I first set up a Marketo instance as a solo in-house user in a highly regulated industry (where everything must be documented, auditable and signed off). Now I'm agency side, helping clients build and follow best practice solutions. I keep coming back to the importance of a well documented instance - but I'm really curious to know how much documentation others do, and what tools you rely on. Personally, I love: Confluence (by Atlassian) for... just about everything Trello for project management Lucidchart for visualisation - flow charts, program maps, etc. What do you use? From process to business requirements, sign off to compliance... whether you hate it or love it: What systems do you use? What do you/don't you document? What challenges do you face around documentation?

Hi Grace,Just like you I started of on the client side, but for the last couple of years I've been active on the agency side. Marketing and technology are so intertwined with each other and as a marketer we use so many different tools, that documenting the actions we take became extremely important. I know, it is not sexy and as marketers we are not trained to document. Something we can learn a thing or two from IT ;-). Anyway my quick thoughts on your questions concerning documenting your Marketo instance (or actually any Marketing Automation platform).What systems do you use?I love to use Confluence or similar wikitools. Another (cheaper) solution is to make use of Google Sites. If you have an intranet available which contains a kind of learning and development section, that might do as well. It actually depends on how the organisation is structured, what are the documentation requirements and expectations (if any) and who needs access to that info.What do you/don't you document?Workflows - both operational and technical.Operational: maybe not the best word for it, but how does your marketing team use Marketo (or how should they use it) and what are each teams/persons responsibilities. For example: reporting expectations, naming and foldering conventions, data management rules, etc.Technical: how certain programs and campaigns SHOULD BE setup in Marketo and what IS the setup of some programs and integrations:example: if you have a certain basic setup for events/webinars that you expect everyone to follow. Next to create a template in Marketo, provide a 'how-to' walk through example: a rather complex program or one without a specific end date should be documented once the setup has been finishedRules for documentation => documenting everything is generally not possible, too time consuming and in several cases overkill, therefore I always define a set up of standard of what should be documented and what is not necessary to be documented.Should be documented: 3rd party integration, complex programs, programs that have not specific end date or one more than 2 months away (in this case even simple ones), engagement programs - to give you some examples.Not required to document: blast email campaigns, simple programs with a short time frame, programs which are defined as standard - for example: webinar programs which have the same setup every time.I always define documentation templates, to ensure everyone documents in more or less the same manner and to smoothen the documentation process.What challenges do you face around documentation?From an agency point of view working with clients:Time is definitely a challenge. As marketers you have always a busy agenda and documenting things is generally last on the 'to do' list.Storing documentation in an easily accessible manner (for example - a well thought through Confluence set up and navigation is a must)Convincing people of the need to document as much as needed

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Re: How do you document your instance?

Thanks for your detailed reply, Jonas Verhaeghe ! Sounds like your preferences and challenges are pretty well aligned with mine. These will be helpful points to keep in mind