Your messages are doing their job, but are they working it?

If your campaigns are feeling a little too copy-paste, a little too “blah,” it might be time for a serious glow-up. You’ve got the data. You’ve got the content. Now it’s time to use the tools inside Marketing Cloud on Core (aka Growth and Advanced Edition) to turn that good-enough messaging into something that shines!

This blog will teach you how Dynamic Content and Expressions can transform your messages from basic to brilliant. You’ll learn what these new features are, how they work, and how to use them to make every send feel personal, polished, and powerful!

Let’s Start with the Basics

Before we dig into the tools, let’s talk about transformation. A glow-up for your marketing means:

• Less copy-paste, more customization
• Making use of the data you already have
• Messages that speak directly to the recipient, not the crowd

Marketing Cloud on Core gives you two powerful tools to make it happen. Ready to transform your messages? Let’s learn how to master Dynamic Content and Expressions.

Introducing Your Email’s Style Squad

Give your emails a fresh look without starting from scratch. Think of Dynamic Content like your email’s glam squad; each part makes your email stand out. Consider giving your email different “outfits” based on who’s opening it.

• Personalization Point: This is the part of your email where you give a mini makeover. It could be a subject line, preheat, hero image, or CTA – any element that could use extra sparkle.
• Personalization Decision: This is the brains behind the beauty. It figures out who should see what based on the rules you set.
• Targeting Rule: Your custom-fit formula. It defines “if this, then show that” logic. For example, “if account type = VIP, show gold banner.”

Pro Tip: Already built a variation you love? You can reuse it in other emails using recent Personalization Points.

How to Apply the Glow-Up: Creating Dynamic Content

Let’s walk through giving your content a dynamic makeover:

• Open your email in the editor and select the content block you want to glam up.
• Head to the Dynamic Content section and click Add Variation.
  • You can use the Variation dropdown to access NewVariations if you’ve already got some variations.

• When the Create or Reuse Personalization Settings window pops up, select New Variation.
  Heads up: Your message has to save first, so give it 10-20 seconds.
• Name your variation and create your Targeting Rule.
• Click Save, then customize your content within that variation, like updating a header image or swapping out messaging for a specific audience.
• Use the Variation dropdown to preview how your message looks for each version.

Pro Tip: Use dynamic blocks sparingly at first. Target high-impact spots like hero images or CTAs, and test frequently to ensure each variation shines.

The Finishing Touch for Personalized Flair

Once your content’s dressed to impress, it’s time to fine-tune the details, and that’s where Expressions come in. They’re like your behind-the-scenes styling tool that ensures every message feels personal, even when the data isn’t perfect. Here’s how Expressions keeps your messages looking polished:

• Saved Expression: Think of this as your go-to styling shortcut. It’s a reusable logic block you create once and drop into multiple campaigns; it’s less work with the same wow factor.
• Attribute Selection: This is where you tell the Expression what data to look at, such as PreferredName, LoyaltyStatus, or FavoriteProduct.
• Fallback Value: No data? No problem. Expressions let you set a backup so your message stays smooth. Instead of “Hi,” you get “Hi there!”

Expressions ensure every message feels intentional and on-brand like you planned that way (because you did). 

Adding the Ultimate Accessory: Creating Expressions

Here’s how to build your first Expression and set your messages up for consistent, reusable personalization:

1. Head to Content > Content Workspace in Marketing Cloud.
2. Click Add, then choose Content.
3. Select Expression, then click Create. (Yes, you’re about to create something fabulous.)
4. Give your Expression a name that clearly describes what it does (like “PreferredName Fallback” or “GoldMemberStatus”).
5. Use the Attribute field to choose the customer data you want to reference.
6. (Optional) Add a filter if you need to narrow down conditions, like only using this Expression when someone’s location is “US.”
7. Click Save.
8. Don’t forget to hit Publish to start using your Expression in your messages.

Pro tip: Once created, Expressions can be used repeatedly across campaigns, saving you time while keeping your personalization game strong.

Using Your Expression in a Message

Now that you’ve created your personalized shortcut, it’s time to drop it into your message for that final glow-up touch.

1. Open the email, SMS, or WhatsApp message where you want to use your Expression.
2. Select the content block where you want your personalization to appear.
3. Click the [] Add a merge field symbol.
4. Choose Saved Expressions from the dropdown menu.
5. Pick the Expression you created earlier.
6. Add a default value (like “there” or “friend”) in case your data field is empty.
7. Click Done and admire your work.

Pro Tip: This ensures your message always reads naturally, even if a customer’s name or info is missing the data.

Use Them Together for a Full-On Email Glow-Up

You’ve got the tools! Now it’s time to layer them like a pro stylist would. Dynamic Content and Expressions are great on their own, but when used together? That’s when the real transformation happens!

Think of Dynamic Content as your email’s wardrobe, changing outfits based on who’s reading. Then think of Expressions as the accessories, adding that personalized sparkle like someone’s name, product interest, or membership level.

Real-World Example

Let’s say you’re sending a promotional email:

• You use Dynamic Content to show one banner for loyalty members and another for new subscribers.
• Inside each banner block, you drop in an Expression to greet the user by name (with a fallback like “their” in case their name isn’t available).
• You also use Expression to highlight their preferred product category, so the CTA feels totally tailored.

The result? An email that looks like you custom-designed it for every person without cloning templates or managing a million logic paths.

Why This Combo Works

• You reduce manual work by creating fewer, smarter assets.
• You create hyper-relevant emails without sacrificing time or scalability.
• You build a customer experience that feels seamless, polished, and personal, even if you’re sending to thousands at once.

Using Dynamic Content and Expressions is the email marketing equivalent of putting on a fresh outfit, doing your hair, and finishing with the perfect accessory.

Ready to Give Your Emails a Glow-Up?

You don’t need a whole new wardrobe of emails, just the right tools to style them smarter. With Dynamic Content and Expressions in Marketing Cloud on Core, you can transform basic batch-and-blast messages into personalized, polished experiences that connect with your audience.

From targeting rules to fallback names, you have everything you need to bring out the best in your campaigns without doubling your workload. Whether you’re just dipping your toes into personalization or looking to scale with style, this glow-up is just the beginning.

Want help applying what you learned?

Book a consultation with Sercante’s Marketing Cloud experts to review your personalization strategy or sign up for one of our hands-on workshops. Let’s glow up your next campaign together!

Original article: Personalization with Marketing Cloud on Core: How to Use Dynamic Content & Expressions

©2025 The Spot. All Rights Reserved.

The post Personalization with Marketing Cloud on Core: How to Use Dynamic Content & Expressions appeared first on The Spot.

I’m not going to be the guy who says “I told you so,” but Flow Builder has officially expanded from being an automation tool used exclusively by Salesforce Admins into the realm of marketing. Flow Builder is the engine used by Marketing Cloud Growth Edition to send emails and SMS messages and perform other automated tasks. If you’re not familiar with Flow, that’s OK. In this post, we’ll walk you through the process of building a message series with Flow in Marketing Cloud Growth Edition.

Getting Started

If you are new to flow, I would encourage you to take a moment to read Heather Rinke’s post An Introductory Guide to Salesforce Flow for Marketers before going any further. This is a great overview of flows and will provide context to the topics that we’ll be discussing.

If you have questions about Marketing Cloud Growth Edition, I’ve got you covered there too. Check out Erin Duncan’s post All the FAQs on Marketing Cloud Growth Edition for all your answers.

