Student expectations today are vastly different than they were a decade ago. It’s causing technology leaders at the most successful educational institutions to rethink their data infrastructure and student journeys through real-time interaction management strategies.

Today’s students want a personalized, seamless, engaging journey that keeps pace with their brand experiences outside of higher education. At the same time, more and more individuals are bypassing the traditional college education routes altogether. That means higher education institutions (HEIs) need to exceed student expectations to reach enrollment and retention goals and ultimately deliver successful student outcomes.

Combating Headwinds in Higher Ed: A three-part series

Throughout this three-part blog series, you will learn about using your institutional data to create personalized student experiences at scale and in real-time within your college or university. 

1. Part one: Real-time interaction management and real-time interaction for student success  
2. Part two: Overview of Salesforce Data Cloud for higher education professionals, potential use cases, and best practices for successfully using Data Cloud
3. Part three: Building a unified data vision and then activating your data to build a CRM + AI + data strategy for your institution

This series was co-authored by Kirsten Schlau, VP of Technology at Sercante, and Dr. Bradley Beecher (email), Director, Student Experience at Salesforce.

Harnessing data to navigate and overcome challenges in higher education

To help combat higher ed headwinds, there’s a tremendous untapped opportunity for HEIs to use their data by improving organization-wide data infrastructure.

Yes, you’re probably reading this and thinking things like:

We do use data — we analyze our data to maximize the value of resources and stay ahead of constituent needs.

Or even…

We use our data to create strategic plans, execute them efficiently, and analyze their results to differentiate our institution, proactively improve student outcomes, and report outcomes to government agencies and ranking organizations. 

Oftentimes though, that data is trapped inside campus systems that don’t easily integrate with each other. It’s time-consuming to piece together a cohesive and accurate story when the data is trapped, but there’s a better way. It involves creating a fully integrated single source of truth to manage student data.

Unifying student data can help your institution to:

• Generate real-time institutional reporting
• Create a unified student record
• Take action from the data
• Personalize the student experience to reinforce a sense of belonging 

Taking cues from non-HEIs to use data for growth and retention

What if we told you there’s an opportunity more specifically to use that data on an individual basis, at a 1:1 scale to personalize the student experience in real-time?

This is happening in other industries. In fact, you might have experienced personalization like this as an online shopper. Here are a few examples.

What is real-time interaction management (RTIM)?

Real-time interaction management, also known as RTIM, uses customer interactions, predictive modeling, and machine learning to deliver consistent, personalized customer experiences across channels in real-time.  

“Forrester Research analyst Rob Brosman originated the term Real-Time Interaction Management in 2012, and three years later Rusty Warner, another Forrester analyst, offered the formal definition of, “Enterprise marketing technology that delivers contextually relevant experiences, value, and utility at the appropriate moment in the customer life cycle via preferred customer touchpoints.” – Source

RTIM equips marketers to gain immediate visibility into critical moments within the shopping or user experience, which can deliver better consumer experiences and outcomes. This includes generating relevant offers and product suggestions on the right devices at the right time to drive customer engagement, satisfaction, and, in turn, revenue growth. 

Impact of real-time interaction management in the real world

As an everyday consumer, you’ve likely already experienced the effects of RTIM (or you’ve experienced a scenario where you wish RTIM was in place).

Example scenario illustrating RTIM in e-commerce:

Let’s say a customer, Maria, visits an online fashion retailer’s website:

1. Browsing Products: Maria lands on the retailer’s homepage and starts browsing through summer dresses.
2. Real-Time Data Capture: As Maria navigates through the website, her behavior is captured in real-time. This includes the pages she visits, the products she clicks on, her past purchase history, demographic information, and any other relevant data.
3. Real-Time Analysis: The e-commerce platform analyzes Maria’s behavior and data in real-time. It identifies her preferences based on her browsing history, past purchases, items in her shopping cart, and any other available data points.
4. Personalized Recommendations: Using RTIM, the e-commerce platform dynamically generates personalized recommendations for Maria. It might suggest summer dresses similar to the ones she’s viewing based on her style preferences and past purchases. These recommendations are displayed prominently on the website in real-time.
5. Real-Time Engagement: While Maria is still browsing, a pop-up notification appears offering her a limited-time discount on a dress she had previously shown interest in. This real-time engagement aims to incentivize Maria to make a purchase.
6. Adaptive Pricing: As Maria continues to browse, she adds a couple of dresses to her cart but hesitates to complete the purchase. In response, the e-commerce platform dynamically adjusts the prices of the items in her cart, offering her personalized discounts or free shipping to encourage her to proceed to checkout.
7. Abandoned Cart Recovery: If Maria leaves the website without completing her purchase, the e-commerce platform sends her a personalized email reminder within minutes to remind her about the items in her cart. These reminders offer her an additional discount or incentive to complete the purchase.
8. Cross-Channel Consistency: Whether Maria interacts with the retailer’s website or mobile app, or when she receives an email, the messaging and recommendations remain consistent across all channels for a seamless and personalized shopping experience.

In this example, RTIM enables the e-commerce retailer to engage with Mary in real time, providing her with personalized recommendations, discounts, and reminders tailored to her preferences and behavior. This ultimately increases the likelihood of conversion and enhances customer satisfaction.

Additionally, some online retailers are now using RTIM not only in their marketing efforts but also as a way to offer seamless customer experiences. 

Harnessing RTIM at colleges, universities, and other post-secondary education institutions

In the e-commerce example above, the experiences were grounded in segmentation and, of course, made up of various data points. 

It’s no different for HEIs. The ability to segment and provide greater personalized content and experiences leads to a great student experience.

We’ll share a few examples of how other professionals in higher education are doing this today.

Real-time interaction for student success

Imagine a world where student advisors can gain a full 360° picture of their students in a single view. This could include:

• Past class enrollment records and performance indicators
• Required courses that support their designated degree path
• Intelligence to recommend courses based on individual interests and passions outside of their degree path
• Automatic insights into things such as on target to graduate, at risk, potential for drop-out, and any other insights unique to your institution.

Oh! And one more thing to add: this is all done at scale with minimal manual effort put on the advisor.

Step 1 to building an RTIM strategy: Unify data to create a single source of truth

This vision can become a reality when your data is not trapped in siloed campus systems. 

You might say, “How is that possible?”

Here’s how you can start building a student-centric RTIM strategy.

All of this data aggregation and related insights are powered by Salesforce Data Cloud and Einstein 1 Platform. They are the building blocks to creating personalized student experiences with real-time capabilities. And they can also help advisors to gain more time to focus on making meaningful connections with their advisees and ensuring their long-term success. 

How does the Einstein 1 Platform support RTIM strategy for HEIs?

The Salesforce Einstein 1 Platform (A.K.A. “Salesforce core”) unifies your data, AI, CRM, development, and security into a single platform. It’s an extensible AI platform (meaning, it easily connects with other Salesforce platform products and third-party integrations), and it can facilitate the fast development of generative apps and automations.

Through Einstein 1, your institution can appropriately address students’ most common, basic, or foundational questions through alerts and automated workflows. Then your advisors’ interactions with students can center on deeper and more meaningful advising conversations.

Creating unified student profiles with connected data

A unified student profile, aggregating student data into a single student record allows advisors to meet with more students and encourage those meaningful conversations. For example, instead of talking through the required courses advisees need for their program, they get automated alerts listing which courses to take next. Then, the advisee’s open office hours can become career exploration sessions or deep dives to help students better understand complex concepts.

