In 2024, Sercante and Salesforce community experts hosted the 5th MarDreamin’, the virtual community conference for marketers on the Salesforce platform that brings together the brightest minds in marketing to share knowledge, network, and transform strategies for growth. For the first time, MarDreamin’ is being taken to a whole new level with the first-ever in-person event: MarDreamin’ Summit.

Save the Date for May 7-8, 2025, to join an exclusive group of marketers in the community with a balanced mix of all experience levels, plus Marketing Champions, and Salesforce MVPs to gather in Atlanta, Georgia, for a peer-led, curated experience, to have deeper conversations, build lasting relationships, and learn from one another in a way that the virtual world can’t replicate.

What is MarDreamin’ Summit?

MarDreamin’ Summit isn’t just a conference—it’s a curated, no-fluff gathering for marketers redefining what’s possible with Salesforce. This day-and-a-half conference will feature expert-led, interactive workshops, peer-led, insightful sessions and panels, and exclusive networking opportunities where the conversations you have and the people you meet, are purposed to genuinely elevate your marketing game.

Every attendee will get to contribute, have their voice be heard, and will leave with actionable strategies, practical insights, and lasting connections to elevate their careers and drive real business impact.

This is an experience built by marketers for marketers. Expect the real-talk, you’ve come to love at MarDreamin’, in a learning-centric environment, where real marketers share real stories and solutions using the technology you can access right now.

Tell me about the agenda

Here’s a sneak peek at what’s in store at MarDreamin’ Summit:

Day 1: Workshop Day – May 7 (Half Day)

Engage in interactive, hands-on training sessions led by Salesforce-certified instructors. These workshops are designed to equip you with practical skills and strategies to:

• Maximize the Salesforce platform
• Create personalized, seamless customer experiences
• Drive measurable growth in your organization
• Thrive in your role and propel your career forward

Day 2: MarDreamin’ Summit – May 8 (Full Day)

Day 2 is the main event! Look forward to an exhilarating summit of keynotes, panels, and insightful sessions across multiple floors. Highlights include:

• Exclusive, in-person only content
• Intimate networking experiences with peers and industry leaders
• Insightful conversations to spark inspiration and build deeper relationships
• Practical solutions to tackle the latest industry challenges
• Live demos of the top solutions focused on learning what’s possible
• Curated experiences where every unique voice contributes to community impact

Why MarDreamin’ Summit is a must-attend event

There are so many stellar community conferences out there, why should MarDreamin’ Summit be added to your calendar? Here are the top five:

1. Build deeper community connections: Step into a room full of marketers ready to engage and share their experiences, a space where everyone brings unique insights to the table to foster meaningful conversations, elevated learning, and lasting relationships.
2. Advance your skills with hands-on learning: Participate in interactive workshops tailored for all experience levels to be more efficient in your role, reach goals faster, and create even better customer experiences that drive real impact for your business.
3. Be inspired by peer-led content: Hear from your peers that have been in the trenches and engage in audience-led discussions to learn from each other in a way that fuels creativity and sparks your best ideas.
4. Maximize impact with real-world value: Every workshop, keynote, panel, networking experience, and session will be dedicated toward empowering attendees with practical strategies and solutions that they can apply to their customer experiences, role, and careers with the resources and technology they have available today.
5. Thrive in a curated, impact-driven environment: All demos and solutions shared will be focused on learning what’s possible to empower attendees with methods to solve real marketing challenges with effective tools—without the pitch.

What makes MarDreamin’ Summit different from other Dreamin’ events?

MarDreamin’ has been known in the ecosystem as being the must-attend, virtual conference for marketers on Salesforce. It has connected marketers from across the globe with attendees from 55+ countries sharing their challenges, experiences, best practices, and proven solutions to learn and grow together. MarDreamin’ has been the blend of powerful technology meeting the human connection that drives growth in careers, business, and fuels attendees’ most innovative ideas to create un-matched customer experiences. 

Now we’re bringing this energy, in person for the community to connect like never before. MarDreamin’ Summit, is where marketers can gather with their peers on a deeper level, have their voice be heard, and feel supported by others who have been there and get it, and grow their skills to drive meaningful impact.

MarDreamin’ will still be held virtually in the fall.

For those unable to attend in May, MarDreamin’ 2025 will return virtually this fall with incredible content and community engagement. Stay tuned for details!

Want to Be a Part of the Action?

• Pre-register: Seats are limited for MarDreamin’ Summit and the content will be carefully crafted and selected to support maximum learning for every attendee. Pre-register here to express your interest and share more about your goals for attending.
• Be a Speaker: Have a great session idea? Start thinking about your proposal and visit the Call for Speakers page to learn more about speaking at MarDreamin’ Summit. Then stay tuned for when the call for speakers opens!

Don’t miss out on MarDreamin’ Summit!

Spaces are limited for this exclusive, in-person curated experience, so be sure to pre-register to request your seat. Whether you’re looking to advance your skills, build transformative connections, or gain fresh insights to drive growth, MarDreamin’ Summit is the place to be.

Visit mardreamin.com to pre-register and learn more.

Join the community in Atlanta this May for the curated in-person experience of the year for marketers on Salesforce!

About MarDreamin’ Summit

MarDreamin’ Summit is a curated gathering for marketers redefining what’s possible with Salesforce. With peer-led sessions, hands-on learning, and intimate networking experiences, where every unique voice is heard, in an impact-driven environment, attendees have the opportunity to connect and learn from each other on a deeper level—in a way the virtual world can’t replicate. Pioneered by Sercante and Salesforce community leaders who get it, the MarDreamin’ Summit experience cuts through the noise and inspires creativity, from real marketers, real insights, and real connections. 

Original article: Announcing MarDreamin’ Summit: The MarDreamin’ You Love, Live In Person!

©2025 The Spot. All Rights Reserved.

The post Announcing MarDreamin’ Summit: The MarDreamin’ You Love, Live In Person! appeared first on The Spot.

Event marketing is a fantastic way to connect with your audience, build brand awareness, and generate leads. However, managing event marketing activities can take time and effort. That’s where Account Engagement can help — in more ways than you probably thought!

Salesforce Marketing Cloud Account Engagement (f.k.a. Pardot) can streamline your event marketing efforts from initial promotions and registrations to post-event follow-up and nurturing. In this post, we’ll explore how you can use Account Engagement for event marketing to ensure a seamless and impactful experience. We’ll show you which out-of-the-box tool(s) we recommend using at what time during the event process so you can maximize your efforts.

Using Account Engagement for Event Marketing: Planning and Promotion

A marketing event is only as good as the planning that goes into it. Ensuring you have your campaigns and other assets created in advance with a clear goal and structure in mind will dramatically improve the organization of your initiatives and enable consistent reporting down the road.

Here’s how to do that.

Set Up Your Event in Account Engagement (Pardot)

If you’re using Connected Campaigns, start by creating a campaign (or hierarchy of campaigns) in Salesforce for your event. This will help you track all marketing activities and ROI related to the event. You’ll then associate all your event assets (emails, landing pages, forms) with these campaigns later.

If you’re not using Connected Campaigns, then we highly recommend you read this blog post to understand the advantages of Connected Campaigns and how to enable the feature. Then, reach out to Sercante if you’re unsure of your next steps.

