Adobe Marketo Engage Deep Dives: Using Webhooks to Transfer Data

Adobe Marketo Engage Deep Dives
Using Marketo Engage Webhooks for Data Transfer
John Grundy, Darshil Shah, Josh Arrington
April 2024

© 2024 Adobe. All Rights Reserved. Adobe
Confidential.
Know Your Speakers
John Grundy
Moderator
Senior Manager
Accenture
John is a 2x Marketo Engage
Champion, Marketo Architect, and
certified in numerous Experience Cloud
Applications. John enjoys using
technology to make customer
experiences a reality.
Darshil Shah
Speaker
Senior Consultant
Deloitte
Darshil is 2x Marketo Engage
Champion, Champion of the Year 2022,
2x Architect, 3x Expert, 2x SME, Adobe
Experience Maker Awards Winner,
Community Advisor. He loves
integrating platforms using
custom/native integration methods.
Josh Arrington
Speaker
Partner & CMTO
Kapturall
Josh is a Chief Marketing
Technology officer with over 18 year
of MarTech Experience. He believes
that successful marketing is not just
about selling products or services,
but about creating a connection with
your audience.

Agenda
❏ Introductions
❏ Housekeeping
❏ Webhooks vs API
❏ Basics of Webhooks
❏ Setup and Configuration
❏ Authentication Methods
❏ Marketing Automation Use Cases
❏ Pro Tips and Workarounds
❏ Technical Limitations
❏ Question and Answer

Confidential.
Adobe Marketo Engage User Group House Rules
In order to ensure our MUGs stay user-focused and a
safe space for members of the Marketing Nation to learn,
network, and problem solve, we ask that all MUG
attendees follow these rules:
• No self-promotion or pitching of any kind is permitted
at MUG events
• Don’t contact people outside of the User Group
without their consent
• If MUG members share their use case at the User
Group, please don’t share that information without
their consent

Confidential.
This MUG Meeting is being Recorded
 To ensure that we are abiding by the MUG Code
of Conduct, we are informing all user group
attendees at the Deep Dives MUG meeting on 23
April 2024, 10:30 pm IST/1 pm ET, that this
meeting will be recorded and posted on the MUG
YouTube Channel to promote training, education,
and future learning.
 If you do not wish to participate in a LIVE
recorded session, please feel free to watch the
recording at a later time, which will be linked after
the meeting concludes, and send us any
questions you may have to
advocacy@adobe.com.

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Upcoming Opportunities for
Chapter Members

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Watch the recording:
"How to Submit a Standout Adobe Champion Application"
This session covers:
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Confidential.
Opportunity to share your input and help improve our learning content
The Adobe Adoption and Retention Marketing team is conducting research to better
understand how Marketing Practitioner users are learning to use Marketo Engage, what's
working well, and what hurdles you may be facing. There are two ways to participate:
Take a survey
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Upcoming User Group Meetings Calendar (North America)
DATE MUG CHAPTER FORMAT TOPIC
04-23 Adobe Deep Dive MUG Virtual Meeting Using Webhooks to Transfer Data
04-24 Higher Education VMUG Virtual Meeting Translate Geek-Speak to CMO-Speak
04-25 Portland MUG Virtual Meeting
Insights for Marketing Automation Excellence: Adobe Summit Recap for
Marketo Engage
04-25 St Louis MUG Virtual Meeting Breath, Brain, and Beyond: A Holistic Approach to Peak Performance
04-26 Portland MUG In-person Meeting
Insights for Marketing Automation Excellence: Adobe Summit Recap for
Marketo Engage
04-30 Pheonix MUG Virtual Meeting [Deep Dive] Uncovering Marketo's Target Account Management
05-09 Champion Office Hours MUG Virtual Meeting May 2024 – Marketo Champion Office Hours
RSVP Here:

Confidential.
Upcoming User Group Meetings Calendar (International)
DATE MUG CHAPTER FORMAT TOPIC
04-22
Japan - Marketo Foundation
MUG In Person Meeting
あなたはどんなマーケターになりたい？B2Bマーケターとしてのキャリア
を考える@東京
05-02 Ireland MUG Launch Virtual Meeting Very First All Ireland MUG event!
05-09 Champion Office Hours MUG Virtual Meeting May 2024 – Marketo Champion Office Hours
05-22 London MUG Hybrid Meeting May Marketo Masterclass – too many to list
05-30 Japan - SFKETO MUG In Person Meeting
SFKETO - マーケティングからISへの送客管理 ~ カスタムオブジェクトの
活用方法
RSVP Here:

Deep Dive:
Using Marketo Engage
Webhooks for Data Transfer

Webhooks vs APIs: Let’s
clear the widespread
confusion

Confidential.
Webhooks vs APIs
• Server-initiated
• Real-time updates for specific events
• Outbound Calls from Marketo
• Stateless in nature
• Req. Webhook Compatible Service
• Automated calls from Marketo that
get triggered when an event occurs
• Utilized at the program level
• Client-initiated
• Requests for data or action
• Inbound Calls to Marketo
• Statefulness Architecture is a
possibility
• Authentication Mechanism
• APIs help in adding, editing, deleting
a set data/asset in Marketo
• Bulk enablement is just a step away
< <
Webhook
Call
API Call
Webhook
API

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What is Webhook?
• Webhook = Web + Hook
• It’s a hook that you can use to interact with Web-based services (e.g., Marketo)
• The service must be web-compatible, i.e., HTTP/HTTPS protocol
• It opens an enormous range of new possibilities for performing
• Data transformation
• Cross-application communication
• Advanced calculation (Person Score = Behavior Score + Demographic Score)
• Other sophisticated data processing needed by today's modern marketer