At institutions with siloed data, creating alerts like those in the example requires a ton of manual effort and time. And let’s face it — advisors don’t have time to spare. 

How Data Cloud solves the RTIM puzzle

With Salesforce Data Cloud, advisors can provide more proactive and holistic support for students. That’s because campus data for each student is unified in a single record — something that benefits both students and the institution.

In turn, students make more informed and thoughtful decisions with this proper support from academic advisors. Getting automated alerts supports students as they navigate the university/academic program policies and procedures, and, more importantly, offers an exceptional college experience.

Ultimately, Data Cloud will help build better staff experiences with a unified student record and a seamless student experience that meets their modern expectations.

In the next post in this series, we will provide an overview of Data Cloud for Higher Education, examples of potential use cases, and best practices for using Data Cloud.  

Ready to transform your student experience through real-time interaction management?

Discover how real-time interaction management can elevate the way you engage with students, and enhance their experiences with personalized, timely interactions that make a real difference.

Learn more about Salesforce Education Cloud here to understand the platform and how it compares and relates to your current technology stack.

Then, send a message to Sercante to learn about our Salesforce consulting services for higher education institutions, including Salesforce implementations & migrations, design & architecture services, reporting & analytics, custom integrations, and everything in between.

Original article: Combating Headwinds in Higher Ed: Part 1 – Real-Time Interaction Management

©2025 The Spot. All Rights Reserved.

The post Combating Headwinds in Higher Ed: Part 1 – Real-Time Interaction Management 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.

If you’re like many, setting up an SMS program is not part of your everyday tasks. And if I were a betting woman (I’m not), I’d bet you’ve likely never done it before. If you have, then you likely need a refresh.

Moreover, if you have an existing SMS program and now find yourself in a situation where you’re switching providers, you might be even more unsure of where to even begin.

TDLR: Whether newbie or pro, there’s a lot to consider and unpack not only from a strategy perspective but the technical stuff as well. In this post, we’ll cover everything you’ll need to consider for your SMS mobile strategy — whether you’re new to SMS or rethinking your SMS program.

SMS Mobile Strategy Considerations

Many times, when organizations begin on the path of charting out their SMS communication they naturally start down the path of wanting to replicate all the communications they currently have for the email channel.

DON’T BE THAT PERSON.

Instead, consider the following. 

The purpose of your program

Why do you want to communicate with people via SMS, to begin with? Better yet, what’s the benefit to the organization, and more importantly, to your customers?

A common purpose of an SMS program is to provide direct, efficient ways to engage, which leads to improved customer satisfaction and better business outcomes. The net on this point is to ensure you’re doing it for good reason. You may be in an industry where an SMS program just doesn’t make sense, and that’s ok! 

Examples of typical SMS communications

By refining the purpose of your program, you can begin to back into what makes sense to send via SMS.

Consider your customer experience: What are the types of things that might be beneficial to receive via text? If you think about the intent of a text message in general and why we send them in our day-to-day lives, you’re usually sending a text because:

• Your message is short, direct, and doesn’t require live dialogue.
• It’s something timely and you’re desiring a response back quickly.
• It’s efficient.

With that lens in mind, let’s think about the types of messages your organization sends and what fits into this criteria mentioned above.

Here are some examples of communications that make sense to send via SMS:

1. Appointment Reminders: Remind customers or clients of upcoming appointments, reservations, or important deadlines.
2. Order Updates: Notify customers about the status of their orders, including order confirmation, shipping updates, and delivery notifications.
3. Account Notifications: Send account-related notifications such as payment reminders, account balance alerts, or security alerts (e.g., suspicious login attempts).
4. Promotional Offers: Inform customers about special promotions, discounts, or exclusive deals to drive sales and increase customer engagement.
5. Event Invitations: Send invitations or RSVP reminders for events, webinars, conferences, or workshops.
6. Customer Support: Provide quick and efficient customer support by allowing customers to text inquiries, report issues, or request assistance.
7. Emergency Alerts: Send timely alerts and updates during emergencies, natural disasters, or other critical situations to ensure the safety and well-being of customers or employees.
8. Surveys and Feedback Requests: Gather feedback from customers by sending SMS surveys or requesting feedback after a transaction or interaction.
9. Authentication Codes: Use SMS for two-factor authentication (2FA) or one-time passwords (OTPs) to verify user identities during account sign-in or transaction authorization processes.
10. Appointment Scheduling: Allow customers to schedule appointments, consultations, or service bookings via SMS, with automated confirmation messages.
11. Membership Renewals: Remind members or subscribers about upcoming membership renewals, subscription expirations, or important membership-related updates.
12. Event Reminders: Send reminders about important dates, deadlines, or milestones related to events, campaigns, or initiatives.
13. Internal Communications: Communicate important updates, announcements, or reminders to employees, contractors, or stakeholders within the organization.
14. Educational Messages: Deliver educational content, tips, or tutorials related to products, services, or industry trends to inform and engage customers.
15. Feedback and Reviews: Prompt customers to leave reviews, ratings, or testimonials after a purchase or interaction with the organization.

More times than not, these communications fall into the transactional bucket. But as you saw above, they don’t have to. When deciding which communications to send via SMS, it’s essential to consider the relevance, timing, and audience preferences to ensure that messages are well-received and contribute to a positive customer experience.

Real-world SMS example: Player communication for a bocce ball league

Incorporating SMS into a communication strategy doesn’t have to be all or nothing either. There are instances when sending both an email and text makes sense.

Here’s a real-life example: I play in a bocce ball league (yes, those exist), and if the courts are too wet because of rain, they’ll cancel. The challenge is since there are no makeups, they really try to avoid canceling. It really comes down to the wire for making the decision to cancel. The league used to send an email as soon as they decided, but chances are you didn’t see it until you were already there.

To improve this customer experience, they developed not only a rain hotline (via webpage), which shows the last time it was updated (e.g., “10 mins ago” with status updates like “we will make a decision by x time”). The league will now also send a text message via SMS letting you know the status of your game as soon as it’s canceled.

They also must have gotten tired of fielding emails and phone calls (who knew us bocce ballers were such a passionate group) that they now remind everyone via text message that the rain hotline exists, and they send a link that you can access via mobile as well.

End Destination

Once you’ve established ‘the why’ of your SMS messaging and what you’re sending, don’t forget about the end destination. This is where the true professionals shine. 

Ensure your end destination is mobile-optimized. For example, there’s nothing worse than sending an SMS to provide feedback via survey, and it takes you to a non-mobile-optimized web page. Not only have you wasted money, effort, and time setting up this message, but you are creating a customer experience of friction (which is likely the opposite of what you’re trying to achieve). To add more fuel to the fire, this extra stinks — especially when it comes to getting feedback, which is already hard to receive. The oversight means you’ve just blown your chance. WOMP WOMP.

Real-world SMS example: Frequent flyer

So, let’s talk about a positive SMS example. If you’re like me and fly a decent amount, you’ve got your flight app (Delta in my case) up and running the day of your flight. It works great (most of the time… I could do another blog post on that… but another day), and if you remember to open the app and look at it on occasion, you’ll see that a gate might have changed or the time of flight has been updated.

However, I’m not always able to check the app when I’m on the move. So, Delta is sending SMS notifications as soon as these changes occur. This is especially helpful — I can see these notifications pop up on my phone without having to open the app to learn more. I also see them on my watch (when the battery isn’t dead). And if I want to see more from the text, I can click the link and it delivers me to the app, which makes the end destination all that more valuable.

