This document explains how to use Certain Signal to integrate with Marketo. It covers setup, tagging, connections, flows, mappings, and troubleshooting. It is intended for administrators configuring Signal Real-Time Data Integration for Marketo.
What is Signal? How does it work?
- Signal processes data from your events in real-time.
- This real-time integration empowers sales and marketing teams to take intelligent, prompt action on the right event data.
- Almost everything is set up at the account level.
- Signal processes outbound information, processing information from Certain and sending it to Marketo.
- For event-level information, this is based on the custom tags you attach to data such as Events, Custom Registration Properties, or Registration Statuses.
- Signal Real-Time Data Integration is available at the account level for outbound data.
Prerequisites
Data-Flow Considerations
- Do you capture data in registration questions that will be synced to Marketo? If so, you’ll need to apply tags to those questions: see Registration Questions.
- Do you have different data mappings based on registration status, or attendee type? If so, you’ll need to apply tags to those items: see Registration Status or Attendee Types.
- How many Marketo campaigns? One campaign that’s common to all events, or one campaign per event? If one per event, you’ll need an Event Question for the Campaign ID: see Campaign ID.
Marketo Credentials
- To set up a Connection in Signal (see Setting up a Connection) you’ll need to know the URL you use to log in to Marketo, and your Marketo administrator will need to create an OAuth2 app in Marketo, by going to Admin > Integration > LaunchPoint > New Service > Service: Custom > Create.
- They then need to provide you with the following details:
- Client Id
- Client Secret
Overview of Setup Steps
1. Add tags in the account — Setting up Tags 2. Apply those tags — Applying Tags in Certain Signal 3. Add a Connection — Adding a Connection 4. Configure a Flow — Setting up Flows
Setting up Tags
What Are Tags?
Tags are a way of identifying event-level data using labels you set at the account level. You can apply those tags to generic items in events, especially custom registration statuses and custom registration properties for use in Certain Signal. Tags can be used for other purposes, but this guide doesn’t cover that.
Setting Tags Up for an Account
- As an Administrator, go to Account Settings > Management > Tags.
- Enter a Name and a Label for the tag.
- Select the Object(s) to which the tag can apply; for example, “Registration Statuses” and/or “Custom Registration Properties”.
- Click Add.
- Repeat as required for as many tags as you need.
Important: Add enough tags to apply to all of the following that you will use in your Signal Flows (see Flow Data Source):
- a. Registration Statuses
- b. Custom Registration Properties
Also, add enough tags to apply to all of the following that you will use in filters for flows (see Flow Filters):
- a. Attendee Types
- b. Events
Applying Tags in an Account
In each event from which you want information to flow through Certain Signal, apply tags to the relevant information:
- Registration Statuses and Registration Custom Properties.
- You can also tag Attendee Types and Events to filter registration records by attendee type or event (see Flow Filters).
Default Registration Statuses
These apply to all events, so an Administrator applies the tags at the account level:
- Go to Account Settings > Management > Registration Statuses.
- Select one or more Tags for each status.
Applying Tags in an Event
Custom Registration Statuses (Essential)
1. In each event, go to Plan > Event Setup > Custom Statuses 2. Select at least one tag for each status.
Custom Registration Properties (Optional)
If any of the Flows you configure in Signal will activate for Custom Reg Properties: 1. In each event, go to Plan > Configure. 2. Under Custom Registration Properties, select at least one tag for each custom reg property in the event.
Standard Registration Properties (Automatic)
These tags are set up for you automatically, with names identical to the properties themselves: Complete, Badge Printed, On To Do List, Invoice Generated, and Test. You only see them in Signal, where you can activate Flows for them (see Activate for). There’s nothing to edit on Certain Platform.
Attendee Types
(Optional—for use with filters—see Flow Filters.)
1. In each event, go to Plan > Event Setup > Attendee Types. 2. Add one or more Tags for each attendee type on which you may wish to filter registrations. (see Flow Filters.)
Events
(Optional—for use with filters—see Flow Filters.)
1. In each event you wish to include in a filter (for example, to ensure that only registrations for that event are passed to Marketo): 2. Go to Plan > Event Setup > Details. 3. Add one or more Tags for the event.
Registration Questions
(Optional—for mapping Certain fields to Marketo fields—see Mappings.)
1. In each event in which you use registration questions to capture data from attendees and wish to pass those answers and/or questions to Marketo: 2. Go to Plan > Event Setup > Questions. 3. Select just one Tag for each question. (Selecting more could result in duplicate data in Marketo.)
Opening Certain Signal
When Signal is activated for your account, the Account Settings > Implementation menu—available to Administrators—includes an extra option:
- Signal Real-Time Data Integration
Click that link to open Certain Signal in a separate window; it runs separately from Certain Platform. Note: To return from Signal to Certain Platform at any time, click the return link.
Setting up a Connection
What are Connections?
A Connection in Certain Signal specifies how to connect to your instance of Marketo – your Target application. You can actually have multiple connections, perhaps to Marketo and another application. Each Flow requires a Connection. You can set up a Connection before configuring your first Flow, or while configuring a Flow.
Adding a Connection
As an Administrator, you may set up one or more Connections for your account. You need only do so once – you can then use them in the Flows you set up (see The Flow List, below).
1. Go to Account Settings > Implementation > Signal Real-Time Data Integration.
2. Certain Signal opens in a separate window.
3. Click Connections in the left navigation panel.
4. Click Add A Connection in the Connection List page that opens.
5. Enter the details in the Connection Setup screen that opens:
- Target: Select Marketo as the third-party app to connect to.
- Connection Name: Enter a name of your own choice.
- Service URL: Enter the beginning of the Marketo URL to which you are redirected when you log in to Marketo (e.g., https://app-ab13.marketo.com).
