Is there some clever way to preview how a token will be populated?

[Anonymous]

I'm working in a Marketo instance with a custom object synced from SFDC. This is the first time I've gotten to work with custom objects. We want to send an email that includes a token for a field inside the custom object. I have just learned that I can create such a token with an email script token. Fun stuff! However, I can't use this unless I can test it first to make sure it will populate the way I intend. Short of creating an Account and Contact in SFDC with a populated custom object to be used for test purposes - can anyone think of way to preview the populated email without actually sending it? In other words, Contact "Samantha" has the custom object attached. I created an email script token referencing field xyx in the custom object. I want to be able to verify how my email script token populates if I send the email to Samantha. Is there any way to do that?

Thank you!

Denise

[Anonymous]

Yes, this is done in the preview pane then select the view by drop down and view by a specific lead or view by a list.

If you have a test lead in your database you can just pick that lead and the email preview will populate with the lead data.

The list will just be a list of test leads that you can scroll through to see the data change.  This is great to make sure the personalization is working correctly.  It has to be a static list though, can't be a smartlist.

[Anonymous]

Thank you, Jamie! That's just what I need! That feature wasn't there in Email 1.0, was it?

[SanfordWhiteman]

Jamie, have you tested this with Velocity scripts?

[SanfordWhiteman]

Nope.

Even in a Velocity (email scripting) sandbox, sample objects need to exist to see the sample output. You really should always have test contacts if using Custom Objects anyway.

[Anonymous]

The sample object DOES exist - I just didn't realize I could preview the email as it would appear to a specific lead. So now that I've done that I realize I have to learn how to use Velocity scripting because my wonderful token just populates as "${Aircraft__cList.get(0).Name}."

[Anonymous]

From my understanding, the email script gets 'executed' on the Marketo server when Marketo actually constructs the email to send out. So the 'preview' does now render the email scripting related output if you are testing it using email editor preview.

As Sanford said here, create a test lead, have a couple of test custom records populated for that test lead and 'actually' launch a 'test' smart campaign to that test lead. That is how I have been doing it.

Rajesh Talele

[Anonymous]

Hi Rajesh!

When you said "So the 'preview' does now render the email scripting related output if you are testing it using email editor preview." Did you mean to say "So the 'preview' does NOT render the email scripting related output if you are testing it using email editor preview"?

The preview rendered the token as "${Aircraft__cList.get(0).Name}." Doesn't that mean I didn't create it properly rather than that the token isn't populated until the Marketo server sends it?

Thank you,

Denise

[SanfordWhiteman]

The preview rendered the token as "${Aircraft__cList.get(0).Name}." Doesn't that mean I didn't create it properly rather than that the token isn't populated until the Marketo server sends it?

Did you just add the text ${Aircraft__cList.get(0).Name} directly to the body of the email (which will never work)?  Or is this the content of a {{my.token}} that you have separately set up in the Tokens tab, making sure to check off that the Aircraft object is passed to Velocity?

[Anonymous]

It's the content of a {{my.token}}. It's the entire content of the {{my.token}}. I dragged the relevant field from the custom object into the email script token - which resulted in the box next to the field being checked. Is that what you meant by "making sure to check off the Aircraft object is passed"? (I was just hoping I would get lucky and it would work without my needing to add Velocity script - which I do not know).