Terms

Marketo

Marketo is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform for marketing automation. It allows organizations to streamline, measure, and automate marketing workflows and tasks across various digital channels. The software is built for both B2B and B2C marketers to manage leads, execute personalized campaigns, and connect marketing activities to revenue.

Key Features of Marketo

Marketo offers a comprehensive suite of tools designed to manage every stage of the customer journey. These features help marketers engage with prospects, analyze campaign performance, and drive revenue. The platform's core capabilities include:

  • Lead Management: Track, nurture, and score leads throughout the sales funnel to identify sales-ready prospects.
  • Email Marketing: Create, automate, and personalize email campaigns to engage with different audience segments effectively.
  • CRM Integration: Sync data seamlessly with CRM systems for a unified view of customer interactions across sales and marketing.
  • Analytics & Reporting: Measure campaign effectiveness and marketing ROI with detailed dashboards and performance reports.
  • Website Personalization: Deliver customized content and experiences to website visitors based on their behavior and data.

Benefits of Using Marketo

Marketo boosts operational efficiency by automating repetitive marketing tasks. This allows teams to streamline workflows like email campaigns and lead nurturing, saving valuable time. Marketers can then shift their focus from manual execution to higher-level strategy and creative work.

The platform helps drive revenue by improving lead quality and conversion rates. It enables businesses to build stronger customer relationships through personalized, automated campaigns. By understanding customer needs, marketers can deliver targeted messaging that nurtures leads through the sales funnel.

Marketo vs. Marketo Engage

After its acquisition by Adobe, the platform evolved, leading to key distinctions between the original product and its successor.

  • Marketo: This refers to the foundational marketing automation platform, often preferred by mid-market companies needing core features like lead management and email marketing. It provides robust, standalone automation capabilities without requiring deep integration into the broader Adobe ecosystem, which can be an advantage for companies seeking simplicity and focused functionality.
  • Marketo Engage: This is the evolved version, fully integrated into the Adobe Experience Cloud. It offers advanced features like AI-powered tools, predictive analytics, and account-based marketing. It is best suited for enterprises that can leverage the entire Adobe suite for sophisticated, cross-channel campaigns and in-depth analytics.

Marketo Integration Capabilities

Marketo is designed to be the central hub of a marketing tech stack, offering robust integration capabilities. It connects seamlessly with various third-party applications, allowing for a unified data flow and enhanced marketing operations across the entire customer journey.

  • CRM: Natively syncs with major platforms like Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics for a complete view of the customer lifecycle.
  • APIs: Provides extensive APIs for custom integrations with proprietary systems and other marketing tools.
  • Webinars: Connects with popular webinar platforms to streamline event marketing and lead capture.
  • Ecosystem: Features a large partner marketplace, LaunchPoint, offering pre-built connectors for hundreds of applications.

Best Practices for Marketo Users

To maximize Marketo's potential, start by implementing strategic lead scoring and nurturing to qualify prospects effectively. Ensure a seamless, bi-directional sync with your CRM to align sales and marketing teams. Continuously test and personalize campaigns, from email subject lines to web content, to boost engagement and drive better results.

Frequently Asked Questions about Marketo

Is Marketo suitable for small businesses?

While often associated with enterprises, Marketo is scalable for mid-market companies. Its robust feature set might be overkill for very small businesses, which may find simpler, more cost-effective solutions better suited to their needs. The original Marketo platform is a good fit for growing teams.

How complex is it to implement Marketo?

Implementation can be complex, often requiring technical expertise and a dedicated project plan. The process involves data migration, CRM integration, and team training. Many companies hire implementation specialists to ensure a smooth setup and to maximize the platform's capabilities from the start.

Can Marketo function effectively without a CRM?

Yes, Marketo can operate as a standalone marketing automation platform. However, its true power is unlocked when integrated with a CRM. This sync provides a unified view of the customer journey, aligning sales and marketing efforts for significantly better results and reporting.

Other terms

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Persona

A persona is a semi-fictional profile of your ideal customer, based on market research and real data about your existing customers.

Persona

Hot Leads

Hot leads are prospective customers who have shown significant interest and are ready to buy, making them a top priority for sales teams.

Hot Leads

Bulk Application Programming Interface

Learn about bulk API, including how it works, the advantages of using it, common use cases, and tips for optimizing it.

Bulk Application Programming Interface

Interactive Voice Response

Interactive Voice Response (IVR) is an automated phone system that uses voice and keypad inputs to interact with callers and route their calls.

Interactive Voice Response

Marketing Qualified Opportunity

A Marketing Qualified Opportunity (MQO) is a lead vetted by marketing as a genuine sales opportunity, ready for direct sales follow-up.

