Can we apply an automation using formula to maintain the graduation year record smart list data via Marketo?

[MMundra1]

Hi All,

We have some smart lists which utilizes "Residency Graduation Year" as a filter. In this filter we manually input the year as per the data requirements.

For say, we want a list of records who have completed the Residency Graduation last year (2022). Here is the snapshot of smart list for reference:

Likewise, we need to categorize for the records who have completed it in the previous years or who will be completing in the upcoming years. For this I have created smart list for every graduation record year date (Example for 1 year ago, for 2 years ago, 1 years from now, 2 years from now and so on...).

Question - I know that we cannot apply a formula in a smart list but can we create an automation leveraging Marketo which helps in updating all these smart lists automatically whenever the Calendar year changes ?

[Darshil_Shah1]

We can't update Marketo SLs via APIs, if that helps clear up some clouds. Do you have a date/date time type field for Residency Graduation on which you can use the OOTB constraints, e.g., in past 1/2/3 year, etc.?

[MMundra1]

Hi Darshil,

Thank you for the response. This is a "String" type field created in Marketo as of now.

Do you think we should make it a date/date time field to create any sort of automation which removes the yearly maintenance headache of updating these smart lists (by changing the year everytime )?

[SanfordWhiteman]

---

Do you think we should make it a date/date time field

---

YES!

[Darshil_Shah1 · Accepted solution]

Yes, then you would be able to use the operators listed on this product doc page to build your SL config instead of hard-coding the values and then updating those every year.

[MMundra1]

Thank you @Darshil_Shah1 and @SanfordWhiteman for your valuable time and inputs.

[MMundra1]

Hi All,

The idea to change the field type in SFDC and Marketo looks fine from a technical point of view to automate my process. However, I need to understand the implications of changing the field type from "String" to "date" or "date/time" in my case on Marketo and SFDC both in below mentioned aspects:

1. How will moving it a different data type affects my current usage in Marketo and SFDC ?

2. Does this change can delete my data in Marketo or SFDC ?

3. Does this change will put my forms and landing pages in draft mode automatically by Marketo ?

[MMundra1]

Hi Everone, 

Looking out for someone who can help me in clarifying my doubts mentioned above.

[Darshil_Shah1]

Is this an unmapped custom SFDC field? If so, this is more of a question of how SFDC handles the field type updates, and FYR, changing any custom SFDC field to/from Date or Date/time type would most like cause a data loss, and you should do a full back-up of data in it before changing the field type. Updating a Marketo-only/CRM-mapped Marketo field requires you to remove it from where it is being used first. Additionally, per this article, if you change the type of an SFDC field from text to a checkbox or date/time, the field type change doesn’t happen automatically in Marketo, and a manual change is required in Marketo in order to properly sync to the right field type. This means that after updating the type in the SFDC you'd have to update it in Marketo too. For that, you'd have to remove it from everywhere it's been used before too.