I’ve seen some brands come close to excellence where they will drop you off to a mobile-optimized page. However, the real pros consider app downloads too.

As new tech and consumers evolve, so should a marketer’s strategy. SMS programs are tablestakes these days, so getting your strategy right is a must for most consumers.  

Technical Considerations for SMS Messaging 

How SMS marketing works

With a solid grasp of what a mobile strategy should entail, we can pivot to the technical piece. Let’s start with how SMS works for marketers as a whole, taking Salesforce as our platform of choice in this example. 

For Salesforce users, there are 4 steps to send an SMS message: 

1. Marketing creates a personalized text message in Marketing Cloud Mobile Studio
2. Aggregator preps message for delivery to the appropriate carrier
   (Aggregator = Salesforce partners that connect our messaging platform with carrier networks around the world) (Carrier = mobile providers across the globe)
3. Carrier receives messages and delivers them to the final audience
4. The customer receives a personalized text message

Preparing for SMS Sending

But for those simple steps to happen, there’s a bit of preparation involved, especially if this is your first time.

Here are the steps to prepare for SMS sending: 

1. Determine your code needs – Short vs long code, dedicated or private. Learn more about these options here.
2. Select an SMS platform provider and negotiate a contract – Many times as part of your contract they will acquire the code for you, but provisioning is extra.
3. Provision your short code (this can be done with a consulting partner like Sercante or directly with the provider, which is typically more costly than going with a partner). 
4. Once the shortcode is made available within the platform, you’ll need to set up your required keywords, and messages as well as obtain consent. (Keep on reading to learn about opt-in best practices). 

To migrate or not migrate your SMS program

If you’ve had the luxury of setting up your organization’s SMS program once and are now looking to switch providers, you might be scratching your head and thinking about what’s better: migrating our existing one or spinning up a new one?

In true consultant fashion, the answer is: IT DEPENDS .

Like with many options in life, it all goes back to what’s important — in this case — time, money, and customer experience.

Let’s look at the pros and cons of both scenarios:

SMS migration route — let’s stay friends

If keeping your existing code outweighs the downtime you’ll encounter, there will be a decent amount of coordination between both old and new providers.

Below are some high-level steps of what’s involved when migrating SMS programs:

1. Contact existing provider – Let them know your intention to retain the existing shortcode and inquire about the process for releasing the shortcode to use with the new provider, as well as any associated fees or requirements. Please note: not every provider will release their shortcode.
2. Verify Contractual Obligations – Review your contract or agreement with the current to understand any terms or obligations related to the shortcode. Ensure that you comply with any contractual requirements before proceeding with the migration. 
3. Coordinate with the new provider –  Let them know you desire to transfer your existing shortcode to their platform. Provide any necessary information or documentation requested by the new provider to facilitate the transfer process.
4. Coordinate Timing– Coordinate the timing of the shortcode transfer between old and new to minimize disruption to your messaging campaigns. As mentioned in the cons, there’s normally a downtime where your code will not be operational. Ensure that there’s a smooth transition between the two providers.
5. Update Opt-in Process – If necessary, update your opt-in/opt-out process to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements when using the shortcode via the new provider. Obtain opt-in consent from subscribers to receive messages on the new platform.

Once this is all squared away and your shortcode is available in the new platform, you can proceed to set up your ‘from’ keywords and ‘to’ message.  While migration of an existing code has its perks, the timeline is typically elongated compared to its counterpart. 

New SMS code route — Team ‘New Friends’ 

So if downtime, or getting up and running is more your concern, a new code may be the best (friend) route. 

All joking aside, when acquiring a new shortcode it’s essential to ensure compliance with regulations like the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) if applicable. And with that responsibility of re-opting everyone in here are some general best practices. 

New SMS code best practices

1. Inform: Send out a clear and transparent communication informing subscribers about the change in shortcode and the reason behind it. Explain any benefits they might gain from the transition.
2. Highlight Benefits: Emphasize any advantages or improvements associated with the new shortcode, such as better service, more relevant content, or enhanced security measures.
3. Request Opt-In: Clearly ask subscribers to re-opt-in to continue receiving messages by sending a specific keyword or opting in through a designated method (e.g., texting a certain number, clicking a link, filling out a form).
4. Provide Instructions: Offer simple and straightforward instructions on how to opt in. This could include step-by-step guidelines via text, email, or on your website.
5. Assure Privacy and Security: Reassure subscribers that their privacy and security are a priority and that their information will be handled in accordance with relevant regulations.
6. Offer Incentives (Optional): Consider offering incentives or rewards for those who re-opt-in, such as discounts, exclusive content, or entry into a giveaway.
7. Set Deadline (if applicable): If there’s a deadline for re-opting in to ensure uninterrupted service, clearly communicate this to subscribers to create a sense of urgency.
8. Follow-Up: Send reminders to those who haven’t opted in yet, closer to the deadline if applicable, to ensure they don’t miss out on staying connected.
9. Respect Opt-Outs: Honor any opt-outs or preferences expressed by subscribers who choose not to re-opt-in and ensure they’re removed from the communication list associated with the old shortcode.
10. Track and Monitor: Monitor the opt-in process closely and track the success rate. Analyze any feedback received to improve future communication strategies.

Remember to maintain transparency throughout the process and make it as easy as possible for subscribers to re-opt-in to the new shortcode.

Evolving with your customers

In conclusion, as technology and consumer behaviors evolve, marketers must adapt their mobile program strategies to remain effective. SMS marketing, as a powerful tool, provides a direct and personal way to reach customers. By incorporating SMS into your overall communication strategy, you can enhance customer engagement, drive traffic to your website or app, and ultimately achieve your marketing goals.

A successful SMS marketing program requires careful planning, compliance with regulations, and a focus on delivering valuable and relevant content to your subscribers. By following best practices and continually optimizing your campaigns, you can leverage SMS to create a strong connection with your audience and drive business growth.

Original article: SMS Mobile Strategy: A Guide to Go From Novice to Pro

©2025 The Spot. All Rights Reserved.

The post SMS Mobile Strategy: A Guide to Go From Novice to Pro appeared first on The Spot.

Before we dive into the details of finding success with your Salesforce Data Cloud implementation, let’s set the stage. Whether you’re a seasoned Salesforce admin or just stepping into the realm of cloud-powered data solutions, Data Cloud is a game-changer, and here’s why you should care.

Navigating the Data Cloud Landscape

Salesforce Data Cloud is a platform that takes all of your data and turns it into actionable insights. It’s for anyone eager to supercharge their Salesforce experience. Whether you’re a department manager or an admin serving sales, marketing, customer service, or any other department, Data Cloud is your ticket to streamlined processes, informed decision-making, and ultimately, success.

The key to success is covering your bases early — before and during implementation. That means asking the right questions, collaborating with the right people, and establishing processes that keep everything running smoothly. 

Why Data Cloud Matters

Imagine having a centralized hub where diverse data streams — from identity platforms and purchase history to website interactions — seamlessly come together. Data Cloud does just that, offering a unified space to make sense of the data chaos. You may also be wondering what to do with the free Data Cloud license that you got as part of another cloud package.

You might wonder, “Why should I care?” Well, the answer is simple — efficiency, effectiveness, and exponential growth.