Marketing Qualified Opportunity

D2C

Direct-to-consumer (D2C) is a sales strategy where a brand sells its products directly to end customers, bypassing any third-party retailers.

D2C

C-Level or C-Suite

The C-suite, or C-level, refers to a company's most senior executives. Their titles usually start with 'Chief,' such as CEO, CFO, or CTO.

C-Level or C-Suite

Product-Led Growth

Product-Led Growth (PLG) is a business strategy where the product itself drives user acquisition, conversion, and expansion.

Product-Led Growth

NoSQL

NoSQL ("Not only SQL") databases offer a flexible alternative to relational models, excelling at managing large and unstructured data sets.

NoSQL

Call for Proposal

A Call for Proposal (CFP) is a document that solicits proposals, often through a bidding process, for a specific project or service.

Call for Proposal

Small to Medium-Sized Business

A small to medium-sized business (SMB) is a company whose employee count and annual revenue fall below certain industry-specific thresholds.

Small to Medium-Sized Business

Trade Shows

Trade shows are events where companies in a specific industry showcase their latest products and services to find new customers and partners.

Trade Shows

Freemium Models

A freemium model offers a product's basic features for free, enticing users to upgrade to a paid version for more advanced capabilities.

Freemium Models

End of Day

End of Day (EOD) refers to the close of business hours. It's a common deadline for tasks and reports to be completed before the workday ends.

End of Day

Call Analytics

Call analytics is the practice of analyzing phone call data to extract insights, track key metrics, and improve overall business performance.

Call Analytics

Event Marketing

Event marketing is a strategy where brands engage directly with target audiences through live events like trade shows, conferences, or webinars.

Event Marketing

Sales Demo

A sales demo is a presentation where a sales rep shows a prospect how a product or service works and solves their specific problems.

Sales Demo

Customer Retention Rate

Customer Retention Rate (CRR) is the metric that measures the percentage of customers a company has kept over a specific period of time.

Customer Retention Rate

Payment Gateways

A payment gateway is a service that authorizes and processes payments for businesses, acting as a secure link between the customer and the merchant.

Payment Gateways

Voice Broadcasting

Voice broadcasting is an automated system that delivers a pre-recorded voice message to a large list of phone numbers simultaneously.

Voice Broadcasting

Proof of Concept

A Proof of Concept (PoC) is a small exercise to test whether a business idea or project is technically feasible and has real-world potential.

Proof of Concept

Big Data

Learn about big data, including understanding big data characteristics, benefits of leveraging big data, & challenges in managing big data.

Big Data

Sales Prospecting

Sales prospecting is the process of identifying potential customers, or prospects, and initiating contact to convert them into paying customers.

Sales Prospecting

Conversion Rate

Conversion rate is the percentage of visitors who complete a desired goal, like a purchase or sign-up, out of the total number of visitors.

Conversion Rate

No Cold Calls

No Cold Calls is a sales strategy that replaces unsolicited calls with warm outreach to prospects who have already demonstrated interest.

No Cold Calls

Video Hosting

Video hosting is a service that allows users to upload, store, and share video content online, making it accessible for playback anywhere.

Video Hosting

Inbound Lead Generation

Inbound lead generation is the process of attracting potential customers to your business with valuable content and tailored experiences.

Inbound Lead Generation

Salesforce Object Query Language

Salesforce Object Query Language (SOQL) is a query language used to search your organization's Salesforce data for specific information.

Salesforce Object Query Language

Account-Based Sales Development

Account-Based Sales Development (ABSD) is a focused strategy where SDRs target key stakeholders within specific, high-value accounts.

Account-Based Sales Development

Sales Compensation

Sales compensation is the total pay a salesperson receives, including salary, commissions, and bonuses, structured to motivate performance.

Sales Compensation

Accessibility Testing

Accessibility testing is a software testing method that verifies an application is usable by people with disabilities, like vision or hearing loss.

Accessibility Testing

Conversion Path

A conversion path is the journey a visitor takes to complete a desired goal, such as making a purchase, filling out a form, or subscribing.

Conversion Path

Real-time Data

Real-time data is information processed and made available almost instantaneously, enabling immediate analysis and decision-making.

Real-time Data

Sentiment Analysis

Sentiment analysis, or opinion mining, automatically determines the emotional tone behind text—whether it's positive, negative, or neutral.

Sentiment Analysis

Outbound Sales

Outbound sales is when reps proactively contact potential customers through cold calls or emails to generate leads and build a sales pipeline.

Outbound Sales

Overcoming Objections

Overcoming objections is the process of addressing and resolving a prospect's concerns or hesitations to move a sale forward.

