Marketo Transformation dbt Package (docs)

What does this dbt package do?

Produces modeled tables that leverage Marketo data from Fivetran's connector in the format described by this ERD and builds off the output of our Marketo source package.
Enables you to better understand your Marketo email performance and how your leads change over time. The output includes models with enriched email metrics for leads, programs, email templates, and campaigns. It also includes a lead history table that shows the state of leads on every day, for a set of columns that you define.
Generates a comprehensive data dictionary of your source and modeled Marketo data through the dbt docs site.

The following table provides a detailed list of all tables materialized within this package by default.

TIP: See more details about these tables in the package's dbt docs site.

Table	Description
marketo__campaigns	Each record represents a Marketo campaign, enriched with metrics about email performance.
marketo__email_sends	Each record represents the send of a Marketo email, enriched with metrics about email performance.
marketo__email_templates	Each record represents a Marketo email template, enriched with metrics about email performance.
marketo__lead_history	Each record represents the state of a lead on a specific day. The columns in this model are specified with the `lead_history_columns` variable. The start date is configured by the `marketo__first_date` variable, which by default, for dbt Core™ users, is the date of the earliest lead record, and for Fivetran Quickstart Data Model users, is 18 months in the past. There is currently no way to adjust this within the Quickstart environment, though incremental model runs will slowly look further and further in the past. However, please be aware that a full refresh will reset the clock and limit data to 18 months prior.
marketo__leads	Each record represents a Marketo lead, enriched with metrics about email performance.
marketo__programs	Each record represents a Marketo program, enriched with metrics about email performance.

How do I use the dbt package?

Step 1: Prerequisites

To use this dbt package, you must have the following:

At least one Fivetran Marketo connector syncing data into your destination.
A BigQuery, Snowflake, Redshift, PostgreSQL, or Databricks destination.

Databricks Dispatch Configuration

If you are using a Databricks destination with this package you will need to add the below (or a variation of the below) dispatch configuration within your dbt_project.yml. This is required in order for the package to accurately search for macros within the dbt-labs/spark_utils then the dbt-labs/dbt_utils packages respectively.

dispatch:
  - macro_namespace: dbt_utils
    search_order: ['spark_utils', 'dbt_utils']

Step 2: Install the package

Include the following Marketo package version in your packages.yml file.

TIP: Check dbt Hub for the latest installation instructions or read the dbt docs for more information on installing packages.

packages:
  - package: fivetran/marketo
    version: [">=0.11.0", "<0.12.0"]

Do NOT include the marketo_source package in this file. The transformation package itself has a dependency on it and will install the source package as well.

Step 3: Define database and schema variables

By default, this package runs using your destination and the marketo schema of your target database. If this is not where your Marketo data is (for example, if your Marketo schema is named marketo_fivetran), add the following configuration to your root dbt_project.yml file:

vars:
  marketo_database: your_database_name
  marketo_schema: your_schema_name

For additional configurations for the source models, please visit the Marketo source package.

Step 4: Enabling/Disabling Models

This package takes into consideration tables that may not be synced due to slowness caused by the Marketo API. By default the campaign and program related-models are disabled. If you sync these tables, enable the modeling done by adding the following to your dbt_project.yml file:

vars:
    marketo__enable_campaigns:   true      # Enable if Fivetran is syncing the campaign table
    marketo__enable_programs:    true      # Enable if Fivetran is syncing the program table

Alternatively, you may need to disable certain models. The below models can be disabled by adding them to your dbt_project.yml file:

vars:
    marketo__activity_delete_lead_enabled:  false     # Disable if you do not have the activity_delete_lead table

(Optional) Step 5: Additional configurations

Expand/Collapse details

Passing Through Additional Columns

This package includes all source columns defined in the source package's macros folder. If you would like to pass through additional columns to the staging models, add the following configurations to your dbt_project.yml file. These variables allow for the pass-through fields to be aliased (alias) and casted (transform_sql) if desired, but not required. Datatype casting is configured via a sql snippet within the transform_sql key. You may add the desired sql while omitting the as field_name at the end and your custom pass-though fields will be casted accordingly. Use the below format for declaring the respective pass-through variables in your root dbt_project.yml.

