QA & Compliance automates the quality assurance process for Marketo email programs. It replaces manual pre-send checklists with a configurable engine that runs automated checks, surfaces data for human confirmation, and produces an auditable QA report with self-review and peer-review sign-off.

The module lives under Governance Hub > QA & Compliance in the left navigation.

Audience & Assumptions

This guide is for marketing operations specialists and team leads who manage Marketo email programs. A Marketo connection must already be configured in Administration > Connections before using QA & Compliance.

What QA & Compliance Does

  • Reads a Marketo email program and all its associated assets (email, tokens, smart list, smart campaigns) via the Marketo API
  • Runs configurable automated checks against program setup, email settings, email content, and smart list configuration
  • Surfaces extracted Marketo data for semi-automated checks that require human confirmation
  • Supports custom manual checks created by your admin for org-specific process steps
  • Provides a structured self-review and peer-review workflow with full audit trail
  • Allows re-runs after fixes, preserving previous run history

What QA & Compliance Does Not Do

  • It does not create, modify, or fix assets in Marketo — it reads and validates only
  • It does not support non-email program types (engagement, event, default) in this version
  • It does not support Eloqua in this version
  • It does not provide content quality scoring, brand voice analysis, or AI-generated suggestions

Three Types of Checks

TypeHow it worksHuman input needed?
AutomatedSystem validates fully against configured rulesNone — results are instant
Semi-automatedSystem extracts data from Marketo and displays itUser reviews and confirms pass or fail
Custom (manual)Admin-created process stepsUser inspects and marks pass or fail with notes

QA Run Lifecycle

Every QA run follows this flow:

  1. Select program → User picks a Marketo email program
  2. Checks run → Automated checks execute instantly, semi-auto checks surface data
  3. Complete manual checks → User marks pass/fail on manual and semi-auto checks
  4. Self-review → User submits self-review sign-off (all required checks must have results)
  5. Peer review → A second user reviews and approves or flags issues
  6. Complete → QA run is locked with full audit trail
Example navigation. The QA & Compliance module appears under Governance Hub in the left navigation, alongside other governance tools.