Benefits of Pardot Forms vs Form Handlers + Tips

Let’s start with a simple comparison of the two.

Pardot form handlers make it possible to use non-Pardot forms on your website, yet post the data directly into Pardot. For example, a WordPress form that sends submission values straight into your prospect’s profile.

Form handlers work using a code snippet generated in Pardot, called a ‘Form Handler Endpoint URL’. You simply add this code to your external form and, so long as you have mapped the fields in your form handler to the fields you want to collect in the form, the data will be imported to Pardot when the form is successfully submitted.

As the name suggests, Pardot forms are forms you create within Pardot. Because they are hosted by Pardot, they can be embedded on your website or digital platform as an ‘iframe’. Think of an iframe as a mini web page embedded within your main web page.

The explanations I’ve given you are pretty straightforward, so if you’re craving more technical comparisons, here’s a detailed table breakdown of the core differences between Pardot forms and form handlers:

It’s a question I’m often asked: “Aren’t Pardot form handlers easier than Pardot forms?”

It’s a valid thought. After all, Pardot form handlers allow marketers to stick with existing third-party forms and processes, whilst still updating the important fields in Pardot. 

From a legwork point of view, form handlers seem like the obvious choice and sometimes they are because:

• They act as a minimal effort solution for businesses who want to keep the same process before they've implemented Pardot, retaining the same style forms.

• Sensitive information like passwords, financial details etc. shouldn’t be fed directly into Pardot as it’s unnecessary and can impact compliance. Forms that ask for this type of information should use a form handler.

• Some forms require posting to multiple databases i.e. ecommerce, and form handlers allow for this.

However, using Pardot form handlers as a long-term approach may be an error if your use case doesn’t fit any of the above, or if you align with reason one; using form handlers as a solution before or during Pardot implementation. Form handlers are usually a temporary measure.

To put it bluntly, Pardot forms have powerful features and a wealth of benefits that will serve you far better than form handlers in the long run. 

At MarCloud, Pardot forms are always the preferred choice for clients unless they meet reasons two and three above. There’s no better way to get the most out of your Pardot account features.

Progressive profiling

Known as ‘progressive profiling’, Pardot forms can dynamically change and hide questions based on what you already know about a prospect. This keeps forms short which means higher conversion rates but it also means you gain more data about a prospect every time they submit a form, as opposed to repeatedly asking for their basic personal details i.e. name and email.

Consider this feature from the user’s perspective too. Repeat visitors to your website should be treated as such. Providing new form fields rather than requesting the same information shows they are recognised, which aids with personalisation and trust.

Built-in protection against bots

All Pardot forms have a honeypot and conditional CAPTCHA built-in. The best part? You and your prospects won’t even know it’s there. This naturally prevents spam submissions but if you want an extra layer of security then you can also add reCAPTCHA with a tick of a checkbox.

To be clear, Pardot form handlers have no bot protection so if you stick with these, you’ll need to ensure your forms have CAPTCHA or IP blocking, and as Salesforce puts it, it’s a good idea to use a double opt-in process for form handler prospects.

Form views and error data

Using a Pardot form gives you more insight into how the form is performing. 

If 1000 people view your form and you have only one submission, you can play around with different CTAs and reduce the form fields to increase your conversion rate. 

If there’s an unusually high error rate, it tells you that you may need a looser criteria or should use a dropdown field, for example. It’s all about conversion.

Pardot forms on Pardot landing pages

Once you’ve built a Pardot form, you’ll be able to add it to any of your Pardot landing pages pretty easily. Remember, if a prospect completes a form on a Pardot landing page, the submission will show on the landing page report instead of the form.

Automate based on form views

As we have the form view data, it means we can create automation logic around it. For example, if the contact form was viewed by a known prospect, do we want to notify someone? Or incrementally increase a field by +1 so we know how many times a prospect has viewed it? Maybe we just tag them for reference. The options are endless.

Display Pardot ‘thank you’ content

If you want full control over the ‘thank you’ message prospect receives after submitting your form, then you’re going to want to host the forms in Pardot. 

Things are constantly changing for marketers, so being able to control what shows in the ‘thank you’ message is important. You can quickly update it with promotions, invites to upcoming webinars, and maybe even stick some dynamic content in there to make it extra clever!

Tracking Pardot forms in iframes

The only drawback to Pardot forms is that they are slightly trickier to track in website analytics because they are inserted as iframes. Note that I said slightly trickier, not hard or impossible. 

In fact, with Google Tag Manager and GA4 it’s much simpler than before, especially when you have a step-by-step guide to follow (psst, hit this link for the guide!).

So don’t let a fear of tracking prevent you from creating Pardot forms.

If you’ve reached this part of the blog nodding your head and thinking, ‘Yes, I’m sold on Pardot forms” but you’re currently using form handlers, here’s how to make the switch.

Naturally, forms are a crucial marketing asset. You can’t afford to encounter errors or downtime, especially if they’re key for lead generation. Here’s how to approach a migration from form handlers to Pardot forms:

• Document a list of every form on your website or digital platforms. List all of them and feel free to assign labels for purpose or level of importance in your marketing strategy. This will help later when working through the migration and double-checking you have created each and every form in Pardot.

• Within that list, highlight any forms that collect confidential information or which need to post submission data to more than solely Pardot i.e. your ecommerce platform. These forms will continue to use Pardot form handlers.

• In Pardot, systematically create your new forms by going to

  • Marketing > Forms > Add Form

  • Input the form name (don’t forget to use naming conventions), appropriate Folder (more here about using Pardot folders for better marketing), select your tracker domain, and choose a Campaign.

  • Hit ‘Next’ and input your form fields. At this stage, it’s easiest to work with your existing fields and add progressive profiling later.

  • Hit ‘Next’ to edit the ‘Look & Feel’ of your form.

  • Go ‘Next’ to add completion actions i.e. what you want to happen when a prospect submits a form. These can help with lead grading and can be completely customised using ‘Conditional Completion Actions’. Again, let’s not run before we can walk. Focus on migrating first and perhaps add a basic completion action, then work towards improving your form strategy!

  • Confirm & Save.

• Decide which completion accounts are best suited to your forms (or form handlers, if you’ve had to include those for short-term or compliance reasons!) versus automation rules or Engagement Studio programs i.e. for prospect assignment.

• Remember that forms have a baseline score which is applied for every submission. Only add completion actions for score adjustments if you want that number to go beyond (or below) the baseline.

• Consider the user post-submission for new prospects versus existing ones. Use conditional completion actions to help create difference experiences based on this.

Of course, if you want to hit the ground running, you can always have a certified Salesforce expert do the heavylifting for you. 

Not only can MarCloud create all of your external forms as Pardot forms, we can get you straight to the point of using features like progressive profiling, conditional completion actions, and dynamic content. All of which serve to boost conversion rates and increase the volume and quality of leads in your account!

For a chat about Pardot implementation or any aspect of your account, get in touch.