Create Your Campaign Structure

These are the steps to create your campaign structure:

1. Navigate to Campaigns and click on + Add Campaign.
   • Name your campaign using your organization’s standard naming conventions.
   • Set default and/or custom fields, like cost, start/end date, and type.
     • If it is a child campaign, select the appropriate parent to create your hierarchy
   • Ensure your campaign is marked “Active” so it can sync with Account Engagement via Connected Campaigns.

Design Event Registration Forms

Now it’s time to design your forms to collect attendee information such as name, email, job title, and company.

1. Under Content  > Forms, click + Add Form.
   • Ensure your form includes fields that are crucial for segmenting and personalizing follow-up communications.

Develop Event-Specific Landing Pages

Create engaging landing pages to capture registrations. These pages should highlight the event’s benefits, speakers, and agenda, and include a clear call-to-action (CTA).

1. Navigate to Content  > Landing Pages and click on + Add Landing Page.
   • Choose a layout template that fits your event’s branding.
   • Customize the page with relevant content and images.
   • When prompted, select the form you created in the previous step.

Promoting Your Event

Develop Email Marketing Campaigns

After all, Account Engagement is an email marketing platform! Let’s use that core functionality to promote our event. Next, you’ll create a series of emails to promote your event. 

Your campaign will include some form of the following emails:

• Invitations
• Reminders
• Last-chance registration prompts
• Follow-up correspondence with attendees

Some emails may be used as List Emails, while others may be automated sends using email templates.

I always recommend my clients have a comprehensive, universal email template on hand in their org. What I mean by that is a repeatable template that has lots of different sections for all types of emails. You’d clone this template, remove the sections you don’t need, and save.

On the right is an example of a Sercante Ultimate Email Template the team built for The Spot. It’s a common request our clients bring to us, so drop us a message if you don’t have a universal email template and want to get one.

Sending One-Off List Emails

If you’re sending a one-off List Email, follow these basic steps:

1. Navigate to Account Engagement Email > List Emails and choose one of your published Email Templates.
   • Modify your sections accordingly, while keeping consistent branding.
   • Craft compelling subject lines and body content that convey the value of attending your event.
   • Include a call to action, depending on the needs of the event.
   • Make sure to always test before you schedule or send your emails. There’s a handy QA checklist in this blog post so you can hit the send button confidently.

Segmentation and Targeting

Use Account Engagement’s segmentation features to target specific audience groups with tailored messages.

1. Go to Prospects > Segmentation Lists and create lists based on criteria such as past event attendance, industry, or engagement level.
   • Use dynamic lists for criteria-based segmentation (i.e. location, job title, CRM status).
   • Use static lists for manual segmentation (i.e. adding individual prospects to an invitation list).

Want to go a step further? Use social media connectors

Tap Account Engagement’s social posting capabilities to promote your event on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.  You’ll need to set up your social media connectors under Account Engagement Settings > Connectors and log in to connect your social media accounts with Account Engagement. 

Under Content > Social, you can create, manage, and schedule social posts. To complete the circle, you can insert CTAs in your posts that link back to your event landing page.

Managing Marketing Event Registrations with Account Engagement

Tracking Registrations

Forms

Use Forms to ensure all data flows into Account Engagement seamlessly. There’s a handy form style generator here you can use to customize your forms to match your branding.

1. Navigate to Content > Forms and click + Add Form (or clone one you already have!)
   • Map your fields to capture all necessary registration information.
   • Ensure you customize your Completion Actions for autoresponders, assignments, campaign membership, etc.

Automation Rules for Registration Management

If Completion Actions don’t offer the functionality you’re looking for, consider creating Automation Rules to manage registrants. 

Automation Rules allow you to automate actions such as adding them to a list, sending confirmation emails, or notifying your sales team when hot prospects or accounts are actively engaging.

1. Go to Automations > Automation Rules and click + Add Automation Rule.
   • Set criteria (i.e. form completion) and corresponding actions (ie. add to list, send email, update campaign member status).
   • Once you’re ready to run it, make sure you “unpause” the automation rule.

Confirmation and Reminder Emails

For this, we highly recommend using Account Engagement’s automated nurture engine: Engagement Studio. This powerful tool comes out of the box with all MCAE editions.

Under Automations > Engagement Studio, you can create intelligent nurture programs to automate follow-up, update records and act immediately on interactions with your prospects.

Sending Confirmation Emails

Ensure that every registrant receives an immediate confirmation email with event details. 

Reminder Emails

Schedule reminder emails leading up to the event to keep registrants engaged and reduce no-shows. Create a series of reminders — starting a week before the event, a day before, and a few hours before the start.

Event Marketing Doesn’t End There. Keep it Going!

You’ve made it to the day of your event! While your pre-event promotion is over, and your email invitations and reminders have all been sent, you can still use Account Engagement to engage with your prospects during and after the event, and throughout the sales process.

During the Event

Engaging Attendees with Personalized Content

Use Account Engagement’s dynamic content features to personalize the content displayed to attendees based on their profiles. 

1. Navigate to Content > Dynamic Content and create content blocks that change based on prospect data (i.e. industry, job title, location).

Real-Time Data Collection

Use Account Engagement’s tracking capabilities to monitor attendee interactions during the event, such as session attendance and engagement with event content. You can also implement tracking codes on event-related pages and materials to capture real-time data.

Feedback Forms

Create and send feedback forms immediately after each session to gather attendee insights and improve future events. This is a crucial step that will help your team continuously improve and build stronger relationships with your audience.

Post-Event Follow-Up

Analyzing Event Performance

Generating Reports

Use Account Engagement’s reporting features to analyze event performance, including registration numbers, attendance rates, and engagement metrics.

1. Navigate to Account Engagement Reports to view detailed reports on your event’s asset performance (forms, landing pages, emails, etc.).
2. You can filter and export data, or use other tools like Salesforce Lightning Reports or B2B Marketing Analytics for more advanced reporting and data visualization.

ROI Analysis

Calculate the ROI of your event by comparing the costs associated with the event to the revenue generated from leads and opportunities. 

1. Use Account Engagement’s ROI reporting tools under Reports > Marketing Assets.

Nurturing Leads

Follow-Up Emails

Create a series of follow-up emails to thank attendees, share event highlights, and provide additional resources. Use Engagement Studio to automate these follow-up emails for timely and relevant communication.

Lead Scoring and Grading

Update lead scoring and grading models based on attendees’ behaviors during the event.

• Go to Account Engagement Settings > Scoring to adjust scoring rules, and use this updated data to prioritize leads for sales follow-up.

Re-Engaging Non-Attendees

Post-Event Outreach

Don’t forget about those who registered but didn’t attend. Reach out with recorded sessions, summaries, and key takeaways to keep them engaged. Use segmentation lists to identify non-attendees and create a specific follow-up campaign for them.

Surveys and Feedback

Send a survey to non-attendees to understand why they couldn’t attend and gather insights to improve future events. 

1. Use Forms to create and distribute these surveys, and analyze responses to enhance your event strategy.

Planning Future Events

Reviewing Your Feedback

Incorporate feedback from attendees and non-attendees into your planning for future events to continuously improve the experience. 

1. Use Account Engagement Reports > Forms to analyze the feedback forms you’ve sent after previous events, and make data-driven decisions and adjustments to your approach.