Overcoming Objections

Discount Strategies

Discount strategies are pricing tactics used to attract customers and boost sales by temporarily reducing the price of products or services.

Discount Strategies

Buyer Behavior

Learn about buyer behavior, including understanding the buyer's journey, influencing factors in buyer behavior, & buyer behavior and marketing strategy.

Buyer Behavior

RESTful API

A RESTful API is a web service interface that uses HTTP requests to access and use data, adhering to the constraints of REST architecture.

RESTful API

HubSpot

HubSpot is a customer relationship management (CRM) platform with tools for marketing, sales, and service, all aimed at helping businesses grow.

HubSpot

Renewal Rate

Renewal rate is the percentage of customers who renew their subscriptions or contracts at the end of their service period.

Renewal Rate

Data Mining

Data mining is the process of discovering patterns, trends, and useful information from large datasets to make better business decisions.

Data Mining

B2B Data Solutions

Learn about B2B data solutions, including unlocking the power of B2B data, & key components of effective B2B data solutions.

B2B Data Solutions

Data Appending

Data appending is the process of adding new data fields to your existing database records to enrich and complete your information.

Data Appending

Sales Development

Sales development is the process of identifying and qualifying potential customers to create a pipeline of sales-ready leads for closers.

Sales Development

Sales Prospecting Techniques

Sales prospecting techniques are methods used by sales teams to identify, contact, and qualify potential customers, also known as prospects.

Sales Prospecting Techniques

Sales Director

A Sales Director leads a sales team, develops strategies, and is responsible for meeting a company's revenue targets.

Sales Director

Sales Prospecting Software

Sales prospecting software automates the process of finding, contacting, and tracking potential customers to help sales teams build their pipeline.

Sales Prospecting Software

Lead Nurturing

Lead nurturing is the process of developing and reinforcing relationships with buyers at every stage of the sales funnel.

Lead Nurturing

Champion/Challenger Test

A Champion/Challenger test pits a new 'challenger' against the current best-performing 'champion' to see which one performs better.

Champion/Challenger Test

Enterprise Resource Planning

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is a system of integrated software that businesses use to manage and automate their core day-to-day processes.

Enterprise Resource Planning

Load Balancing

Load balancing is the practice of distributing incoming network traffic across a group of backend servers, ensuring no single server is overworked.

Load Balancing

Sales Sequence

A sales sequence is a series of automated touchpoints sent to prospects over time to guide them through the sales funnel.

Sales Sequence

Always Be Closing

“Always Be Closing” (ABC) is a sales mantra meaning every action a salesperson takes should be with the ultimate goal of closing the sale.

Always Be Closing

Guided Selling

Guided selling simplifies complex sales by giving reps step-by-step instructions and data-driven recommendations to close deals faster.

Guided Selling

AI-Powered Marketing

AI marketing uses artificial intelligence to analyze data, automate decisions, and deliver personalized customer experiences at scale.

AI-Powered Marketing

Platform as a Service

Platform as a Service (PaaS) is a cloud model where a provider delivers a platform for users to develop, run, and manage applications online.

Platform as a Service

Regression Analysis

Regression analysis is a statistical method for estimating the relationships between a dependent variable and one or more independent variables.

Regression Analysis

Business Process Management

Learn about business process management, including benefits of implementing BPM, steps to effective BPM, common BPM mistakes to avoid, & BPM tools and software.

Business Process Management

Marketing Performance

Marketing performance is the process of measuring a campaign's effectiveness against set goals using key metrics like ROI and conversion rates.

Marketing Performance

Dark Social

Dark social is the sharing of content through private channels like messaging apps or email. This traffic is hard to track as it lacks referral data.

Dark Social

Data-Driven Marketing

Data-driven marketing uses customer data to inform marketing decisions, optimize campaigns, and deliver personalized experiences to consumers.

Data-Driven Marketing

Email Deliverability

Email deliverability is the ability for your emails to successfully land in your recipients' inboxes instead of their spam folders.

Email Deliverability

Enterprise

An enterprise is a large-scale organization, often a corporation, defined by its complex structure and substantial number of employees.

Enterprise

Objection Handling in Sales

Objection handling in sales is the process of responding to a prospect's concerns about a product or service to move the deal forward.

Objection Handling in Sales

Touchpoints

A touchpoint is any time a potential or existing customer comes in contact with your brand, from seeing an ad to receiving an email.

Touchpoints

Shipping Solutions

Shipping solutions are services or software that streamline the logistics of getting products to customers, from label printing to final delivery.

Shipping Solutions

Inside Sales

Inside sales is a remote sales process where reps sell products or services via phone, email, and other digital tools instead of in person.

