Description
Key Benefits
Today’s buyers spend time researching before they ever reach out. That means a significant share of your paid media, social, and organic traffic arrives anonymously. Eloqua tracks these anonymous visitors and records the URLs they land on — including any query strings in those URLs. When a visitor later submits a form and becomes a known contact, this app looks back through their visit history, finds pages visited via tagged campaign URLs, and creates External Activities and campaign responses that would otherwise never exist.
Key Benefits
- Connect pre-conversion anonymous visits to the contacts they eventually became
- Create campaign responses that feed Eloqua’s attribution and ROI reporting
- Capture query string parameters — UTM values, campaign codes, and custom fields — into a Custom Data Object for reporting and segmentation
- Works within your existing Program Canvas setup — no custom development required
How It Works
The app runs as a step in the Eloqua Program Canvas. When a new contact enters that step, it scans their pre-conversion visitor history for page visits that contain configured query string parameters.
For the app to create an External Activity and campaign response, your paid media URLs must include a query string field that contains the Eloqua Campaign ID. Additional parameters — UTM values, source data, custom fields — are captured into a Custom Data Object at the same time.
A typical tagged URL looks like this:
www.website.com/contact-us?utm_source=linkedin&utm_campaign=Q1-Brand&campaign_code=123
In this example, campaign_code=123 is the Eloqua Campaign ID. utm_source and utm_campaign are written to the CDO. Multiple parameters can be configured simultaneously.
Steps:
- A visitor clicks a tagged paid media URL and lands on an Eloqua-tracked page. The tracking script records the visit, including all query strings.
- The visitor submits a form and becomes a known contact. Eloqua links their anonymous visitor history to the new contact record.
- The contact enters the Program Canvas and reaches the app step. The app scans their visit history using a configurable lookback window.
- For each matched visit, the app creates an External Activity tied to the Eloqua Campaign ID, and writes all captured query string values to the CDO.
What This App Does and Doesn't Do
This app handles:
- Click-throughs from paid media that land on Eloqua-tracked pages
- Retroactive campaign response creation for new contacts
- UTM parameter and query string capture into a Custom Data Object
- Lookback window up to 6 months (configurable)
- Attribution that feeds Eloqua’s closed-loop campaign reporting natively
Outside the scope of this app:
- Ad impressions — no URL visit occurs, so no data is available
- Social engagement: likes, shares, and comments on ads
- Ongoing UTM capture for existing known contacts who don’t submit a form
- Visitors who clear cookies or switch devices before converting
What You Need Before Setup
- Eloqua tracking script on your website — the script must be active on pages your paid media campaigns link to
- Tagged campaign URLs — paid media URLs must include a query string parameter containing the Eloqua Campaign ID; consistent tagging across all channels is required for reliable results
- Active Eloqua campaigns — the app only creates responses for campaigns that are currently active
- Pre-built Custom Data Object — if using the Query String Tracker feature, the CDO must be created and configured in Eloqua before setup; the app maps to an existing CDO and does not create one automatically
Note on cookies: Attribution depends on Eloqua’s tracking cookie linking a visitor’s anonymous history to their eventual form submission. If a visitor clears cookies, uses a different browser or device, or is subject to strict consent mode settings, the link may not be made. This is a platform-level behavior that affects all Eloqua visitor tracking.
Documentation
Frequently Asked Questions
Does this app work for existing contacts, or only new ones?
The app triggers when a new contact enters the configured Program Canvas step. For existing known contacts who visit a tracked page without submitting a form, query string parameters are not automatically captured. A different approach — such as hidden form fields on landing pages — is needed for that use case.
How far back does the lookback window go?
The lookback window is configurable. The default is up to 6 months of pre-conversion visit history.
Do my URLs need to include Eloqua Campaign IDs specifically?
Yes, for External Activities and campaign responses to be created. The app looks for a query string field that contains the Eloqua Campaign ID. UTM parameters and other values are captured to the CDO but do not create campaign responses on their own.
How does this compare to using hidden form fields?
Hidden form fields capture UTM data only at the moment of form submission, missing earlier visits from other campaigns. They also write data to contact fields rather than creating campaign responses, which means they don’t feed Eloqua’s attribution reporting the same way. This app creates actual campaign responses from pre-conversion history.
Does each Eloqua instance need its own license?
Yes. Each instance requires a separate license. See the Details section below for usage limits.
Details
- Each Eloqua instance requires a separate cloud app license.
- Each cloud app license includes a reasonable usage limitation of 250k records processed daily and up to 5 app instantiations per Eloqua instance. Higher usage tiers are available at extra cost.
- For additional license details, please review the Cloud Services User License Agreement.