Building a Message Series

Confirm User Access

Marketing Cloud Growth (aka MCG) includes two permission sets out of the box. It also requires that users be added as a contributors to the CMS workspace and the Marketing Landing Pages site (see the Implementation Guide: Marketing Cloud Growth for more details).

User Permissions in Marketing Cloud Growth

It All Starts With A Campaign

One of the things that I really like about Marketing Cloud Growth is the campaign-centric approach. This is very logical and easy to use.

To get started navigate to the Campaigns tab in the Marketing App and click the New button. After completing the fields on the campaign page layout, you’ll be presented with the screen below. This is where the fun begins!

We’re going to select the Message Series option as that’s our goal for today.

Pro Tip: If you see this message when clicking one of the “Where do you want to start?” options, go back up and confirm your user access. Chances are you have not been added to the CMS as a contributor.

After selecting the Message Series option, you’ll notice that Marketing Cloud Growth has created your campaign, email templates, and a basic flow. This automation is a real time-saver and provides a great starting point for marketers.
  

Flow Access

You can access the pre-built flow by clicking the “Open Flow” button within the campaign or by searching for “flow” in the App Launcher. This is a basic Segment-Triggered flow that sends an initial email, waits a specified period, and then sends a follow-up message. It’s a good starting point, but you’ll likely need to customize it to meet your specific requirements.

Customizing Your Flow

Flow Capabilities

If you are a Salesforce Admin who has experience with flows, you’ll immediately notice that this is not the same version of flow that you are accustomed to. Marketing Cloud Growth uses a streamlined version of Flow Builder and different trigger methods (Segment-Triggered and Form-Triggered). Most elements are available, but there are some limitations. See Marketing Cloud Growth Campaign Flows vs. Salesforce Flows by Lucy Mazalon for a great overview. Some limitations that stood out to me were the inability to access the Toolbox or create formulas, but don’t stress too much as this is a new product and capabilities will be expanded in future releases.

Pro Tip: Marketing Cloud Managers can access and edit flows, but their permissions are limited compared to Marketing Cloud Admins. Key missing elements include assignment, get records, and loop functions.

Current Capabilities

Set Schedule 

Unlike Record-Triggered flows, Segment-Triggered flows run on set schedules. This is due to the linkage with Data Cloud and its consumption-based pricing model. Credits are used when segments are processed so it’s recommended that segments only be refreshed prior to sending a communication or at intervals relevant to data updates (if data is added weekly, don’t refresh daily).

The schedule can be set by clicking + Set Schedule in the Start element. From there you’ll have the option to run once or set a recurring schedule.

Select Segment 

Speaking of segments, they can be added to the flow from the Start element by clicking + Select Element or directly from the campaign page by clicking Select Segment. I prefer adding the segment from the flow start element as it provides some additional features that I find very handy. 

After selecting a segment from the Segment dropdown, a summary of the segment is provided. The population, description, last publish date, and publish schedule are also displayed. If the segment population seems too large or too small, you can access and edit the segment rules. Keep in mind, any edits to the segment will be applied wherever the segment is used.

The final consideration is the republishing schedule. You can immediately publish the segment before running the flow (to make sure the most recently added individuals are included) or default to the publishing schedule defined in the segment. The interface design helps make the decision very easy by clearly displaying the segment publish schedule so you can make an informed decision.

Pro Tip: If you see that your segment is not set to refresh, it’s important that you select the “immediately before running the flow” option. If this option is not selected, you risk missing newly added individuals.

Update Wait Elements 

Flow includes three wait elements that provide a lot of flexibility. These elements can easily be added to your flow by hovering over the circle between elements, clicking the + sign, and then entering “Wait” as the search criteria.

One big advantage over Account Engagement’s Engagement Studio is the ability to have wait times down to the minute in the Wait for Amount of Time and Wait Until Event elements.

Apply Branch Logic

Branch logic can be added using the Wait Until Event or a Decision element. Let’s look at both.

Wait Until Event

This element allows you to monitor for an action in the flow and then branch based on the engagement. As an example, you could monitor for individuals who clicked a link (and link or a specific link) in the first email in your series and then branch based on the interaction (or lack thereof). This can also be applied to SMS messages.

Decision Element

This decision element is another way to apply branch logic by specifying criteria for outcomes. The cool thing here is that you are not limited to two branches, additional outcomes can be added as needed creating multiple branches.

The actual resource fields accessible in decision elements are somewhat limited right now. This is certainly an area to keep an eye on as it will become even more valuable in future releases.

Vary Communication Methods

Another great thing about Marketing Cloud Growth is the ability to easily integrate SMS messages into flow. This is a great way to try a different outreach method if individuals don’t respond or to customize nurtures based on individual preferences.

In the example below, the intent is to get individuals to engage (click). After sending two emails and not getting a response, an SMS message is sent to see if a different communication method gets the desired interaction.

Learn More About Marketing Cloud Growth Edition & Flow

Marketing Cloud Growth is an exciting new offering from Salesforce and it’s only going to get better with each release. If you would like to learn more about this product, be sure to check out our Marketing Cloud Growth Edition Bootcamp.

Getting hands-on with flow is something that I highly recommend. Fortunately, Trailhead has a wealth of flow-related training available for free. Here are a couple of recommendations to help get you started.

• Flow Builder Basics
• Build a Simple Flow

Finally, Data Cloud is at the core of segmentation in Marketing Cloud Growth Edition. The Data Cloud Basics for Marketers trail is a great way to learn some of the benefits and key terms of Data Cloud that you will run across.

Original article: Building a Message Series Flow in Marketing Cloud Growth Edition

©2025 The Spot. All Rights Reserved.

The post Building a Message Series Flow in Marketing Cloud Growth Edition appeared first on The Spot.

As an SMB marketer, you’re required to wear a lot of hats. From lead generation and aligning with sales and service teams, to creating content, emails, and personalized customer journeys you’re pulled in a lot of directions – and frankly that can be tough. Cue – artificial intelligence!  Gain insights and considerations for how you can use AI to help your marketing efforts

Supporting your day-to-day tasks 

One of the main benefits of AI  is in the area of efficiency. AI allows small teams to do more with less/fewer resources – which according to some marketers – they expect AI will save them 5 hours per week – that’s over ½ a day you get back!

 Examples of this include 

• Content creation – from minutes to seconds
• Customer segmentation – reducing the manual effort and technical skillset commonly required

AI can also lead to better experiences for customers – which in reality is what it’s all about. By giving you the ability to get content out quickly, AI can also increase your opportunity to personalize customer experiences such as send times – waiting to send until someone is most likely to engage.

How it’s done

But before we go much further – let’s level set: AI can be categorized based on its functionality and the specific tasks it performs. Two common categories are Generative AI (as described above) and Predictive AI. Here’s how they differ:

• Generative AI focuses on creating new content, such as text, images, music, or even entire datasets. These systems generate data that mimics the patterns and structures of the input data they were trained on – leveraging user feedback such as thumbs up or down as part of their internal feedback & learning loop.
• Predictive AI focuses on analyzing existing data to make forecasts or predictions about future events. It identifies patterns and trends in historical data to predict outcomes. Examples include:
  • Sales Forecasting: Predicting future sales based on past sales data and market trends.
  • Customer Churn Prediction: Identifying customers likely to stop using a service.

As marketers to date – much of the focus/application of AI has been focused on GenAI but its only a matter of time before predictive AI becomes more commonplace.