Confidential.
How to use a Webhook in Marketo?
• Webhooks are configured in Marketo’s
Admin section
• Go to Marketo Admin > Integrations >
Webhook
• Webhook
• New Webhook
• Webhook Actions (select the webhook
from the left pane first)

Confidential.
Sample Webhook Setup
• A webhook requires the following configs -
• URL (include query parameters, if
required)
• Payload
• Request Type (Delete, Put, Patch, Get,
Post)
• Encoding Type
• Response Mappings
• Optional custom headers

Confidential.
Sending Data in a Webhook
For simple data sends it’s easiest to use a GET request, and pass the values in the URL
When more data is needed, it is better to use a POST request and include the data in the
body of the request

Confidential.
Receiving data back from webhooks – Response Mapping
You can receive data back from the
webhook and store it in any Lead or
Program Member field
 Supports JSON or XML
 No limit on # of field mappings
 Properties are accessed with dot-
notation, and array notation
 Updates will only occur if the web
service responds with a 2xx code.

Confidential.
Authentication with Webhooks
API-based Authentication
An API key is a unique identifier used to
access an API. It can be included in the
request header or URL to verify that the
request originates from an authorized source.
While convenient, API keys themselves can
be vulnerable if compromised.
OAuth 2.0
This is a more robust authorization
framework that provides a secure way to
access APIs. It involves obtaining an access
token from an authorization server using the
client credentials grant flow. The access
token is then included in the webhook
request header for authentication.
Basic Authentication
This is a simple method that involves sending
a username and password combination in the
request header encoded in base64. However,
it's not recommended due to security
weaknesses as the credentials are
transmitted in plain text.
Custom Headers
Some webhook providers allow including
custom headers in the request containing
secret strings or tokens for verification. This
approach offers flexibility but requires proper
management of the secret data.

Confidential.
Using Webhook in a Market Smart Campaign
• A webhook can only be used in a trigger campaign’s flow
• Use the Request Campaign flow step from a batch campaign flow to call a webhook (daisy
chain)

Confidential.
Integrating Webhooks with Other Systems
Custom CRM
Sync lead and
customer data
between Marketo
and your CRM
system, ensuring a
unified view of your
records.
Event Management
Trigger webhooks to
update event
registrations,
attendance, and
engagement data in
Marketo.
Ecommerce
Connect Marketo with
your ecommerce
platform to track
customer purchases
and nurture leads
more effectively.
Cloud Storage
Use webhooks to
automatically upload
marketing assets,
campaign data, and
reports to cloud storage
for easy access and
collaboration.

Confidential.
Marketing Automation Use Cases for Webhooks
1 Lead Generation
Trigger Marketo programs and
campaigns based on lead actions, such
as form submissions or website visits,
to nurture prospects in real-time.
Sales Enablement
Send real-time updates to your sales
team about lead activities, allowing
them to engage with the most
interested and qualified prospects.
Closed-Loop Reporting
Leverage webhooks to capture data
from external systems and integrate it
with Marketo's reporting, providing a
comprehensive view of marketing
performance.
Personalization
Trigger personalized content and
communications in Marketo based on
user behavior and data from
integrated systems, enhancing the
customer experience.
3
2
4

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Pro Tip: Updating a Webhook – Pitfalls and Workaround
•Marketo caches
webhook definitions for
faster processing, and as
a result, updates don't get
propagated right away.
•Following this practice
will allow you to do
version control for the
webhooks efficiently.
Also allows you to easily
roll back or refer to an
earlier version of the
webhook.
I've had dozens of
encounters where the
webhook didn't update,
ever.

Confidential.
Pro Tip: How to Call Marketo Webhook from a Batch Campaign

Confidential.
Pro Tip: Error Handling with Webhooks
Errors from Webhooks can be caught and handled by the Webhook is Called trigger:
Response – Response is the literal response payload which was received by the
request.
Error Type – This corresponds to the Reason-Phrase of the HTTP status message.

Confidential.
Pro Tip: Error Handling with Webhooks
Handle Predictable Errors: Set up decision and flow steps to handle predictable errors and exceptions. You can use
these parameters to identify specific error messages and take appropriate actions for each/certain class of errors.
Automate Error Recovery (if applicable): Depending on the external service you're integrating with, some errors can
be automatically recovered (e.g., service busy, throttled due to concurrency limit, etc.). If possible, include choice steps
in flow actions to automate the recovery process for certain classes of errors by re-calling the Webhook after a certain
period. This will minimize disruptions and maintain data accuracy.
Set Up Alerts for Unexpected Errors: For errors that cannot be automatically recovered, configure alert notifications.
By adding flow steps to send alerts to relevant team members, you ensure that they are promptly informed of any
unexpected issues.
Create an Investigation List: As part of the error handling mechanism, add flow steps to include affected individuals or
records in a designated "Investigation List." This list will aid your team in investigating and resolving errors efficiently.

Confidential.
Technical Limitations
The Call Webhook flow step is only valid in Trigger campaigns. Even though
there is a work-around, it’s not advisable.
One-at-a-time execution - Webhooks are always called one record at a time.
Execution time is at the mercy of the response time of the service being used
and can result in long campaign execution delays. Even if a service only
takes 50ms to execute, that is 1.5 hours when executed 100,000 times.
Execution Time Limit - Marketo will wait up to 30 seconds for a given
service call before terminating the call (a.k.a. timing out).

Adobe Marketo Engage Deep Dives: Using Webhooks to Transfer Data

Adobe Marketo Engage Deep Dives: Using Webhooks to Transfer Data

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