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PathFactory

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What is PathFactory?

PathFactory is an intelligent B2B content experience platform used to create personalized content journeys for your audience. The global content team is primarily responsible for all the of the content within the PathFactory. Marketing campaign managers work with other teams in marketing to organize and curate assets into tracks that are then disseminated for use in Marketo, about.gitlab.com, and other campaign-related channels.

PathFactory vs. Marketo

☝️ PathFactory ≠ Email Nurture. PathFactory is a tool that - instead of driving to a single asset - drives to a related-content experience.

Nurture is a channel to bring an individual to the content. Just like ads, social, website, etc. drive to CTAs, PathFactory link is the CTA - a powerful CTA because it can lead the individual down a "choose your own adventure" path of consumption which we track.

What are the differing goals of PathFactory and Marketo?

Can records be in Marketo nurture and PathFactory nurture at the same time? If not, is 1 prioritized over the other?

Yes, the PathFactory track acts as a supplement to the existing Marketo nurture instead of a replacement. It allows us to provide related content in a seamless way for the end-user (better than simply providing a PDF link and to improve "binging" of content).

PathFactory vs. CMS vs. DAM

PathFactory is not a single source of truth (SSoT) for all GitLab content, but rather content that has been activated in a marketing campaign.

Content Management System (CMS) - A content management system is a software application that can be used to manage the creation and modification of digital content.

Digital Asset Management (DAM) - Digital asset management (DAM) is a system that stores, shares and organizes digital assets in a central location.

PathFactory - Content experience software used to allow buyers to binge-consume content, remove friction, and create more qualified leads, faster.

PathFactory for Sales

PathFactory for Sales allows B2B sales teams to deliver and track personalized content to engage buyers and close deals.

Access

The Marketing Operations team is responsible for managing access requests & provisioning the appropriate level of access for each role/function. PathFactory is not provisioned as a baseline entitlement. If you or your team require access, please open a Single Person Access Request issue and provide business reason why access is needed. For certain permissions or roles, you may be required to go through training before access is provisioned.

User Roles

There are three levels of access - Admin, Author, Reporter - which are granted based on the persons' role and team function within GitLab. All access levels have the ability to view analtyics within the tool.

For more info on the capabilities of each role, see the knowledge base article.

Rules of Engagement by Team

Team User Roles Rules of Engagement
Marketing Operations Admin Manage, quality assurance, user management, system integrations, training
Content Marketing Author Add content, quality assurance, participate in quarterly content audits
Marketing Campaign Managers Author Add content, create and edit tracks for use in campaigns, define form strategy for conversion on tracks, participate in quarterly content audits
Product Marketing Author (select users), Reporter (select users) Upload new content, participate in quarterly content audits, collaborate with Authors of tracks on content selection
Field Marketing Author (select users), Reporter (select users) Upload content from virtual workshops, clone existing workshop tracks for use in follow-up emails, view content performance
Account-Based Marketing Author Add content, create and edit content tracks for use in campaigns
Customer Reference Programs Author Upload new case studies and customer content
Developer Evangelism Author Upload new technical content
Sales Development Representative (SDR) Sales user (PathFactory for Sales only) PathFactory for Sales (SFDC)
All Remote Author Upload new all remote content, create and edit content tracks for use in all-remote campaigns

Support

  1. Knowledge base, The Nook (requires user in PathFactory and the email you use for PathFactory will be the same to access The Nook, however, the password is not.)
  2. Success Series Webinars
  3. PathFactory Ideas Portal
  4. Release Notes (requires access to The Nook)

Training

  1. The Path to Understanding: Onboarding Training
  2. Getting started video series (must be provisioned to PathFactory and use your GitLab email address to view)
  3. Digital marketing brown bag session overview - Slides
  4. Author role training (Do not share externally - PII data presented)
  5. Reporter role training (Do not share externally - PII data presented)
  6. How to Create a Website Promoter

Issue Templates

Marketing Operations

  1. Generic PathFactory request
  2. PathFactory QA Review request
  3. New PathFactory form request

Campaigns

  1. Pathfactory Upload Request
  2. Pathfactory Bulk Upload Request
  3. Pathfactory Track Request

Changelog

Periodically, significant changes are made or added to PathFactory and processes that affect overall data and reporting. As such we have a changelog. Everyone with Author access that is making significant changes in PathFactory should add their changes to the changelog with a linked issue and/or relevant PathFactory links.

