This post covers using a query string to pass contact information from a Keap delivered email through to fields on a landing page.

This will pre-populate the fields on the page with the contact details, so they don’t have to re-enter their info.

In a perfect world, this would happen automatically (as it does with Keap Web Forms and Legacy Landing Pages), but I’ve seen some inconsistencies with the Keap Landing Pages, so to make sure it works reliably I’ve started building my own query strings.

Which begs the question…

What is a query string?

A query string is basically a way of adding extra info onto a link, to send additional details to the page that the URL is loading.

There are a few different reasons you might want to do this (like using Google UTM parameters or for LeadSource tracking), but in this scenario it’s to tell the page who is visiting it, so that the contact doesn’t have to re-enter information we already have about them, or to fill a hidden field on the page so that new information we capture is tied back to the correct person.

How does it work?

So, normally you’d link a page with the URL for that page – this method still does that, but it adds extra ‘value pairs’ onto the link.

A query string starts with a question mark, indicating the end of the link and start of the extra stuff.

And then you add the ‘value pairs’, which are basically putting info into parts of the page. So, an example value pair might be FirstName=Greg, telling the page to put “Greg” into the field for “First Name”.

Where this gets tricky is figuring out what the page calls each field. The field might have a different name depending on how the page was built (if you used Keap, ClickFunnels, TypeForm, Thrive, etc).

Can I see a demo?

I thought you’d never ask.

Here’s a demo for building the link structure to pass contact details from a Keap email to a Keap landing page:

So, there you have it. We’re all hackers now.

Seriously though, I know this can feel technical. But basically we’re just taking information from the contact record, and passing it through to the resulting page, with instructions for where to put that info.

“Put this person’s name into the name field”, etc.

And if this is outside your technical comfort zone, this is absolutely something you could hire a Keap partner to help with.

Thanks for reading/watching – feel free to drop a comment below with any questions or light bulb moments.

Updated: February 2023

If you’ve used Keap for a while, odds are you’ve noticed that there are multiple email builders in different sections of the software.

Keap is actively working to consolidate that (one email builder to rule them all, etc), but for the time being you might have as many as three email builders inside of your advanced automations alone.

In the above image, the email builder marked as ‘A’ is the newest one – first released in Q4 of 2021 and currently being rolled out in stages to Keap users.

The email builder marked as ‘B’ is old trusty – that’s the builder we’ve grown to know and love and have had for the last decade or so (here’s a demo of that one pulled from the CB Trilogy course).

And ‘C’, is the actual legacy builder, who’s roots predate the campaign builder itself (newer Keap users may not see this one at all).

So, in summary – A is the builder of the future. B is the one you’ve likely been using. And C is only still around to yell at people to stay off his lawn or whatever.

Why a new builder?

The obvious question is ‘why are we adding another builder’, and it’s a good one – I’ve asked it myself.

The answer is this: They’re standardizing the builder experience throughout Keap.

The reason we’re seeing this new builder roll out is because over time this will be the builder experience we see for landing pages and emails throughout all versions of Keap.

Right now we may feel some turbulence, but in the long run I think the idea of having a streamlined builder tool that is consistent between different types of assets (landing pages and emails) and versions of Keap (pro, max, max classic) is wise.

In the meantime, here’s a quick demo of both builders and some key ways they differ:

A few things worth noting, first – they are actively rolling this out.

If you don’t have access to this email builder yet, stay tuned – it’s likely on it’s way.

The next thing to note is that they’re actively making improvements to this – so it’s entirely possible that by the time you see this video they may have added some of the features I called out as missing, or improved some of the things I felt were clunky.

For example, at the time it was rolled out the “to” options were Work, Personal, and Other; which didn’t make a whole lot of sense for Max Classic users who don’t see those designations.

But, that’s one of the improvements they’ve made since originally rolling this out.

Now, Max Classic users can select Email 1, Email 2, and Email 3 (or other) as they always have.

Here’s a post from Keap’s product team with more details about the plans for adding features and functionality.

And finally, my understanding is that they have no plans to remove the existing email builder – so this new one should only be an upgrade for those who want to start using it.

2/23 Update: This builder is the default for Keap Pro and Max and is now being rolled out to Max Classic (also known as Keap Ultimate) applications in phases.

Okay – enough from me, I’d love to hear what you all think. Do you have the new builder yet? Have you tried it out?