I N F L U I T I V E . C O MI N F L U I T I V E . C O M

MARKETO’S SECRET CUSTOMER RETENTION WEAPONHow Influitive’s AdvocateHub helps Marketo scale their customer

marketing efforts and maintain near-perfect retention rates

among their advocates

A N A D V O C A T E M A R K E T I N G S U C C E S S S T O R Y F E A T U R I N G

Marketo’s Secret Customer Retention Weapon

2I N F L U I T I V E . C O M

ABOUT MARKETO

• Before using Influitive’s AdvocateHub, Marketo engaged 50-75 advocates per quarter

on a one-by-one basis through email and phone

• The new Purple Select program launched and recruited 200 new advocates at Marketo’s

Marketing Nation Summit conference in April 2015

• After one year of using Influitive’s AdvocateHub:

Marketo customers have joined

Purple Select

genuine customer reviews on third-party websites

of Marketo’s strategic customers are participating

in the program

customer referrals

or higher: average retention rate of customers

in Purple Select

ROI from closed won new revenue

1,200+

538

43%

146

95%

500%

HIGHLIGHTS: MARKETO’S PURPLE SELECT ADVOCATE PROGRAM MEET THE TEAM

Marketing software

and solutions

Founded

Karen Steele

Vice President of

Corporate Marketing

Danielle Camara

Senior Manager,

Customer Marketing

Katie Pope

Customer Marketing

Specialist

Headquartered in

San Mateo, CA

Public company

(MKTO)

4,500 customers in

36 countries

2006

Marketo’s Secret Customer Retention Weapon

2I N F L U I T I V E . C O M

Marketo’s Secret Customer Retention Weapon

3I N F L U I T I V E . C O M

THE NEW B2B MARKETING BATTLEFIELD:

CUSTOMER RETENTIONIn the 10 years since Marketo was founded, it has

become a marketing automation leader. Today, there

are at least 161 vendors in the marketing automation

category, and while no marketer would say it’s “easy”

to switch vendors, 38% of marketing automation users

still admit they are actively evaluating competitive

solutions and considering changing their system in

the coming year.[2]

With that uncertainty comes the opportunity for Marketo

to continue to showcase customer success and acquire

new accounts from competitors.

“Success in marketing no longer means just filling

the funnel,” says Karen Steele, Vice President of

Corporate Marketing at Marketo. “The most effective

marketers today invest in engagement marketing:

building a virtuous circle of customer acquisition,

increasing lifetime value and empowering advocates

to influence prospects.”

Luckily, Marketo has a secret weapon:

Danielle Camara.

As Senior Manager, Customer Marketing, she’s led

customer marketing and advocacy efforts at Marketo

since 2010. Danielle has played a critical role in

securing and defending Marketo’s leadership spot in

the ultra-competitive marketing automation space.

You might say she bleeds purple.

DANIELLE’S MISSION:

Reinforce relationships with

customers so they stay with

Marketo longer and invest more

Boost engagement among executive

customers, strategic accounts and

key verticals

Empower customers to become

vocal Marketo advocates who

recruit new customers

Danielle’s motto: “Great marketing is created when

you get out of the way and let your customers tell

their stories.”

AVERAGE RETENTION RATE

OF MARKETO CUSTOMERS

PARTICIPATING IN PURPLE

SELECT, POWERED BY

INFLUITIVE

OF MARKETO’S STRATEGIC

CUSTOMER ACCOUNTS

HAVE JOINED THE NEW

PURPLE SELECT PROGRAM

95%

43%

Marketo’s Secret Customer Retention Weapon

4I N F L U I T I V E . C O M

THE STRUGGLE IS REAL:

ENGAGING ADVOCATES AT SCALEUntil early 2015, Danielle managed a small but mighty

advocate program, engaging with 50 to 75 advocates

in any given quarter. Through one-on-one phone calls

and emails, they were her go-to customers for fire drill

references, analyst requests, media inquiries, reviews

and product feedback.

Unfortunately, with more than 4,500 customers in 36

countries, those advocates represented only a tiny

fraction of Marketo’s customer base. “We knew we were

ignoring thousands of happy, loyal customers and raving

fans,” says Danielle.

At this rate, she would have needed to hire at least

5 more Danielles to engage even 10% of Marketo’s

customers and impact customer retention. But, like

so many customer marketers, she couldn’t justify the

expense of growing her team exponentially to work

with more advocates. The math just didn’t add up.

Danielle had heard about Influitive’s AdvocateHub

software from other marketers, but she wasn’t confident

it was the best choice for Marketo right away. “At first, I

was skeptical that our advocates would go on a

separate platform to engage with us,” she says.

“But the more I thought about all the customers we

were leaving on the sidelines, the more I realized that

we didn’t have a choice – Influitive would help us scale

our customer and advocate marketing efforts.”

With the support of Karen and Marketo’s executive team,

Danielle signed on with Influitive just six weeks before

the Marketing Nation Summit in San Francisco, where

the new Purple Select program would officially launch.