Scenarios for adding to the changelog:

  1. Creation or launch of a new content track and where it will be used
  2. Creation or launch of a new website promoter
  3. Additions or changes to a form strategy within a [LIVE] content track
  4. Additions or changes to assets within a [LIVE] content track
  5. Expiration of an asset from the content library
  6. Change of a custom URL slug for an asset or content track and why
  7. Change of promote settings within a [LIVE] content track and why

Instructions

  1. Open the PathFactory changelog doc.
  2. Add the date you made the change if it doesn't already exist.
  3. Add a bullet with your GitLab username and document the changes you made, making sure to include links to issues or relevant PathFactory links.

Content Library

The content library is where all content uploaded to PathFactory is added and tagged for use in content tracks and experiences. An asset must exist in the content library first before it can be utilized in a PathFactory experience.

PathFactory Campaign Tools

There are multiple types of PathFactory experiences that you can create under Campaign Tools:

  1. Content Tracks (target or recommend)
    • Target Tracks - Target Tracks are collections of content that you have selected and organized in order to give your visitors a specific content journey.
    • Recommend Tracks - Recommend Tracks are collections of content specifically selected by you, and which rely on machine-learning to suggest the ideal content to show your prospects based on what they are already viewing.
  2. Explore Pages - Explore Pages allow your visitors to quickly view all content assets in a content track. Each Explore Page you create is built on top of an existing Target or Recommend Content Track.
  3. Website Promoters - Website promoters allow you to harness the power of PathFactory’s content promoters directly on your website. They provide more opportunities for interested parties to find and enter your Content Tracks by connecting eye-catching CTAs to content tracks.

Track Naming conventions

When creating and editing content tracks, please use the following naming convention to let others know the status of your track.

  1. [WIP] - [Campaign Name] - work in progress track; not live
  2. [LIVE] - [Campaign Name] - live track; traffic is flowing to track
  3. [ARCHIVED] - [Campaign Name] - arhived track; not in active use; traffic may or may not be flowing to track

Content Tracks

Before creating a new content track, decide what type of content track (target vs. recommend) you want to create. Use the criteria below to decide the best option:

Best Practices

Target track

  1. Curated content
  2. Known audience
  3. Personalized journey (email, website, targeted display)
  4. 5-7 pieces of content
  5. Use target in webinar reg and follow-up
  6. Use target to GUIDE

Recommended track

  1. Dynamic content sequence (it will automatically move content to the top of the track that is performing well)
  2. Anonymous audience
  3. Personalized journey (web, general display, social)
  4. Tracks the most popular journey (which pieces are being viewed, can be exported into a target track)
  5. Use recommend to DISCOVER

Create a Content Track

  1. When you're ready, select Campaign Tools in the top navigation bar and select the content track type you want to create (target or recommend).
  2. Click the Create track button in the top right.
  3. Name your content track. Be descriptive about the topic or campaign that your track will be used for. If you're unsure, review the names of other content tracks to get an idea. The content track name is for internal use only and will not be shown to visitors. Each content track has to have a unique name. You cannot use duplicate names for content tracks.
  4. Choose to clone an existing content track, which will copy all assets from that content track into yours, or simply start from scratch.
  5. Choose the folder where your content track will live. Follow the current folder hierarchy for organization which is currently set up by team.
  6. Tag your content track with labels that will tell everyone accessing the content track which channels it will be used on (internal use only).
  7. Click Create Track.
  8. On the left panel, change the custom URL slug to be descriptive of the track with no stop words (and, the, etc.) - ex. ci-aware
  9. Add assets to your track by clicking the Add content button at the top right. A window will pop up with the content library. Use the sorting options at the top to quickly add content by topic, type, funnel stage, etc. PathFactory content tracks are meant to encourage content binging (visitors reading more than 1 asset to accelerate them in the pipeline by helping them self educate faster in one visit). So as best practice, have more than 1 asset in a track.

