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