Maximizing Re-usability in Marketo: Leveraging Velocity Macros for Email Script Tokens

Do you find yourself wanting to reference program or campaign-level custom tokens in your email script tokens, only to realize it's not directly supported? Fear not, as there's a workaround using Velocity macros that can help you achieve your goals efficiently.

Velocity, Marketo's scripting language, allows for creating and using macros, which are reusable pieces of code that can be invoked from within email script tokens. By leveraging Velocity macros, you can define values in one email script token and then reference these values in other email script tokens, effectively bypassing the limitation of directly accessing the program or folder-level custom tokens.

Here's a breakdown of how you can implement this:

Define Values in Velocity Tokens:

Start by setting values within your email script tokens using Velocity scripting. For example:

#set( $varA = "13:30" )

Create Macros:

Next, define macros that encapsulate these values within your email script tokens. This ensures that the values are easily accessible across multiple email scripts. Here's how you can define a macro:

#define( $varA)
13:30
#end

Reference Macros in Other Email Script Tokens

Now that you have defined your macros, you can reference them in other email script tokens wherever needed. This allows you to pass values between different email scripts efficiently.

While having a separate token for values may seem overkill initially, it proves beneficial in scenarios where multiple email script tokens depend on the same set of values. Additionally, separating values from core logic helps maintain clarity and reduces the risk of inadvertently altering critical script logic.

Furthermore, organizing your scripts in this manner ensures that values can be updated independently of the core logic, minimizing the chances of errors and making maintenance tasks more manageable. Remember, when inserting email script tokens with data, ensure they are placed before email script tokens containing logic and references to that data.

Leveraging Velocity macros in Marketo can overcome the limitations of referencing program or campaign-level custom tokens directly in email script tokens. This approach enhances efficiency and improves the organization and maintainability of your marketing campaigns within Marketo.

Happy scripting!