you to do dynamic content criteria based on list membership effectively allowing you to use more than one data point as your criteria.
Upvote >>

10. Email Templates with Completion Actions
This feature would make it easier to build email templates that scale without the need to use Engagement Studio or other automations to prioritize actions. 
Upvote >>

11. SEO/Social media friendly Pardot landing pages: Images and meta tags
This feature would make it easier for marketers to update meta tags and social cards to share content using Pardot native social media capabilities.
Upvote >>

12. Time zone dependent delivery for list emails
This feature would allow marketing operations to choose one time and send it across that time in different time zones. It would save the User from creating multiple list emails with the same content.
Upvote >>

Sales Operations

13. Allow customization of notification email subject/content
This feature would allow you to use Dynamic Content and Variable tags on the subject line of notification emails (e.g. Notify User [when someone fills out the Contact Us form]) which currently is auto generated and cannot be updated.
Upvote >>

14. Allow variable fields in SFDC tasks
This feature would allow you to add variable tags to the Salesforce task you assigned to the User. Currently the message is static and everyone gets the same.
Upvote >>

You can find more ideas to browse while you binge-watch the ParDreamin’ 2020 videos.

Will your Pardot dreams ever come true?

While some Pardot Admin recommendations get picked up and implemented faster than others, it all depends on community participation and perceived need from the Pardot product team. In fact, to help drive ideas, Salesforce created a prioritization system (the next cycle starts in mid January 2021) where you can see top feature suggestions across the ecosystem battle it out!

You may be wondering, do any ideas actually make it to the product? The answer is yes.

Dreams do come true! In fact, these two ideas were just releases in the last release.

Our friend Jen Kazin recently discussed the new Email Builder at ParDreamin earlier this month. You can watch a quick demo of the feature by Salesforce here

Are there any features or functionality you wish you could see? If so, let us know below. With a little bit of luck and support from your Pardot and Salesforce Ohana, you might also uncover the secrets of the IdeaExchange and get your idea on the scoreboard.

Don’t forget to vote for these ideas, submit your own and chat with us on Twitter, LinkedIn or simply subscribe to the blog on the left side of the page.

The post Pardot Goodies from the Salesforce IdealExchange appeared first on The Spot For Pardot.

By |2021-01-19T19:02:01+00:00January 19th, 2021|Categories: Content Marketing, Data Management, Email Marketing, Experiments, Integration|

Scoring Categories and HML: The Peanut Butter and Chocolate Moment

BY MIKE MORRIS

Let’s start by saying that if you’re not using scoring categories in Pardot, you probably should be. If you offer more than one solution or service or have multiple topics represented on your website, scoring categories are for you. These little gems allow you to break down your total score and identify your prospects’ specific areas of interest. This is huge when it comes to tailoring your marketing messaging and directing your sales team’s efforts.

To get started with scoring categories, check out Erin Duncan’s post Pardot Scoring Category Basics: What, How & Why.

Another super cool feature in Pardot that you may not be utilizing is Handlebars Merge Language (HML). HML, rolled out in August 2019, expands the personalization capabilities of Pardot well beyond Pardot Merge Language (PML) and introduces the ability to use conditional statements (among other capabilities).

To learn more about HML, check out Skyler Nakashima’s post How Pardot’s New Handlebars Merge Language Improves Personalization.

Now for the peanut butter and chocolate moment!

Using Scoring Categories + HML to Power Dynamic Content

A client recently asked me if we could use the scoring category data we built into her account as criteria for her dynamic content. While there are lots of options that you can use to inform the variation of dynamic content out of the box, including score, scoring categories is not one of them. However, with a bit of ingenuity and HML, scoring categories can be used to fuel dynamic content. Here’s how.

The Process

Step 1 – Create custom prospect fields (checkbox) in Pardot that align to your scoring categories. I also like to use a standardized naming convention so the fields are 1) grouped together and 2) easy to identify.

Step 2 – Create automation rules to update the checkbox value to “True” based on the achievement of a defined category score. You’ll want to set the score to a value that is high enough to show significant interest in the topic. This number will vary based on your scoring model.

Step 3 – Create dynamic content for each of your topics. When doing this, you’ll also need to consider how you want the content to display in your message. If a prospect has an interest in multiple topics, do you want to display a block of dynamic content for each in the email or would you prefer to only show one? In this example, we are going to choose to prioritize our topics as 1) Dogs 2) Cats and 3) Birds and display only one piece of content in the body of the email. 

Note: The default content for Dogs is blank. This was done intentionally and is necessary to ensure the proper functionality of the “else” HML statements. Only add default content into the final topic in your list of priorities – Birds in our example (see below).

Step 4 – Now the HML magic! The code below is essentially a conditional statement based on the dynamic content that we previously created.

{{#if dynamic_content_1789}} {{{dynamic_content_1789}}}
{{else}}{{#if dynamic_content_1791}} {{{dynamic_content_1791}}}
{{else}}{{{dynamic_content_1793}}}{{/if}}{{/if}}

It helps to have a decoder ring to see exactly what’s going on here. In this example, the dynamic content aligns to the topics as follows:

  1. Dogs – {{{dynamic_content_1789}}}
  2. Cats – {{{dynamic_content_1791}}}
  3. Birds – {{{dynamic_content_1793}}}

Based on this, the plain English behind our statement is:

  1. If Dogs is Yes, show Dogs 
  2. else if Cats is Yes, show Cats 
  3. else if Birds is Yes, show Birds 
  4. else If Birds is No, show Birds default content

Take Your Dynamic Content to the Next Level with Scoring Categories & HML

Scoring categories and HML are very powerful features in Pardot. While both add tremendous value independently, they can be combined to open up even more possibilities. If you need a hand getting started with scoring categories, HML or have questions about how these features can work together, drop us a note or add your questions below in the comments. 

By |2020-05-14T11:18:13+00:00May 14th, 2020|Categories: Experiments|