Early Bird Promotions

Start promoting your next event early with exclusive offers and early bird discounts to previous attendees. 

1. Use Account Engagement Email to create and send promotional emails, and leverage Dynamic Content for personalized offers.

Now you’re an Account Engagement event marketing pro!

Using Account Engagement’s powerful features and capabilities, you can streamline every aspect of your event marketing activities, from initial planning and promotion to post-event follow-up and long-term nurturing. This ensures a seamless and impactful event experience and maximizes your marketing ROI and strengthens your relationships with prospects and customers.

Utilizing Account Engagement for event marketing can lead to more organized, efficient, and successful events, ultimately driving more meaningful interactions with your customers.

Wanna take a deeper dive into event marketing with Salesforce? Check out this blog post, 5 Event Marketing Best Practices To Implement For Your Next Campaign, which is a roundup of insights from seasoned event marketing professionals.

Original article: Using Account Engagement for Event Marketing: From Planning to Follow-Up

©2025 The Spot. All Rights Reserved.

The post Using Account Engagement for Event Marketing: From Planning to Follow-Up appeared first on The Spot.

Consumers today want personalized experiences from beginning to end. This is why Sercante is thrilled to announce that The Home for Marketers has undergone a transformative name change. We’re marking a new era of comprehensive strategies focused on growth services. 

This is more than a rebrand! It’s a reflection of Sercante’s expanded vision and commitment to driving radical business impact across all teams inspired by our recent acquisition by Trilliad. Our new home at dreamforce will be a place for anyone in sales, customer success, and marketing to gather. Without further ado,  we are excited to introduce the Growth Lounge at Dreamforce 2024.

Introducing The Growth Lounge

The atmosphere and unique space that the Home for Marketers has offered in the past will still be returning to San Francisco, but we now extend an invitation to friends in sales and service as well. Renamed The Growth Lounge, this space will serve as the central hub for professionals across marketing, sales, and service to gather, spark inspiration, and exchange ideas on elevating customer experiences and through the latest technologies.

The Growth Lounge at Dreamforce is designed to foster deeper connections among these crucial teams. We’re promoting collaboration and alignment that are essential for delivering seamless interactions for consumers across any industry. This transformation reflects the growing recognition that customer experience is a shared responsibility across all departments.

Opening Doors to Sales and Customer Success

The Growth Lounge is dedicated to opening doors for sales and customer success teams. We want to be sure these teams have the tools and support needed to thrive. We believe growth is a collective effort, and by integrating the expertise of these teams, we can drive significant business outcomes. 

Sales teams can tap our insights and strategies to identify new opportunities, while customer success teams can enhance their engagement efforts for long-term customer satisfaction and loyalty. This cross-functional approach not only boosts individual team performance but also contributes to the overall growth of the organization.

Why the Growth Lounge Matters

When a consumer enjoys a seamless interaction with your brand, they shouldn’t be able to distinguish whether they are dealing with marketing, sales, or service. They are simply having their own personal experience, and here at Sercante, we strongly believe that it is that consistency that fosters loyalty and satisfaction. The Growth Lounge aims to facilitate the integration and cooperation by creating a safe space to foster new connections, discover tech to level up your game, and receive live support from experts.

Join us at Dreamforce

If you’re heading to Dreamforce this year, make sure to RSVP for your FREE 3-day pass to The Growth Lounge. 

This year, we are hosting the lounge September 17-19, 2024 from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. each day at Yerba Buena Bar. And that’s not all! There’s so much more to join in on while at Dreamforce 2024.

Marketer’s Meet Up

We have set aside time to mix and mingle with our fellow marketers and we hope you do not miss out! Along with your free pass to The Growth Lounge, Sercante will be hosting a mix and mingle for sales, marketing, and customer experience professionals before Dreamforce even kicks off. 

RSVP today to save your spot!

Monday, September 16, 2024

6:00 – 9:00 PM

Yerba Buena Bar

Sercante After Party “In the Clouds”

There’s nothing quite like ending a day at Dreamforce than with a Sercante hosted party “In the Clouds.” We will be celebrating cross-cloud collaboration and business growth with all of you, along with a live band and DJ to keep the party going following day one of Dreamforce’s festivities. 

RSVP today so you don’t miss out on the celebration.

Tuesday, September 17, 2024

7:00 PM – 12:00 AM

715 Harrison

Our Fellow Sponsors

Not only do you have the opportunity to connect with several Sercante Dragons who will be in attendance, but we would be remiss without calling out our fellow Growth Lounge sponsors. When you stop by The Growth Lounge, you will also have the opportunity to meet up with other like-minded industry experts to discover new tools, tips, and tricks to take your business growth to the next level. 

Our sponsors will be hosting live demos, providing free support, and, of course, there will be tons of swag!

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Don’t miss out on your chance to be part of a community committed to redefining customer experience through collaboration and innovation. We look forward to seeing you at Dreamforce and working together to take the standards of customer interactions further than ever before.

Original article: The Growth Lounge: Unifying Customer Experiences at Dreamforce ’24

©2025 The Spot. All Rights Reserved.

The post The Growth Lounge: Unifying Customer Experiences at Dreamforce ’24 appeared first on The Spot.

It’s that time of the year again — when marketing, sales, and service professionals from around the globe gear up to reunite in Chicago, IL for the highly anticipated Salesforce Connections 2024 conference!

What is Salesforce Connections and why you should attend?

If you’re new to the ecosystem or never heard of this conference, here’s the lowdown.

This year Salesforce Connections 2024 is happening on May 22 – 23, at the McCormick Center in Chicago, Illinois. This annual two-day conference, hosted by Salesforce, is a must-attend event for anyone who delivers exceptional customer experiences, specifically digital marketers and commerce professionals who use the Salesforce platform. The 270+ sessions at this conference cover topics trending in the general marketing and Salesforce ecosystem like AI, CRM, and data strategies.

Who should attend?

If you’re a Salesforce user or a marketers who use Sales Cloud, Marketing Cloud, and Commerce Cloud, then this event is made just for you. The real magic lies not just in the sessions, but also in the immersive networking opportunities you will find throughout the week that can transform your career.

Be sure to read up on the benefits of attending these events to help you get even more inspired. 

Our Salesforce Connections 2024 must-see agenda

This is a filtered view of our team’s top picks for the upcoming conference, be sure to add them to your agenda. 

