Re: 🗣️ [Mentor Zoe Forman] 🌟 Adobe Marketo Engage Community Mentorship Program 2024 🌟

Jon_Chen · ‎05-21-2024

Hello Community,

Welcome to the Adobe Marketo Engage Community Mentorship Program 2024! This is the featured Community Discussion thread for your Adobe Marketo Engage Community Mentor, Zoe Forman (@Zoe_Forman) who will be here to guide and support you and your peers with your Adobe Marketo Engage questions as you prepare for your Adobe Marketo Engage Professional (AD0-E555) exam, through to the end of the program.

A little bit about your Adobe Marketo Engage Community Mentor, Zoe:

Senior Marketing Operations EMEA, MSA Safety

Location: United Kingdom (remote)

I am an experienced marketing operations and digital marketing leader with a track record spanning start-ups to enterprise-level organizations. As an Adobe Marketo Admin and User for the past five years, I bring a wealth of expertise to the mentor role.

I am proud to have been named a Marketo Champion for 2023-2024, serve as a Marketo Community Nation Advisor, and co-lead the Ireland Marketo User Group (MUG). I am a Marketo Certified Expert x2.

Alongside my professional achievements, I have a passion for problem-solving, sharing knowledge, LEGO, engaging in conversations about Marketo tips, and simply sharing insights and best practices.

Aspirants mapped to @Zoe_Forman

How to Participate

Aspirants’ goal is to clear their Adobe Marketo Engage Certification during the duration of the program: May 17th , 2024 – June 21st, 2024.
Aspirants: Post your Questions in this thread to connect with your Mentor Zoe, and your fellow Aspirant peers.
You are all preparing for the same Certification, so feel free to use this space to share what you’re learning and collaborate!

Suggested Next Steps for Aspirants:

Update your Community Profile photo with your latest headshot so that you can stand out to your Mentor and Peer Aspirants.
Like this thread to confirm your participation in the program
Introduce yourself to Zoe and your Aspirant peers by replying to this Thread! Break the ice by introducing yourself (location, org/ company, etc.) and your experience with/ interest in Adobe Marketo Engage
Post your Questions to this thread as you begin learning more about the Adobe Marketo Engage Professional (AD0-E555) certification
Test your Marketo Engage knowledge by browsing through the Adobe Marketo Engage Community Questions and taking your best shot at answering some Qs!
Remember that every post / like / comment you make in your contextual thread and in the Marketo Engage Community throughout the duration of the program helps increase your chance to be recognized by your Mentor and win exclusive Adobe swag, so bring your best efforts!

Quick links

We're wishing you all the best as you embark on this learning journey!

Cheers,

Jon

canneberg · ‎06-10-2024

Hi @Zoe_Forman - I missed two answers from last week's quiz and I wanted to chat about these. 🙂

For "What is the primary use of landing pages in Marketo?" -- Are landing pages in Marketo thought to be used only (or mainly) for events? I was surprised that the "To capture leads and provide information" was incorrect as that is something I've done with success for a while now (setting up a form in the design studio, referencing it within a Marketo landing page, and allowing users to submit information for something like an email with downloads, etc.). The answer of "To host webinars" seemed simplistic to me, though definitely something one of those pages could be used for. Especially for users that build webinar hosting in things like Teams, CEvent, GoToWebinar, etc.

The other question I missed was silly on me, but "Which of the following is an example of a local asset in Marketo?" -- I forgot that you can technically build a form locally within a program -- mainly because that is something another Marketo user I work with handles. When one does that approach locally, is the form then available for global use outside of that singular program? For example, you build a landing page to capture information for a quote on a new product, and you happen to need a new form to capture the correct contact information. If you wanted to use that form elsewhere, could you technically reference the 4-digit form ID elsewhere in other needs/programs? I suppose a potential downside of that is if you have a trigger-based smart campaign that is unique to that form which would do something with that submital if its used in a separate smart campaign (AKA 'if user fills out form (####) send them this email', and you never turn that off or archive is appropriately so you could be reacting to that form fill from two very different campaigns twice over). Perhaps the workaround from that is attaching contraints onto your smart list logic of "if form fill comes from this #### from this webpage/referrer...

Zoe_Forman · ‎06-10-2024

Hi @canneberg

For "What is the primary use of landing pages in Marketo?" technically there are two correct answers - Webinars/Events and lead capture. The subtle difference is that Marketo Landing Pages were primarily set up for managing webinar registration, waiting room, waitlists and email communications. Marketo forms can be added to Marketo Landing pages and also embedded on your company webpages and domain to capture leads.

