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(Article Updated - August 2024) Overview A blocklist is a database of IP addresses or domains that have been associated with the sending of unsolicited commercial email or spam. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and business email networks use information from blocklists to filter out unwanted email. As a result there can be a drop to inbox delivery rates if the IPs or domains involved with sending email are listed on a blocklist. Marketo’s Email Delivery and Compliance team monitors blocklist activity on our IPs and domains daily. When an impactful listing occurs, we reach out to the blocklist, attempt to identify the sender that triggered it, and work with the blocklist organization to get the listing resolved. There are thousands of blocklists, most will not have a significant impact on your delivery rates. Below, we have compiled a list of the blocklists that commonly appear across our sender ecosystem. Each blocklist has been grouped into a top tier (Tier I) by most impactful, to the bottom least impactful tier (Tier III). These may have little to no impact across our sender network. Tier I Blocklist Spamhaus (SBL) Impact: Spamhaus is the only blocklist that we categorize as a Tier I for a reason: it has by far the greatest impact on delivery. It is the most well-respected and widely used blocklist in the world. A listing at Spamhaus will have a negative effect on your ability to deliver emails to your customer’s inbox and can cause bounce rates of over 50%. Evidence suggests that most of the top North American ISPs use Spamhaus to inform blocking decisions. How it works: Unlike many blocklists, Spamhaus lists senders manually. This means they are proactively watching sender activity, collecting data, and base listings on a number of variables. Most commonly senders are listed for mailing to spam trap addresses that Spamhaus owns. Sometimes Spamhaus will list senders based on recipient feedback as well. Next Steps: Please note that every Spamhaus email can be quite different depending on the information provided and the nature of the listing . Because Spamhaus has multiple types of listings, the remediation steps are based on which type of blocklisting has occurred. We have listed the most common types to affect Marketo customers, from most to least impactful. Impact can range from a full block of top severity, to a partial block that is less severe (CSS Data, DBL). If remediation isn’t performed and the problem not addressed, these listings can increase in severity and turn into a full blocklisting. Spamhaus Blocklistings Types SBL (full blocklisting) Considered the most impactful. Remediation steps: Our team monitors closely for Spamhaus listings. Once alerted to the listing, we send an email notifying the customer, and reach out to the Spamhaus contact to start the remediation process. Only a Marketo delivery team member should be in direct correspondence with the Spamhaus contact, to speak on behalf of the customer, and to relay their questions and instructions, ensuring quick resolution and reduced impact. Senders that trigger this listing on a shared IP range will be moved to a more isolated, penalty range (IPB), so as not to impact the other shared senders. Those affected on a Dedicated IP, only impact their own sending and will not be moved. However, depending on the severity of the issue, our team may need to revoke a customer’s ability to send any emails until full resolution. The listing will last until Spamhaus is satisfied that the offending sender has taken the appropriate steps to mitigate the problem. SBL CSS Customers are alerted of the listing with an email containing all the information needed to immediately begin the remediation process. This is part of an automated trigger listing, that allows for a customer to delist directly on the Spamhaus website, after they’ve completed remediation. Remediation steps: Customers will go to the Spamhaus IP lookup website, at https://check.spamhaus.org, where they can check on the status of their IP and continue to monitor it in real time, until it is no longer listed there. Follow the remediation and delisting instructions provided, and check for specific details in the blocklist notification email. DBL (Domain blocklisting) Customers will receive