- Authentication Type: Currently OAuth2.
- Grant Type: Client Credentials.
- Client Id and Client Secret: Provided by your Marketo administrator.
- Access Token URL, Refresh Token URL, Scope: Use defaults (or as required).
- Test Connection URL: Use the default value.
- Force Update: Relevant only for ‘Trigger Campaign’ actions.
- Is this a primary connection: Select only if you previously used Plan > Configure > Connectors to integrate with Marketo.
6. Click Save & Test.
7. If the test is successful, click Close. If not, check that the values in step 5 are correct.
Setting Up Flows
What is a “Flow”?
A flow is a configuration to manage the flow of data from Certain to Marketo. You create Flows from the landing page in Signal: see Configuring a Flow, below. You may configure several flows for an account, which might all use the same Connection.
- You only need to configure a flow once at the account level.
- When a flow is complete, it will start picking up data for each event in that account within about a minute.
- The minute’s delay is because Signal runs independently from Certain Platform. If you edit a flow, the same slight delay occurs before that change takes effect in the processing of the registrations.
The Flow List
- The main screen in Signal is the Flow List. It lists all flows.
- The Status column shows whether a flow is completely set up.
- The Active column shows whether the flow is running. Use the toggle to switch between Active and Inactive.
Configuring a Flow
- Click ADD A FLOW to start setting up a new flow.
- The configuration consists of:
- Name
- Live or Test status
- Source
- Filters
- Destination
- Live vs Test:
- A Live Flow will pick up all live registrations in live events and ignore test registrations.
- A Test Flow picks up all test registrations (Test in live events included).
- Best Practice: Set a new flow up as Test and test it before setting it to Live.
Flow Data Source
- The Source of a Flow is what the Flow will watch for in your data in Certain and when it will activate, based on that data.
- Available sources:
- Registration Create Update
- Registration Status Change
- Session Registration Status Change
- Event Create Update
Note: You can save an incomplete Flow and finish later. Once complete, it will start picking up data after a minute.
Activate for …
- Choose what the flow should activate for by selecting one or more tags in each appropriate object’s dropdown list.
- The tags available are those set up for that object; see Setting up Tags.
- If the Flow watches for a certain change (e.g., Registration Status Change), you must activate for Registration Statuses.
- If watching for Session Registration Status Change, activate for Session Registration Statuses.
- If watching for Event Create Update, activate for Event Statuses.
Flow Filters
- You can filter the data going into a flow by selecting fields in three filter types: Event fields, Profile fields, and Attendee Type tags.
- The flow will only include a registration if it meets the rules in the filter.
Flow Destination
- Select Marketo from the integrations set up by Certain for your account.
Setting up a Destination
1. Give the Destination a name.
2. Select the Connection to use.
Note: You can click New Connection to add a connection; the process is the same as Setting up a Connection.
3. Select the action for this connection from those listed:
- Trigger Campaign
- Create/Update Lead
- Form Post
Mappings
- The Available Mappings option is available for most actions.
- A mapping specifies how each target field in Marketo matches a source field in Certain.
- You can create a New Mapping if needed:
- Name the mapping (self-explanatory names are best).
- The left column lists Marketo fields (target fields) and the default source field.
- By default, only First Name, Last Name, and Email are mandatory; mark others as needed.
- You can concatenate multiple source fields for a single target field.
- You can delete or add target fields.
- Transformations (lower case, Proper Case, UPPER CASE, Trim) can be applied per field.
- You can add multiple target fields and mappings.
- After selecting a mapping, use Edit Mapping, Preview Mapping, and Refresh Target Fields as needed.
- A technical note: refresh may update cached mappings when new fields are added since the connection was created.
Campaign ID
- The Campaign ID is required if your action is ‘Trigger Campaign’ or ‘Create/Update Lead’.
- Options:
- Select Campaign ID Based on Event Question: use a custom event question to specify the campaign ID.
- Campaign ID: move all attendees to a single campaign by entering the campaign ID here.
- If both an event-question campaign and an account-level campaign ID are specified, the event-question option takes precedence.
Form
- If the selected action is Form Post, complete the following:
- Select A Form: choose the Marketo form to which data will be sent.
- Form URL: populated automatically based on the form selected.
- Mapping: the target fields are pre-populated; map them to the source (Certain) fields as described above.
Metrics Dashboard
- To see statistics in Signal, click Metrics in the left navigation panel when looking at flows.
- The Metrics dashboard includes Insights, Leads Created, Leads Updated, and more, depending on flows and targets.
- Account Insights shows Live Flows or Test Flows, select a period, and view tabs: Summary, Troubleshooting, Activity Feed.
- Summary: shows changes processed, unique registrations, actions triggered, actions not triggered, active flows, form posts, leads created, leads updated, registration activity, and processing status.
- Troubleshooting: shows retry queue details, total retried, retried abandoned, validation errors, retry activity, and connection activity.
- Activity Feed: rolling history of processed registrations with details like registration code, event, flow, and status.
The Retry Queue
- If an action fails, it joins the Retry Queue and will be retried up to three times.
- Use the Retry Queue to fix the cause of the failure (e.g., untagged status) and retry.
- You can filter the Retry Queue by Integration, Status, and Category.
- To resubmit, select an item and click Submit to Retry Queue.
Causes of failure
- Failures may be due to data you control (e.g., missing tags) or technical issues (e.g., a down connection).
- You can resolve some failures by tagging data or reactivating a flow.
Replaying a Flow
- If you change an aspect of a flow while it has been running, you may want to replay that flow for the same registrations as before.
- This is not directly possible by user action; you can request Certain to arrange it.
- You may specify a date range or an event for the replay.
Was this article helpful?
[Was this article helpful?] (Yes / No)
[Related articles]
Please sign in to leave a comment.