Tools at your disposal

When it comes to AI tools  – what you use is based on what you’re trying to achieve. And like most things, there are free and paid options.

Popular Free tools

ChatGPT, Microsoft CoPilot, and Google Gemini are three of the most popular chatbots to answer any question or generate text. Jasper is an AI copywriting assistant specializing in marketing content, and Quillbot paraphrases and improves written content, while, DALL-E 2 is great for generating images from text prompts.

While these are popular and free – marketers should keep in mind that they may many times lack control over quality and security. TDLR – don’t put personal, private, and/or confident data into these AI tools as they aren’t entirely secure.

Getting an assist from AI

As we continue to be asked to do more with less, make sure you don’t leave yourself vulnerable either. 

Considerations for using AI as a marketer

• Be mindful of the information you input -what would happen if there was a data breach? 
• Check for plagiarism – is the AI-generated content pulled directly from another source?
• Consider the reliability & accuracy – did you fact-check? How good/specific was your input? What limiters did you apply if any?

How SMBs can tap AI through their marketing automation platforms

Our Guide “Selecting a Marketing Automation Vendor that Packs a Punch for SMBs” delves deeper into how top marketing automation platforms like Mailchimp, HubSpot, and Salesforce are innovating for SMBs. These platforms offer AI-driven features that can significantly enhance your marketing efforts, making them more efficient and effective.

Download the whitepaper now to explore how these vendors are revolutionizing marketing automation for SMBs and how you can leverage AI to stay ahead of the marketing trends.

Original article: How AI Can Help SMB Marketers

©2025 The Spot. All Rights Reserved.

The post How AI Can Help SMB Marketers appeared first on The Spot.

Collecting customer feedback can be a transformative tool that propels your business to new heights, and getting customer feedback through Salesforce is possible through a few methods. Armed with the right feedback, you have everything you need to address customer pain points and capitalize on your biggest strengths. 

Without sending surveys and gathering quality feedback, your product or service is navigating success in the dark. 

In this post, we’ll outline the ways Salesforce customers can collect feedback while working with the platform including limitations with getting customer feedback with Salesforce forms and solutions for more advanced initiatives.

The Evolution of Customer Feedback Collection on Salesforce

Gone are the days of manually sending out feedback forms. Today, there are countless digital tools to help you out. Of course, we all know there is a lot more to efficiency and automation than simply getting off paper and into the digital space. 

Here’s where Salesforce feedback forms become your best friend. The benefit of Salesforce form integration for collecting feedback is that you can automate every step of the survey process while accessing personalized data and reports on every customer. No CRM is more robust or comprehensive. 

Once you experience the power of customer feedback with Salesforce forms, your customer success strategy will never be the same. Read on to find out all the ways you can collect customer feedback with Salesforce forms.

The Role of Salesforce Feedback Management

First up, you are probably wondering what tools Salesforce offers for collecting customer feedback with Salesforce forms. Well, Salesforce actually does have a free survey solution that comes with every Salesforce org, which is called Salesforce Surveys. 

Check out how to create surveys using Salesforce Surveys here for more on that.

Limitations of the Out-of-the-Box Salesforce Survey Solution

On the downside, this basic survey feature is limited. For example, you get 300 responses, and you can only relate a survey invitation to limited record types. To get more flexibility with the basic survey tool from Salesforce, you would need to implement custom development or Apex of some kind.

Purchasing Feedback Management by Salesforce

Alternatively, you can purchase Feedback Management by Salesforce, which comes in three editions: 

1. Survey Response Pack
2. Feedback Management – Starter
3. Feedback Management – Growth

Of these, it’s Feedback Management – Starter and Feedback Management – Growth that provides the most comprehensive features, including 100,000 responses and unlimited responses respectively. 

These native tools offer some exciting capabilities such as Customer Lifecycle Analytics and Data Mapper, which allow you to sync survey responses to standard or custom objects. Investing in feedback management tools is one viable strategy for collecting customer feedback with Salesforce forms. 

Considerations of Feedback Management by Salesforce

There are some considerations to make when looking at Feedback Management by Salesforce. These include considerable investment, $13,500 a month per org for the Starter Edition and $46,000 a month per org for the Growth Edition. 

Aside from the price, these tools may still require coding and development to cater to custom use cases. This means you have to allocate time and money toward developing these solutions and ongoing maintenance.

Exploring Other Survey Options for Salesforce Feedback Forms

So, what are your other options for implementing customer feedback with Salesforce forms? And what is the best way to collect feedback for your workflows while integrating with Salesforce? 

Read on, we have you covered!

Techniques to Collect Feedback Using Salesforce Form Builder

When building forms to collect user feedback via Salesforce, you can choose to implement development work. This will give you great flexibility and customization. However, it will slow down time to market, and you need to be really sure that you are in it for the long haul. Projects like this require ongoing upkeep. 

Alternatively, you can purchase a trusted third-party tool for surveys on the AppExchange. This will help you go to market faster and mitigate some of your development work. The biggest con of most products on the market is that they offer limited flexibility. You often won’t get customization without code, and this lands you with some of the problems and obstacles you face when building a custom solution or using Salesforce native tools.

The good news is you don’t have to be stuck in this build versus buy quandary. Not all products are created equal! You can collect customer feedback with Salesforce forms using a robust and flexible form builder with zero code. 

Learn more about building complex Salesforce forms without coding here. 

Titan Survey: A Powerful Salesforce Survey Tool

One of the best options on the market is Titan Survey, part of an all-in-one super platform for Salesforce. Check out some of the amazing things you can accomplish with Titan Survey below, or read more about building complex Salesforce forms without coding here.

Salesforce Surveys as a Tool for Engagement

One of the strongest features of Titan’s Salesforce survey tools is that you can easily map them to any custom or standard object. The Titan Survey package also offers a range of custom Salesforce Survey Objects included with the platform. 

You can draw on multi-patented bi-directional Salesforce integration to craft personalized user journeys. By implementing conditional logic in your surveys, you can ensure that customers taking your surveys remain engaged throughout the process. 

Customers can skip irrelevant questions and only get asked questions relevant to them. With the power of conditional logic, watch drop-off rates sink, and market segmentation becomes a whole lot easier.

Automating Salesforce Customer Feedback Forms

The good news is that with a tool like Titan Survey, you can automate every step of the customer feedback form process. Set up ready-to-go customer feedback form templates and have them sent out automatically through Salesforce. You can also trigger follow-up actions and have customer issues routed to the correct support or sales representative with ease! 

With Titan Survey, you can send feedback via WhatsApp, SMS, Salesforce Flow, List View, or Reports. 

You also have the freedom to send web or email surveys. With web surveys, you get to distribute surveys via a link that can be embedded in your website or anywhere you like. Web surveys are typically more interactive and work better for more complex questions. You can also embed Titan surveys in an email, which is ideal for shorter and simpler surveys!

Using Marketing Cloud Account Engagement (Pardot)? Check out this blog post that outlines how to use Pardot form handlers for data submission, which is the solution you can use to connect Titan surveys to your Account Engagement instance.

Titan Forms: A Salesforce Forms Builder Alternative for Feedback Collection

The bottom line is that Salesforce surveys are here to revolutionize the way you interact with customers. They’re a key component to creating the experiences your customers want. Even so, finding an easy-to-use Salesforce feedback form can be challenging! 

Custom development has a lot of perks but comes with many obstacles. Similarly, Salesforce’s native solutions carry a price tag and may take longer to implement when handling niche use cases. 