Configure Content Track Settings

  1. DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP! Set the custom URL slug for the content track. Follow the instructions for creating a custom URL slug for an asset.
    • Important: All content tracks should be set up with custom URL slugs to prevent any future changes to the track from breaking the link and thus the user experience.
    • If you change the custom URL slug after a PathFactory link has been implemeneted, those links have to be updated wherever they were used (ads, emails, website, etc.).
  2. Ensure that the Search Engine Directive is set to No Index, No Follow.
  3. Set the appearance for the track.
  4. Set the language for the track.
  5. Leave Links & Sharing set to default.
  6. Leave External ID set to default.
  7. Turn on the Cookie Consent before providing the approved content track link for live use.

Promoters

Promoters are the tools that allow visitors to navigate the Content Tracks and encourage them to view additional recommended content. Think of promoters as the guides through a content track; the promoters you use determine how and when content will be presented to visitors. Note the different functionality of each below. Before going live, you can test each promoter to find the one that works best for the goals of your PathFactory experience.

CTAs

Call-to-action (CTA) buttons encourage further engagement from your visitors within your Content Tracks. CTAs can be added to any Target or Recommend Content Track. These CTA buttons can link to either a form or a URL.

Create a CTA

  1. Click the settings (gear icon) and navigate to CTAs under User Experience.
  2. Click the Add CTA button.
  3. Enter a name for the CTA (internal purposes only). Be specific so others know what the main goal of the CTA is.
  4. Enter a button label for your CTA. This is what the user will see. Copy for CTAs should typically be 2-3 words max (18 characters) and include action words such as Watch a demo.
  5. Choose your CTA type (form, link, email).
    • If choosing form as your CTA type, it must include proper capture tags and script. Do not choose a WIP form as your CTA.
    • If choosing link as your CTA type, it must include UTM paramters for proper tracking (ex: utm_source=pathfactory&utm_medium=cta-name)
    • For email, simply input the email address you want users to contact from clicking the CTA.
  6. Click Save.

Form Strategy

Form strategy is used on content tracks to collect data from unknown visitors. This is done by "gating" an asset within a track or by creating a track rule with an engagement threshold (example: spent at least 60 seconds in the track and viewed 2 assets). Not all content tracks will or should have form strategy turned on - it depends on the goal of your campaign. Form strategy should only be used when a track entry point is not from a webform or landing page (i.e. direct link from digital ad or web promoter). The forms used in PathFactory are directly tied to currently existing Marketo forms.

Please Note: PathFactory activity is tied into the MQL scoring model. This means that you do not need to add form strategy to a content track if entry point is from a landing page.

Add Form Strategy to a Content Track

  1. In the content track settings sidebar (left), toggle "Forms Strategy" to On.
  2. Click View Form Strategy located below the Add Content button.
  3. Determine whether the form strategy will be applied to individual assets or the entire track. For individual assets, you'll choose Content Rules; for form strategy on the entire content track, you'll choose Track Rule.

Form strategy by asset:

  1. Click Add Rule in the Content Rules row.
  2. Select the General Form (2074) LIVE form unless otherwise required according to campaign needs. Do not select a form marked [WIP].
  3. Under Display Behavior, click the dropdown and choose the assets where you want the form to show. (Please Note: only assets that you have added to the content track will show in the dropdown. If you want the form to show on an asset that is not in the track, you will need to add it first.)
  4. Select the amount of seconds you want to delay before the form shows on the asset. 10 seconds is the default selection.
  5. Select additional options for the form behavior. If you will be using the content track or individual asset links in an email, you are working with a known audience and therefore should only select Show to unknown users. This prevents forms being shown to users who are already known in Marketo. However, if you are using the form on the web or other channels, you'll want to select Show to unknown users only.
  6. Ensure Show to Known Visitors is toggled off.
  7. Leave If submitted, allow form to show again toggled off.
  8. You can allow visitors to dismiss the forms if it is not crucial to its use to have them submit their info.
  9. The option Keep promoters active when form is shown is up to the Author. For example, if the Flow promoter is used on a content track, they will still be able to see the sidebar of avialable content while the form is shown to them. If this option is toggled off, the visitor will not be able to click on any content in the sidebar until they fill out the form.