How to Ensure a Successful Salesforce Data Cloud Implementation

Now that we’ve set the groundwork, let’s delve into five practical tips you can use to guide your Data Cloud implementation with the ultimate goal of unlocking the platform’s full potential. We’ll explore how to propel your Salesforce Data Cloud implementation to new heights. You can also check out this post for a few ‘gotchas’ you may encounter during your Data Cloud implementation.

5 Tips for a Successful Data Cloud Implementation:

1. Reach for organizational alignment
2. Choose impactful use cases
3. Measure success effectively
4. Use out-of-the-box data models
5. Be intentional with your data

Tip#1: Reach for organizational alignment

Now, let’s talk tactics. Aligning your organization before embarking on a Data Cloud implementation is paramount. Here are a few specific tactics to ensure everyone is on the same page:

Establish a Clear Owner

Designate a dedicated owner for the Data Cloud implementation. This individual should be someone with a comprehensive understanding of your organization’s goals and processes. Having a clear owner ensures accountability and a streamlined decision-making process.

Conduct Cross-Functional Workshops

Bring together representatives from various departments for workshops. Discuss the potential impact of Data Cloud on each team and encourage open communication. These sessions not only educate team members but also foster a collaborative spirit.

Define Roles and Responsibilities

Clearly outline the roles and responsibilities of each team involved in the implementation. From data management teams to end-users, everyone should know their part in the process. This clarity prevents confusion and sets the stage for a smoother implementation.

Communicate the Benefits

Emphasize the benefits of Data Cloud to every stakeholder. Whether it’s time savings, improved insights, or enhanced customer experiences, make sure everyone understands how Data Cloud aligns with the organization’s overarching goals.

Address Concerns Proactively

Open the floor for questions and concerns. Addressing potential roadblocks early on builds confidence among team members. Proactively seeking and resolving concerns sets the tone for a collaborative and supportive implementation journey.

Tip#2: Choose impactful use cases

Now, let’s talk about choosing the right use case — the cornerstone of a successful Data Cloud implementation. We urge you to start with the end goal in mind (instead of a technology-first approach, which many of us are so tempted to do). Focus on one or two initial use cases that drive team optimization and deliver tangible results within a reasonable timeframe. Whether it’s streamlining contact behaviors or enhancing customer segmentation, these impactful use cases showcase the value of the platform and generate positive buy-in across the organization.

Start with end goals in mind

Begin by identifying the desired outcomes of your Data Cloud implementation. What specific business objectives are you aiming to achieve? Whether it’s improving sales efficiency, enhancing marketing targeting, or optimizing customer service, starting with clear end goals ensures alignment and focus.

Evaluate business processes

Conduct a thorough assessment of your organization’s existing business processes. Identify pain points, inefficiencies, and areas for improvement. Look for processes that rely heavily on data and could benefit from the insights provided by Data Cloud. Consider areas where you’ve got trapped data and manual flows/processes.

Prioritize use cases with high impact and feasibility

Once you’ve identified potential use cases, prioritize them based on their potential impact and feasibility. Focus on use cases that offer significant benefits with manageable implementation efforts. Consider factors such as resource availability, data availability, and technical complexity.

Involve stakeholders in use case selection

Engage stakeholders from relevant departments in the use case selection process. Gather input from sales, marketing, customer service, and other teams to ensure alignment with their needs and priorities. Collaborative decision-making increases buy-in and promotes cross-functional synergy.

Prototype and validate use cases

Before committing to a full-scale implementation, consider prototyping and validating selected use cases. Build prototypes to test the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed solutions. Use feedback from stakeholders and pilot tests to refine and iterate on use case designs. This is a great use case of taking advantage of the $0 Data Cloud SKU as well.

Data Cloud Use Case Examples

Examples of how customers across Salesforce Clouds are using Data Cloud

Improve Forecasting and Sales Collaboration 

Admin Type: Sales Cloud

• Provide executives a full view of the sales forecast across multiple business units and orgs
• Pass leads from one Sales Cloud org to another to facilitate cross-selling
• Allow sales reps to collaborate with their broader account team on opportunities in separate orgs

Provide Proactive Customer Service

Admin Type: Service Cloud

• Anticipate and deflect cases by sharing info proactively
  • Examples:  warranty extension notifications, product recalls 
• Monitor events and devices to identify service actions
  • Examples: proactively avoid usage or entitlement overcharges or schedule proactive maintenance based on device data
• Predict behavior to offer assistance and recommendations
  • Examples: provide agents with customer’s propensity to buy and next-best action

Personalize Marketing and Drive Engagement 

Admin Type: Marketing Cloud

• Create and automate intelligent audiences fast
• Act on real-time data to personalize every moment 
• Gain insights into high-value segments and campaigns
• Segment more precisely 
•  Activate across the Customer Journey

Tip#3: Measure success effectively

Now, let’s discuss how to measure the success of your Data Cloud implementation effectively. Here are a few specific tactics to guide you.

Define key performance indicators (KPIs)

Identify measurable metrics that align with your organization’s goals. Whether it’s increased revenue, improved customer satisfaction, or enhanced operational efficiency, define KPIs that reflect the impact of Data Cloud on your business outcomes. And don’t forget to keep them SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely)

Establish baseline metrics

Before implementing Data Cloud, establish baseline metrics to benchmark your current performance. This allows you to track progress over time and quantify the impact of the implementation.

Monitor data quality

Ensure that the data ingested into Data Cloud is of high quality and accuracy. Implement data quality checks and validation processes to maintain data integrity throughout the implementation. This is where taking advantage of our Data Cloud Readiness Assessment is key.

Track user adoption and engagement

Monitor user adoption and engagement with Data Cloud tools and features. Track user logins, usage patterns, and feedback to gauge the effectiveness of training and support initiatives.

Iterate and improve

Once you’ve successfully implemented, continuously review and iterate on your measurement approach. Get feedback from stakeholders, analyze performance data, and identify areas for improvement. Adjust your measurement strategy accordingly to ensure ongoing success.

Tip#4: Use out-of-the-box data models

You have to walk before you can run. Let’s delve into using the out-of-the-box data models during your Data Cloud implementation.

Explore standard data models

Familiarize yourself with the standard data models offered by Data Cloud. These pre-built models cover common data structures and relationships, saving you time and effort in designing custom solutions. Take advantage of these models wherever possible to accelerate your implementation.

Align with Salesforce Einstein 1 (Core) data model

Ensure alignment between the Data Cloud data models and the Salesforce core data model. By aligning these models, you facilitate seamless integration and interoperability between Data Cloud and other Salesforce products. This alignment simplifies data management and enhances overall system efficiency.

Customize only when necessary

While out-of-the-box data models provide a solid foundation, don’t hesitate to customize them to meet your specific requirements. However, exercise caution and prioritize customization only when absolutely necessary. Striking the right balance between standardization and customization ensures long-term scalability and maintainability.

Tip#5: Be intentional with your data

Now, let’s take a look at how you can be intentional with your data. Careful planning on how to use it within Data Cloud is crucial. Whether it’s analytics, segmentation, or real-time data actions, understanding the tools available and selecting the right ones for your use case is key. From calculated insights to data segmentation and AI capabilities with Einstein Studio, being intentional with data ensures effective utilization and actionability.

Data governance framework

Establish a robust data governance framework to govern the lifecycle of data within your organization. Define policies, procedures, and standards for data collection, usage, and management. Ensure compliance with regulatory requirements and industry best practices to maintain data integrity and security.