A no-code Salesforce feedback form is a winner! And here, Titan Survey offers all the usual survey perks — like any question type and a range of templates. This tool also offers special features like dynamic data sync with any Salesforce record. 

Ultimately, it’s up to you to make the right decision for you and your business and customers. Good luck!

Original article: All the Ways to Collect Customer Feedback With Salesforce Forms

©2025 The Spot. All Rights Reserved.

The post All the Ways to Collect Customer Feedback With Salesforce Forms appeared first on The Spot.

Your boss has told you to ‘do ABM.’ Great. Instead of ripping out your current marketing and sales campaigns, here are three quick ways to apply ABM strategies to your email campaigns.

What is account-based marketing (ABM)?

Let’s go over what ABM is and what it isn’t at a high level first.

ABM stands for Account-Based Marketing, which is a “B2B marketing strategy for high-value customer accounts. In ABM, you focus on each account as a “market of one,” offering highly personalized 1-to-1 experiences and tailored content.

Through a focus on building stronger relationships with high-value accounts, ABM can help B2B marketers who need to increase pipeline quality, retain top accounts for longer, and boost the revenue those accounts bring in.” — Source: Salesforce

You might also hear something called ABX or Account-Based Experience. This is a “go-to-market strategy that uses data and insights to orchestrate relevant, trusted marketing and sales actions throughout the B2B customer journey. It’s a customer-centric rethinking of an account-based go-to-market — one that combines the engageability of inbound marketing with the precision and targeting of account-based marketing.” Definition from Demandbase

So as you can see, we can’t just start doing ABM and see results the next week. ABM is not a little change to increase MQLs (marketing qualified leads) or newsletter subscriptions. 

To fully embrace this new go-to-market strategy and campaign structure across our marketing, sales, and service teams requires a lot of planning, work, and time to see impactful and positive results. 

Some ABM/ABX Best Practice Reminders

Before we get into it, here are some ABM best practice recommendations to guide you through the integration of ABM strategy with your email marketing campaigns.

ABM Reminder 1. You don’t have to do it all at once!

•  Consider a phased approach to ABM/ABX by focusing on low-hanging fruit.

ABM Reminder 2. Even a little personalization is better than none.

• The more targeted and personalized you can make your ABM program, the better. But remember our first point that it is ok to start slow and small.

ABM Reminder 3. Think of making your targeted ABM audience’s content consumption similar to how Netflix does — ungated and unlimited.

• If you still need forms for conversions, you can reduce the form fields on your landing pages by referencing known data in your CRM (customer relationship management) or sourcing it through a data-enrichment platform like Zoominfo.

Ready? Let’s jump in and focus on how to apply ABM strategies to your email campaigns and newsletters.

ABM Quick Win 1: Segment Your Email Audience

Segmenting the audience ahead of time helps you understand the level of effort ahead of you for more one-to-many ABM-focused journeys.

Check marketing opt-in status

Make sure they are opted in! We can’t properly enroll an audience in any type of marketing campaign or nurture program if they have not agreed.

Need a refresher? Read Forms Are Great, But Confirmed Opt-In Is Better for more on what’s involved with marketing opt-in.

Know your marketing personas

Review the job titles or persons of your target ABM buyer groups, and see what content and CTAs (calls to action) resonate most with them. Bonus: look at click-through rates for past email campaigns to identify click trends from buyer personas in your target ABM buyer groups. 

We don’t need to write anything from scratch — let’s repurpose what we have that has worked for other audiences. 

Find the right segmentation groups

Consider geographical audience segmentations to optimize engagement. Then, run A/B tests of your send times and days to find the best fit for each target group. You can also test out AI functionality like Pardot Einstein Send Time Optimization to see if that improves your engagement metrics.

ABM Quick Win 2: Add Some Personalization

When it comes to introducing personalization, remember to start small to understand the impacts (or lack of) on our audience engagement.

Email subject lines & preview text

• Make email subject lines & preview text personal with variable fields like name, title or role, industry, and product. 
• Use what makes sense for your company and the value prop for your ABM targeted audience – don’t overdo it and make it weird. 
• Remember to make your subject line actionable and timely!
• Here are some best practices and a cool way to use AI to make your subject line stronger – Playing with the AI-Powered Stensul Email Subject Line Tool.

Email sender name

• Try to be consistent and personable so your audience starts to recognize your emails.
• For example, try ‘Kelly at Sercante’ (marketing@sercante.com) instead of ‘Marketing’ (marketing@sercante.com).

Email body copy headers & CTAs

• Test content and keywords to see what works best for your audience. Refer to your audience segmentation from the first step to stay on-message.

Landing page headlines & body sections

• Make it personal with variable fields like name, title or role, industry, and product. 
• Use what makes sense for your company and the value prop for your ABM targeted audience – don’t make it creepy.

Landing page body & CTAs

• An ABM best practice is to have different landing pages per persona or journey, which is a lot of work. So for now, just add in personalization to a shared ABM-focused page to make the experience unique for that visitor. Read about specific personalization methods for Pardot landing pages and content here.
• Follow best practices — don’t trap your audience on the page without a next step. Here are some great landing page best practices to keep in mind: Boost Conversions: Best Practices for Landing Pages.

ABM Quick Win 3: Reporting, Reporting, Reporting

If you can’t report now, starting an ABM approach won’t help you. You need to visualize your current campaign efforts before you can prove that your phased approach to ABM/ABX is impacting your audience.

Get your CRM ready by organizing account segments

In your CRM, organize your targeted accounts for ABM and the buyer groups you defined in step one.

• This can be a custom dropdown field or checkbox only marketing manages to indicate their enrollment or ABM tier.
• Make sure your chosen organization method syncs down to the related leads and contacts from your target ABM account and across to your MAP (marketing automation platform).

Get your website tracking in order

Ensure all website properties and domains are being tracked consistently. Then, make sure you are using specific UTMs or click tracking for each channel and campaign. Wherever your audience is going, we want to follow.

Not sure how to get started? Check out our blog on Capturing UTM Parameters: 4 Scripting Paths for Account Engagement Landing Pages.

Get your reports set up before launching

Set up your reports prior to an ABM pilot campaign launch or before you start testing these ABM strategies on your email campaigns. This helps measure the marketing and sales baseline for your general audience so you can compare it to your targeted ABM audience.

Check these reports frequently and continually optimize your channels, messaging, and targeting.

Start small with ABM and learn along the way

These quick wins are a great way to dip your toes into ABM without going all in right away. Starting small lets you experiment and see what clicks with your audience. You’ll pick up insights along the way so you know the best places to focus your efforts and resources. As you learn, you’ll be ready to scale up your ABM game for stronger connections and better results. 

So, take these small steps, learn from them, and soon you’ll have an ABM strategy that translates into big wins with your top accounts.

Original article: 3 Quick ABM Strategy Wins for Your Email Campaigns

©2025 The Spot. All Rights Reserved.

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LinkedIn Lead Gen forms are definitely a favorite for those creating LinkedIn Ads, but what happens after people fill out the form? Ideally, you continue to market to LinkedIn leads by sending them your newsletters or adding them to a nurture program. If you are like me, you don’t want to manually export leads from LinkedIn and import them into your marketing platform. This is where Zapier comes in. 

Zapier is a user-friendly platform that allows you to automate a wide variety of workflows. With over 5,000 apps available, you can easily set up integrations without coding, including Marketing Cloud Account Engagement (f.k.a Pardot) and LinkedIn Ads. In this blog post, we’ll show you how you can automate the flow of leads from your LinkedIn Ads to Account Engagement in under five minutes.  