Form strategy for content tracks:

  1. Click Add Rule in the Track Rule row.
  2. Select the General Form (2074) LIVE form unless otherwise required according to campaign needs.
  3. Under Display Behavior you can choose to serve the form based on the number of content assets viewed or the total time spent on the track.
  4. All other options for content track rules are the same for individual assets (see above).
  1. Click through the experience to ensure assets, CTAs, and forms load properly and that promoters are working as intended.
  2. Remove any extraneous ? (there should only be one immediately after the end of the URL).
  3. Watch for extra & when appending UTMs.
  4. Test and ensure the experience is working as intended.

When a track is LIVE (in use):

  1. Change the target track title in use to [LIVE] Name of track.

When a track has been archived (no longer in use):

  1. Change the target track title that's no longer in use to [ARCHIVED] Name of track.

Adjustments to Live Content Tracks

Prescriptive Buyer Journey Content Tracks

DRI for track creation: Campaign Managers

PathFactory Forms

The forms used in PathFactory are hardcoded Marketo form script. They are added to PathFactory using the Marketo script, but they should also include the PathFactory capture tags and custom parameters to capture additional information behind the form fill. If a new form is created, the PathFactory capture tag and custom paramters must be hardcoded in the script.

Request a new PathFactory Form

To request a new form to use in PathFactory, the form must first exist in Marketo. If one does not exist, first create an issue in the marketing ops project using the form_request.md template. Once the Marketo form is completed, then create an issue in the marketing ops project using the pathfactory_form.md template.

Capture Tags

A Capture Tag is a snippet of code added to a Marketo form code itself. The Capture Tag sees the visitor’s email address on submitted form, and sends it to PathFactory. This allows PathFactory to associate the email address of a visitor to their engagement data; the visitor will then be a known visitor rather than anonymous.

We use external forms (added by External URL or Custom HTML generated from Marketo) in PathFactory. The information submitted in the form is sent directly to Marketo. In order for PathFactory to associate the submitted email address with the visitor’s engagement data, you must use a Capture Tag. This is what allows PathFactory to identify the individual as a known visitor.

  1. Use the Get Share URL feature next to the title of the track. Share links are to be used in locations such as the website whereas Email tracking links are only for use in email. Note: If it’s in email, it’s a known audience so don’t gate any assets in the track. Only use share links on the web and those tracks can have gated assets within PathFactory.
  2. If you want a particular asset to show first, that asset should be located in the first position of the target track.
  1. To use a recommend track link, click on any of the assets in the track and copy the link from the asset window on the right. The asset you choose to share the link will be shown to the user first.
  1. First check and see if there is a question mark ? already existing in the PF link. Typically there is one. The only time it won't have a ? is when you set a custom URL.
  2. If there is a question mark ?, first add an ampersand & at the end of the PF link, followed by the UTMs.
    • For example:
    • PF Link: https://learn.gitlab.com/c/10-strategies-to-red?x=53kuPb
    • PF Link with UTMs: https://learn.gitlab.com/c/10-strategies-to-red?x=53kuPb&utm_source=email&utm_campaign=test
  3. If there is no question mark ?, first add a question mark ? at the end of the PF link, followed by the UTMs.
    • PF Link: https://learn.gitlab.com/c/10-strategies-to-red
    • PF Link with UTMs: https://learn.gitlab.com/c/10-strategies-to-red?utm_source=email&utm_campaign=test

Marketo links

  1. For a PF Marketo link, it will typically already include a question mark "?". To add UTMs, first add an ampersand & at the end of the PF link, followed by the UTMs.
    • Example: https://learn.gitlab.com/c/devops-explained-git?x=GVFK3F&lb_email={{lead.Email Address}}&utm_source=email&utm_campaign=test
  2. Remove any extraneous ? (there should only be one immediately after the end of the URL).
  3. Watch for extra &.
  4. Test the link before implementation for quality assurance purposes.

