The Marketo (Segments) Connector is designed for users who need to manage translations for a single Marketo email across multiple languages within one email entity. Unlike the standard Marketo Connector, where each translated version is created as a separate email asset, the Marketo (Segments) Connector stores language versions as segments within the same email.
This approach helps reduce asset duplication in Marketo and keeps all localized versions of an email together in one place.
Please note that this connector is a paid product. For pricing information, please reach out to your Smartling Customer Success Manager.
How it works
Marketo supports segmentation, which allows different versions of content to be shown to different audiences. With the Marketo (Segments) Connector, you can use Marketo segmentation to store localized email versions by locale within a single email asset.
For example, one Marketo email can contain segments for English, French, German, and Spanish, instead of requiring separate email assets for each language.
The connector can also support different source versions, typically English variants such as en-US and en-CA, when different regional teams maintain slightly different source content and want to translate each version into a specific set of target languages.
Be aware that this is a unique use case and requires careful connector management, as Smartling projects support only one source locale. In these cases, the Smartling project source locale should be en. You will need to request your English variation assets into distinct sets of target locales. Otherwise, if you request multiple English variations for the same target locales, they will overwrite each other.
Supported content and limitations
The Marketo (Segments) Connector is not as robust as the standard Marketo Connector, which offers broader support for various content types.
- Supported asset type: Marketo emails only (email content and subject lines)
- Instant translation: Instant translation is supported. It works the same way as it does for the standard Marketo Connector. See Instant Translation for the Marketo Connector for details.
- Unsupported asset types: Forms, landing pages, programs, and snippets are not supported.
If you need to translate forms, landing pages, programs, or snippets, use the standard Marketo Connector instead. Contact your Solution Architect if you are unsure which connector is best for your setup.
Prerequisites
Before setting up the connector, confirm that your Marketo email content is organized using segmentation. Each email you want to translate should store its language or source variations as segments grouped under a parent segmentation, such as locale, in Marketo's Database section.
You also need a dedicated Marketo API user and LaunchPoint service for the integration. The steps below walk through creating both.
Set up the Marketo (Segments) Connector
Step 1: Create a Smartling connector project
- Create a new project in Smartling.
- Select Connector as the project type.
- Select Marketo (Segments) as the connecting platform.
- Select the source and target locales for the project.
Review the Source locales section before selecting locales. Your source locale setup affects how source variations are routed to target languages.
If you maintain different English source versions (for example, en-US and en-CA), set the project source language to English (en). You then select the specific source version when requesting translation.
After the project is created, confirm that workflows, linguistic assets, and team members are configured correctly. In particular, we recommend confirming that the default workflows for all of your target languages are set up according to your preferences. If auto-authorization is enabled, Smartling uses these default workflows automatically when content is requested through the connector.
Step 2: Create a Marketo API user and LaunchPoint service
To use the connector, create the following in Marketo:
- A dedicated API user.
- Required user permissions:
- Read-Write Assets
- Edit and approve Assets
- We recommend creating a custom API role with this access for this API user.
- Required user permissions:
- A LaunchPoint service in the Marketo dashboard.
- Go to Admin > LaunchPoint and create (or select) an installed service for Smartling. Use one service per Smartling integration: in this case, one for the Marketo (Segments) Connector project.
- Set the Service Type to Custom.
For more information, follow the steps in the Marketo REST API Quick Start Guide.
Step 3: Connect Marketo to Smartling
In your Smartling Marketo (Segments) Connector project, go to Settings > Marketo Segments Settings and click Connect to Marketo Segments.
Enter the credentials from your Marketo Custom Service. To find them, go to Admin > LaunchPoint, select your service, and click View Details. Confirm that the Service Type is set to Custom and that your API user has the required role permissions (Read-Write Assets, and Edit and approve Assets).
In the dialog, fill in:
- Client ID: In Marketo, go to Admin > LaunchPoint, select your custom service, and click View Details.
- Client Secret: In Marketo, go to Admin > LaunchPoint, select your custom service, and click View Details.
- Endpoint: In Marketo, go to Admin > Web Services > REST API. This is the unique server address for your Marketo instance.
- Identity: In Marketo, go to Admin > Web Services > REST API. This is the authentication URL for API access.