Data quality management

Implement data quality management processes to ensure the accuracy, completeness, and consistency of your data. Utilize data cleansing tools and techniques to identify and rectify errors, duplicates, and inconsistencies. Regularly monitor data quality metrics and address any issues promptly to maintain the reliability of your data.

Data privacy and security measures

Prioritize data privacy and security by implementing robust measures to protect sensitive information. Encrypt data in transit and at rest, restrict access to authorized users, and implement multi-factor authentication. Stay informed about data privacy regulations such as GDPR and CCPA, and ensure compliance to safeguard customer data.

It’s crucial to promote ethical data practices and mitigate bias in data analysis and decision-making. Educate stakeholders about the ethical implications of data usage and the potential impact on individuals and communities. Implement fairness, accountability, and transparency principles to ensure equitable outcomes and build trust in your data-driven initiatives.

Data lifecycle management

Develop a data lifecycle management strategy to govern the flow of data from creation to archival or deletion. Define retention policies based on regulatory requirements and business needs, and automate data archival and deletion processes where possible. Regularly review and update data lifecycle policies to adapt to evolving business and regulatory requirements.

Data-driven decision-making culture

Foster a data-driven decision-making culture within your organization by promoting data literacy and empowering employees to leverage data in their day-to-day activities. Provide training and resources to enhance data skills across departments, and encourage collaboration and knowledge sharing around data insights and best practices.

Bonus: Tap into expert guidance

Salesforce Data Cloud implementation requires strategic planning, thoughtful execution, and continuous refinement. By aligning your organization, selecting impactful use cases, leveraging out-of-the-box data models, measuring success effectively, and being intentional with data, you can unlock the full potential of Data Cloud and drive transformative outcomes for your business. 

As a bonus tip, we suggested looking toward expertise available in the Salesforce community. Seeking guidance from those who have navigated Data Cloud’s complexities can be invaluable. Whether through expert coaching sessions, community groups, or support office hours, connecting with experienced professionals can enhance your success with Data Cloud.

However, if you find yourself in need of expert guidance or support along the way, don’t hesitate to reach out to the Sercante team. Our experienced consultants are equipped with the knowledge and expertise to help you navigate every step of your Data Cloud journey and ensure success. Contact us today to learn more about our Data Cloud readiness assessment so you can embark on your Data Cloud implementation with confidence.

Related Resources:

• Six Reasons Why You’d Want to Implement a Customer Data Platform
• Should You Buy or Build a Customer Data Platform?
• The Five Major Components of a Customer Data Platform
• Salesforce Automation Game-Changer: Einstein GPT and Data Cloud Capabilities for Flow
• Lessons Learned During Salesforce Data Cloud Implementation

Original article: 5 Tips to Accelerate Your Salesforce Data Cloud Implementation

©2025 The Spot. All Rights Reserved.

The post 5 Tips to Accelerate Your Salesforce Data Cloud Implementation appeared first on The Spot.

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

©2025 The Spot. All Rights Reserved.

The post TrailblazerDX 2024: The Salesforce Conference Recap You Need appeared first on The Spot.

The role of marketers is continually evolving. This is especially true for those working within the Salesforce ecosystem. With the advent of advanced technologies, products, and functionalities to support — all while sticking to data-driven strategies — marketers are expected to adapt and expand their skill sets to stay competitive and relevant in the industry. 

One significant shift that I see for Marketing Cloud Engagement professionals is the need to add Data Cloud and Flows into their skill repertoire. 

In this blog post, we’ll explore why Marketing Cloud Engagement professionals should upgrade their skills to include Data Cloud and Flows, along with practical steps to start this learning journey.

Why upgrade your Marketing Cloud Engagement skills?

1. It’s the future for the Mothership

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’re likely very aware of how much rapid growth and development Salesforce has invested in its Data Cloud product — not only are the release cycles happening much more frequently than other products. This in turn unlocks new features and integration points with other products in the ecosystem, and there’s also a version of Data Cloud being offered at $0 for Sales and Service Cloud customers and just recently announced for Marketing Cloud Customers too. 

If that’s not a sign, I’ll give you one more reason: Data Cloud is the data foundation and Flows power automation for Salesforce’s new product, Marketing Cloud Growth Edition. Marketing Cloud Growth Edition is built on Einstein 1, which has been the pipe dream for many of us Marketing Cloud Engagement fans who have dealt with wonky UX, and clunky integrations over the years. Reading between the lines, cough cough SAFE Harbor cough cough sometime in the future (likely a few years), there will be a single marketing automation application that current Marketing Cloud Account Engagement and Engagement users will want to use.

So now that I’ve convinced you (hopefully) of the WHY — let’s dive into how these tools/features can help you as a marketer.

2. Become a better marketer by offering better customer experiences  

Enhanced Targeting and Personalization

Data Cloud can enable you to take your target and personalization efforts even further when using Data Cloud with Marketing Cloud Engagement through segmentation and activation. 

Data is the lifeblood of modern marketing. By incorporating a solid understanding and foundation of data models and the Data Cloud platform into your skill set, you’ll be able to visioncast and architect how to leverage vast repositories of consumer data, enabling you to create more targeted and personalized marketing campaigns and customer experiences. 

Understanding how to leverage data effectively within Data Cloud allows you to segment your audiences more precisely, tailor your messaging, and deliver content that resonates with individual preferences and behaviors in Marketing Cloud Engagement and beyond. (you also might want to read up on Consent Management)

Seamless Automation and Optimization

For those who have no clue about Flows (no I’m not talking about the Progressive Lady), let’s give you a breakdown:  Flows allow you to build complex business automation using clicks instead of code. For Salesforce admins, Flows are your best friends because they allow you to be able to handle the majority of complex business requirements without the help of a Salesforce developer.

Flows are not currently a feature/functionality in Marketing Cloud Engagement however it accomplishes many of the same needs you’d use Automation Studio and Journey Builder for. While the need and exposure for flows in your immediate feature might be limited, getting familiar and a basic foundation will allow you to go further faster in the future.

3. Gain a Competitive Edge and Future-Proofing

Marketers who embrace emerging technologies and methodologies gain a significant advantage in a competitive landscape. By upgrading your skills to include Data Cloud and Flows, you position yourself as a forward-thinking marketer capable of leveraging cutting-edge tools to drive results. Moreover, as the marketing landscape continues to evolve, proficiency in these areas ensures that you remain adaptable and prepared for future developments in the industry.

How to start your learning journey

1. Make time for training and education

For many practitioners, finding or making the time for training and education can be hard. As the old adage goes, “Investing in yourself is the best investment you will ever make.” So, invest!  As your reward for reading through this entire article, we’ll provide you with our recommended learning path to begin upskilling in these areas.

Begin by seeking out training programs and educational resources focused on Data Cloud and Flows. Many online platforms offer courses and certifications specifically tailored to marketers looking to expand their skill sets in these areas. Look for reputable sources such as industry-leading tech companies, online learning platforms, or professional associations.

2. Be realistic

Just like most things — be realistic with your goals. As they say, Rome wasn’t built in a day. Getting a shiny new certification might be the goal for some but doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the right goal for you. Set learning goals that make sense for your current role, day-to-day responsibilities, and where you want to go in your career.

3. Look for hands-on practice and experimentation

Theory is essential, but practical experience is equally crucial. Take advantage of sandbox environments or trial versions of Data Cloud and Flows functionality. (Unlike Marketing Cloud Engagement — these do exist!) 