PathFactory links behind a form fill on a landing page

  1. When using a PathFactory link as the redirect behind a form fill on a landing page, the link format should be as follows:

https://learn.gitlab.com/c/gcn-dev-sec-ops-how-?x=XOIXTl&lb_email=

Using a content track with a custom URL

  1. If your content track has a custom URL, you will notice the ? in a different location than with content tracks that don't have a custom URL.
    • With no custom URL: https://learn.gitlab.com/c/gcn-dev-sec-ops-how-?x=XOIXTl&lb_email= (x=XOIXTl = content track ID)
    • With custom URL: https://learn.gitlab.com/cicd/cloud-ci-tools-matur?lb_email={{lead.Email Address}}

*Note: for simplicity in tracking, we strongly urge you to use a custom URL slug on all tracks. Video regarding custom URL slugs

Custom Query Strings

PathFactory’s custom query string manager allows you to manage and append query strings when sharing a link to a content track or explore page.

  1. Select Organization Settings in the dropdown menu in the top right corner.
  2. Select the Custom Query Strings tab.
  3. Create your custom query. When you save the new query string, it will be available whenever you access a content track in PathFactory and click the Share button or icon.

Note: Do not delete or edit the default query string for Marketo as that query string is an important way to integrate with PathFactory.

Explore Pages

Explore pages allow your visitors to quickly view all content assets in a content track. Each explore page you create is built on top of an existing target or recommend content track.

Use Cases

Explore pages can act as replacements for traditional landing pages or simple microsites.

Create an Explore Page

Before you make an explore page ensure that you have already built a content track (target or recommended) that you will use as the base.

  1. Select Explore from the left navigation.
  2. Click on the Create Explore Page button.
  3. Enter a name for your explore page and select a content track to use as your base. You can either create an entirely new explore page built on an existing target or recommend content track, or clone an existing explore page.
  4. Select which folder the explore page will live in, then click Create Explore Page. Please follow the hierarchy of folders by dept. from the content tracks.
  5. The colors, fonts, imagery, and layout of your explore page can be customized in Appearances. Select your desired appearance from the left navigation in your explore page under Page Settings.
  6. Under Page Settings, ensure that the Search Engine Directive is set to No Index, No Follow.
  7. Choose your desired layout under Layout Settings.
  8. Choose your desired content settings under Content Settings.
  9. Be sure to test your explore page fully.

Explore Page FAQs

Why can’t I change the background color behind my cover image?

The cover background color only shows when the cover image is set to "Fixed Width." Because of this, the color selection square is only available when "Fixed Width" has been selected.

I don’t want this header on my Explore page, how do I get rid of it?

The header is applied to an Explore experience from the base content track you chose for the explore page. If you don’t want the header on your explore page, go to the base content track and turn the header off.

I don’t like the order that my content is arranged on the Explore page; how do I move my content around?

All changes to the content in an explore page has to be done in the base content track that the explore page is built from. This includes the order of your content, so if you want to reorder your content you have to do so in the base content track.

Can I create a custom hero for a header on my page?

Yes! You can add a custom hero image by navigating to Appearances Configuration and selecting the appearance you would like to modify. Then click on the Explore tab and select cover image for Hero layout and upoad your custom image under Hero Image. Make sure you click save on both the explore image upload and then again to save the appearance edits you have made (recommended size for a hero image is 1600x500).

Appearances

Appearances allow you to control the look and feel of your content tracks. By creating different appearance groups you are able to quickly and easily apply different colors, fonts, and logos to content tracks without having to configure them each time you build a new track. Appearance settings allow you to control how your promoters look, select favicons for your tracks, and configure the appearance of your cookie consent messaging.

You are able to change the appearance of the following components of a content track:

  1. Promoters
  2. Cookie Consent and Cookie Message
  3. Favicon
  4. Header

Video walkthrough of appearances (Nook login required)

Create a new appearance group

  1. Click the gear icon at the top right of the page. Select Appearances from the drop-down menu.
  2. Click Add Appearance.
  3. Name the appearance group.
  4. Select the color of the text and the primary color by clicking on the colored boxes.
  5. Change the font of the text by selecting from the drop-down menu. Click the B button to bold the text. Click on the A buttons to change the text size.
  6. When you are done making changes click Add Appearance.
  7. Once you’ve created your Appearance groups, you can apply this styling to any of your content tracks. Simply select the appearance group from the drop-down menu under Experience Settings.

PathFactory Localization

The Languages feature gives you complete control over the text displayed to visitors on your promoters within content tracks and on website promoters. This feature also allows you to create language groups for languages other than English, and to customize the text that will be displayed for those languages.

