Re: Custom Activities vs Custom Objects

Anonymous · ‎10-10-2017

Hi guys,

I'm trying to get the difference of these two feaures of Marketo. I have not worked with them yet but before I do, I want to know how to use them and why to use them.

I know both of them can be "created" by a REST endpoint or even a List Import. Both can be used as trigger/filter. But what are the differences between these two, with real examples, if possible, so I can choose which one to use?

Thanks guys!

Grégoire_Miche2 · ‎10-10-2017

Hi Raul,

I see some major differences :

CAs cannot be updated, nor deleted. COs can. So CAs are not good for business information that need such updates or deletion.
On the other end, CAs cannot be tempered with, which is an advantage if you are in compliance situation
CAs cannot be imported, they are only created though API calls
COs can have text fields, CAs cannot. If you need to store long data, that may make a difference.
With regards to triggering, the 2 are very similar. If you are on Orion, you can ask your CSM to get a custom object update trigger that can be essential for some activities.
With regards to filtering, COs are superior with 2 filters ("Has CO" and "Was added to CO"), vs one for CAs. CO filters enable you to filter on current or passed situations.

-Greg

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SanfordWhiteman · ‎10-10-2017

To use... for what? You should specify your requirements. It may be that neither of these options is suitable (people frequently overlook their weaknesses because they seem so exciting).

Anonymous · ‎10-13-2017

Hi Sanford,

I want to create a record related to a lead for each Lead's activity. So if a lead fills out a form, then a record with a field indicating that a form <name> was filled out and the date with it. Also if a product was downloaded from our website of if the lead registered to our website or even if the lead wrote us a Contact Us form in our website.

Store the action and the date when it ocurred. For Marketo actions and outside of Marketo. And be able to report on this and also to be able to integrate it with our MSD CRM.

Anonymous · ‎10-15-2017

Hi Raul,

Isn't this data already in your lead's activity log?

Anonymous · ‎10-17-2017

Hi Paul,

It is, but I want an easier way to report on, so I think is easier to report on these custom objects that the log.

Anonymous · ‎10-17-2017

Raul,

I think you are overcomplicating things here. If you want to be able to easily store, analyze & report on those activities, it's way easier to export activity log via API (that's what, for example, some of my clients are doing - storing Touch Points in external MRDB) and then re-compile them in any format you want and you can easily build any reporting around an MRDB, rather than try to do something like this in Marketo.

Custom objects won't make it easier for you nor are they made to do something like you've described. At least that's how I see it.

Cheers,
Paul

Anonymous · ‎10-17-2017

Hi Paul,

So basically is better for me to have this Custom entity in MS CRM, sync that back to Marketo and work with it? I know it is a lot easier to query that entity in CRM.

Anonymous · ‎10-17-2017

Pretty much.

SanfordWhiteman · ‎10-15-2017

For a mere two-value "interesting moment history" field I wouldn't touch COs.

Just continuously append the {{system.datetime}} + {{trigger.name}} to a Textarea field.

Anonymous · ‎10-17-2017

Hi Sanford,

But I need to check ALL activities that the lead had has, so a field will only keep the last one.