an email notification alerting of the company domain being listed. The email will contain specific information to help narrow down and identify which email source likely triggered it within Marketo. It’s important to note that any email sent from outside of Marketo, that contained the company domain, is suspect. This means, if the sender uses multiple IPs and/multiple email platforms, then any of those could be the source. Remediation steps: Follow the detailed instructions in the email, which will also provide a link to the Spamhaus Domain reputation checker webpage, to check the real time listing status of the affected domain. Once the email source is identified and cause addressed, this customer will follow the online instructions to request to be delisted. Tier II Blocklist SpamCop Impact: SpamCop is not used by any of the major North American ISPs to inform blocking decisions, but it makes it to the Tier II list because it can have a significant impact on B2B email campaigns. SpamCop is considered a Tier I one blocklist for B2B marketers but a Tier II for B2C marketers. SpamCop is a dynamic IP blocklist, that can affect a single IP or a subset of IPs Typically, the block will automatically lift within one business day, but can take longer for relisted IPs. To have triggered a SpamCop listing likely means the sender has a list management problem that should be addressed. How it works: SpamCop lists IPs for one of two reasons: Either the email hit SpamCop spam trap addresses OR A SpamCop user has reported the email unwanted. Most of SpamCop’s spam traps are previously valid addresses that have not been active for 12 months or longer. Remediation steps: If you are seeing a significant number of bouncing emails caused by a SpamCop blocked IP but aren’t sure if your email activity triggered the listing, first identify whether you are sending on a shared sender network or not. If sending from a shared IP range when this occurs, you or any other customer sending from the same network may have contributed to the IP block. This IP block will automatically get dropped within a business day. For those on a Dedicated IP that trigger a listing, refer to the above remediation steps and resources, to address the list management issue. Tier III Blocklist (Low/ No impact ) These are considered the lowest tier and therefore cause the least impact across the Marketo sender ecosystem. Some of these blocklists were more impactful at one time, while others are only impactful based on the sender region (Manitu). Others still can suddenly flare up (Lashback). There are also many blocklists that are ignored (0spam), and are not taken seriously because they do not provide any means to delist once on the list (NoSolicitado) or that they charge money to have the listing removed ( UCEPROTECT ). The pay-to-delist model is not well respected in the email industry. When using blocklist tool checkers, such as MXToolBox, many blocklists will appear, but very few are relevant. Here is our selection of Blocklists you may come across that are least impactful: Project Honey Pot SpamAssassin URIBL/SURBL DrMX PSBL 0spam HostKarma Ascams ZapBL Barracuda Trendmicro Inc. Cloudmark Proofpoint Invaluement ISP Blocklists Some ISPs use internal blocklists to make blocking decisions. Examples include AOL, Yahoo, Gmail, Outlook and Hotmail. If your IP is being blocked by one of these networks, and those networks have a large presence in your lists, a block of this kind could have a noticeable negative impact on delivery. Marketo monitors for significant ISP blocks. Those experiencing deliverability issues with emails not making it to the Inbox and bulking in the spam folder may benefit from additional services with our Email Delivery Consultants. Remediation Steps: Email Delivery Compliance Team works to resolve any ISP blocks. ISP blocks are are usually resolved or lifted within less than 24 hours of a delisting request. Customers experiencing significant blocks for Microsoft domains (outlook.com, live.com, microsoft.com), can submit a request to the delivery team to seek mitigation on their behalf. Additional Resources: Blocklist Deep Dive Abuse Report Deep Dive What is a spamtrap, or spam trap, and why does it matter? Blocklist remediation Blocklist resolution flowchart Successful lead reconfirmation What is a blocklist?

