Assistance with Setting Up Smart Lists and Programs in Marketo Engage

[Mynameismob]

Hello Marketo Community,

I'm seeking guidance on configuring Smart Lists and Programs within Marketo Engage to manage a sequential communication flow with our leads. My goal is to create a communication path that automatically advances leads through various touchpoints based on their behavior and interactions. Here are the specific aspects where I need assistance:

1. Behavioral Smart Lists Configuration: How can I create Smart Lists that identify leads based on specific actions such as email opens or purchase completion?

2. Program Development for Each Touchpoint: I need advice on how to structure individual programs within Marketo for each touchpoint (W+1, W+3, W+6, W+9), including specific emails and transition logic.

3. Dynamic Workflow Configuration for Automatic Advancement: How can I set up workflows within each program to automatically move leads to the next stage based on specific triggers, like "Email Opened" or the elapsed time since the last action?

4. Time-Based Triggers and Behavioral Advancement Conditions: I'm looking for insights on how to use the "Wait Step" functionality and set up behavioral conditions to decide if a lead is ready to move to the next stage.

Any step-by-step guidance, learning resources, practical examples, or best practices would be greatly appreciated. If anyone has templates or examples of how they've set up their communication streams, I'd be grateful if you could share.

Thank you in advance for any help you can provide!

Best regards, 

Marcelo Barbosa - Brazil

[Darshil_Shah1 · Accepted solution]

@Mynameismob, This, in general, is a very broad question for the community! I can try to give you some suggestions and resources to explore that could be helpful to you.

Creating a sequential communication flow for leads based on their behavior is a powerful way to nurture them and drive conversions. Here's some guidance on your specific questions:

1. Behavioral Smart List Configuration:

• Email Opens: You can use the Opened Email filter with additional constraints such as email name, date of activity, minimum number of times, etc. based on your requirements.

• Purchase Completion: Do you have any custom activity/custom object record (or updating a field on the person record) that you're creating via the integration in Marketo when a customer completes a purchase? You can use that field/updates on custom object/custom activity to in your smart list as a filtering criteria.

2. Program Development for Each Touchpoint:

• Structure: Each program can have email sends, landing pages, forms, campaigns, etc. within it.
• Touchpoint Examples:
  • W+1: Welcome email, introduce company/products.
  • W+3: Content offer relevant to their interests.
  • W+6: Case study showcasing successful customers.
  • W+9: Reminder email with special offer or personalized product recommendations.

3. Dynamic Workflow Configuration:

• Well, you can either create a custom lead nurturing setup using Default program that takes care of sending apt nurture emails manually using campaigns with Wait steps in it or use Marketo's OOTB Engagement program to set up the nurture. You can create multiple streams based on the type of content (early stage, mid-stage, and late stage) in the Engagement program, and create a setup to transition people to the next stage stream when they exhaust content in their current stream or reach the threshold to be sent the next stage content.
• This would be set up on your marketing strategy, e.g., min. person and behavior score and other qualifying criteria that a person needs to have to be moved to the next stage, etc.

5. Some Resources and Best Practices:

• Marketo Programs: https://experienceleague.adobe.com/docs/marketo/using/product-docs/core-marketo-concepts/programs/cr...
• Create a smart list: https://experienceleague.adobe.com/docs/marketo/using/product-docs/core-marketo-concepts/smart-lists...
• Find and Add Filters to a Smart List: https://experienceleague.adobe.com/docs/marketo/using/product-docs/core-marketo-concepts/smart-lists...
• Best Practices for Smart Lists: https://experienceleague.adobe.com/docs/marketo/using/product-docs/core-marketo-concepts/smart-lists...
• Engagement Program: https://experienceleague.adobe.com/docs/marketo/using/product-docs/email-marketing/drip-nurturing/cr...
• Wait Step in Marketo: https://experienceleague.adobe.com/docs/marketo/using/product-docs/core-marketo-concepts/smart-campa...
• Custom Object: https://experienceleague.adobe.com/docs/marketo/using/product-docs/administration/marketo-custom-obj...
• Custom Activity: https://experienceleague.adobe.com/docs/marketo/using/product-docs/administration/marketo-custom-act...

Tips:

• Keep your emails concise and personalized.
• Track engagement metrics and optimize your content and flow based on data.
• Segment your audience for more targeted communication.
• Test different approaches and analyze results to improve your nurturing strategy.

Tailoring your flow to your specific audience and goals is crucial for success. I hope this will serve as a good starting point for you! Please let us know if you have any specific questions we can help with.