Uploading Lists as Contacts vs. Leads

[Anonymous]

We want to take control of the list uploads and start uploading lists through Marketo.

Right now my company uploads lists through salesforce as contacts for prospecting. This way multiple leads under 1 account are automatically associated. Any SDR prospecting accounts will quickly see the full story of the account and all the activity history under the account view.

Is there a way to somehow continue this process uploading lists through Marketo and:
1. Upload lists as contacts
2. Create accounts for these contacts
3. Associate multiple contacts to any account automatically

If this is not possible, what are some best practices for prospecting multiple people at companies and seeing all the history?  

We might just have to continue uploading lists through Salesforce and sync those leads if we can't find better alternatives.

Thanks!
Melissa

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

Hey Melissa,

Unfortunately you cannot import Leads as Contacts through Marketo. You can convert, but you cannot attach to existing Accounts and if you were to convert multiple Leads, each one would created their own Account. It is not a very useful capability.

We have had this issue at my company and we have not come up with a great solution. At this time, my opinion would be to continue to upload through SFDC, but create trigger campaigns to look for them on the Mkto side to capture any automation you are looking to set up.

[Anonymous]

Thanks Jeff!  We're going to continue uploading contact lists through SFDC, but keep me updated if Marketo releases new features for this.

[Anonymous]

Hi Jeff,

I was curious to know what type of trigger campaigns you have setup for those newly uploaded contacts.  My process seems a little complicated, but I think it's the best way so we don't overwrite existing values in certain fields.

1. Upload lists of contacts through SFDC (with just names, emails, account, phone, etc.)
2. Manually change account owner (and contacts) in SFDC
3. Manually add new contact list to SFDC Campaign
4. MKTO Trigger Campaign
      - When added to SFDC Campaign update fields (certain fields are blocked like lead source, lead status, etc.)
      - If all criteria is met add to Nurture list
5. MKTO Trigger Campaign
     - When added to Nurture list begin nurture campaign

Is this the best way to upload contact lists, update fields, and start them in our early stage nurture?

Thanks!
Melissa

[Anonymous]

Hey Melissa,

I'm thinking so, but I am a little confused by steps 1-3.  Are you importing Leads directly into your SFDC Campaign? Then converting them over to be Contacts? Or are you grabbing the SFDC Id for the Account and Owner and importing with the data included?

[Anonymous]

Hi Jeff,
Thanks for the response, I've answered the questions below:

Are you importing Leads directly into your SFDC Campaign? Then converting them over to be Contacts?
      -No, Importing lists as contacts and then adding them to an SFDC campaign

Or are you grabbing the SFDC Id for the Account and Owner and importing with the data included?
     -No, I'm transferring the new accounts owners in SFDC with a tool under the account section


How does your company handle contact list uploads?

[Anonymous]

So you import and create a new Account during the process, then switch ownership of the Account to the right owner after?

We don't do it very often, but if we know someone from a list needs to be on an Account, I will use the Data Loader to import right onto the Account referencing the Account Id and Owner Id. I then alert the owner that they Contact is there. We are different from you in that we do not create Accounts for the reps. 

I think the way you have it set up is the best for your process. The only thing I see that could possible be changed is combining steps 4 and 5 so you have one trigger campaign to update any fields and drop them in a Nurture campaign based on the criteria you set up.