Summary New checkbox for query parameters available when adding new content or editing current content. Issue You were previously unable to specify query parameters for predictive content, and query parameters were not used when adding new content, editing current content, and reporting on URL clicks. Autodiscovery works by adding a new URL to the DB, and later on, clicking counts are accumulated against the newly found asset. The asset is determined based on the URL (and there, it previously didn't account for anything that followed the ? in the URL. The same was used as a validation when a user added new content. The rule to determine this part of the URL, minus the query parameters, was a requirement back then and was taken into account during design. Solution As you add predictive content from the predictive content page, you need to have the checkbox on this page to allow the user to decide whether they want to include/exclude the query parameters while adding it. The same thing should be followed for editing predictive content as well. Engineering built a nuanced approach that provided flexibility to include or exclude query patterns in determining a unique URL and added a feature to include query parameters when manually creating a piece of content. It should rightly identify the right asset to record clicks/views against as well.

Summary Learn how to resolve issues with uploading SVG files to Marketo. Issue You are not able to upload Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) files to Marketo. You are encountering errors during the upload process or facing issues with improper display in browsers after uploading. Cause: The root cause behind such issues is often Marketo's security checks, which may reject certain properties of SVG files. This can lead to conflicts between what Marketo accepts and what browsers can display. Solution To address SVG files not being accepted or displayed correctly in Marketo, try the following steps: 1. Change File Extension to .xml: Instead of saving the file with a .svg extension, save it as a .xml file. This will change the server MIME type and allow it to be uploaded to Marketo. Example: If your file is named "example.svg," rename it to "example.xml" before uploading it to Marketo. 2. Remove Unwanted Properties: If the SVG file contains additional properties or namespaces causing rejection by Marketo, removing them can resolve the issue. For instance, the xlink namespace, if present at the top of the SVG file, may lead to rejection by Marketo. Exercise caution not to remove essential properties, as this could result in errors when attempting to display the file in a browser. Example: If your SVG file has the following line: xml xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" Remove this line from the SVG file's code using a text editor. When saving SVG files from applications like Adobe Illustrator, changing the file extension or manually editing the code may be challenging. However, using any file explorer, you can easily change the file extension to .xml. Code editing can be performed using a text editor to manually remove unwanted properties. Always back up the original SVG file before making any changes to prevent permanent data loss. By following these steps, you should be able to successfully upload SVG files to Marketo and ensure proper display in browsers.

Summary Some users encounter problems with their Marketo domain not handling URL parameters correctly and resolving URLs. Issue When using URL parameters, some users experience issues where their Marketo domain does not correctly handle and resolve URLs. Cause: The issues can arise due to errors in how the URL parameters are structured, syntax errors, or difficulties in the domain's ability to handle parameters. One common problem is placing the anchor (represented by "#") incorrectly in the URL string, especially before the parameters. Solution URL parameters are extra pieces of information added to a URL to provide specific data or instructions. E.g., Example Domain?parameter1=value1&parameter2=value2 However, incorrect handling of these parameters by the domain may cause issues in resolving the URL, resulting in broken links or incorrect behavior in your Marketo campaigns. Therefore, it is crucial to ensure that URL parameters are correctly managed to avoid any problems. Below are some recommended guidelines to follow while using URL parameters. Proper use of "?" in URL parameters: Start your URL with "?" if it contains parameters. This correctly initiates the parameters and allows the URL to resolve correctly. Example: www.example.com?parameter=value#anchor Verify your domain's ability to resolve parameters: It's possible that certain websites may not be set up to accept or process parameters present in URLs automatically. If you're facing such an issue, it's important to inspect your website's domain settings. This can be done by exploring the configuration options offered by your content management system (CMS) or hosting provider. In case your domain isn't equipped to handle parameters, you may need to reach out to your domain provider for further assistance. Place the anchor correctly: The anchor is typically included at the end of a URL to direct the user to a specific section of a webpage. If you are using parameters in your URL, the anchor must always be placed after the parameters. Example: Incorrect: www.example.com#anchor?parameter=value Correct: www.example.com?parameter=value#anchor Some examples of different URL constructions. Both of these are valid, correctly constructed URLs: www.example.com?parameter1=value1&parameter2=value2 www.example.com?parameter1=value1#anchor In the examples above, the "?" symbol is used to start the parameters, and the "&" symbol is used to separate multiple parameters. The anchor is placed at the end, after the parameters.

Issue Activity History in Saleforce shows this message: [Email details are being uploaded from Marketo...please check back later] when emails are sent out from the Marketo Outlook Plugin. Solution This message is created because of insufficient privileges for the Marketo sync user inside of SFDC. There is a permission for “Edit HTML Templates” that needs to be enabled for the sync user in order to prevent this problem from occurring. Background: When you send an email using the Marketo Outlook plugin, it is sent through the user's Exchange server rather than Marketo's email servers. Many users have an email signature that is automatically added to the email. This adds additional HTML to the email, which does not match the template already in Salesforce Sales Insight. Normally, Marketo would create a new template which Salesforce could then display in a link in the Activity History. However, in this case, the Marketo sync user does not have the necessary permissions, so this error results. To fix this, enable the "Edit HTML Templates" permissions to your Marketo Sync User. Who This Solution Applies To Customer who are using Sales Insight for Salesforce and Outlook

Issue You added yourself to the Send Alert To portion of the List Import process and continue to receive unwanted Alert Emails every time a list is imported. Solution During the next List Import process to the problem Static List in Marketo, you'll want to select the Edit Send Notification from the window that pops up in the top right section of your screen after the import process is started. Selecting the Edit Send Notification will cause a new window to open up that shows all of the email addresses who will be sent an Alert Email once the import completes. If you no longer want to receive the Alert Emails for this static list going forward, deleteyour email address and click save.