This is legacy question from before third party webinar providers natively integrated into Marketo. Now there are so many you would set up the webinar provider via LaunchPoint as a service.

Agree most of us use landing pages to host forms to capture leads on our company web pages but we also use LP to manage events/webinars programs.

For "Which of the following is an example of a local asset in Marketo? all listed assets are examples used in Marketo.

Local forms can be cloned and used in other programs, however you are better off creating the global forms and using them on multiple landing pages using a Smart Campaign to capture the form fills from the referrer (web page url).

Yes you can use the form ID 1234 as the identifier in the Smart Campaign - you link the Form ID with the webpage in a trigger to capture and report on a specific landing page or campaign activity. Again set up a program template that you can use over and over with specific forms / landing page URLS

You can add additional filters such as Country/Region or use segmentation as required in the Smart Campaign Program around the form fill trigger

Does this help or do you want more detail or examples?

canneberg · ‎06-12-2024

@Zoe_Forman - Sorry I didn't reply back to you sooner. I couldn't log in for many days and somehow something just worked and let me back in! Anyways, yes this all makes sense and is helpful context. Appreciate the clarity!

Zoe_Forman · ‎06-07-2024

@Jon_Chen

Module 2 – Building Assets weekly catch up and quiz

Weekly Check-In: How Was Your Week?

Hey Cohort!

I hope you've all had a productive and insightful week. As we progress through our journey towards becoming Marketo Practitioners, it's crucial to ensure we're all on track and making the most of our study time.

Exam Prep Check-in

Have you had the chance to dive into the exam prep for the Marketo Practitioner exam this week? It's a good time to reflect on your progress and make sure you're covering all the necessary material. Remember, consistency is key!

Questions About Building Assets in Marketo

One of the core topics we'll be tested on is Building Assets in Marketo. This includes everything from creating effective landing pages and forms to setting up smart campaigns and engagement programs. Do you have any questions or areas where you need further clarification? Don't hesitate to reach out – we're here to help each other succeed!

Ready for the Weekly Quiz?

As always, we have our weekly quiz to test your knowledge and reinforce what we've learned. It's a great opportunity to identify any gaps and solidify your understanding. Are you ready to take on this week's challenge?

Feel free to share your thoughts, questions, and any challenges you're facing. Let's keep supporting each other as we work towards our certification.

Looking forward to hearing from you all, keep the questions coming.

Here is Module 2 – Building Assets quiz for you.

https://forms.gle/JEyDsacmvRP1vBJz6

Happy Friday and weekend all.

Zoe_Forman · ‎06-09-2024

Hi all,

I can see your quiz responses, keep them coming and keep trying until you get 10/10.

There was a tricky one this week where there could have been 2 possible answers - its knowing the preference of Adobe Marketo.

If you don't have an exam voucher ready for your Practition exam fill in this form for 50% off exam vouchers:

https://forms.office.com/r/M0QZUCbAKG

There will also be a 100% off (free) voucher for one of you in this cohort - based on quizzes, questions, engagement.

Keep the questions coming, we are 2/4 modules in the exam prep.

Thanks, Zoe

@Jon_Chen

matherstone · ‎06-10-2024

@Zoe_Forman I had a question about duplicates in Marketo. I essentially inherited our company's Marketo account. I checked the possible duplicates report and found that we have over 1,000. I doubt I can merge all these one by one. I am trying to figure out how we got so many duplicates from our CRM in the first place, but I am curious if you have any suggestions for a mass clean-up.

Zoe_Forman · ‎06-10-2024

@matherstone
You are not alone; we all have duplicates, but not all duplicates can be treated the same.

If the duplicates are in Marketo only, you can go through them manually or ask Marketo support to help you merge in bulk. There are scripts and solutions a developer or agency could help you to merge, but nothing yet is as good as a human pair of eyes and logic.

FIND AND MERGE DUPLICATES IN MARKETO

If your duplicates are in Marketo and a CRM such as Salesforce, then you have more issues. Duplicates using email addresses can appear as leads and contacts, and if they have opportunities associated with them, then this gets very complex. Have a word with your CRM team and ask what processes they have in place for managing duplicates.

We should all keep on top of duplicates; here are a few best practices to follow:

Use Marketo Forms or the API:

Always encourage lead submissions through Marketo forms or API. These channels automatically check for existing leads with the same email address and prevent duplicate creation.