- Source Locales: Enter the Marketo segmentation IDs for the source versions you want to make available in Smartling. See Source locales below.
Click Test Connection. Once the connection succeeds, click Save Connection.
Source locales
In the Marketo (Segments) Connector, source locales represent source content versions stored as Marketo segments. They do not necessarily need to be different languages. For example, en-US and en-CA may both contain English content, but each can represent a different regional source version.
During setup, specify the segmentation IDs for your source content from Marketo's Database section, such as en or en-CA.
This setup is useful when different source versions should be translated into different target language sets. For example:
-
en-US→es-ES,es-MX -
en-CA→fr-CA,fr-FR,zh-CN
In this scenario, set the Smartling project source language to English (en). You then select the specific source version, such as en-US or en-CA, when requesting translation.
The connector does not automatically route source versions to specific target language sets. Users must select the correct source version and target languages when requesting translation.
Language mapping
In your Marketo (Segments) project, go to the Settings tab, then select Marketo Segments Settings. Under Language Configuration, associate each Smartling target locale with its corresponding Marketo language code (for example, fr-fr for French, de-de for German, uk-UA for Ukrainian).
Click the checkmark to save each mapping.
Target languages that are not mapped will not be available when requesting content for translation.
Automation of Prior Requests for Translation
In your Marketo (Segments) project, go to the Settings tab, then select Marketo Segments Settings. Under General, set Automation of Prior Requests for Translation. This setting controls how the connector monitors changes to content that has already been requested for translation in Smartling. Options include:
- Auto: The connector detects changes to previously submitted source content every three hours. Any detected updates are batched into a job that sits in awaiting authorization. If auto-authorize is enabled in your Smartling settings, the updated content is automatically authorized for translation. This feature detects only updates to content from assets previously submitted for translation. If an asset is brand new and has never been requested for translation, its content will not be picked up by this automation. See additional details here.
- Manual: The connector checks for changes to source content every three hours but does not automatically submit updates for translation.
- Disabled: The connector does not check for changes to source content.
Smartling settings
Talk to your Customer Success Manager or Solution Architect about options regarding auto-authorization, translation retrieval type, file versioning, and capturing custom placeholders. For more details, see the information linked here.
View Marketo email content in Smartling
After the connector is set up, your email content appears in Smartling on the Marketo Segments tab.
Your folder hierarchy in Marketo is displayed in Smartling. If you are using multiple source versions, they will appear as separate assets. For example, an email with English and Canadian English source versions may appear as:
[Asset Name] [en][Asset Name] [en-CA]
Click the information icon beside an asset to open the Asset Details page. From there, you can view translation status by language and request or export translations for that asset.
Request translations
There are two ways to request translation:
- Asset list: Select the asset, then click Actions > Request Translation. This option also lets you bulk-select multiple assets for translation.
- Asset details: Click the information icon on an asset, then click Request Translation. This option requests translation for that individual asset only.
Both options open the two-step Request Translation wizard, where you enter the job details. Choose to create a New Job or add the asset to an Existing Job.
- Enter the Job Name, the title for the translation task in Smartling.
- Confirm the asset selection is correct. Click the X to remove any listed asset.
- Optionally select Include Related Assets.
- Add a description for linguists, if desired.
- Select the Target Languages.
- Click Save Job and Continue to create the job in Smartling.
Once processing is complete, click Authorize Job to set a due date, choose the workflow, and submit the content for translation.
Because each source version appears as its own virtual asset, make sure you select the correct version before requesting translation, such as en or en-CA.
If the same email has multiple source versions, do not authorize two of them for the same target locale. Both deliver to the same locale segment in that email, so the later delivery overwrites the earlier one. Authorize each source version for a distinct set of target locales.
Delivery to Marketo
As translations are completed, Smartling delivers them back to Marketo as segments inside the original email. The connector does not create a separate email asset for each translated language.
You can also export translations manually:
- Open the asset list in your Marketo (Segments) Connector project.
- Select the translated asset.
- Click Actions > Export Translation.
Edit translations
Make edits to published translations in Smartling, not directly in Marketo. The connector does not recognize changes made directly in Marketo, and those changes may be overwritten the next time translations are delivered from Smartling.