Summary Email previews by list can only view the first 25 people. Issue When previewing an email and viewing people by 'List', you are only able to generate a preview for the first 25 people on that list. Environment This occurs in email previews. Root Cause This is the expected behaviour for email previews. The intention of email previews is to allow for a quick confirmation that the email is compiling as expected, rather than to confirm it is correct for every recipient.

Issue Person record's Activity Log shows repeat Company Name changes without any Data Value Change being logged. In this example screenshot, we can see that the person had the Company Name set back to the correct value by the CRM sync, but there is no record of the Company Name being changed in the first place. This is a article attached image Environment Person records showing the change are all part of the same Account. One person on that holding Account fills out a form that updates the field "Company Name" to a value that is different from the Account Name CRM sync corrects the Company Name field back to Account Name Solution STEPS TO RESOLVE: 1. Find the lead that change the Company Name field on the account with a Smart List filter: DATA VALUE CHANGED Attribute: Company Name New Value: [Company Name from form fill-out] Previous Value: [Account Name] This is a article attached image 2. Locate the Data Value Change in the Activity Log 3. Check the date and time of the Data Value Change 4. Check that timeframe on other affected records 5. The timeframe of the Data Value Change back to the Account Name will approximately match the timeframe of the logged Data Value Change, showing that the update to the one person was the cause of the update for all others on that account. Root Cause Marketo uses Company Name as the identifier for the Account object. If you have multiple people on the account and one of them changes the Company Name via a form fill-out, the Company Name is changed for all other people on that Account. This change happens on the back end, so you will not see it until the CRM changes it back to the correct value in the next sync cycle.

Issue Lead activity log shows "Change segment" or "Add to Segment" for a segmentation (i.e. "Change Title to "Directors") The named segmentation ("Title") does not show up in the segmentation list in Database Environment Marketo instance with the Target Account Management feature Solution Even though the activity log shows a segment activity, the segment is actually a Persona, which is a feature of Target Account Management.

Issue Syncing leads from Marketo to MS Dynamics gives error "Failed: INSERT for person [number] error: Could not Form URI for NavigationLink." Environment Marketo synced to MS Dynamics Solution This error is generated in MS Dynamics and relayed back to Marketo Check the Marketo Error logs in Dynamics for the error "insert[number] " and see if the logs give you any info indicating the cause of the error If you are unable to determine the cause of the error, gather the Marketo Logs and Marketo Error Logs from Dynamics and open a support case for further assistance. You may need to include your Dynamics admin on the case

Issue New person records are missing data and only contain Email Address. Environment On24 Event Partner Launchpoint Integration Solution When Marketo pulls the Attendance Report, for On24 Events through the On24 Launchpoint Event Partner integration, as documented here: ON24 Event Registration Updates | Adobe Marketo Engage For any net new records to Marketo (people who registered and attended the event outside of Marketo), Marketo will only sync the Email Address and Attendance Status. This will result in records in Marketo that do not have complete data from On24, such as First and Last Name. To avoid this scenario, it is recommended that all records are properly registered for the Event through Marketo, using Marketo Forms and Registration Campaigns as documented here: Create Child Campaigns and Local Assets | Adobe Marketo Engage

Issue After going through a modification of a text field type from 'Text' to 'String', the field is no longer available as a filter for smartlists. Don't worry, the field is not gone - it is just temporarly unavailable. Solution Changing the field type from one type to another is a database intensive operation and in some cases where the field values are widely populated across your database records, this can cause the filter to be unavailable until the operation is completed in full. The time it takes for the field filter to become available may vary and it can take up to ~30 hours sometimes until the field filter is available again after the type of the field has been changed.