Deciding between two ways to automatically create Account Engagement leads from LinkedIn using Zapier

There are two ways that you can use Zapier to automatically create Account Engagement leads:

1. Use Zapier Apps LinkedIn Ad to Webhook, which uses an Account Engagement form handler
2. Use Zapier Apps Linkedin Ad to Pardot 

Here are the key things to consider when deciding which method to use:

API Call vs. Webhooks

The Pardot App within Zapier operates like an API call so there are some specific considerations:

• API calls are not supported with basic editions of Account Engagement, so you can only use webhooks.
• Records created by API calls will create a duplicate, so it would require additional steps in the Zap to prevent this if you’re using the Pardot App.

Duplicates from personal email addresses

• Leads from LinkedIn Lead Gen forms usually come in with personal email addresses, so you might have duplicates with different email addresses. 
• However, the webhook approach does allow for more control to ensure that a record is updated to reduce the risk of duplicates that can be created via API calls.

Webhooks Require a Zapier Paid Account

Account Engagement, LinkedIn Ads, and Webhook apps are considered Premium Apps and will require a paid Zapier account. Learn more about Zapier pricing here. 

LinkedIn Access Considerations

The LinkedIn Account used for the integration will need access to the LinkedIn Ads account, specifically the lead gen forms. 

Setup needed for each business unit

Have multiple Account Engagement business units? You will need to set up the Pardot integration for each business unit. 

Approach 1: Using Zapier Apps LinkedIn Ad to Webhook 

Step 1: Create Lead Gen Forms in LinkedIn Ads

First, you’ll create your LinkedIn Lead Gen form. To help make testing easier, submit a test submission. 

Step 2: Create Assets In Salesforce and Account Engagement

1. Create Salesforce Campaign 

• Update campaign member status as needed

2. Create Form Handler

Next, you’ll create your form handler in Account Engagement

Settings to configure:

1. Use Kiosk/Data Entry Mode –  so that we don’t cookie Zapier!
2. Set Success and Error Locations

• Add any completion actions needed, examples include:
  • Add to list
  • Add to campaign
  • Send Autoresponder email
• Add/map fields
  • Only make the email address required

Step 3: Create a Zap in Zapier for LinkedIn Registration

Step 1: New Form Response in LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms

1. Choose app & event as “LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms”
2. Trigger event as “New Lead Gen Form Response Response”

3. Choose Account as “LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms”
4. In the setup trigger, choose LinkedIn Account and select the respective Lead Gen Form
5. Test trigger for this action by submitting a test lead on the LinkedIn Lead Gen form

Step 2: Action Post In Webhooks by Zapier

1. Search “Webhooks by Zapier”  and select Action “Post” 

2. Configure Actions by updating URL and mapping data fields with the External Field Name in the Form Handler. 

3. Test the webhook

The final zap will look like this:

Step 3: Verify Submission in Account Engagement

Navigate to the form handler to confirm that the test submission appears

Step 4: Activate the Zap and LinkedIn Ad

Don’t forget to turn on your zap and your ad!

Approach 2: Using Zapier Apps Linkedin Ad to Pardot 

Step 1: Create Lead Gen Forms in LinkedIn Ads

Step 2: Create Assets In Salesforce and Account Engagement

1. Create Salesforce Campaign 

• Update campaign member status as needed

2. Create List
3. Create other marketing assets as needed, examples include:
   • Autoresponder email
   • Add list to any engagement studio programs 
4. Create an Automation Rule

Rule: 

• Prospect List is a member of the LinkedIn Lead Gen List

Actions – add as many as necessary but here are a few recommendations: 

• Assign Prospect
• Add to CRM Campaign xxx with “Responded” status
• Adjust Prospect score 
• Update any field values

Step 3: Create a Zap in Zapier for LinkedIn Registration

Step 1: New Form Response in LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms

1. Choose app & event as “LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms”
2. Trigger event as “New Lead Gen Form Response Response”
3. Choose Account as “LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms”
4. In the setup trigger, choose LinkedIn Account and select the respective Lead Gen Form
5. Test trigger for this action by submitting a test lead on the LinkedIn Lead Gen form

Step 2: Find or Create Prospect in Pardot

1. Choose app & event as “Pardot” and Action Event as “Find Prospect”
2. Choose your Pardot account
3. Update set-up actions to map fields, and add all fields gathered in your lead gen form:
   • Email Address
   • First Name
   • Last Name
4. Test your step

Step 3: Add Prospects to List in Pardot

1. Choose app & event as “Pardot” and Action Event as “Add Prospect to List”
2. Choose your Pardot account in the next step
3. Update set-up action with the following fields
   • List – Choose the list you have created in Pardot for this campaign
   • Prospect – Update this field with Prospect ID
4. Test your step

Your final zap will look like this: 

Step 4: Verify Submission in Account Engagement

Navigate to the list that you created and confirm the test lead submission is showing on the list. 

Step 5: Turn on the Zap and Automation Rule in Account Engagement

Once you have finished testing your Zap and know that the leads are flowing with the data as expected, you can turn on your Zap.  Avoid technical debt by pausing your automation rule when your LinkedIn Ad is no longer active. 

Now that Zapier is configured, what’s next?

Go forth and build more Zaps!  Remember, you have to create a new Zap for each LinkedIn Lead Gen form. 

Need help with other integrations? Reach out to the team at Sercante to get the conversation going.

Original article: From LinkedIn to Account Engagement: Linking Lead Gen Forms Using Zapier

©2025 The Spot. All Rights Reserved.

The post From LinkedIn to Account Engagement: Linking Lead Gen Forms Using Zapier appeared first on The Spot.

Salesforce web forms can be a game changer by empowering you to create personalized experiences for customers. Complex forms using multiple steps and conditional logic tailor digital journeys to meet the unique needs of the individual. These engaging forms enable savvy sales and marketing teams to foster interest in their product or service and close deals faster. 

While native Salesforce forms have many advantages, they also come with challenges. Specifically, if you want to create complex forms involving detailed steps, containing dynamic content, or with a customized UX, you will need to invest in some kind of development or code. 

Using complex web forms without coding knowledge

If you have time and money to burn or in-house developers to tap for help, then this is no problem. However, if you don’t have knowledge of code or access to a development team or want to speed up time to market, you might want to consider alternatives. 

In this article, we check out how you can get all the perks of complex Salesforce forms without having to write a single line of code. To do this, you will need to venture away from Salesforce native solutions, and their associated limitations, and check out some of the leading tools on the Salesforce AppExchange. 

Want to learn more? Keep reading! 

Creating leads in Salesforce using web-to-lead forms

Let’s take a look at web-to-lead forms for Salesforce and how these forms can further the aims and objectives of your sales and marketing teams. In the process, we will discover some of the limitations of native Salesforce functionality and find ways to navigate them.

Web-to-lead is a feature that empowers you to create leads in Salesforce via forms embedded on your website. Setting up forms with the native Salesforce web-to-lead feature is relatively easy and doesn’t require any code at all. 

When a user fills in your form and submits it, real-time data gets pushed into Salesforce where the CRM automatically creates a lead. From here, your sales and marketing teams can ensure high-value leads are routed to your best salespeople. That information on your lead is analyzed against relevant metrics and consumer trends. 

