Integrating Web App with SFDC and Marketo - Which way to go?

[Erin_Olsen2]

Does anyone have experience integrating their web app with salesforce and marketo? We currently have a free trial of our software and are using marketo and salesforce but we don't have those two systems connected with our web app. We soon will have development resources to connect everything together and as I started to whiteboard the process there are a lot of potential scenarios.

Ideally, we would like anyone that signs up for an account (even if it's free) to become an Account in SFDC.

Right now anyone that signs up for our free trial comes into Marketo and then is pushed to SFDC as a lead. The SDR then looks at the lead, qualifies it and converts it to an account if it meets MQL.

For anyone that has integrated a web app with sfdc and marketo - do you route them to marketo FIRST and then convert them to an account in salesforce? Do you integrate your web app directly with SFDC and then push the data to marketo? I want to be able to cookie users via marketo immediately so I can track them, so that makes me lean towards pushing them into marketo first (and gives me the option of tweaking the intake form on the fly, etc.)

Would love to hear any experience other have at SaaS companies with web apps/free trials. Or any content out there that would help me sort this all out.

Our website is www.skyward.io if you are curious.

Erin

[Grégoire_Miche2]

Hi Erin,

A few points:

1. The lead can only enter your system by 1 entry point, or you will create a duplicate mess.
2. As you want the leads to be cookied, you must use Marketo as this first entry point.
3. As Marketo can only create leads in SFDC, the only way you could have a an account created is to automatically convert that lead in SFDC.
4. But to do this, you need to run some lead/account matching in order to make sure that the account does not already exist, which will either require some human work OR the use of sophisticated logic / tools. There are some products in SFDC app exchange that can do this, incl. RingLead. Otherwise, it will take a SFDC trigger.

-Greg

[Erin_Olsen2]

Thanks Greg -

These are all points that I have been thinking about as well so it helps to have you confirm them.

[SanfordWhiteman]

As an addendum to Greg's points, it is possible to have SFDC be the intake point and use the Munchkin::associateLead method or a Forms API post to associate the lead.  However, just because it is possible does not mean it is advisable, and I have several clients who are still digging out from the mess they created by (incorrectly) trying to implement this lead flow.

[William_Finnen]

Hi Erin,

As Greg mentioned RingLead will be able to assist with your initiative.  I sent you out an email with more info and would love to chat with you at some point this week to discuss this further.