From experimenting with building automated workflows, setting up data streams, mapping data, and creating segments to exploring data analytics tools, and analyzing results, hands-on experience will deepen your understanding and proficiency in these areas.

4. Collaborate and Network

Engage with peers and industry professionals who are already proficient in Data Cloud and Flows. Join online communities, attend webinars, and participate in networking events to exchange knowledge, seek advice, and learn from others’ experiences. Collaborating with experts in the field can provide valuable insights and accelerate your learning process.

Conclusion

As marketing continues to evolve in the digital age, we see Data Cloud and Flows becoming increasingly vital for success. By upgrading your skills in these areas, you can unlock new opportunities for not only yourself but also for ultimately driving better results for your organization. Start your learning journey today:

Data Cloud Learning Path

• Administer Data Cloud  (Trail)
• Build Data Strategy for Data Cloud (Trail)
• Enhance Data in Data Cloud  (Trail)
• Explore Data Cloud (Trail)
• Model Data in Data Cloud (Trail)
• Create a Data Stream In Data Cloud (Project)
• Prepare for your Salesforce Data Cloud Consultant Credential (Trail Mix)
• Data Cloud Quick Start Guide (Trail Mix)
•  Salesforce Data Cloud Product (Video)

Flows Learning Path

• Salesforce Flows (Workshop)
• Build Flows with Flow Builder (Trail)
• Automate Your Business Processes with Salesforce Flow (Trail)
  • Build a Simple Flow (Project)
• Flow Elements and Resources Specialist (Superbadge)
• Screen Flow Specialist (Superbadge)
• Screenless Flow Specialist (Superbadge)
• Flow Management Specialist (Superbadge)

Original article: Evolving Your Skills as a Marketing Cloud Engagement Practitioner

©2025 The Spot. All Rights Reserved.

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I want to clear up a misconception that I’m hearing in the Salesforce world about the great $0 SKU Data Cloud debacle.

As you may recall, Salesforce announced at Dreamforce 2023 that a Data Cloud edition would be available at no cost to Sales and Service Cloud Enterprise Edition clients. This was also mentioned in Salesforce’s February 2024 press release around Marketing Cloud Growth Edition. 

To be clear, you still need Sales or Service Enterprise Edition to take advantage of this offer. Having just Marketing Cloud does not make you eligible.

Sales and Service Enterprise Edition Customers: What to do about no-cost Data Cloud offer

Now that we’ve clarified any confusion, you might say, “Great, I have Enterprise Edition — I want to get an account provisioned today!” And I would say, “Get prepared first.”

Data Cloud is a game-changer capable of driving remarkable transformation within your organization. Hence, having a well-crafted plan, strategy, and vision in place is paramount.

It’s the basis and foundation of change management — without a plan, vision, consensus, understanding, etc., you might as well stop before you even start.

Speaking from experience, diving into Data Cloud without a clear plan often leads to:

1. Misconceptions: A perceived lack of product value.
2. Tension: Without a collaborative mindset, conflicts can arise.
3. Loss of Momentum: Initial interest and excitement wane over time.

However, before devising a plan, it’s crucial to assess your organization’s readiness. 

Data Cloud Readiness Criteria

Consider these five key aspects:

1. Data Quality: How accurate and complete is your data? Does it account for individual privacy preferences? 
2. Access: Does your organization have the ability to open up your tech stack and bust data silos?
3. Actionability: What is your ability to use new data to improve growth programs across various channels?
4. Commitment: Company-wide, is there a long-term commitment and investment for a customer data platform (CDP)?
5. Goals: Do you have a shortlist of the simplest and most important objectives to begin with?

Get a Data Cloud Readiness Assessment

We’re here to assist you in preparing for Data Cloud. Reach out to explore our Data Cloud Readiness Assessment offering so you can be sure your organization is primed for success.

Original article: Data Cloud No Cost Edition: Get Ready First

©2025 The Spot. All Rights Reserved.

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It’s a Salesforce Marketing Cloud basics 3-parter, y’all. In this three-part series, we’ll uncover the fundamental skills you should master when you’re getting started with Salesforce Marketing Cloud Engagement (SFMC). 

You’ll learn how SFMC allows you to easily connect with potential customers, nurture their interests, and convert that interest into sales. In Part 1, we review all the ways SFMC can help you connect with potential customers.

Connect with Potential Customers via SFMC

The word ‘connect’ can mean different things to different people. There’s connecting from a business lens perspective, which is where we’re making connections with prospects on different channels as well as connecting those various channels for a customer across a user journey, like Journey Builder from a platform perspective.

Connecting From a Business Lens

When we think about it from a pure business lens, Salesforce Marketing Cloud Engagement allows us to connect with existing customers but can also help make a connection with prospective customers and leads via form capture. 

Lead acquisition and generation is a top initiative for all marketers and a critical component of the Engagement platform. Over the years, the lead capture functionality has really evolved and is now pretty easy for a non-technical person to implement. 

There are two main features of SFMC for lead acquisition and capture: 

• Lead Capture
• Smart Capture

Lead Capture

Lead Capture is actually an app, available on the Salesforce AppExchange (click here to view the listing).

The app is free to use. It enables you to collect leads from Facebook and Google and have them enter directly into Engagement. 

This lead capture app and functionality allows you to collect lead data from your paid ads, which is awesome by itself. But more importantly, you’re able to capture first-party data, which is the future when a cookieless world finally arrives. This first-party data in turn can be used to help nurture your prospects and drive transactions. 

Lastly, highlights of the app include: 

• Capture is real-time via a secure connection (not like we would expect anything less)
• Leads captured can get added directly to a lead nurture journey and therefore can create more targeted intent-based content
• You can do both via a simple and intuitive user flow

Smart Capture

Smart Capture is another tool, this one native in Email Studio, that you can use to create lead capture forms that you can then include on your landing pages. 

When a lead completes the form on the landing page and clicks the Submit button, the Smart Capture form automatically adds the information to a subscriber list, data extension, or outside data source such as an integrated CRM system like Sales Cloud. Smart Capture forms are super easy to use within a much better UI, unlike the previous form functionality.

 Some common use cases for Smart Capture forms include:

• Generate leads from people who sign up to receive a newsletter or attend an event.
• Create tasks in Salesforce to follow up with leads.
• Send automated emails to people who complete the form.
• Send email messages through Salesforce CRM.

Connecting from a Channel Perspective

When we think of the concept of Connect from a channel perspective, Salesforce Marketing Cloud allows us to connect with prospects and customers through a variety of channels. 

These channels include: 

• Email
• SMS Messaging
• Paid advertising
• Direct mail

And while with Engagement you have access to all these channels, email still remains the workhorse. 

Email

I’d like to focus on an underutilized feature of Email Studio that can help you better connect with prospects and clients: Interactive Email Content Block as well as Mobile Studio.

Interactive Email Content Block

If you are a long-time user of the system or industry, you will remember that this tool was an acquisition — formally known as Rebelmail. But, I digress. 

The Interactive Email Form block in Marketing Cloud Content Builder allows marketers to receive subscriber information like profile data, product reviews, and sales leads directly from an embedded form in an email. Allowing subscribers to submit forms without ever leaving their inbox helps increase customer engagement and gives marketers more data to use for segmentation.