Finding flexibility with Salesforce web-to-lead forms

The challenge with the Salesforce web-to-lead is that the out-of-the-box version may leave teams wanting more. For example, you can’t connect your form to other objects in Salesforce such as Case or Opportunity. In addition, you can’t attach files to native web-to-lead forms to provide supporting information on your lead. 

You can accomplish these things and collect detailed information on the preferences and needs of each lead, but the solution requires the implementation of custom code.

Implementing complex web-to-lead forms in Salesforce

To kickstart next-level lead generation and close deals faster, we recommend creating complex web-to-lead forms that capture robust information on a prospective customer such as their likes, dislikes, and purchasing preferences. 

Using a Salesforce form that allows attachments also means you can get comprehensive data on leads and execute deals more effectively. Similarly, complex web-to-lead forms for Salesforce that contain conditional logic and multiple steps are more exciting to the user and give you a more granular picture of their personality and profile. For example, if a user says they are interested in purchasing a particular product, then you can prompt them to fill in follow-up questions such as the specifications they are looking for and the amount of money they are willing to spend. 

On the other hand, if a lead expresses no interest in a product or service, then there is no need to ask them further questions. In this line of thought, if a user answers a question indicating they want to learn more about your organization, you can give them the ability to download a pamphlet or ebook. If not, you don’t need to bother them with this. This kind of dynamic logic saves time and holds the interest of users a lot longer.

You can achieve this level of flexibility and create dynamic, multi-step web-to-lead forms in Salesforce, but it will require coding and development. So, what are your options if you want to skip the heavy dev work but still get all of the perks? 

Alternatives to native Salesforce forms

If you are a seasoned Salesforce user, you will know that the Salesforce AppExchange is a giant marketplace where you can find thousands of platforms that integrate with the planet’s leading CRM. And while there are countless tools with which to create forms in Salesforce, some tools do this more seamlessly than others. 

The best solutions give you the freedom to build forms in Salesforce using any logic or object you want without any limitations or code. This frees up your schedule, saves you money, and requires zero compromise when it comes to your dream solution. 

While it’s up to you to choose the tool that best suits your organization, we will zone in on one app: Titan for Salesforce. Taking its name from the most powerful of Greek gods, Titan is a no-code platform that can implement any custom solution for Salesforce. 

Web-to-lead forms by Titan allow you to: 

• Connect your web form to any object in Salesforce such as Contact, Opportunity, and Case.
  
• Include attachments on your web form for Salesforce.
• Create tailored customer journeys with multiple steps and conditional logic.
• Generate leads in Salesforce.
• Make forms with a custom UX. 
• Gather comprehensive information on leads. 
• View comprehensive data on every lead in Salesforce.
• Data is validated in real-time so you can make sure form data is sent to the correct object:

• Go-to-market fast! 

And all this requires no code or any special technical expertise, though experience with Salesforce or having worked as a Salesforce administrator will certainly help you work at optimum speed. Learn more about Titan’s Web-to-Lead powers here:

Salesforce Forms Wrapped 

And that’s a wrap on building complex forms for Salesforce using zero code. We hope you learned more about how more complex forms can create intuitive and guided digital experiences for users and help you make deals that much faster. 

Web-to-lead forms automate the lead creation process for marketing and sales teams but Salesforce’s native feature is limited. We suggest finding a no-code alternative on the AppExchange. Titan is one great option, but it’s up to you to choose the perfect solution for your business needs and objectives.

Original article: How Savvy Teams Build Complex Salesforce Forms with No Code

©2025 The Spot. All Rights Reserved.

The post How Savvy Teams Build Complex Salesforce Forms with No Code appeared first on The Spot.

If you’re new to Marketing Cloud Engagement, you may be feeling overwhelmed. Salesforce’s powerful marketing platform can do a lot. And that comes with a steep learning curve.

I’ve been on my Marketing Cloud Engagement journey for a while now and still feel the sense of having so much to learn. My learning journey has consisted of hands-on experience, boot camp-style training courses, and of course, all the Trailheads. 

Florida Dreamin’ Session – How to Write like a Marketer: Intro to AMPscript for Salesforce Marketing Cloud

I knew when I was given the opportunity to attend this year’s Florida Dreamin’, finding Marketing Cloud Engagement sessions was at the top of my event bucket list. That’s why I was super excited to attend Tatiana Romanko’s presentation, How to Write like a Marketer: Intro to AMPscript for Salesforce Marketing Cloud.  

Romanko took a complex topic and simplified it, making her content easy to understand by providing real-world use cases every marketer could relate to. This session was a great introduction to AMPSprcipt for Marketing Cloud Engagement users who are still on that learning curve, and even seasoned veterans took away a thing or two. 

What I especially loved about her session is that, like me, Romanko doesn’t have a coding background. Her message really resonated with me: with hard work and hands-on experience, you too can learn the technical intricacies of Salesforce Marketing Cloud. 

What is AMPScript? 

Before jumping right into a complex topic, Romanko set the stage with a quick introduction to AMPscript. “AMPscript is Marketing Cloud’s proprietary scripting language for advanced dynamic content in emails, landing pages, SMS, and push messages.”

“AMPscript expands Marketing Cloud functionality to help you create the one-to-one, personalized communications that are so coveted by digital marketers. https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/ampscript-for-nondevelopers/get-to-know-ampscript) 

AMPscript is used to:

• Personalize emails using subscriber or contact data.
• Create complex, highly dynamic emails using conditional logic.
• Clean and format data.
• Add real-time information to emails such as date or time.
• Track impressions.”

(source: https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/ampscript-for-nondevelopers/get-to-know-ampscript) 

What is AMPScript used for in Marketing Cloud Engagement?

AMPScript does a lot. At Sercante, we use it to help our clients with personalizing their emails, creating dynamic content, and much more. What I liked about Romanko’s session is that she really honed in on three common use cases that every marketer can relate to. 

Personalization

If you’re a marketer, you already know the power of personalization. One study found that emails featuring personalized subjects are 50% more likely to be opened. AMPScript in Marketing Cloud Engagement allows you to use your subscriber data to personalize your marketing. 

Creating a personalized greeting in Marketing Cloud Engagement through a personalization string isn’t complicated. What I liked about Romanko’s use case is she focused on something I often times see clients overlook: what happens when you don’t have a subscriber’s first name? In this case, we could use AMPscript to set a generic value (Customer) as our greeting if we don’t have this data. 

Formatting Your Data

As a marketer, I’ve seen customers input their data in every way imaginable. Romanko gave the example of asking someone to provide their favorite color. In this instance, we could get a few different variations: 

• Pink
• pink
• PINK

So what happens when we go to pull this data into an email? It could end up looking like we either don’t know our basic grammar, or come across like we are YELLING at our reader. 

Romanko highlighted AMPScript’s ProperCase function here, “which capitalizes the first letter in the specified string and any other letters in the string that follow any character other than a letter. It converts all other letters into lowercase.”

AMPScript Resources

As you can see, Romanko gave some great use cases for using AMPScript. She also provided her audience with some really great resources on where to go to learn more:

• Trailhead 
• Salesforce Developer Documentation
• The AMPScript Guide

Soak in all the lessons learned at Florida Dreamin’

Be sure to check out these other posts from my fellow dragons who attended Florida Dreamin’ with me and shared details about their favorite sessions there.

• The Art of Delivering Empathetic and Joyful User Experiences | Catherine Williams
• Florida Dreamin’: A Conference Where Soft Skills Shine | Abbey Freund

Original article: How to Write like a Marketer: Intro to AMPscript for Salesforce Marketing Cloud

©2025 The Spot. All Rights Reserved.