Marketing Keynote

Marketing Keynote: Reimagine Personalization with Einstein 1

Description: The AI revolution is here to stay. Keep up by learning how Einstein 1 unlocks new ways for marketers to use trusted data and AI to fuel better personalization, business outcomes, and relationships.
Add to your agenda >

AI & Data Cloud

Prep Your Small Business for Using AI in Marketing
Description: In this roundtable, we will discuss three ways small businesses can prepare to successfully use AI in their marketing. Be sure to say hi to our VP of Technology, Kirsten Schlau, after the session.
Add to your agenda >

How to Elevate Your B2B Marketing with Data and AI (Account Engagement)

Description: Hear how Einstein functionality in account engagement helps marketers save time and scale customer engagement. Plus, learn how to prepare your data and marketing team to realize the full value of AI.
Add to your agenda >

Marketing Cloud

Create Connected Journeys for Your Small Business Customers (Growth)

Description: Learn how small businesses can leverage Salesforce flows and data from marketing, sales, and service touchpoints to create connected customer journeys.
Add to your agenda >

Unlock B2B Marketing Innovation with Data and AI (Account Engagement)
Description: Learn how Account Engagement and Data Cloud can help B2B marketers unlock data outside of the CRM for more personalized journeys. Plus, learn how data and AI are accelerating B2B marketing innovation.
Add to your agenda >

Align Sales and Marketing with Account Engagement in Slack (Account Engagement)

Description: Learn how to accelerate lead conversion, enable sales efficiently, and deepen customer relationships with stronger sales and marketing teamwork through Slack and Marketing Cloud Account Engagement.
Add to your agenda >

Unlock Data to Power Personalization and Ignite Engagement (Engagement)

Description: Join us to see how we’re helping financial services marketers to make data their competitive advantage in powering relevant engagement journeys at each stage of the customer lifecycle.
Add to your agenda >

How to Connect Customer Journeys from Doorsteps to Digital (Engagement)

Description: Learn how top communications service providers are increasing both physical and digital conversion rates with a unified data strategy that enhances their targeting and journey personalization.
Add to your agenda >

Marketing Operation Fundamentals

Learn How to Improve Your Email Sender Reputation

Description: Deliverability can seem like a puzzle, but together we’ll break it down so you can set your email program up for success. You’ll develop a strategy to manage, monitor, and understand deliverability.
Add to your agenda >

The Three P’s of Migration — Platform, People, and Process

Description: Join Women in Tech Leadership to discuss the importance of a healthy relationship between marketing and IT, associate training, an MVP mentality, building a platform foundation, and value stories.
Add to your agenda >

Beyond the sessions: What else should I expect?

Life is more than just work, after all, no Salesforce conference is complete without a little celebration. Last year, we brought you a Wildly Epic Night (check out the gallery), and we are back at it again this year. Come celebrate your achievement and forge new connections with us!

A happy hour to match digital experiences that delight

Join us this year for the Roof Rhythms & Refreshments Happy Hour hosted by Sercante, Stensul, and SalesWings at ROOF.  We’re teaming up with Stensul and SalesWings to create an evening as meaningful as the digital experiences we deliver to our clients.

Form real connections with people who get it and dance to a live band playing your favorite hits so you can feel radical impact on the first night of Connections. It’s at the iconic ROOF on theWIT and space is limited, so be sure to RSVP to secure your spot! 

Wednesday, May 22, 2024
Time: 7:00 – 10:00 PM
Roof Gallery at ROOF on theWIT
Register now >

Stay tuned to more celebrations popping up closer to the event.

How to connect with Sercante at Connections

Still undecided? Be sure to follow Salesforce’s social media accounts and website for updates (you may even score a discount). Below are a few opportunities to connect with our team during the conference to explore new opportunities and industry insights.

Schedule a meeting with our team
Book a meeting >

Join our session “Prep Your Small Business for Using AI in Marketing” with Kirsten Schlau (Sercante) and Charlotte King (Salesforce)
Add to agenda > 

Let’s chat about career growth – check out new roles at Sercante
Browse roles >

See you at Salesforce Connections 2024

Regardless of whether you attend in person or virtually (through Salesforce+), tag us on LinkedIn with your best moments. We’d love to be part of your conference experience.

We can’t wait to see you there!

Original article: Conference Preview: Get Ready for Salesforce Connections 2024

©2025 The Spot. All Rights Reserved.

The post Conference Preview: Get Ready for Salesforce Connections 2024 appeared first on The Spot.

These are my highlights and key takeaways from Salesforce World Tour D.C. 2024, where the Salesforce community converged to explore the latest in AI, data management, and nonprofit marketing. 

From actionable tips on implementing Data Cloud to insights into trusted AI with Einstein Copilot, this recap unveils the strategies and innovations driving success in today’s dynamic business landscape. 

Join us as we delve into the transformative power of unified data, organizational alignment, and customer-centricity, shaping the future of Salesforce in Washington, D.C., and beyond.

Salesforce World Tour D.C. 2024 Highlights

Salesforce checked in for their annual World Tour D.C. on April 10, 2024, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.

I had the pleasure of attending and being a part of the growing Salesforce community in the DMV area.

The focus of World Tour D.C. this year just like every other Salesforce event for 2024 was AI, AI, and more AI. 

Pro Tip: If you missed the event this time around, you can catch all the main sessions & keynote videos here. 

That said, here are my top takeaways from World Tour D.C.

Highlight 1: Top Tips for Getting Started with Data Cloud

World Tour D.C. showcased the top 5 must-have tips if your organization is thinking about implementing Data Cloud and harnessing the power of all your siloed data infrastructure under one unified SF Data Cloud platform. 

• Organizational Alignment: Establish a clear owner and get all departments/stakeholders on the same page.
• Pick a Use Case: Focus on one or two initial use cases that drive team optimization and deliver tangible results within a reasonable timeframe.
• Identify Success Metrics: Define KPIs, establish baseline metrics, monitor data quality, track user adoption, and always iterate to improve. 
• Leverage the Customer 360 Data Model: You have to walk before you can run. Use the out-of-the-box data models when you’re getting started.
• Think Big, Start Small: The platform has growth capabilities so you can scale, but you have to take small bites in the beginning.

My takeaways

The two tips around Organizational Alignment and Think Big, Start Small resonated with me the most as these two tips will surely put your organization on the right track for success. 

Getting buy-in from every major stakeholder around defined goals is paramount to achieving the success needed. Shoot for the stars in what you want to achieve with Data Cloud, but start small with a basic use case that can showcase the power of unifying your data and implementing a customer journey that can show value to your organization.

Favorite quote from the presentation

“Customer experiences are only as good as your insight into your customer data”

Highlight 2: Great Insights from the Main Keynote 

During the main keynote, Salesforce leaders took to the stage to show how everyone can become an Einstein with CRM + AI + Data + Trust.

Emphasizing Data Trust

Parth Shah, Senior Manager for Product Marketing at Salesforce, was on hand to discuss how trusted AI requires trusted data to achieve your organization’s success. 

Key Insight from Parth Shah: 81% of IT leaders say data silos hinder digital transformation

Einstein Copilot

Alice Steinglass, EVP & GM Platform at Salesforce, spoke to all the exciting features of Einstein Copilot. She explained that Einstein Copilot uses trusted AI grounded with your own company’s data, so you can tap into Copilot across every app and reduce repetitive work. 

A study from Asana in 2023 found that 62% of work time is lost to repetitive tasks. Why not use the great features of Einstein Copilot to reduce the need for repetitive work by your team? That way, you can focus on what is most important — your customers!!

Highlight 3: How to use Data Cloud for Nonprofit Marketing

If you are a Salesforce Marketing Cloud user in the nonprofit arena, How to Use Data Cloud for Nonprofit Marketing was a must-see presentation. Nikki Aguilar, Salesforce Solution Engineer, spoke about the reasons unified data matters. 

My 3 takeaways for using Data Cloud for Nonprofit Marketing

1. Increase awareness & collaboration. Collaboration and awareness are the keys to being successful when using Data Cloud for nonprofit marketing. It solidifies trust and facilitates connections across the organization.
2. Deliver unified, accessible, and actionable data. To support awareness and collaboration at nonprofits, delivering unified, accessible, and actionable data helps with getting resources on board who can elevate the fundraising and marketing experiences.
3. Create a culture of data as a strategic asset. Your data is a strategic asset for the organization as a whole. Creating a culture where data is a strategic asset helps advance operational and program excellence and establish trust among all stakeholders.