There are several templates available to solve these use cases: 

• The Empty Form Template allows you to start from scratch and create any type of form you want.
• The Reviews Template allows subscribers to complete product reviews or other feedback surveys.
• The Progressive Profile Template collects or updates subscriber preferences and demographic data, such as name, birthday, product preferences, and interests.
• The Case Form Template allows subscribers to create or update a support case via Journey builder. 
• And finally, the Lead Form Template captures or updates subscriber information from your leads.

Yes, I’ll say it again — users can respond to forms, reviews, and update cases right from their inbox!

Mobile Studio

And yes, while Email is the bread and butter of SFMC Engagement, Mobile Studio is another great way to connect with your customers and prospects. 

So, what do we mean by Mobile Studio? Well, at first thought most people automatically think Mobile Studio equals SMS. But, that’s really not true. (I, too, am guilty of using both these terms synonymously!) 

There are three main offerings under this studio: 

• MobileConnect
• MobilePush
• GroupConnect

MobileConnect is where you can create, send and receive and track SMS and MMS text messages (this is what comes to mind for most folks). Typically these messages are transactional in nature to alert subscribers as well as allow marketers to automatically respond to incoming messages based on established keywords.

MobilePush as the name suggests allows you to send notifications to encourage the use of your app. A few examples to consider based upon industry include:

• Flash sale from your favorite retailer that has an app to make purchasing on mobile a breeze
• A strategically sent time of day message before dinner time from your favorite food delivery app provider
• Time-based notification 24 hours before your flight letting you know you can check in on your airline carrier of choice
• Proximity-based notification using beacon technology for in-store coupons at your local nationwide pharmacy

GroupConnect allows you to send messages via the LINE messaging app and Facebook Messenger via messaging API. (this offering is not as widely used as the others, but is still valuable — especially for those based in Asia – history of LINE)

(There’s also WhatsApp Chat Messaging. But that’s not truly considered part of Mobile Studio and is positioned as more of an add-on to Marketing Cloud.)

Connecting from a Platform Perspective

 And finally, from a platform perspective, through Salesforce Marketing Cloud Engagement, specifically Journey Builder you can connect all your communications across varying channels to reach customers with the right message at the right time.

Journey Builder 101

Journey Builder is a campaign planning tool in SFMC Engagement that allows you to design and automate campaigns that guide customers through their journey with your brand. You can begin with a blank canvas or an existing template and select various activities based on how you want to communicate with your audience. These activities can range from types of messages (by channel), decisions, updates, or a combination of these elements and are grouped in the builder panel as the following categories:

• Messages
• Advertising
• Flow Control
• Customer Updates
• Sales & Service Cloud 
• Custom

The possibilities of journeys you can create are quite endless. Take a look…

Messages

Messages supported in Journey Builder include email, SMS, LINE message, push notifications, inbox message, in-app message, as well as WhatsApp. 

If you’re just getting started, we recommend starting simple with email. When you drag and drop the email message activity you will notice it is grayed out — this is because you need to finish configuring this activity. You have the option to select an existing email (we recommend this), or you can create from within Journey Builder from scratch. 

You’ll also notice you can update the name of the email or really any activity by hovering over the text and clicking the pencil icon.

Advertising

There are currently only two activities under the Advertising section:

• Ad Audience
• Campaign

Ad Audience allows you to create an advertising Audience for any activated channel (Pinterest, Facebook, and so on) in Journey Builder. A common use case would be for targeting new customers who haven’t engaged with an email — perhaps a paid ad will be better suited for driving engagement. Don’t forget, you’ll need to navigate to the activated channel for further targeting and to complete the ad campaign setup.

Whereas the Ad Campaign activity will allow you to create a Facebook Ad Campaign directly in Journey Builder. This can be helpful if you have a new simple Facebook campaign you want to test out or one that isn’t already set up. 

You configure the creative elements of your advertisement and set campaign specifications, including total and daily advertising spend settings, within Journey Builder. You can also set a Retention Period for campaign members to prevent oversaturating their social media feeds with your advertisement.

When you activate the journey, it creates an advertising campaign, too. As the journey continues, customers populate the advertising campaign and see your advertisement.

Two important things to call out: 

1. Customers who exit journeys aren’t automatically removed from that Advertising Audience, so it’s important to add in a suppression step to avoid retargeting the same customers. 

2. You can edit the campaign outside of Journey Builder, but not all changes will be reflected in that running journey.

These activities allow marketing teams to easily build cross-channel journeys that extend the reach of email campaigns.

Flow Control

Flow Control activities are by far the most numerous — with 15 to be exact options for ‘controlling’ the flow of your journey from splits and joins to wait by/until how your journey flows is up to the marketer’s discretion!

But builders beware, Flows can get quite complex if you’re not careful. Thankfully the Validate function, which didn’t always exist, helps identify when you’re missing a Join or have a ‘dead end path of sorts’ occurring.

Typically for those just starting out, Decision Split and Engagement Split are good ones to include in your journey. 

Did you know that using an Engagement Split to resend an email with an updated subject link to those that didn’t Open can result in tremendous payoff and engagement lift? 

Check out these stats:

• 54.7% increase in the overall email reach
• CTR is 51.1% greater than your first email
• An email (with a different subject line) resent a week later has 30% more openings
• Additional email open rates of 11%

Source: https://encharge.io/resending-emails-for-better-results/

To learn more about other flow actions stay tuned for Part 2 of 3 of this Series: Nurturing your Prospects & Customers

Customer Update

Customer Update Activities include:

• Salesforce Personalization Activity
• Update Contact

The Salesforce Personalization Activity will only appear for those customers that have purchased Personalization (formerly known as Interaction Studio). This activity allows you to pass data from Journey Builder to Marketing Cloud Personalization during the course of a customer journey. You can include custom action names that indicate the journey or journey step. After you share the data with Personalization, you can use it to personalize the experience your customers have with your website or mobile app based on recent journey interactions. 

This integration allows you to tie all your customers’ experiences together — from the website as mentioned to calling your call center, or entering a loyalty number on point of sales. 

A few use cases to consider are: 

1. A retail customer recently purchased a snow jacket for the upcoming winter season. The Personalization activity could suggest matching a hat and gloves to complete the look based on the color and age/gender category of the snow jacket purchased. 
2. A banking customer applies for a home mortgage. The personalization activity could suggest a credit card with 0% interest for 12 months to help with the moving expenses associated with a new home purchase.

Update Contact, as it sounds, allows you to update a contact to a specific attribute of a selected data extension. 

Some common use cases for use of this function in a journey include: 

1. Updating Customer Tier based upon a previous activity or perhaps based upon the length of time as a customer. For example, as an airline loyalty customer — after reaching x miles you update their status to ‘gold’.
2. Updating the date field using current time to timestamp for the most recent visit to a doctor’s offer perhaps so you can remind them of the next visit.

Lastly, Sales & Service Cloud activities require integration with Sales and/or Service Clouds to be able to leverage. Here’s a quick rundown of what each specific activity entails: 

Common use cases include: 

• Create a lead when a Marketing Cloud contact enters a journey.
• Update a lead based on engagement within a journey.
• Create a CRM contact record when a Marketing Cloud contact reaches the activity.
• Update a CRM contact record with Marketing Cloud contact data.
• Update a custom object based on engagement within a journey.
• Create a task when another object, such as a lead or contact, enters a journey.
• Associate a case or task to an account.
• Update a task based on a contact or lead’s response in a journey.
• Update a person or business account.