vars:
    marketo__activity_send_email_passthrough_columns: 
      - name: "new_custom_field"
        alias: "custom_field_name"
        transform_sql:  "cast(custom_field_name as int64)"
      - name: "a_second_field"
        transform_sql:  "cast(a_second_field as string)"
    # a similar pattern can be applied to the rest of the following variables.
    marketo__program_passthrough_columns:

Tracking Different Lead History Columns

The marketo__lead_history model generates historical data for the columns specified by the lead_history_columns variable. By default, the columns tracked are lead_status, urgency, priority, relative_score, relative_urgency, demographic_score_marketing, and behavior_score_marketing. If you would like to change these columns, add the following configuration to your dbt_project.yml file. After adding the columns to your dbt_project.yml file, run the dbt run --full-refresh command to fully refresh any existing models.

vars:
  marketo:
    lead_history_columns: ['the','list','of','column','names']

Changing the Build Schema

By default this package will build the Marketo staging models within a schema titled (<target_schema> + _marketo_source) and Marketo final models within a schema titled (<target_schema> + marketo) in your target database. If this is not where you would like your modeled Marketo data to be written to, add the following configuration to your dbt_project.yml file:

models:
    marketo:
      +schema: my_new_schema_name # leave blank for just the target_schema
    marketo_source:
      +schema: my_new_schema_name # leave blank for just the target_schema

Changing the Lead Date Range

Because of the typical volume of lead data, you may want to limit this package's models to work with a recent date range of your Marketo data (however, note that all final models are materialized as incremental tables).

By default, for dbt Core™ users, the package looks at all events since the earliest lead record, so do not include this variable unless you want to limit your marketo__lead_history data. To change this start date, add the following variable to your dbt_project.yml file:

models:
    marketo:
      marketo__first_date: "yyyy-mm-dd"

For Fivetran Quickstart Data Model users, the package will look 18 months in the past. There is currently no way to adjust this within the Quickstart environment, though incremental runs will slowly look further and further in the past. However, please be aware that a full refresh will reset the clock and limit data to 18 months prior.

(Optional) Step 6: Orchestrate your models with Fivetran Transformations for dbt Core™

Expand for details

Fivetran offers the ability for you to orchestrate your dbt project through Fivetran Transformations for dbt Core™. Learn how to set up your project for orchestration through Fivetran in our Transformations for dbt Core setup guides.

Does this package have dependencies?

This dbt package is dependent on the following dbt packages. These dependencies are installed by default within this package. For more information on the following packages, refer to the dbt hub site.

IMPORTANT: If you have any of these dependent packages in your own packages.yml file, we highly recommend that you remove them from your root packages.yml to avoid package version conflicts.

packages:
    - package: fivetran/marketo_source
      version: [">=0.11.0", "<0.12.0"]

    - package: fivetran/fivetran_utils
      version: [">=0.4.0", "<0.5.0"]

    - package: dbt-labs/dbt_utils
      version: [">=1.0.0", "<2.0.0"]

    - package: dbt-labs/spark_utils
      version: [">=0.3.0", "<0.4.0"]

How is this package maintained and can I contribute?

Package Maintenance

The Fivetran team maintaining this package only maintains the latest version of the package. We highly recommend you stay consistent with the latest version of the package and refer to the CHANGELOG and release notes for more information on changes across versions.

Contributions

A small team of analytics engineers at Fivetran develops these dbt packages. However, the packages are made better by community contributions.

We highly encourage and welcome contributions to this package. Check out this dbt Discourse article on the best workflow for contributing to a package.

Are there any resources available?

If you have questions or want to reach out for help, see the GitHub Issue section to find the right avenue of support for you.
If you would like to provide feedback to the dbt package team at Fivetran or would like to request a new dbt package, fill out our Feedback Form.