Having Problems With Acquisition Program in Marketo?

I'm sure you're doing great with your marketing and getting the most out of Marketo's programs. In this article I'll cover a very important aspect of Marketo programs that lets you prove your program's success.

What's a Program in Marketo?

A program in Marketo is a marketing initiative like email campaigning, webinar, or content program — a package where you put all the related stuff (emails, target lists, forms, landing pages, reports).

What is an Acquisition Program?

The Acquisition Program tells you the program through which a lead first ever came into the system, so that program gets "credit" for creating a net-new lead. This is important if you use RCE or rely on the Program Analyzer / Program Performance reports.

How is the Acquisition Program value set?

1. Automatic – set automatically when a brand-new lead is acquired by your program/event (e.g. a brand-new lead fills out a form under a program).
2. Manual: Change Data Value – using the Change Data Value flow step on the Acquisition Program attribute.
3. Manual: During List Import – set the Acquisition Program during list import in the lead database.
4. Manual: During Member Import – using the "Import Members" option under the Members tab of your program/event.

Why is it important?

It tells you how many new leads a program generated — a great metric to show senior management and prove your program's success. If it isn't set correctly, you lose this reporting and end up with orphan leads you can't trace.

How to back-fill missing acquisition program data

1. Identify leads without an acquisition program using the system smart list in Lead Database Management.
2. Export these leads with Original Source Info and Original Source Type (the fields Marketo uses for its own tracking of how a lead was created).
3. Check the distinct Original Source Info values.
4. Infer the acquisition program from Original Source Info — e.g. "List: <Program>.<List>" → assign to that program; "Form: <form name>" → assign to the relevant program (or create "Website – Forms"); "salesforce.com"/"Lead"/"Contact" → create "SFDC auto sync"; "Web service API" → create "Web service API"; a URL → create "Web Site". Expect ~70–80% correct tagging.
5. Create smart campaigns to update the Acquisition Program (and Acquisition Date, ideally based on the lead's created date token) accordingly.

It sounds complicated and time-consuming, but you'll see the benefit when creating reports for your next QBR. Note: understand it correctly and consult your team before implementing.