There is no native integration between Smartling and PathFactory. To create a new language configuration in PathFactory and submit the default English source text available in PathFactory's language configuration menu, you must create a CSV. You can only include/exclude columns for translation in CSV. See the help center article for more info on formatting CSV files to submit for translation.

  1. We currently have English, French, German, and Japanese configurations for Appearances.
  2. Languages PathFactory currently supports
  3. Asset types (content types) support localization
  4. Explore Pages now have a dedicated tab within Language Settings where you can set localized text for the Featured Label, Search Button Title, Search Input Field Placeholder, Filter By Content Type Title, and Filter By Topic Title. See more info.
  5. You can see a list of the number of assets by language in the content library using the content tag filters.

Create a New Language Config

  1. In PathFactory, click the gear icon in the top right navigation and select Languages under User Experience.
  2. Click the Add Language button in the top right or in the left sidebar under the other language configurations.
  3. Select the language from the drop down menu.
  4. If there are sections of the langauge configuration that are not translated in your selected language, please open an issue.

PathFactory Tracking

PathFactory Webhook

Webhooks allow PathFactory to automatically connect with a third party system and send data every time someone visits or interacts with a PathFactory experience. There are 3 types of PathFactory webhooks (form capture, visitor session, visitor activity).

We currently use the Visitor Session Webhook to connect to Marketo. The Visitor session webhook is triggered off of session data. A visitor session begins when a visitor arrives on a content track and ends when that visitor has stopped engaging with content for thirty minutes. This webhook is triggered when a visitor session ends. This means that the webhook will trigger and send data to Marketo thirty minutes after the visitor has finished engaging with content. The data sent though this webhook provides an overview of the level of engagement the visitor had with your content track and the content assets inside them during the session.

Bizible

Custom PathFactory Fields

There are custom PathFactory fields available in Salesforce and Marketo.

Field Name Purpose
PathFactory Asset Type A tag to help categorize types of content (whitepaper, video, eBook, etc)
PathFactory Assets Viewed Cumulative number of assets viewed. This is not associated to time consumed! See Content Count for difference
PathFactory Content Count Cumulative count of assets consumed. Example: if person consumes 2 whitepapers, 1 video and blog post for minimum of 20 seconds each in a single session this field would show 4.
PathFactory Content Engagement Threshold The engagement threshold time setting (in seconds) of the content asset.
PathFactory Content Journey Shows users path through a PathFactory experience (next asset viewed from previous asset based on slug)
PathFactory Content Language The language of the content asset.
PathFactory Content List Cumulative list of each assets content id/slug for each asset consumed.
PathFactory Content Slug The custom slug of the content asset.
PathFactory Content Source URL The URL of the underlying source content of the content asset.
PathFactory Content Title The public title of the content asset.
PathFactory Content URL The current public URL of the asset being rendered in the content track.
PathFactory Engagement Score Each asset in content library can be assigned an engagement score; this score is passed from PF to SFDC and used to determine meaningful engagement with content.
PathFactory Engagement Time Cumulative time a person spends consuming assets in session.
PathFactory Experience Name The PathFactory track name - more details
PathFactory External ID A non-unique ID that can be added to tracks &/or assets, which can be leveraged to organize content and configure it in Marketing Automation Platform (i.e Marketo)
PathFactory Funnel State Each asset is tagged with stage of funnel most applicable to asset - Top of Funnel, Middle of Funnel or Bottom of Funnel
PathFactory Query String Returns any values captured by a query string which you have added to the content experience URL.
PathFactory Query String Value The value of a key in the query string.
PathFactory Topic List Assets are tagged by topic. This is manually set & aligns with the tracking content list.
PathFactory Track Custom URL The custom URL of the content track.
PathFactory Track ID The automatically generated PathFactory ID of the content track.

PathFactory Analytics

There are a variety of analytics and reports available in PathFactory that show the overall effectiveness of content. See more info here.

About iFrames

An iframe, or inline frame, is a tag <iframe> </iframe> that is used to embed an HTML document inside another HTML document on a website. The iframe HTML element can be used to insert content from another source, such as an advertisement, into a web page.

PathFactory uses iframes to serve content inside content tracks. Some web pages have restrictions that prevent their content from displaying in an iframe.

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