Inside Sales

Email Deliverability Rate

Your email deliverability rate is the percentage of sent emails that successfully land in a recipient's inbox, rather than bouncing or going to spam.

Email Deliverability Rate

Account-Based Selling

Account-Based Selling is a B2B strategy where sales and marketing treat high-value accounts as markets of one, using personalized outreach.

Account-Based Selling

Triggers

Triggers are predefined conditions that, when met, automatically launch a workflow or action, ensuring timely and relevant outreach.

Triggers

Website Visitor Tracking

Website visitor tracking collects and analyzes data on user behavior to understand their journey and improve the overall user experience.

Website Visitor Tracking

B2B Demand Generation Strategy

Learn about B2B demand generation strategy, including key elements of demand generation, & crafting your demand generation plan.

B2B Demand Generation Strategy

Drip Campaign

A drip campaign is a series of automated messages sent to prospects or customers over time to nurture leads and drive engagement.

Drip Campaign

Cloud-based CRM

A cloud-based CRM is a customer relationship management tool hosted online, letting teams access and manage customer data from anywhere.

Cloud-based CRM

Use Case

A use case is a detailed description of how a user interacts with a system to achieve a specific goal, outlining the steps from start to finish.

Use Case

Ad-hoc Reporting

Ad-hoc reporting is the creation of one-off reports to answer specific business questions as they arise, providing instant, targeted insights.

Ad-hoc Reporting

Contract Management

Contract management is the process of creating, executing, and analyzing contracts to maximize performance and minimize financial risk.

Contract Management

Lead Enrichment Software

Lead enrichment software adds crucial data to your leads, like contact info and firmographics, to help you better understand and engage them.

Lead Enrichment Software

Average Customer Life

Average Customer Life is the average time someone remains a customer. It's a key metric for predicting revenue and measuring customer loyalty.

Average Customer Life

Buying Criteria

Buying criteria are the specific requirements and standards a customer uses to evaluate products or services before making a decision.

Buying Criteria

Demographic Segmentation in Marketing

Demographic segmentation divides a market into groups based on traits like age, gender, and income, allowing for more targeted marketing efforts.

Demographic Segmentation in Marketing

Sales Intelligence Platform

A sales intelligence platform is software that provides sales teams with data and insights about prospects to help them sell more effectively.

Sales Intelligence Platform

Target Account List

A Target Account List (TAL) is a focused list of high-value companies that a business specifically aims to convert into customers.

Target Account List

Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR)

Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) is the predictable income a company expects to receive from its customers over a one-year period.

Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR)

Application Programming Interface

An Application Programming Interface (API) is a set of rules that lets different software applications talk to each other and share information.

Application Programming Interface

Email Marketing

Email marketing is a digital strategy where businesses send targeted emails to prospects and customers to build relationships and drive sales.

Email Marketing

Social Proof

Social proof is a psychological phenomenon where people assume the actions of others reflect correct behavior for a given situation.

Social Proof

Generic Keywords

Generic keywords are broad search terms that lack specific details like brand or location. They attract a wide audience with less specific intent.

Generic Keywords

Economic Order Quantity

Economic Order Quantity (EOQ) is the ideal order quantity a company should purchase to minimize its total inventory-related costs.

Economic Order Quantity

Siloed

Siloed describes the isolation of data, teams, or systems within a company, which blocks collaboration and creates operational bottlenecks.

Siloed

Data Privacy

Data privacy is an individual's right to control their personal information, including how it's collected, processed, stored, and shared.

Data Privacy

Needs Assessment

A needs assessment is the process of identifying the gap between a company's current state and its desired future state.

Needs Assessment

Software as a Service

Software as a Service (SaaS) is a cloud-based model where users subscribe to an application and access it over the internet.

Software as a Service

Trigger Marketing

Trigger marketing uses customer actions or events to automatically send highly relevant, personalized messages at the perfect moment.

Trigger Marketing

Objection

An objection is an explicit expression by a prospect that presents a barrier to moving forward in the sales process.

Objection

Net Promoter Score

Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a metric measuring customer loyalty by asking how likely they are to recommend your company or product to others.

Net Promoter Score

Deal-Flow

Deal flow refers to the stream of business proposals and investment opportunities that a company or investor receives.

Deal-Flow

Lead Velocity Rate

Lead Velocity Rate (LVR) is the growth rate of your qualified leads, measured month-over-month. It's a key indicator of future revenue.

Lead Velocity Rate

Marketing Metrics

Marketing metrics are quantifiable values that marketing teams use to measure and track the performance of their campaigns and efforts.

Marketing Metrics