World Tour D.C.: Innovations in AI, data management, and nonprofit marketing

World Tour D.C. April 2024 brought together the vibrant Salesforce community in Washington, D.C., for a dynamic event showcasing the latest trends and innovations in AI, data management, and nonprofit marketing. From insights into leveraging Data Cloud to the unveiling of Einstein Copilot’s capabilities, we left with inspirational tips to take home and share with our teams. 

As we reflect on the event, it’s clear that the path to success lies in aligning organizational goals, harnessing the power of trusted AI, and embracing a culture where data drives strategic decisions. 

I hope you enjoyed my top 3 takeaways from World Tour D.C. 2024! As always, you can send us a message to chat about your Salesforce org and ways to get more ROI from your technology.

Original article: Roadshow Recap: Salesforce World Tour D.C. 2024

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Well, we’ve got another TrailblazerDX completed and in the history books, and boy was it a good one. While it seemed like a smaller crowd this year compared to 2023, the vibe and excitement of what’s on the horizon for Salesforce was off the charts! 

I’ve never been more excited to be a part of this community. Keep on reading for my top takeaways from this year’s event and what this means for technologists. 

#TDX24: Get your sunglasses, cuz the future is looking bright!

We headed to San Francisco along with several thousand of our Salesforce friends for the annual Salesforce developer-focused conference. The conference took place March 6-7, 2024, and it included more than 300 technical sessions and hands-on workshops. The focus for the conference was the Einstein 1 Platform and the era of AI.

This year, Heather Rinke and I had the pleasure of presenting a session at TrailblazerDX along with our friend Arvind Raman, who is a director of partner product success, at Salesforce. The session is called 5 Tips for Getting Started with Data Cloud, and you can check out the recording on Salesforce+ here.

My top 2024 TrailblazerDX takeaways

These are the biggest takeaways I have from the 2024 TrailblazerDX conference.

Smart AI for smarter decisions

TrailblazerDX 2024 showcased Salesforce’s cool AI updates all made possible through the Einstein 1 Platform, making data work harder for businesses. Think better insights, smarter analytics — it’s like having a crystal ball for making savvy decisions. And bonus points for now supporting unstructured data! That’s going to truly be a game-changer.

Keeping it simple, keeping customers happy

Salesforce — the Customer Company — is about making life easier for businesses. They’re focused and committed to simplifying the complexity of connecting the dots between customer data via Data Cloud — across the entire tech stack and more recently multi-org, so you can give your customers that “wow” experience every time. No more guessing games — just happy customers.

Coding made easy

Forget the days of complex code. At TrailblazerDX 2024, Salesforce rolled out tools like Einstein 1 Studio that make coding a breeze. It’s like giving developers and administrators superpowers to create awesome stuff without breaking a sweat. And to be clear this goes beyond the clicks, not code theme in past years. We’ve gone from a click-based GUI to a conversational experience. 

Locking down security

Cybersecurity’s a big deal, and Salesforce knows it. They’ve beefed up security features to keep your data safe from prying eyes both externally and internally (check out data spaces). It’s like having a digital security guard on duty 24/7. 

Learning and growing together

TrailblazerDX 2024 wasn’t just about tech — it was about community — a community that broke the Guinness Book World Record for Einsteins. It’s a place where people come together to share ideas, learn new things, occasionally color, and grow together. Because when we collaborate, amazing things happen.

Why we techies should get excited

1. Innovation at Your Fingertips: With Salesforce’s AI goodies, we tech nerds can get creative and drive innovation like never before. It’s like having a toolbox full of cool gadgets to play with.
2. No more spreadsheets: Unified customer data means less hassle. No more manual list pulls, digging through endless spreadsheets, or joining multiple tables together using SQL — we can now spend our efforts actually using the data versus trying to get the data. One of my favorite sayings: Work smarter not harder!!
3. Coding, Simplified: Low-code tools mean less time coding and more time creating awesome stuff. It’s like having a shortcut to building cool features without all the headaches.

What this means at Sercante 

As a trusted Salesforce partner, we’ve been keeping a pulse on the latest platform innovations and future planned roadmap developments and as a result, have refocused too. ICYMI you might have noticed we had a bit of a glow-up!  

“Our rebranded mission, the statement that guides us through our day-to-day, is to use Salesforce to create seamless digital experiences with radical impact. Looking toward our long-term goals, our vision is a tech-driven future where real connections thrive.”

Based upon the key takeaways mentioned earlier related to AI, keeping it simple, and less code — we see a future where it will be less about the how and more about the why. The why is strategy.  

Of course, you’ll still find Salesforce consultants performing hands-on keyboard work on our team, but we’re so much more than that and will continue to lean into it. We’re focused on the human side of technology with strategies that get to the heart of impactful growth. As I stated at the beginning, there has never been more of an exciting time to be part of the Salesforce ecosystem and Sercante. 

So, in closing, I hope you enjoyed my top takeaways from TrailblazerDX 2024, served up with a side of Sercante expertise. Send us a message and let’s make some magic happen together!

Dragons Out!

Original article: TrailblazerDX 2024: The Salesforce Conference Recap You Need

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You don’t have to be a technical person to start thinking like a Salesforce architect. In this article, I will share 5 concepts to bring a little architect-thinking magic to your everyday work.

Salesforce architect reflections from Northeast Dreamin’

In October 2023, I attended the premier ​​Salesforce community event in the Northeast, Northeast Dreamin’. There were plenty of informative sessions about AI, non-profit success, and others. I chose to focus my time on the sessions run by Salesforce Architects. 

• Architect Like a Pro: Using the Five Ws from Primary School – this session was led by Roger Mitchell from Dodge Labs. He shared a compelling approach to uncovering the real needs of clients during requirements-gathering sessions. The simple rubric of who/what/where/when/why can be an inspirational way to unlock deeper understanding. Because after all…
   
• A Salesforce Admin’s Guide to Data Modeling for Scalability and Performance – Here Brian Shea, a Fractional Salesforce Architect, shared principles for designing a data model utilizing the Salesforce Well-Architected framework. A big takeaway is the importance of sketching out your data model using Salesforce Data Model notation before you start building. This process makes our work more easily approachable and structured which makes it easier to understand for yourself and when shared with others.
  

But wait, just for Salesforce architects?

I was struck during these sessions, that the concepts are important to have in mind even if you are not a technical person or someone preparing to head down an architect career path. The reality is that everyone, in every position, can use the basic tenets of a Salesforce architect mindset to improve their everyday work and provide enormous value to our companies.

5 switches to activate your Salesforce architect mindset

When setting the stage for architectural thinking, it is important to zoom out and think about the big picture. Sure there are tactical details that need to be considered, but starting at a higher level will enable you to imagine beyond what is in front of you today.

An architect’s mindset is not reactive. It takes in various viewpoints and inputs that can help anticipate what your next move could or should be. No matter your role, the concepts below can help you elevate your thinking.

#1: Get curious

Think about your work in terms of the broader company and even industry trends. Think through a growth mindset lens and expand on what the questions are. With the growth mindset, the possibilities are limitless as we break away from a fixed mindset.

