Why You Should Switch to Global Forms in Marketo

One of the fastest ways to improve efficiency in your Marketo instance is by consolidating your forms into a set of global forms. This means that instead of creating a unique form for every single page or asset, you have one form that can be used across multiple pages. For example: rather than building a new form for every individual eBook or guide, you use a single "Web Content" form that lives on all of your content download pages.

Now, you might be wondering, “If I use the same form everywhere, how will I know which asset the person downloaded?” The good news is that as long as these forms live on unique pages, Marketo can capture the URL or page data, letting you track exactly which asset was downloaded. So, you can rest assured your data and reporting remain intact when you make this transition.

So why make the change?

1. Better Organization

Unique forms for every page might seem like a good idea at first, but it can quickly spiral into chaos. You end up with a large, unmanageable list of forms, and no one is totally sure which forms are still in use or where they live. Even for big teams with dedicated Marketing Ops resources, this becomes hard to manage and maintain. Things get messy fast, and standardization goes right out the window.

2. Easier Updates

In many organizations, requests to add or remove form fields come regularly to improve lead quality or simplify the user experience.

With global forms, this update is simple. You make the change once, and it automatically applies to every page using that form. The process is streamlined, consistent, and minimizes the risk of errors.

However, if each asset has its own unique form, this small change becomes a manual, time-consuming task. Every individual form must be located, updated, tested, and validated. It’s easy for forms to be missed or for inconsistencies to creep in—leading to a fragmented experience and undermining form standardization across your instance.

3. Faster Execution

Marketing teams continually produce new content — webinars, guides, white papers, and more. To keep pace, a scalable form strategy is essential. You need a form strategy that can keep up. With global forms, your web team has the right form ready to deploy at any time, eliminating delays associated with building new forms or coordinating back-and-forth updates with Marketing Operations. This agility allows your team to launch assets more quickly and efficiently.

If you’re looking for a quick win to make your Marketo instance cleaner and easier to scale, global forms are a great place to start.