Sync All Leads to Salesforce (SFDC):

Ensure that all leads are synchronised between Marketo and SFDC. This helps maintain consistency and prevents discrepancies due to separate databases.

Educate and Train Sales SFDC Users:

Educate your sales team (SFDC users) on lead management best practices.
Encourage them to search for leads using email addresses or full names before creating new records. Updating existing records is preferable to creating duplicates.

Regularly Monitor and Deduplicate:

Periodically review your lead database for duplicates.
Use Marketo’s built-in tools to find and merge duplicate leads.

Merge Duplicate Leads:

Go to the Lead Database section in Marketo.
Access the “Possible Duplicates” list.
Sort by email address to identify duplicates.
Select two leads with matching email addresses.
Click the “Merge Leads” button.
In the merge dialog, choose which values to keep in the merged lead. Combine their entire history while retaining relevant information.

Remember that initial deduplication efforts may require more effort, but maintaining a clean database afterwards is usually straightforward. Make Marketo the single entry point for new leads to minimise duplicate sources and ensure data accuracy.

I spend a few hours every quarter to keep on top of duplicates; you need a good understanding of your company's business priorities, products, services and needs, too. Can you break the 1,000 dupes down by say region/product or top priorities?

Good luck; sometimes it might be worth spending some hours with an agency to get on top of the bulk, and then you maintain monthly.

Ranakaren18 · ‎06-09-2024

Hi @Zoe_Forman I´ve got 9/10 correct answers 🙂 I was quite sure that I knew the correct answer to What is the primary use of Landing Pages in Marketo? question but I didn´t. I choose the answer that matched to the use we give to landing pages so since I´m also responsible of webinars creation/coordination I want to dig more into the use of landing pages to host webinars 🙂

Zoe_Forman · ‎06-10-2024

Hi @Ranakaren18

Yes, this was the tricky one I was referring to. Looking at the responses, you all chose your most common use case.

There are two correct or possible answers that we use in day-to-day.
It is a legacy answer to why Landing Pages were initially set up for use in Marketo—for Webinars.

Also, the question is based on Marketo Landing Pages. Our company, like many others, embeds Marketo forms on our company domain web pages rather than using Marketo Landing Pages.

As with most things in Marketo, there is more than one way to solve or build a program and how we use Marketo day to day.

canneberg · ‎06-06-2024

@Zoe_Forman -- I believe this question is out of scope from this week, but I am curious about your own thoughts. I have been getting the question of when the amount and/or % of unsubscribes from an email is too bad/much and a Marketo account could potentially be barred from sending additional emails (even temporarily). Is there a number Marketo claims is the threshold? I tried searching all over Marketo/Adobe materials and I must be using the incorrect search terms because I can't find anything very definite -- just stuff on how to set up unsubscribe reports or handle operational emails or campaigns.

Clayosa · ‎06-19-2024

I also suggest utilizing A/B Testing so that you're sending more relevent content to your audience. Marketo has the robust ability to test the following:

- Subject Lines

- Whole Emails

- From Address

- Date/Time

Zoe_Forman · ‎06-22-2024

@Clayosa yes A/B testing is often overlooked but can provide data driven decisions.

Tip for all: A/B testing is a common exam question so refresh your knowledge and what you can test, winning criteria and how to action testing

Zoe_Forman · ‎06-07-2024

Hi @canneberg

From Marketo's perspective, a high unsubscribe rate can be concerning, especially if it consistently exceeds industry benchmarks.

Industry benchmarks vary, but a general guideline is to aim for an unsubscribe rate below 0.5%

Here are some best practice guidelines:

However, this can vary based on factors such as industry, audience, and email frequency.

Factors to Consider:

Frequency: Sending too many emails in a short period can lead to higher unsubscribes. Avoid bombarding recipients with excessive emails.
Content Relevance: Irrelevant or repetitive content can frustrate subscribers, leading to unsubscribes.
Engagement: Regularly assess engagement metrics (opens, clicks, conversions). Inactive leads may be more likely to unsubscribe.
Preference Center: Provide an unsubscribe preference centre where recipients can adjust their email frequency or preferences.

Communication Limits:

Implement communication limits to prevent over-emailing.
Consider setting limits based on daily, weekly, or monthly email frequency.
For example, avoid sending more than one email per day to the same recipient.

Hard Bounces:

A hard bounce occurs when an email cannot be delivered due to invalid addresses or other issues.
Monitor hard bounces and promptly remove invalid email addresses from your list.
Some systems temporarily block sending to addresses with recent hard bounces.

