Test, learn, repeat: Marketo’s successful guide launch

Marketo’s sr. customer marketing specialist, Katie Pedroza, is responsible for creating advanced learning programs for marketers across the world. Essentially, it is her job to ensure that users are getting value fast—a leading indicator of product stickiness.

Katie and the customer marketing team caught wind of a single UX designer at Marketo who was using Pendo to analyze user behavior. When the team learned about guides, Pendo’s in-app messaging capability, they saw an opportunity to communicate with their customers in a way they hadn’t before.

Despite their initial excitement, they didn’t act hastily. Instead, they took the time to establish what they dubbed “The Pendo Core Team,” whose responsibility was to create guidelines on customer communication. The team, comprised of customer marketing, product, UX, and product documentation, wanted to create a holistic experience for their users.

Marketo spoke with their users to better understand their needs, and customers responded enthusiastically—100% of interviewees wanted in-product help. Specifically, they wanted unobtrusive assistance.

Marketo began the rollout of Pendo’s guides to a single customer with a joint goal: reduce support tickets. A significant decrease in tickets empowered Marketo to launch a full beta to their New Zealand and Australian customers. Again they saw a significant change in user behavior, including more extensive Marketo usage.

A thoughtful approach to launching guides — providing assistance without interfering with customers’ workflow — proved to be successful for the Marketo team.