Issue After declaring a champion for your Champion/Challenger test, you notice that the test (ex: "Whole Emails" test) in the Marketing Activities asset tree under your Email Asset is missing. Root Cause When you declare a champion, you select a Declare Date. Once this date/time is reached, only the new champion will be sent. After the test is over, it is expected behavior that the test (ex: "Whole Emails" test) will no longer be shown in the tree. This is because the test is no longer active. If you would like to retain your test data, it is recommended that you save this outside of Marketo.

On September 30th, 2021 we sunset our Sales Navigator integration with Adobe Marketo Engage Sales Connect. When we first built this integration, we aimed to deliver key insights to sellers that allowed them to identify the right customers to engage with. This continues to be our goal as we invest in Marketo Engage Sales Connect and deliver future innovations to drive value to both our marketing and sales users. The sunset is in part due to the planned deprecation of LinkedIn’s Company and Profile API’s which we currently use to support the integration. LinkedIn has decided to no longer support these API’s and has not provided any replacement. There will be no action required on your part and you can expect to see the tab removed in September 2021. Kind regards, Adobe

Issue Executing a GET API call to retrieve a list of available activity types in the target instance using the '/rest/v1/activities/types.json' endpoint, resolves with an unexpected attribute name for a field with the display name ID in the context of Marketo Custom Objects. An example of that may be a Marketo Custom Object with the following name: '3 to be', as can be shown in the image below: One of the '3 to be' Marketo custom object fields name is 'ID'. (highlighted in red). When performing a GET API call using the '/rest/v1/activities/types.json' endpoint, you will be getting a list of available activity types in the target instance, along with associated metadata of each type, however for a Marketo custom object with an ID field name, you may see it returns back with a slightly different name, in this case, it would be returning the following output for my test Marketo Custom Object activity: { "id": 100019, "name": "Add to 3 to be", "primaryAttribute": { "name": "3 to be ObjRef", "dataType": "integer" }, "attributes": [ { "name": "3 To Be Person Id", "dataType": "integer" }, { "name": "ID (3)", "dataType": "string" }, { "name": "Linkfield4", "dataType": "string" } ] } ], Here's an image of what it may look like when making the call using POSTMAN: In fact, the character in the brackets next to the ID field represents the very first character of your Marketo Custom Object name. Environment Customers who have Marketo Custom Objects where one of the custom object fields is named 'ID'. Solution If this is interrupting your business, you may want to select a different name for the ID field under your Marketo Custom Object. (ie. ID number, Transaction ID etc.) Root Cause This behavior is expected and is a result of the 'ID' field being a unique field in the context of Marketo custom objects world and while it may be possible to create a Marketo Custom Object field with the name 'ID', it may be better to give it a distinct name that will be better describing what kind of ID field it is.

Issue When comparing the Engagement Score on the Engagement Dashboard, the scores do not match with the Email Insight Engagement Scores. Environment Engagement Program Email Insight Solution The Engagement Score from the Engagement Dashbaord will hold the most accurate information as this is direct information, rather than for example with RCA/RCE and Email insights where the data source is different. If you want to see Engagement Score over a period of time more accurately, use the Engagement Stream performance report: Engagement Stream Performance Report | Adobe Marketo Root Cause The Engagement Score on the Engagement Dashbaord only calculates the last 3 casest, it is also important to remember that the engagement score only includes emails that were cast more than 72 hours ago. As per this documentation: The Engagement Dashboard | Adobe Marketo In comparison, the Email Insight Engagement Score is calculated over a period of time that is set by the user but the data can still be mismatching, this is due to the fact that the data source is not the same from the Engagement Dashboard.

Issue Clicking a tracked link in an email either leads to a 404 page or the fallback page. Environment Tracked links Tokens Specific Characters: "#", "$", unbalanced brackets "{" or "}" Solution Do not use the following characters "#", "$", unbalanced brackets "{" or "}" in a link that is tracked when using a token as well. For example: www.google.com/ebook-download.html?ebook={{lead.ebook}}# This will not work and will either direct to a 404 page or redirect to fallback page. When hovering over the link you will see that it is not a normal tokenized link, it will contain something along the lines of: $mktEncrypt.encrypt($mkturl2)/<random characters> Root Cause When using tokens in the url of a tracked link, the email is processed and the tokens are substituted and populated with the correct information. The engine that assembles this information have some characters reserved for use such as #.