The post How to Write like a Marketer: Intro to AMPscript for Salesforce Marketing Cloud appeared first on The Spot.

If your Marketing Cloud Account Engagement (Pardot) email looks broken and you can’t figure out why, then you’re in the right place. In this post, we’ll look at common errors you may uncover when coding your email in Marketing Cloud Account Engagement.

Things to look for when your Account Engagement email looks broken

You may be struggling with these common problems in HTML email code within your Marketing Cloud Account Engagement. But don’t worry, we’re here to guide you through resolving these issues step by step.

Images appear broken

One common issue that marketers face is broken images in their email campaigns. It can be frustrating when images don’t load properly, especially on different devices and email clients. To address this, ensure that your image URLs are correct and properly linked in your HTML code. Additionally, optimize your images for faster loading times and consider using alternative text to provide context if an image fails to load.

Here’s a checklist of things to look for:

Is your image too big? 

Large image file sizes can cause slow loading times or may not display at all. Optimize your images for the web by compressing them without compromising quality. 

Is your image in the correct format? 

Additionally, confirm that the image is in the correct format (e.g., JPEG, PNG, GIF). At the date of this blog, not all email clients will support .webp format.

Are there SSL/HTTPS issues? 

If your Account Engagement account or website is using SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) or HTTPS, ensure that the image URLs are also updated to use HTTPS. Browsers may block or display broken images if there are mixed content warnings due to insecure (HTTP) image URLs on secure (HTTPS) pages.

Is the “pardot-region” inserted in the code correctly? 

When customizing or replacing images in Account Engagement using the WYSIWYG editor, it’s crucial to be mindful of the “pardot-regions” in the HTML code. These regions define editable sections that allow you to modify the content, including images.

When updating your HTML code, it’s important to pay attention to the “pardot-width” and “pardot-height” attributes within the code that correspond to your image holder. By explicitly matching these attributes with your image holder dimensions, you ensure that Account Engagement doesn’t automatically adjust the size, potentially distorting or exceeding the intended size of the image holder. In the example below, by setting the “pardot-height” to be auto will allow the image to automatically adjust and not stretch on a mobile device.

My image appears cut off when adding it using the text editor? 

The template may use an attribute mso-line-height-rule:exactly that controls the line-height of text in Outlook. This can crop the image to be that size. Change the attribute to mso-line-height-rule:at-least to give it more flexibility. It is okay to change all of the attributes to at-least.

Darkmode

Dark mode compatibility is another challenge to consider. With the increasing popularity of dark mode, it’s important to ensure that your emails display correctly in this setting. Test your emails in both light and dark mode to identify any color or readability issues. Use CSS media queries to adjust the styling specifically for dark mode, ensuring a seamless experience for your subscribers.

Here’s a checklist of things to look for:

Do you have dark mode meta tags? 

Dark mode (or light mode) meta tags offer an opportunity to enhance the visual presentation and user experience of your website. These tags provide hints to the browser or email client about how the content should be displayed when the user is in dark mode.

Do you have CSS media queries? 

Dark mode-specific CSS media queries are similar to mobile responsive media queries in the sense that they allow you to target specific conditions and apply different styles accordingly. While mobile responsive media queries focus on adjusting layouts and styles based on screen sizes, dark mode-specific media queries target the user’s preference for dark mode and enable you to modify the appearance of your content accordingly.

When using dark mode-specific media queries, such as (prefers-color-scheme: dark) or @media (prefers-color-scheme: dark), you can detect whether the user has enabled dark mode in their browser or operating system settings. This information helps you adapt the colors, backgrounds, and text within your HTML and CSS code to provide a more suitable and visually appealing experience for users in dark mode. See example code.

Are you swapping your image between dark and light mode? 

Certain images may rely heavily on specific colors or color combinations that work well in light mode but might not be as effective or visually appealing in dark mode. By swapping images, you can create alternative versions that are optimized for each color scheme, enhancing the overall aesthetic and cohesiveness of your email design. See example code.

Is your white text turning black in Outlook? 

Outlook’s dark mode implementation may override the color styles you’ve set for your text, resulting in white text appearing as black. In dark mode, Outlook attempts to adjust the color scheme for better visibility, which can cause unexpected changes to your email’s appearance. You can add the below code to the head tag that will target the Microsoft Outlook email only.

By utilizing this code, you can apply specific CSS styles that will only affect Microsoft Outlook emails. Adjust your desired styles within the provided <style> block.

Here’s an example of how to use a class within an element:

Here is the full tutorial by Nicole Merlin that addresses Outlook emails in dark mode.

Access a complete list of email clients that support dark mode, along with additional tips for optimizing dark mode in your emails, by referring to the following resource.

Preheader text

The preheader text, also known as a preview snippet, is essential for enticing recipients to open your emails. However, it can sometimes get cut off or displayed incorrectly. To avoid this, keep your preheader text concise and within the recommended character limit. Test it across different email clients to ensure it appears as intended.

Here’s a checklist of things to look for:

Do you need this hidden? 

The decision to hide or display preheader text in emails can vary based on several factors, including design preferences, marketing strategies, and the specific goals of the email campaign. If you decide this needs to be hidden on the overall look of the email, you can include a <style> tag within the <head> section of your HTML code. Use CSS selectors to target the desired element and apply the appropriate styling to hide it. See example ‘A’ below.

In this example, the CSS code targets the element with the class name .preview within  the #emailContents container and applies specific styles when the screen width is at least 600 pixels. The #emailContents id is specific to Account Engagement and should allow the editor to edit the content using the WYSIWYG editor. The content within the element is otherwise hidden with the style=”display: none; mso-hide: all” inline style sets the display property to none

Remove unwanted characters from the preheader text

Preheader text should be brief and concise, ideally within the range of 80 to 100 characters. Focus on delivering a clear and compelling message that entices recipients to open your email.

If you prefer not to display any preheader text, you can simply leave the preheader content empty. However, be aware that some email clients may automatically populate the preheader with default content, such as the first line of text from the email body. To mitigate this, consider adding a space or non-breaking space (&nbsp;) in the preheader to override any auto-populated text. See example ‘C’ above.

My link’s not working

Broken links can be frustrating for subscribers and can negatively impact your click-through rates. To avoid this, thoroughly check and test all the links in your email. Double-check the URLs for accuracy and ensure they are properly formatted.

Here’s a checklist of things to look for:

Did you write the correct format? 

Double-check that the URL of the link is accurate and properly formatted. Ensure that the link includes the necessary protocols (e.g., “http://” or “https://”) and does not contain any typographical errors or missing characters.

Is your link broken? 

If the destination page of the link is no longer available or has been moved or removed, the link will not work. Verify that the target webpage is active and accessible.

URL encoding issues 

URLs with special characters or spaces may encounter encoding problems. 

Make sure that the link is correctly encoded using URL encoding standards (e.g., replacing spaces with “%20” or special characters with their corresponding encoded values).

Non-clickable link

If the link is not properly coded as an anchor <a> tag with the appropriate href attribute, it will not function as a clickable link. Ensure that the link is wrapped within the <a> tag and that the href attribute contains the correct URL.

Blocked or filtered by email client

Some email clients may block or filter certain links for security reasons. If the link appears to be working when tested in other environments, it could be due to the specific email client’s settings or policies.

Incompatibility with mobile devices

Links that are designed or formatted in a way that is not mobile-friendly may not work properly on mobile devices or within certain email clients. Optimize your links for mobile responsiveness to ensure they function as intended.

