Smart List trigger for initial field population

[Anonymous]

Hello,

I would like to know if there is a way to set a trigger in a smart campaign, which fires whenever a field is populated for the first time.

Example Use Case:

- Lead fills out custom form (uses REST API) and gets custom Field "Topic" populated with a Value

- If the field is populated (from null to not empty), add the lead to program "x"

I have tried the "Data value changes" trigger, but unfortunately it did not work.

Thanks in advance!

Message was edited by: Vanessa Cometa ; Changed Example Use Case

[Gerard_Donnell4]

Hi could you not create a trigger of "filled out form" with a filter below it for the "Topic" field, with an "is not empty" criteria.

Then just set it that leads can only run through it once.

[Anonymous]

Hi,

unfortunately I cannot use the "filled out form" filter, because the field is populated by an external form using the REST API.

[Dan_Stevens_]

DVC trigger does not work for new leads that are not in your database yet.  Therefore, you need to account for both new leads and existing leads using something like this:

The "person is created" combined with the filter will apply to new leads; while the DVC trigger will apply for existing leads.  I also included a "form" constraint on the "Person is Created" trigger.  If you don't need that, you can remove it.  Note, I just picked a random field for the example here.

Does this work for you?

[Anonymous]

Hi Dan,

I have tried this setup earlier and unfortunately it did not work, when the Person was created. We use multiple custom forms (REST API) with designated fields for proper program assignment, therefore we cannot use the web form filter in the "Person created" trigger.

"Data value changes" works though.

[Josh_Hill13]

API created Leads do trigger DVC as I recently noticed.

You can also use Lead is Created via API to trigger this. Larger systems with high volumes need to be careful with this trigger because it can create a giant backlog. Recommend only one or two of these for a campaign that starts the lead lifecycle processing.

Fills out Form will not work here unless it is a Marketo Form.

[Anonymous]

Hi Josh,

I have also tried out the "Lead is Created via API" just as you suggested, and it does work well if only one campaign is using this trigger. But if you want to use various campaigns using the API, it will become tricky. We want to use custom fields for assigning leads to the appropriate programs whenever they are created via API, hence the question if Marketo is able to trigger DVC on the initial population (value is empty) of the field.

I also tried the "Person is pushed to Marketo" option with ProgramName / Source Filter, but that only threw errors.

[SanfordWhiteman]

Is Pushed to Marketo only works if that's the REST endpoint you're using.

Why aren't you using the (vastly more scaleable) Forms API? Are you keeping in mind Denial of Service possibilities for your forms?

[Anonymous]

Hello Sandford,

for that question, I would need to talk with our web devs -  but as far as I remember, there were issues with styling the forms in Marketo, and that some functions did not work well (such as custom lightbox behaviour or making the form responsive was straining because overriding Marketo's standard settings). And istn't a marketo form obligatory for using the Form API?

We do keep the possibility of Denial of Service in mind, but that is a different story.

So back to the topic, I guess it is not possible that the "Data value changed" trigger works on fields with previous value empty?

[SanfordWhiteman · Accepted solution]

And istn't a marketo form obligatory for using the Form API?

No, it's not necessary.

You can use the Forms API -- a background Marketo form submit -- to submit values from a custom form.

We do keep the possibility of Denial of Service in mind, but that is a different story.

Well, it's kind of the same story, since even a minor attack on a REST-based form will bring it down and the rest of your REST-based integrations, too, unless there's actual technical protection.

So back to the topic, I guess it is not possible that the "Data value changed" trigger works on fields with previous value empty?

It works on fields that change from blank to empty.

It doesn't work on fields that are created non-empty alongside a new lead.