Issue The format of the landing page is distorted in comparison to the version displayed in the landing page preview. Environment SSL Certificates Landing Page Domain Landing Page format is different from preview Landing Page contain unsecure content Landing page template has http instead of https Solution Ensure all the links used in HTML code used in the landing page template is referencing "HTTPS" and not "HTTP". You can follow the steps outlined in the document below on how to edit landing page template. Link: https://experienceleague.adobe.com/docs/marketo/using/product-docs/demand-generation/landing-pages/landing-page-templates/edit-a-marketo-landing-page-template.html **NOTE: If the landing pages is approved, a draft version of the landing page is created for any landing pages which is using the landing page template. You can mass approve those landing pages via following steps outlined in the document below. Link: https://experienceleague.adobe.com/docs/marketo/using/product-docs/demand-generation/landing-pages/landing-page-actions/approve-multiple-landing-pages-at-once.html?lang=en Root Cause Once you secure your Marketo landing pages to be served over "HTTPS", you should have not links referencing "HTTP" (unsecured) assets or pages.

Issue Emails cannot be delivered from the Marketo instance and the following Soft Bounce code was recorded in the record's activity log. 554 5.4.7 [internal] (last transfail: 435 5.7.8 Authentication credentials invalid) Environment Dedicated IP Address SMTP Relay credential invalid Soft Bounce Code: 554 5.4.7 [internal] (last transfail: 435 5.7.8 Authentication credentials invalid) Cannot send email Email Delivered not recorded in activity log Solution Provide Marketo Support with the updated credentials so Support can create an internal request to get the update the credentials on Marketo's end. The process can take up to three (3) business days to complete. Note: Avoid using special characters in the password such as quotation mark (") as it can alter the configuration. Root Cause The credentials for the SMTP Relay has been changed and no longer match what is stored in Marketo. In most cases it is the password as it need to be change on an annual basis.

Issue When editing the expiration date for a user in Admin by completely removing the expiration date set to null and clicking save. The change is not saved, and the expiration date remain. Environment Expired Date for user Expiration Date Changing the expire date to never in Admin Solution There are two options: 1. Change the expiration date to a date in the future. 2. Delete the user in Admin and recreate the user again and set the expiration to never. *Please note that if option 2 is selected, the history of the user is will be lost and this cannot be retrieved. Root Cause This is a design limitation as it is expected for the user with an expiration date to be deleted from the Marketo Instance after the expiration date has been reached.

Knowledgebase

Maintaining a Directory of Leads Bouncing Emails

Top Blocklists - What You Need to Know

Predictive Content Query Parameters

Troubleshooting SVG Upload and Display Issues in Marketo

Troubleshooting URL Parameter issues in Marketo

SFDC Activity History Shows Message: [Email Details Are Being Uploaded from Marketo…Please Check Back Later]

Removing Yourself from a List Import Alert Email.

Email Previews By List Are Limited To 25 People

Syncing with SFDC Big Objects

Person record's Activity Log shows repeat Company Name changes without any Data Value Change being logged

Segmentation - Leads Assigned to a Segmentation that does not appear to exist

MS Dynamics sync error "Failed: INSERT for person [number] error: Could not Form URI for NavigationLink.

Newly Created Records from On24 Missing First/Last Name

Custom field is missing as a filter after changing the field type

Champion/Challenger Test Disappears from Marketing Activities tree after declaring winner

Marketo Sales Connect - Sales Navigator Integration Sunset

Get Activity Types via API returns a character wrapped in brackets for a Marketo Custom Object field named ID

Why is my Engagement Score not matching with the Engagement Score in Email Insights?

Links in emails not opening correctly when it contains a token and special character #

Marketo landing page format is different from preview

Soft Bounce Details: 435 5.7.8 Authentication credentials invalid.

Changing the expiration for a user to never