URL redirection issues

If the link involves URL redirection, make sure that the redirection configuration is correct and functioning properly. Incorrect redirection settings can cause the link to fail.

I want to use a custom font

While Account Engagement does not provide font hosting, you can still incorporate custom fonts in your email campaigns by using web-safe fonts or linking to externally hosted font files. You can host the font files on your own server or utilize third-party font hosting services, then reference them in your email’s CSS using @font-face rules. This way, you have more control over the font selection while still working within Account Engagement’s limitations.

Here’s a checklist of things to look for:

Choose a web-safe font or a font that supports email clients

Email clients have limited font support, so it’s best to use web-safe fonts or custom fonts specifically designed for email use. Select a font that is available on most operating systems and widely supported by email clients to ensure consistent rendering.

Host the font files

Upload the font files to your web server or a font hosting service. You’ll typically need the font files in different formats like WOFF, WOFF2, TTF, or EOT to maximize compatibility across email clients. 

Define font-face rules in the CSS

In your CSS code, use the @font-face rule to declare the font family and specify the font file URLs. Include the different font formats to cover a broader range of email clients.

Replace ‘YourCustomFont’ with the desired font name and adjust the file paths in the url() function to reflect the location of your font files.

My font link is being counted as a click

In Account Engagement, links are typically tracked and counted as clicks to provide valuable engagement metrics and insights for your email campaigns. However, when you include a font link in your email, it may unintentionally be counted as a click due to the way Account Engagement tracks link interactions.

This can happen because Account Engagement’s tracking mechanism treats all links as clickable elements by default. When recipients open your email and the email client fetches the font file from the linked source, Account Engagement’s tracking system registers this as a click event.

Here’s a checklist of things to look for:

How are you using custom fonts?

To avoid font links being counted as clicks in Account Engagement, you can use the @import method instead of the traditional <link> method to include custom fonts in your email.

Here’s an example of how to use the @import method:

Background images

Background images in HTML email templates offer creative possibilities for crafting distinctive layouts, adding depth, and showcasing products. They have gained popularity as a design element. However, it is important to consider certain factors when incorporating background images in your Account Engagement email design.

Here’s a checklist of things to look for:

Not all email clients support background images

Some clients may block or ignore background images, resulting in an email that doesn’t display the intended design. Test your email across different email clients to ensure consistent rendering. 

Inline CSS

To maximize compatibility, inline CSS is typically recommended for background images in HTML emails. Use the style attribute directly within HTML elements to define the background image and related properties.

The example includes the necessary code to make the background image show in Microsoft Outlook, as well as most popular email clients.

Image size and optimization

Optimize your background image by compressing it to reduce file size while maintaining acceptable quality. Large image files can increase email size and load time, negatively impacting the recipient’s experience. Aim for an optimized image that doesn’t exceed the recommended file size for emails.

Fallback background color

In case the background image doesn’t load or isn’t supported, provide a fallback background color that complements your design. This ensures that the email still looks visually appealing even without the background image.

Accessibility

Consider accessibility guidelines when using background images. Include alt text for background images so that users with screen readers or email clients that don’t display background images can still understand the context of the email. And of course, it is not recommended or best practice to use text in background images.

Buttons in Outlook

Buttons collapsing or not displaying correctly is another challenge in HTML email coding. To avoid this, use table-based layouts for buttons and set explicit width and height values. Test your buttons across different email clients to ensure they remain consistent and clickable.

Here’s a checklist of things to look for:

I want rounded corners in Outlook. 

VML (Vector Markup Language) can be used to create buttons with rounded corners, especially in older versions of Outlook that don’t fully support modern CSS features like rounded borders (border-radius). VML allows you to make custom shapes and apply rounded corners to elements. 

Check out this example of an HTML button with rounded corners using VML:

We strongly advise against using this method in HTML email templates within Account Engagement, as it requires replacing the link in two separate locations, which can be easily overlooked if not approached with caution.

Why did my button padding get stripped? 

If you’re facing a situation where the padding of your button appears to be removed or stripped, it is likely because of a collapsing issue in Outlook. To troubleshoot this problem, ensure that the link you are testing is an active and valid link, rather than just using a placeholder like “#” or a dummy link. Using inactive or placeholder links can be the root cause of the problem and result in the unexpected removal of padding from your button.

Create error-free Account Engagement emails

At Sercante, we understand the common pitfalls of HTML email code in Account Engagement, and we’re dedicated to solving them for you. 

With our technical expertise and attention to detail, you can rest assured that your email campaigns will be visually appealing, engaging, and seamless across all platforms and devices. 

Original article: Help! My Account Engagement Email Looks Broken

©2025 The Spot. All Rights Reserved.

The post Help! My Account Engagement Email Looks Broken appeared first on The Spot.

It’s time to launch another email campaign and the anxiety sets in. You have a variety of people on different teams who want their eyes (and opinions) on your emails before you can launch them. This back and forth can be overwhelming and gets buried in 50+ long email threads. 

Stop the madness! Let’s talk about how to organize the chaos — making your life easier when it’s time to launch an email campaign. Here are a few email campaign tips.

Use an Email Brief

It’s a blank sheet of paper for most clients and they get overwhelmed with where and how to start. Sometimes you need to partner with someone who has a plan you can easily take, customize it to your needs, and boom! You have a starting place now. 

Let’s talk about what exactly you should include in an email brief.

What to include in the email brief

Campaign Overview and Objective 

• Start with a brief description of the campaign’s purpose and main objective
• Use it as an opportunity to define its purpose with absolute clarity and give helpful background to your team who will be viewing the brief
• Clearly state what you want to achieve, such as increasing sales, promoting a new product, driving traffic to a website, or building brand awareness

Metrics and Reporting

• Clearly define the key performance indicators (KPIs) you’ll use to measure the success of the campaign
• Stick to goals that translate into clear, measurable objectives
• Link to the report you plan to use once the campaign is launched

Email Content and Format Crafted for the Target Audience

• Specify the type of content you want to include in the email, such as text, images, videos, or interactive elements
• Indicate any personalization elements or segmentation strategies you want to implement to make the email more relevant and engaging to the recipients

Email Schedule

• Provide the proposed sending date and time for the email

Call-to-Action (CTA)

• List the CTA text and hyperlinks you plan to use in the campaign
• Get a helpful CTA checklist from Mike Morris here

Internal Timeline 

• A clear timeline can let team members get involved and stay moving quickly. 
• Include internal deadlines for teams to owe you items or are giving you approval

Identify and Fix Recurring Pain Points

Continuous edits to email HTML and copy is a common pain point among clients. There are tools like Stensul that can make your life easier because it keeps all the edits out of email threads. 

It is essential to have integrations and features like these to have the capacity to scale operations and to accommodate increases in volume while meeting requester’s timing requirements, all without the need to hire additional staff or compromise on quality. 

Check out this webinar with Sercante & Stensul together where they share tips for integrating an email creation platform into your strategy to ease common pain points.

Create a plan, look for ways to add efficiency, and repeat

Ok so let’s recap!

The first thing you’re going to do is draft and use a brief. If you’re stuck, start with the email brief items listed in this post.

Then you’re going to document your process and iterate on it! 

The goal is to make your campaign launch life easier each time. When you identify a pain point, test out a solution for it and see if the process gets even better.

Original article: Email Campaign Efficiency: Tips for Saving Time and Boosting Results

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