#2: Zoom out

Next time you are in a meeting, think about your mindset in terms of your camera. Your mind is like an aperture, when you open it you let more light in. How does this change your relationship with what is being discussed? When asked to make a change or perform a task, let more light in, zoom out, and ask broader questions to get to the heart of the why behind the ask.

#3: Get creative

Thinking like an architect is only sometimes a straight line. A heavy dose of thinking about the Art of the possible will open your mind and excite your stakeholders. Open a doc or a notebook and write out the wildest ideas you can think of. This is your chance to push the boundaries and turn some heads.

#4: Think longer term

Don’t be like Homer. Think about what the needs of your company might be in 1 year, in 3 years, in five years. What changes? What changes if you layer on a once-in-a-generation industry-shaking change? How would this inform how you build today with an eye toward a scalable and profitable future? You can go fast AND far.

#5: Analytics for the win!

Wherever possible, use data to support your thinking. This is especially important when pitching concepts to your stakeholders. If you and the teams you work with are using Salesforce, then lots of data is available to you. Moreso, if there has been an investment in more advanced analytics tools like Data Cloud and Einstein Analytics or B2BMA. With so much data at our fingertips, why not share?!

Bonus Tips!

• Be nimble as the needs of your company change throughout the year. Unexpected headwinds could force a change that can be faced head-on by thinking about the work differently.
• Don’t be afraid to share your work. Especially during fast-moving times, our ideas can really make a difference but we need to share them!

Whether you’re a developer, admin, or even a casual user, adopting an architect’s mindset can transform your work. So go beyond the tactical in what you do. By zooming out, getting curious, thinking longer term, and using data to guide decisions, you could lead to an architect mindset revolution in your organization.

Original article: 5 Ways to Adopt a Salesforce Architect Mindset Today

©2025 The Spot. All Rights Reserved.

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In the beautiful sunshine and chill vibes of Clearwater Beach, FL, Salesforce community members of all kinds came together recently for Florida Dreamin’. The Dreamin’ events are community-led Salesforce conferences around the globe each with their personality. Florida Dreamin’ specifically strives to, “provide inspiration, coaching, and guidance on how to truly blaze your own trail.” 

This comes from a perceived, “gap in Salesforce education when it comes to career pathing and guidance.” From my experience as a first-time attendee, this conference lives up to its vision by serving up an abundance of project management/team dynamics & soft-skill content.  

Of the 44 sessions on offer, over half had a non-technical focus with topics spanning from career path advice and how to negotiate like a pro to advice on building diagrams and running demos that are informative and effective.

Some Soft-Skill Session Highlights

I attended many wonderful sessions across a variety of technical and non-technical topics, but wanted to highlight three soft-skill sessions in particular. Two of them I found especially illuminating and will be taking tips and tricks back to my consulting work and the third one is my speaking session, which I certainly hope provided impactful guidance to those in attendance.

5 Critical Change Management Steps for Successful Adoption

In this session, Paula Cervoni and Stacey Chery of Silverline emphasized the importance of dedicated and continual change management throughout the lifecycle of a project and into the training and adoption phase. Good change management helps get to the end goal of successful happy users which is what we all want! The change management steps Paula and Stacey outlined are:

• Alignment – to the vision and mission of the project with engagement from Stakeholders, SMEs, Executive Team Members, and end users
• Communication – a concerted strategy and communication plan to keep users informed every step of the way, 
• Training – curated applicable training paths for each user group/business role using real-world examples when possible to demonstrate utility, 
• Reinforcement – making sure that users are actively supported and know exactly who to go to when they have issues at go-live, 
• Measurement – getting some data behind adoption and success with both formal and informal measurement methods 

With these steps, you too can change manage with the best of them and help your projects succeed, not just from a technical perspective, but from an adoption and satisfaction perspective as well. 

The Surviving & Thriving Handbook for Accidental Admins 

I was honored to give my first-ever Salesforce speaking session at Florida Dreamin’ and am especially happy to be able to join in on the soft-skills theme. My session highlighted my journey into accidental adminship* at a nonprofit organization and the struggles I faced trying to be successful in my day-to-day job as well as my Salesforce Admin duties. 

To help bring myself from surviving to thriving, I enacted a number of actionable processes which streamlined my responsibilities, set expectations for my end users, and increased buy-in and end-user satisfaction. 

Suggested steps for others facing accidental adminship included:

• Establishing 2x yearly full organization Salesforce expectations and communication meetings 
• Offering regularly scheduled office hours to your end users 
• Identifying and leveraging your super users to be your champions, beta testers, and day-to-day support for other users in their departments
• Setting up a Salesforce Request queue process to allow the Admin to triage, manage, and systematically work through end-user needs and issues
• Bringing in a trusted partner, such as Sercante, for support

If this sounds like a topic you could use some support on please reach out to Sercante! We are here to help ease your Admin burden.

 * An Accidental Admin is, “someone who had not considered a career in Salesforce until some event brought Salesforce into their work life and who juggles Salesforce admin responsibilities in addition to their regular job” – Source: Salesforce Ben 

Just a Demo? Never! Always Demo Like a Pro

Jennifer Kinstle, Principal Architect at Zennify, gave a super practical guide on how to demo like a pro. She highlighted three key steps to a successful demo which ultimately can lead to increased adoption and project success. 

Her recipe for a great demo is the following:

1. Know the business  – Understand the specific audience you will be demoing to. Tailor your demo to the language and topics that will be most understood and valued by the demo audience.

2. Tell the story – A good demo has a beginning, middle, and end and works with an applicable business use case. Jennifer suggested always “share the why”  – making it clear to your audience why the demo is important to them and their business.

3. Prepare & practice – This includes preparing your space, both physical and digital to ensure there are no unexpected interruptions… error messages or chat messages, and the like.

Jennifer also advises tailoring your demo script to what you need. If you need a full line-by-line script, do that, if you do better with bulleted talking points, then go for it. She also highlighted the importance of the run-through, do the demo exactly as you would for the demo audience in the environment where you will be doing the final demo. This is a critical step to mitigate unexpected errors or bugs so you can fix them before show time.

Following the tips in this session, I feel like I will be able to improve the utility of my demos for my clients.

Florida Dreamin’ for the Win!

Florida Dreamin’ was a wonderful conference experience and a great place to give my first ever speaking session. The manageable size of the conference, beautiful location, and focus on soft skills and the Ohana spirit make this an ideal conference for everyone from the seasoned pro to the brand new trailblazer. 

Gorgeous ocean sunsets and delicious tiki drinks aside, this conference has a strong sense of community and inclusion with loads of meetups (including a nonprofit lunch meetup that I attended) and excursions. Folks were there to learn a lot, network, and have a fun time doing it, and I don’t think you can ask for much more out of a Dreamin’ event. 

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

• How to Write like a Marketer: Intro to AMPscript for Salesforce Marketing Cloud | Kayla Border

Original article: Florida Dreamin’: A Conference Where Soft Skills Shine

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The 2023 MarDreamies Awards inspired the marketing community and wowed the judges as they announced this year’s winners at the fourth MarDreamin’ conference that took place from October 31 to November 3. 

The MarDreamies presented five award winners in addition to some honorable mentions across the award categories as each team was featured for their innovative solution implemented with Salesforce marketing tools.

