Cool Pardot HML* Trick: Dynamic URL

*HML is "Handlebar Merge Language" and it {{Replaces}} Pardot's old %%Merge_Tags%%

Pardot launched HML in August 2019, and it's one of the most exciting new features to come out in Pardot in years. But the feature is so new and it remains an optional upgrade, many users haven't upgraded yet. Why?

It's most obvious advantage over the traditional merge language is the ability to use the {{#if something}} Then this text {{else}} Some other text {{/if}} as part of your message, with or without the use of a merge field in the displayed text.

I'm sure that we will be seeing all kinds of ideas for use cases for HML as more and more people discover and apply it's value.

Here's a fantastic one that I just deployed for a client: using HML to create a custom URL.

This client has a custom client portal solution that relies on a unique client ID embedded in the URL to send the person to their custom page. The URL relies on a combination of a client ID and the client email in combination to work properly.

Enter HML. Yeah, you can embed it in a URL too.

So you could build your custom link in Pardot with HML as such:
 https://website.com/?id={{Recipient.ClientID}}&email={{Recipient.Email}}

The link will substitute the prospect's client ID and email in the rendered link and voila! You have a custom URL.

Even better, we can employ the if/else logic to show this link only if the client has a client ID

{{#if Recipient.ClientID}} Your custom link with the embedded HML {{else}} A different link or a different message entirely {{/if}}

One Additional Scenario where this also works:

You can substitute a URL slug such as website.com/{{Recipient.URLslug}} instead of a variable to send people to different pages based on the value of the field.

I'm looking forward to all the creative ideas to come as this feature gains traction!