Unsubscribe Experience:

Ensure that your unsubscribe process is user-friendly.
Include clear unsubscribe links in your emails.
Respect unsubscribes promptly; don’t continue sending emails to unsubscribed addresses.

Inactive Leads:

Consider removing leads who haven’t engaged in the past 6 to 12 months.
Regularly cleanse your list to maintain quality and relevance.

Email providers such as Yahoo and GMAIL don't look kindly on emails sent with mass unsubscribe or non-open rates, and this can affect your domain's email send trust.

Ranakaren18 · ‎06-09-2024

Hi @Zoe_Forman I´ll actually be working this week in data clean up. I will use the 6 months without engagement criteria to remove those contacts so we can start our new FY with an up to date database 🙂

Zoe_Forman · ‎06-10-2024

@Ranakaren18

Perfect - over time, you can adjust the inactivity range from 6+ months to 2 years depending on where you are based and if you are international, covering global regions.

In Canada CASTL has a 2 year timeframe for consent.

Google & Yahoo will delete dormant email accounts after 2 years, so I suggest you get ahead of that.

There is nothing like a clean database - better targeting and personalisation for an improved customer experience and quicker conversion through your pipeline and deliver quality leads to sales.

kami · ‎06-05-2024

@Zoe_Forman
I need to unsubscribe the email addresses from all of these contacts, is there a quick way to do that in bulk or do I need todo it one by one?

Zoe_Forman · ‎06-06-2024

Hi @kami

Yes you can do in bulk. At the top of the Smart list select all and all leads will turn orange.

Then go into Person ACTIONS> Marketing> Change Data value

Then Select Opt-in and change to false and RUN.

kami · ‎06-08-2024

Perfect! Thank you.

Clayosa · ‎06-03-2024

Hi @Zoe_Forman and fellow Aspirant Peers!

My apologies for the late introduction! We just finished integrating to SFDC so I have a shiny new instance that I'm trying to get back to normal operations (hindsight is 20/20!) and have been delayed!

I'm Carlicia (car-lee-sha) and I'm super excited to be in this mentorship program! I'm based in Illinois and am currently the Marketing Automation Manager at MISUMI in Schaumburg, IL (Northwest of Chicago). I've been with MISUMI for 9 years in July originally starting as an Application Engineer but moving into Marketing in 2016. I call myself an engineer by trade and a marketer by soul. I was a Marketo Certified Expert in 2017 so it is definitely time to renew!

I've been working in Marketo for almost 8 years but there is always something to learn. At MISUMI, I've developed many campaigns and learned through many mistakes. Looking forward to catching up and learning from all of you!

Zoe_Forman · ‎06-03-2024

Hi @Clayosa and welcome, thanks for the intro.

If you have been working in Marketo for 8 years then this course should serve as a refresher on terminology and best practise in Marketo to help you on your way to renewing your Marketo certifications.

The exams had an overhaul in last 18 months with updated questions and screenshots from the latest platform - although 95% of the principles and processes are the same. Still some tricky questions in how they are asked - read the question a couple of time!

Use this thread to go through any questions you have about the exam prep documentation and the weekly quiz I add. Or anything you want explaining in more details or sometime just a different way or use case.

I too started as product design engineer, then moved into general marketing and found my niche n marketing operations.

Thanks, Zoe

Zoe_Forman · ‎06-03-2024

Hi all - moving into Module 2 this week, BUILDING ASSETS

Some of you may have had issues logging into the exam prep guide so try this link: https://app.rockinfo.com/courses/247

This is one of the smaller sections, accounting for 19% of exam questions, and I know you are already creating assets, so this should be a refresher of best practices for you all and provide some good housekeeping tips - use of folders, naming conventions, operational emails and exploring Design Studio - image editing and uploading.

This section of the exam will test your ability to understand the following aspects of Building Assets:

Manipulating files in Design Studio (uploading/replacing images and files).
Create/Modify a form using the Form Editor.
Create/Edit an email using the Email Editor.
Create/Edit a landing page using the Landing Page Editor.
Create/Edit a Snippet in the Snippet Editor.
Distinguish the difference between draft and approved assets.
Distinguish the difference between local and global assets.

If you don't use a type of asset such as Marketo Landing pages as you use your own company domains to host Marketo forms, then read the sections and get familiar with the terminology. The principles are the same.

As last week, if you have any questions, just ask and share.

Thanks, Zoe