MarDreamies Award Categories: A quick recap

If you remember from previous years, the MarDreamies categories include Personalization Perfection, Social Impact, Grassroots Innovation, Extending Salesforce, and Best in Show. 

• Personalization Perfection: Right-time, right-message marketing
• Social Impact: Creating positive change through Salesforce
• Grassroots Innovation: Scaling small business with Salesforce
• Extending Salesforce: API and AI-driven solutions
• Best in Show: Best all-around solution

Marketing teams submitted their entries selecting which category they wanted to be recognized for and shared the goal they worked to achieve, the details of the solution, and the results post implementation. There were many great submissions this year which made the selection process for the judges very challenging, but after much consideration, they were able to narrow it down to one winner per category.

And the MarDreamies 2023 Award Winners Are…

On November 2, 2023, the MarDreamies presenters who included Marcos Duran, Chris Zullo, Bill Fetter, Julie Rasco, and Jen Kazin announced the award winners.

• Personalization Perfection: Grupo Xcaret
• Social Impact: Veterans Guardian
• Grassroots Innovation: TSI Incorporated
• Extending Salesforce: Cypress Learning Solutions
• Best in Show: Close Brothers Asset Finance and Leasing

Watch the session on demand to relive the MarDreamies experience and get all the details!

2023 MarDreamies Award Personalization Perfection Category Winner: Grupo Xcaret

Grupo Xcaret submitted the solution, Personalized Shopping Cart Coupon at the Last Step of the Purchase, to win the MarDreamies 2023 award for the Personalization Perfection category, which celebrates teams for delivering right-time, right message marketing. 

The Grupo Xcaret team shared more about their solution in the below video that was featured during the MarDreamies session.

What does Grupo Xcaret do?

In the travel and hospitality industry, Grupo Xcaret is on a mission to make the planet happier by sharing their love of Mexico. Putting on amazing shows and breathtaking attractions across their parks, tours, and hotels, they aim to create “unique, magical, and memorable experiences” for their guests and visitors. 

How does Grupo Xcaret use Salesforce tools to create personalized experiences?

The team noticed that customers would start the purchase process for their parks and tours, but would get to the last step of the purchase, see the final price, and then abandon their cart.

To encourage more customers to complete their purchase, Grupo Xcaret used Salesforce Marketing Cloud Personalization to create trackable and customized coupons for each of their products in English and Spanish. They configured this solution with the website so it would display the correct coupon for the purchase after time has passed and the purchase has not been completed.

The solution required the cooperation of their web team, marketing automation team, and a third-party team to create the configurations necessary for successful execution. Their hard work paid off as the solution contributed to increasing their revenue by 77% and improved the conversion rate on the last step of the purchase process by 55%.

Grupo Xcaret’s solution is a great example to the marketing community of what can be achieved when we use Salesforce marketing tools to deliver personalized experiences. If you have been inspired by their solution, be sure to give Grupo Xcaret a shout-out on social media!

2023 MarDreamies Award Grassroots Innovation Category Winner: TSI Incorporated

TSI Incorporated submitted the solution, Optimizing The Lead Management Process to Better Serve Prospects & Customers, to win the MarDreamies 2023 award for the Grassroots Innovation category, which recognizes teams for using Salesforce marketing tools to scale their businesses. 

What does TSI Incorporated do?

Serving a global market, TSI Incorporated engineers and manufactures measurement instruments to help make the job easier for aerosol science, and evaluating air flow, indoor air quality, fluid dynamics, and biohazard detection.

Founded in 1961 with headquarters based in the U.S. and field offices across Europe and Asia, TSI has grown as a large organization and established a worldwide presence in the markets they serve.

How does TSI Incorporated use Salesforce tools to scale their business?

The TSI team wanted to make sure that their lead handover process was streamlined so qualified leads could be routed to the right salesperson quickly for a timely response to prospects and to prevent deals from falling through the cracks.

They set out to build a completely new sales user experience. Their custom ‘Sales Inquiries’ object, which is what sales was using to take action on product inquiries, was reconfigured to provide a single interface to track the next step when interest is expressed in one of their products. The team used Salesforce Flows to execute the automations needed to handle inquiries and processing, which are all triggered from a Marketing Cloud Account Engagement form submission. 

TSI’s SAP system contained their territory assignment and routing rules. They designed and refactored all the automations that were happening between their SAP system and Salesforce that handled the sales inquiry creation and processing.

As a result of refactoring and redesigning the automation between the SAP system and Salesforce and creating a streamlined sales user interface with the Sales Inquiry object, sales’ ability to act on the right leads at the right time increased by 35%! 

TSI’s solution is a great example to the community of what’s possible when we leverage the foundational functionality of the Salesforce platform. If you have been inspired by their solution, be sure to give TSI Incorporated a shout-out on social media!

2023 MarDreamies Award Extending Salesforce Category Winner: Cypress Learning Solutions

Cypress Learning Solutions submitted the solution, Reply Intelligence, to win the MarDreamies 2023 award for the Extending Salesforce category which highlights teams for creating API and AI-driven solutions. Brandon Walton, the president, owner & principal consultant of Cypress Learning Solutions, shared more about Reply Intelligence in the below video that was featured during the MarDreamies session.

What does Cypress Learning Solutions do?

Cypress Learning Solutions is a Salesforce implementation and training solutions provider, designing customized workshops and implementation services for organizations transitioning to Salesforce and Marketing Cloud Account Engagement.

Tell me more about Reply Intelligence…

Reply Intelligence is an AI & algorithmic solution that gives marketers greater insight into the replies to marketing and inbound emails and allows them to trigger automations from them. 

It has become increasingly more difficult for marketers to rely on clicks and open rates to track engagement, and at the same time, their “reply-to” inboxes become filled with the marketing email Out of Office replies and other autoresponders.

Reply Intelligence is an email integration solution that helps marketers to better manage the reply-to inboxes and trigger Marketing Cloud Account Engagement Completion Actions from inbound emails and email replies. The solution was developed from integrating several technical components including ESPs, Salesforce, the development of Cypress Learning Solutions’ internal Large Language Model (LLM), and connections into AI platforms.

Brandon Walton added, “We have processed > 1mm email replies and are continuously evolving our LLM to detect intent from emails, including purchasing intent and requests to be removed/unsubscribed from databases.”

Cypress Learning Solutions’ Reply Intelligence is a great example of innovation from an API and AI-driven solution. If you have been inspired by their story, be sure to give Cypress Learning Solutions a shout-out on social media!

2023 MarDreamies Award Social Impact Category Winner: Veterans Guardian

Veterans Guardian submitted the solution, Successfully Segmenting an Audience, to win the MarDreamies 2023 award for the Social Impact category, which honors teams for creating positive change with Salesforce tools. Avery McKenzie, marketing coordinator at Veterans Guardian, shared more about the solution in the below video that was featured during the MarDreamies session.

What does Veterans Guardian do?

Veterans Guardian, is a private consulting company partnering with veterans to help them attain the VA benefits they have earned from their honorable service to the nation. The veterans disability claim process can be complicated and overwhelming, which is where Veterans Guardian comes in. They support veterans through the claims process helping them build their claim strategy and providing education and information needed to help them get the benefits they are entitled to.

How does Veterans Guardian use Salesforce for social impact?