MARKETO CUSTOMERS HAVE

JOINED THE NEW PURPLE

SELECT ADVOCATE PROGRAM,

POWERED BY INFLUITIVE, ONE

YEAR AFTER LAUNCH

MORE ADVOCATES

ENGAGED USING

INFLUITIVE’S

ADVOCATEHUB

1,200

24X

Marketo’s Secret Customer Retention Weapon

5I N F L U I T I V E . C O M

MOBILIZING THE MARKETING NATION SUMMIT:

LAUNCHING PURPLE SELECTIn preparation for the Summit in April 2015, Danielle had

hired Katie Pope as a Customer Marketing Co-ordinator

contractor to support with the huge event. Katie already

had a lot on her plate, but Danielle asked her to take on

the launch of the new Purple Select program as well.

“Reviews were our number one goal for the launch,”

says Danielle. “Most of our pipeline comes from

AppExchange, G2 Crowd and TrustRadius. Getting more

reviews on these sites gives us a huge competitive

advantage.” It was also a quick win they could use to

gain more buy-in for Purple Select internally.

They invited 600 potential Marketo advocates to join

the new program during the Summit. Katie also staffed

a Purple Select-branded booth at the entrance to the

conference in Moscone North, using iPads to sign up

new advocates on-site. The big offer in Purple Select

during Summit: write a review about your experience

as a Marketo customer and receive an exclusive

branded hoodie.

The amazing results continue long after Summit

ended. For example, it used to take Danielle and

Katie weeks to secure customer references for

analyst surveys.

Now, they can post a request in Purple Select and

secure 10 or more references in just a couple days.

Thanks to help from their advocates, Marketo was

ranked as a Leader in the 2015 SiriusView: Marketing

Automation Platforms report.

“Influitive’s AdvocateHub helps us respond to fire drills

faster than ever before,” says Danielle. “Customer

feedback from Purple Select enables our executives to

quickly make smarter business decisions. It has been a

huge win for us.”

By the way, Katie did such an amazing job launching

Purple Select that Danielle not only hired her full-time

but also promoted her to Customer Marketing Specialist.

Congratulations Katie!

CUSTOMERS INVITED TO JOIN PURPLE SELECT:

Previous advocates

Marketing Nation Summit call for speakers

applicants

Revvie Awards nominees and winners

Customer references

Marketing Nation Summit attendees

DAYS

CUSTOMER

REVIEWS

NEW ADVOCATES

JOINED

REFERRALS

PURPLE SELECT LAUNCH RESULTS:

3 200

53 10

Marketo’s Secret Customer Retention Weapon

6I N F L U I T I V E . C O M

LET’S GET PERSONAL:

BUILDING STRONGER RELATIONSHIPSIn Purple Select, advocates can choose which

activities they want to complete and when. For

example, they can share Marketo’s content,

provide a referral, learn about the latest product

release or write a review.

But Danielle and Katie find the fun challenges the

most rewarding. These activities – such as games,

quizzes and surveys – allow them to get to know

Marketo’s advocates on a personal level.

“The fun challenges help us build relationships

with our advocates,” says Katie. “I know when

our advocates have birthdays, weddings and

babies. We’re able to personally congratulate them

on these milestones and send them cards that

everyone on the marketing team signs.

This helps our advocates see that we’re not just

a technology vendor – we’re people who care

about them on a personal level.”

Their biggest win has been generating more

referrals from customers as a result, she adds.

“When they see the human side of our brand,

they are more willing to refer us to others.”

“With Influitive, Danielle and Katie were able

to scale advocacy for Marketo exponentially

without scaling our customer marketing team,”

Karen says. “Influitive allows us to engage

more of our customers in a genuine manner,

connecting us with all of the people who love

our brand and want to be advocates for us.”

ONE YEAR OF ADVOCACY WITH PURPLE SELECT:

CUSTOMER

REFERRALS

ROI FROM CLOSED WON

NEW REVENUE

CUSTOMER REVIEWS

OF MARKETO’S STRATEGIC

CUSTOMERS JOINED

PERSONALIZED BIRTHDAY

CARDS SENT TO CUSTOMERS

AVERAGE RETENTION RATE OF

CUSTOMERS IN THE PROGRAM

146

538 300

500%

95%43%

Marketo’s Secret Customer Retention Weapon

7I N F L U I T I V E . C O M

LESSONS LEARNED:

DANIELLE AND KATIE’S TOP 5 TIPS FOR RUNNING A SUCCESSFUL ADVOCATE PROGRAM1. Don’t let your happy customers sit on the

sidelines. Give them opportunities to network,

learn and advocate for you.

2. Get to know your advocates on a personal level.

It’s not business-to-business, but human-to-human.

Danielle

[1] 2016 Marketing Technology Landscape Supergraphic by Scott Brinker

http://chiefmartec.com/2016/03/marketing-technology-landscape-

supergraphic-2016/

[2] VentureBeat Insights report, 2014

3. Not all advocates are created equal. Let your

customers choose how they want to get involved

by giving them a variety of opportunities – from

sharing content on social media to getting on

stage to submitting referrals.

4. Strive for quality. Start by inviting your best

customers to be advocates. Once you get the hang

of your program, scale up for quantity and quality.

5. Showcase your results internally. Let others know

how your advocate marketing program is driving

business results.

Marketo’s Purple Select

advocate program is powered

by Influitive’s AdvocateHub

Mobilize your own nation with Influitive’s advocate community software:

• Reach a wider audience through trusted channels

• Accelerate sales pipeline and revenue growth

• Increase customer engagement, retention and growth

Visit www.influitive.com to learn more

Katie