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Connecting to Eloqua

tseitz
  • Updated

Overview

The purpose of this document is to outline the steps needed to connect the Integrate Demand Acceleration Platform to post leads (contacts) to Oracle Eloqua. It will list what is needed from within Eloqua, where to retrieve integration information from Eloqua, and how to use this information to create a new integration within the Integrate Demand Acceleration Platform.

This article includes these sections:

Before You Begin

  • You will need to access your Eloqua account and your Integrate Demand Acceleration Platform. It is recommended that you are logged into both accounts and have them both open.
  • Optionally, it is also recommended to create a custom contact field in Eloqua to store the uniquely generated Integrate Lead ID

 

Create Your Eloqua Form(s)

The Integrate Demand Acceleration Platform connects to Eloqua by posting data to a designated Eloqua form. In order to do this, it is recommended that you create a new form in Eloqua that will only be used to receive contacts from the Integrate Demand Acceleration Platform.

Please Note: This form should not be used elsewhere on your website or landing pages.


When creating your designated Eloqua form(s) keep these things in mind:

  • Add fields for all datapoints you wish to receive from the Integrate Demand Acceleration Platform
    • This includes all common contact fields, as well as any hidden fields (Integrate Lead ID, Campaign names or IDs, Source information, etc.) that you may want to receive with each lead.
    • Specify whether these fields are required or optional on the form.

  • Configure your form processing steps accordingly
    • You can use these to create/update a contact record, add leads to an Eloqua campaign, update a custom object, etc.

  • Determine how many Eloqua forms will be needed
    • Some Integrate customers use one single form to receive all leads from the Demand Acceleration Platform and then create routing campaigns/rules to put each lead into the correct nurture program or lead queue?
    • Others, with more complex product SKUs and Eloqua/CRM setups, choose to create multiple Eloqua forms to receive leads from different programs. For example, one form for North America leads and one form for Europe leads.
    • Helpful Hint: There is no “correct” way to do this, as it is different for each customer based on your team’s needs.

For simplicity's sake, for the remainder of this guide, let’s assume you are going to use a single Eloqua form.

 

Gather Required Information from Eloqua

Once your Eloqua form is established, you’ll need to retrieve the following datapoints from Eloqua.

  • Post URL
  • elqSiteID
  • elqFormName
  • elqCustomerGUID
  • elqCookieWrite
  • HTML Field Names (and details)

To locate these details, navigate to the Eloqua form you just created in the step above.

In the top right corner, select Actions > View Form HTML.

mceclip0.png


Within the Form Integration Details window, toggle to the Integration Details section at the top. Here you will find the Post URL, elqFormName, elqSiteID, elqCustomerGUID and elqCookieWrite values.

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We have redacted elqSiteID from screenshot above for security reasons.


Select each field on the form to open the right-hand panel and retrieve the HTML Name.

Also note the following for each field:

  • Field’s data type (string, currency, date, datetime, integer, phone, Boolean, etc.)
  • If it is a picklist field, please also note the Field Choices (picklist values) associated (common for state, country, industry, etc.)
  • Field length requirements (min/max # of characters)
  • If it is a required or optional field (found on Validation tab)
  • Any other field validation requirements (found on Validation tab)

mceclip2.png


To view validation requirements of each field, toggle to the validation tab within the right-hand panel. For each field selected, note whether the field is required or optional, as well as any other validation rules.

mceclip3.png

 

Connect Your Eloqua Instance to the Demand Acceleration Platform

Now that you have all the required information from Eloqua, you can establish your Integrate Demand Acceleration Platform integration to Eloqua.

 

Within the Integrate Demand Acceleration Platform, click the Settings (gear) icon in the top right.

Navigate to the Integration Hub page.

Within the Integration Library section, locate the Outbound Form tile and click the + symbol to open the configuration modal.

mceclip4.png


Within the Outbound Form - Configuration modal, complete the following:

  • Name – Enter a name for your Eloqua integration
    • This is just to help you identify it within the Demand Acceleration Platform and can be anything you like
    • Helpful Hint: If you will be connecting multiple instances, use a naming convention to help you distinguish them

  • URL – Paste in your Post URL collected in the step above

  • Headers – Add these required values to a single line (You can copy/paste the below)
    • Key = Content-Type
    • Value = application/x-www-form-urlencoded
  • URL Encode Request – CHECK this box

  • Schema – Add your Eloqua HTML Field Names that you gathered in the previous section of this guide. You can bulk copy and paste these from Excel, with each field on a new line, into this section.
    • Include these standard required fields to your Schema as well:
      • elqFormName
      • elqSiteID
      • elqCustomerGUID
      • elqCookieWrite
    • Please Note: These fields will come into play on your Source level integrations to pass over your designated Eloqua form datapoints.

Once completed, click the Integrate button to save and create your new integration.
mceclip0.png


You will now see your Eloqua (Outbound Form) Integration in a tile within the System Integrations section at the top of your Integration Hub page.

If changes need to be made, e.g. additional fields need to be added, you can open this modal to add or adjust any of your settings.

 

To learn to use your new Eloqua (Outbound Form) Integration and configure an integration at the Source level, see the article Setting Up a Source Integration to Eloqua.

 

Integrate Template - Connecting to Eloqua

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