Iterable orchestrates the sends. Dock orchestrates the decisions behind them. When a lifecycle agent proposes a welcome variant, a re-engagement cohort, or a Marketo branch, the proposal lands as a Dock row with a named lifecycle owner. The owner approves once. Iterable executes. The Dock row keeps the receipt: journey node, agent, audience snapshot, reviewer, timestamp.
Iterable and Marketo stay the system of record for the raw data. Dock is the system of record for what the AGENT INTERPRETS. Each Dock row carries a pointer back to the platform record, agent identity, decision, reviewer, and timestamp. The agent re-fetches platform data via fresh API reads when it needs current state.
The Lifecycle Brief table
One Dock table per lifecycle program. The agent writes proposals. The lifecycle owner approves or rejects. Iterable picks up the approved state through a webhook on the row.
| Row | Iterable journey node | Proposed change | Audience snapshot | Lifecycle owner | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LB-204 | Welcome / Day 3 push | Swap CTA to in-app message for iOS 18+ users | 14,302 contacts (snapshot 2026-05-29) | Priya R. | Approved 2026-05-30 09:12 |
| LB-205 | Re-engagement / 60-day dormant | Add SMS step before email 4 (Marketo handoff) | 8,941 contacts | Marcus T. | Pending review |
| LB-206 | Post-purchase / Day 14 | Drop redundant email; keep push only | 22,118 contacts | Priya R. | Rejected (overlap with loyalty) |
Each row links back to the Iterable journey URL and the Marketo program ID. The agent identity is stamped on every proposal. The reviewer column is not optional.
One workflow, end to end
A lifecycle agent watches Iterable engagement on the Welcome / Day 3 push. Open rate drops 11 points over four weeks among iOS 18+ contacts. The agent re-reads the segment via the Iterable API, confirms the cohort, and drafts LB-204: swap the push for an in-app message. The proposal lands in the Lifecycle Brief table with agent identity, journey node URL, audience snapshot, and a suggested A/B split. Priya, the named owner for Welcome, gets one notification. She approves. A webhook flips the Iterable node. Marketo, which handles the parallel B2B nurture, syncs through the same row. If retention dips next quarter, the audit trail shows which agent proposed what, who approved, and which segment was live.
Why this matters
Cross-channel execution is the top operational problem in lifecycle marketing. Roughly 58 percent of marketers cite it as their primary challenge, and brands that get it right hold 91 percent retention against 30 percent for single-channel peers (Amra and Elma, 2026). The gap is coordination, not creative. Sixty-five percent of B2B teams struggle to connect their platforms (The Digital Bloom, 2025). Adding an agent without a named identity and a reviewer makes it worse. Dock fixes the coordination layer: the agent works inside a brief, the brief has an owner, the owner approves before the send.
This is the same orchestration pattern we use for sales and for ecommerce lifecycle, adapted to Iterable journeys and Marketo programs.
Read the full Dock for marketing pillar to see the rest of the stack.
FAQ
Does Dock replace Iterable or Marketo? No. Iterable runs the sends. Marketo runs the B2B nurtures. Dock holds the agent's proposal, the lifecycle owner's approval, and the pointer back to both platforms. Raw engagement data stays in Iterable. The decision record lives in Dock.
How does the lifecycle owner get assigned? Each Dock table column maps to a human reviewer by program. Welcome flows route to one owner. Re-engagement routes to another. The agent cannot ship a proposal without a named reviewer on the row.
What if the audience changes between proposal and approval? The agent re-fetches the Iterable segment at approval time. If the cohort drift exceeds a threshold you set, the row blocks and asks the lifecycle owner to confirm against the fresh snapshot.
Can I audit a campaign months later? Yes. Every row keeps the agent identity, the proposed change, the approving reviewer, the timestamps, and the platform pointer. The compliance trail survives even when the Iterable journey is archived.