The best thing since sliced bread

It is currently being used in the Marketing Department to support the entire organization. It addresses our Email campaigns, SEO, Analytics/Reporting as well as some internal messaging. Also we use it to get leads routed to the correct place.

I find my greatest successes in Marketo to be with Lead Management and Email Automation. We have several products that go into a variety of verticals. Being able have triggers and filters to ensure we are getting prospects into the correct engagement program. It's very important for us to get the right content and the right time and Marketo allows us to streamline a cumbersome task. Lead Management allows us to effectively identify leads based on their engagement which helps us understand the funnel velocity. It also allows us to indicate when a lead is not ready just yet letting us know we should change the type of content they receive.

We have multiple engagement programs based on product interest and since most prospects are unsure in the solution they need they tend to jump around content. We utilize what is known as the traffic cop to ensure the prospect is in only one stream at a time and we also have a score field for each of the programs. The score fields allows us to exit from a current nurture program once a certain score is reached. This way we can make sure we are giving them the content that are most interested in at all times.

I would tell them to take a deep breath and not to get overwhelmed. If you have a sandbox, I would recommend you go in there and play around while reading the Marketo docs (they are a wonder resource). Leverage the Marketo community because I like to believe if you have a question someone else probably did as well and you can take that and apply to your business case. And remember Marketo can do a lot things so take it one step at a time... you can not boil the ocean.

Have you ever watched Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? The Marketo community has been my lifeline because there are so many bright people willing to help think of cleaver ways of getting around an obstacle. From tokens to custom fields to coding tips, I'm always at ease because I feel like I have a family helping me every step of the way.

Again, leverage all of the wonderful resources around you. The Marketo docs are easy to understand and the community will have your back. Don't be afraid to think out of the box because you can find a way to solve any problem. And don't just stop at the basics, you should take it the next level each day and move towards getting Marketo certified.