An essential and core concept in Marketo is the Smart Campaigns. It helps to perform most of the marketing activities like scoring leads, sending emails, updating field values, and other complex jobs. The three main areas which add maximum value to the smart Campaign are Smart List, Flow, and Schedule.
There are two types of smart campaigns, they are:
- Batch Campaign
- Trigger Campaign
Batch Campaign: It selects the leads in batches and processes all of them using the flow. However, it either runs once or at a particular time, if it is explicitly scheduled at that hour.
Trigger Campaign: It processes one lead at a time when the lead record meets some criteria set off by activity in Marketo.
Smart List queries the leads from the Marketo database, and those leads flow through the flow action steps. Smart List uses filters to filter out the leads. There are two types of filters, batch, and trigger. Batch filters are used to select a batch of Leads who have executed some activities in the past.
Trigger campaign uses the select leads immediately when the lead meets any criteria based on a specific activity. Both batch and trigger filter can be used, in a smart list to select and filter the leads more efficiently. If the smart Campaign is appropriate, then more sales can be done through more qualified leads.
These smart campaigns are like the backbone and more like automation rules of Marketo marketing automation. Smart campaigns are responsible for running Marketo Programs. They help in sending out the emails for Event Programs, they add and remove people from Engagement Programs; and depending on how you’ve defined it, they measure the success for each Program out there.
Smart campaigns also manage and control Marketo operations. All operational programs, including Salesforce/CRM syncs, lead lifecycle, sales Insight, reporting, scoring, and data management, are run by smart campaigns. Smart campaigns are composed of Flow + Smart List + Schedule.
Smart List: A dynamic list composed of Triggers and Filters is known as Smart List. Factually speaking, triggers listen and add on to the List. They’re also retroactive and look at the past happening before being added to the List. Smart List is widely used for many Marketo reports.
Flow: Once you pick your target list, you can add the flow step; flows are automation rules. The most significant and widespread activity you do to your List is Send an Email, and then wait before you take another action, Now Add it to the List, now Send Alert, Change the Score and the Data Value, then sync that person to SFDC.
Create Tasks: Change in Data Value is very crucial. It allows you to change the value of any company field or person. You can also add a condition by using the Add Choice feature.
Schedule: Schedule or activate the smart campaign. You need to start your smart campaign only if your smart List contains at least one trigger. If the smart List has all filters, it’s known as a batch campaign, and it can be chosen only to run it once or maybe schedule it multiple runs.
Future of Smart Campaign
Since smart campaigns fall within the Marketo Programs, they must also learn to live within the Marketo Programs. Some smart campaigns may live within Engagement Programs, others within Event Programs, and the rest live within the default Programs. Create multiple folders under Marketing Activities to best organize your smart campaigns. It is advisable to put the operational smart campaigns in the operational programs folder and the other smart campaigns in some other folders.
The process of organizing the content of each table in your database is called Database normalization. Marketo data normalization campaign ensures all the cells of your table possess a single, relevant, and accurate value. Your database can be utterly cluttered, inefficient, unorganized, and may produce unexpectedly wrong results without proper normalization. It helps in the organization of data into logical groups, minimization of duplicate data and retention of data integrity during manipulations while restricting changes to a single place. If you’re looking for lead generation, reporting, content distribution and measuring ROI, then Data Normalization is the key.
Apart from the obvious ones, Data Normalization in Marketing has the following benefits for marketers:
Systematic Database
Scattered, duplicate, cluttered, and poorly maintained databases cause problems for everyone who wants to access it. Marketo Data normalization campaigns provide systematically arranged data that helps in significantly and effortlessly sorting through it. The marketing and salespeople won’t need to additionally filter or sort the dirty data as they will get access to the standardized and fully sorted database. A normalized database is easier to clean, and it helps in reducing duplicates. Moreover, it is far easier to cleanse in comparison to the database that isn’t normalized.
Minimizing Redundant Data
Database normalization helps in creating more tables and gathering accurate and unique information, thereby helping in reducing redundancy and duplicity in the database. For example, if your Marketo database has an address column of employees in different tables, and both are showing separate addresses for the same employee, That would be confusing. Which address should be considered here? It means there will be complete verification of the present address, either with the help of the employee or by merely looking at the documents that they provided. All this verification of a single individual and the database would require unnecessary time and energy.
Better Database Security Handling
Database normalization allows creating varied tables that have limited information, which is relevant to just one department. A normalized database restricts the access of information to relevant hands and enables DBA to give access permissions to specific tables that have his required information. It helps in enhancing data security so that access to all information is secured.
Analytics and Reporting
The fact is, database automation tools make the database readily usable. It helps in cultivating and maintaining databases in such a way that ensures high revenue and maximum ROIs. A database with accurate values and redundancy is a high-quality, enriched data for everyone. Correct data aids the managers in doing the right analysis and generate real-time reports for the same. The sales and marketing team also gets directly benefited by getting quality data and working effectively. The better your analysis and reporting will be, the more effectively you can run your marketing programs.