As Veterans Guardian supports veterans through the disability claims process, it is critical that their communication is delivered to the right person at the right time. Their team wanted to advance how they engage veterans with personalized communication to provide them with the best experience possible.

The Veterans Guardian team evaluated their audience segmentation in conjunction with their customer experience process and came up with 74 Marketing Cloud journeys. Using features such as Einstein Send Time Optimization, decision splits, and Salesforce Flows to trigger the journeys, Veterans Guardian was able to create customized communication for each veteran based on where they were in their process. As a result, Veterans Guardian experienced improved engagement results and client satisfaction.

Through Veterans Guardian’s dedication to delivering the best client experience for veterans with personalized communication through Salesforce marketing tools, they have been able to create positive change. If you have been inspired by their solution, be sure to give Veterans Guardian a shout-out on social media!

2023 MarDreamies Award Best in Show Category Winner: Close Brothers Asset Finance and Leasing

Close Brothers Asset Finance and Leasing submitted the solution, Salesforce Digital Customer Cycle, to win the MarDreamies 2023 award for the Best in Show category, which recognizes teams for building the best all-around solution. Jonathan Dytor, Head of Digital Marketing at Close Brothers Asset Finance and Leasing, shared more about the solution in the below video that was featured during the MarDreamies session.

What does Close Brothers Asset Finance and Leasing do?

A member of the Close Brothers Group, Close Brothers Asset Finance and Leasing is a UK-based company founded in 1987 that provides finance for businesses offering practical solutions that empower them for success.

Tell me more about the Salesforce Digital Customer Cycle solution…

The Close Brothers Asset Finance and Leasing team constructed a complete digital customer journey within their Salesforce Org. To execute this, they rebuilt their seven websites and portal using Experience Cloud, Marketing Cloud Account Engagement, Sales Cloud, and Analytics Studio. 

The breakdown of the solution from their submission is included below:

• Experience Builder – Used to rebuild the websites and the Portal
• Account Engagement – Captures UTM parameters for all Leads
• Sales Cloud – Auto-manages Lead assignment rules and tracks Opportunities
• Analytics Studio – Tracks real-time ROI

Their team was using a third party for website development and was not getting the functionality and insights they desired from their websites. They wanted to have full autonomy over their digital platforms and researched what they could do if they were to rebuild them with Experience Builder. They also evaluated how they could use Marketing Cloud Account Engagement to trigger automated communications to customers at critical points throughout their journey.

They decided to move forward, and in just one month they launched three of the seven sites and built the other four and their customer portal, all completed in house. Their team now has full control over their websites and their customer portal. Close Brothers Asset Finance and Leasing can get the insights they need from their digital platforms without any reliance on third parties and they can build new sites all in house with extreme speed!

Close Brothers Asset Finance and Leasing creating the Salesforce Digital Customer Cycle is a great example of the creative solutions that can be built on the Salesforce platform to achieve business goals. If you have been inspired by their story, be sure to give Close Brothers Asset Finance and Leasing a shout-out on social media!

2023 MarDreamies Award Honorable Mentions

There were so many outstanding solutions submitted for the 2023 MarDreamies Awards that it made the selection process very challenging. As the award presenters expressed during the session, they did not want to conclude it without giving a few honorable mentions to the following teams that shared some incredible solutions!

• The Brain Tumour Charity: Inspires Optimized Donations, Customer Journeys with DESelect Engage
• AdventHealth: Leveraging Real-time Data to Power Next Best Actions
• Cezium: Tik Tok Adz for Marketing Cloud
• California Association of Realtors: Localized Housing Market Data
• J.R. Simplot Company: Welcome Series to Engaged Audience
• Hilton Supply Management: Making the Connection

Get more ideas to bring back to your team

The MarDreamies 2023 awards are a great way to be in the know about the latest innovations that are being developed in the marketing community. If any of these award winner stories have sparked an idea, we encourage you to share it with your team to see what new advancement you can create next to achieve your goals.

In addition to the MarDreamies, there were so many amazing creative solutions presented at the MarDreamin conference this year. To learn and get more ideas to bring back to your team, watch the sessions on demand!

Original article: MarDreamin’ Recap: MarDreamies 2023 Award Winners

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Living in a fast-paced world of technology, it’s easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of innovation and lose sight of the human element. We can occasionally prioritize the tools and systems we use over the people who rely on them. 

I had the honor of attending Florida Dreamin’ in October 2023. I was especially inspired by one session in particular.

Here’s a summary of that session.

Insights from Daniel Gorton’s Florida Dreamin’ Presentation

Daniel Gorton, a Salesforce architect with a unique background in social work and psychology, recently delivered a thought-provoking presentation at Florida Dreamin’ that reminded us of the importance of centering people within our technology discussions.

Here are the insights he shared.

Asking The Right Questions

Gorton, who defines himself as an “empathetic and multi-centered Salesforce architect,” captivated the audience with his perspective at the intersection of technology and social work. He posed essential questions that challenge our approach to change and user experiences, asking, “What are some ways we can be inclusive and intentional with change?” and “How do we make sure everyone has their needs met?”

Consider Learning Styles and Needs

One of the key takeaways from his presentation was the emphasis on inclusivity, considering diverse learning styles and needs. Gorton reminded us that individuals have varying comfort and experience levels with technology. This message couldn’t be more relevant as we continue to integrate artificial intelligence into our daily lives. In a separate presentation during Florida Dreamin where the A.I. Lay’s campaign “Messi Messages” came up and an audience member asked, “Just because we can, does it mean we should?” which reflects the unease many feel when confronted with different and evolving types of technology. 

Change management was also a focus of Gorton’s presentation. He stressed the importance of not just looking at systems but also focusing on the people behind it — those who build, test, approve, and use it. Gorton encouraged us to add value and create experiences that anticipate users’ needs, ultimately leading to joy and delight. He reminded us that even small gestures, like adding emojis, can brighten someone’s mood. Additionally, he underlined the fact that users teach us valuable lessons in the process.

Where Empathy and Strategy Meet 

Combining our empathetic sides with strategic approaches, such as focus groups, road mapping, and well-defined processes, can help bridge the gap between technology, those who work in it, and the end users.

Gorton urged the audience to “consider organizational context, system performance, & Salesforce well-architected best practices.” He provided several examples of how Sales Cloud does this today, citing Path as one of the easiest-to-offer UI features. 

Gorton also provided insights into best practices for training, emphasizing the importance of feedback and requests, encouraging feedback loops, and breaking down silos. He encouraged us not to be afraid to iterate and build slowly, ensuring that we can fine-tune our solutions over time.

Finally, Daniel Gorton’s presentation was a reminder that technology should enhance human experiences, not overshadow them. By being more inclusive, empathetic, and thoughtful in our approach, we can create solutions that bring not only use but also delight users. Let’s reflect on Gorton’s insights and let them serve as a valuable guide for how each of us can navigate through the intersection of technology and the people behind those systems. 

Get More Highlights from 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.

• Florida Dreamin’: A Conference Where Soft Skills Shine | Abbey Freund
• How to Write like a Marketer: Intro to AMPscript for Salesforce Marketing Cloud | Kayla Border

Original article: The Art of Delivering Empathetic and Joyful User Experiences

©2025 The Spot. All Rights Reserved.

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