Summary

As you can see, Marketing Cloud allows marketers to connect with potential customers in many different ways — from acquisition and driving engagement on various channels to uniting communications across a customer journey. My hope is your one takeaway is: it’s a pretty powerful tool that can meet the unique needs of any organization, regardless of size, vertical, or industry.

To keep it going, check out this quick reference that explains the basics things to know about each tool within SFMC Engagement.

Next up…

Part 2 of 3: Nurturing your Prospects and Customers. While you’ve got a sneak peek of what Journey Builder can do from our 101 section, we’ll discuss more of the how-tos: from concept to execution.

Original article: Salesforce Marketing Cloud Basics: Connect with Potential Customers

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Does your marketing and sales data live in separate places? Do you want all customer details to live in one place? If so, Marketing Cloud Connect is the answer. 

Marketing Cloud Connect combines the digital marketing capabilities of Marketing Cloud Engagement with the data management, segmentation, and campaign management tools in Sales Cloud. 

What is Marketing Cloud Connect?

Marketing Cloud Connect is an installed package that integrates your Salesforce CRM (Sales Cloud/Service Cloud) with Salesforce Marketing Cloud Engagement. By creating unitary customer relationships with more data-driven, personalized conversations and the ability to automate the customer journey,  Marketing Cloud Connect provides access to powerful Marketing Cloud tools directly within Sales or Service Clouds and vice versa.

Connecting Marketing Cloud Engagement with Salesforce CRM

The overall process of connecting these two clouds together is relatively straightforward, and it can be summarized in a 6-step process. However, there are key items to consider along the way.

Step 1. Review prerequisites for implementation

From system to user requirements, set yourself up for success by reviewing the prerequisites or requirements you’ll need for Marketing Cloud Connect implementation.

Step 2. Install the Marketing Cloud Connect managed package

Download the managed package for connecting the Salesforce clouds. To do that, you’ll copy-paste the URL below that relates to where you’ll install the package. Remember to log in to Salesforce using your administrator credentials.

• Production Org: https://sfdc.co/MCC
• Sandbox Org: https://sfdc.co/MCCSandbox

Step 3. Configure CRM settings

Ensure users can view email fields for contact and leads, as well as modify any additional permission sets within your Salesforce CRM account.

Step 4. Configure Marketing Cloud

Create the API user and configure the integration. This will enable core system communication activities between Marketing Cloud and Sales or Service Cloud.

Step 5. Finalize configuration

Make final configuration setting adjustments between both clouds to finalize the connection.

Step 6. Test the connection

Finally, complete a test to check for a successful connection. You’ll complete this step with a test email send. Then, you’ll confirm user setup. Once all the tests are successful, you can start using it.

Considerations for implementing Marketing Cloud Connect

Keep the following considerations in mind as you complete the implementation.

User Admin Level Access

The user setting up the connection should have admin access to both Marketing Cloud and Sales Cloud.

1:2 Relationship

Marketing Cloud Connect requires a relationship between a single Marketing Cloud account and one or more Salesforce orgs. Your Marketing Cloud account must be provisioned and enabled for use with Marketing Cloud Connect before connection.

Subscriber Key

The Subscriber Key is required for Marketing Cloud Connect. If it is not enabled in your Marketing Cloud account, complete a Subscriber Key Migration before proceeding with the connection process.

Avoid using email addresses as the Subscriber/Contact Key in Marketing Cloud.

Instead, use something that is: 

• Unique
• Persistent
• Channel agnostic
• Global

We recommend using Salesforce Contact ID as your Marketing Cloud Subscriber Key to deliver maximum synchronization between the two clouds. Learn more about contact model relationships here.

Important Note: If the email address has already been set as the Subscriber Key, please reach out to your Salesforce consulting partner or Salesforce Account Executive before connecting Marketing Cloud and Sales Cloud. They’ll provide  more guidance and help you to avoid duplicates.

Custom Tabs Available

Ensure that four custom tabs are available in your Salesforce org.

Multiple Licenses

To use most Marketing Cloud Connect functionality, users need a Marketing Cloud license and a Sales or Service Cloud license.

Lightning Experience

Salesforce Lightning Experience is not supported for Marketing Cloud Connect features. Those using Lightning Experience with Salesforce are automatically redirected to Salesforce Classic when any Marketing Cloud Connect tabs are clicked.

Using Marketing Cloud Connect

While the initial focus may be getting Marketing Cloud Connect set up properly, the real magic occurs in using these clouds together. 

Top benefits include:

• Syncing CRM data to make smarter decisions and personalize every message in Marketing Cloud Engagement. By tapping into the Synchronized Data sources and Contact Builder, marketers are able to create highly targeted communications while avoiding static or outdated data at the time of send.
• Automating 1:1 cross-channel journeys across clouds and bi-directionally. You can listen and react to changes in any object across the Salesforce suite of cloud products for journey enrollment. Additionally, the sync can update tasks, open and close service cases, or update sales opportunities based upon interactions that have occurred in Marketing Cloud.
• Empowering sales & service users to send Marketing Approved Emails within their native platform. – can be sent on a 1:1 basis, to a specific report or prospects/leads that are part of an existing campaign in Sales Cloud; users will also be able to see performance tracking results also from Sales Cloud
• Sending triggered actions from Sales Cloud via Apex Trigger for a specific Object – typically for a contact based upon a set trigger such as new record is created or lead is updated

Benefits of Salesforce Marketing Cloud Connect Integration

By enabling Marketing Cloud Connect functionality, you’re helping to reduce previous data silos that may have once existed. Through a single source that consolidates your marketing and sales data, you’re able to send highly personalized, super-targeted data-rich communications more confidently. 

To learn more about how to implement Marketing Cloud Connect for your organization and how to maximize Marketing Cloud Connect in your digital marketing efforts, contact us today.

Resources: Marketing Cloud Implementation Guide 2020

Original article: How to Connect Marketing Cloud Engagement to Salesforce CRM

©2025 The Spot. All Rights Reserved.

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If you were like us, you thought the Summer ‘22 Release was going to be a summer of NO love for Salesforce Marketing Cloud Engagement.

Thankfully, we were wrong! 

Salesforce Summer ‘22 Release notes came out recently, and we’ve hand-picked the things Marketing Cloud admins should know about.

We’ll highlight what Salesforce deems its Top Feature/Release Highlights. And we’ll also throw in a few gems not to be overlooked! 

Salesforce Marketing Cloud Summer ‘22 Release Highlights

Before we jump into it, we wanted to point out the key theme we are continuing to see: enhancements that allow for greater cross-collaboration use cases. The lines between studio, platform, and cloud are blurring more than ever. Now on with the show…

Einstein: Engagement Frequency ‘What-If’ Analyzer

Users will now be able to clearly see how saturated contacts are within a business unit based on engagement data. It’s no longer a guessing game or trying to compare yourself against industry benchmarks and best practices. 

 The goal of Einstein Engagement Frequency ‘What If’ Analyzer is to help you better plan for your upcoming campaigns and more specifically, can help you decide how many message activities to add to each of the paths and Einstein Frequency Split Activity within Journey Builder. 

Key Benefits Include 

• Greater visibility into frequency performance:  grouped by on-target, over-saturated and undersaturated, you can now segment and target based upon these groupings. Pull back on recipients who may be experiencing email fatigue, ramp up on those who are not getting enough communications, and stay the course with those who are on target. The end goal should be to have the majority of your contacts in the on-target grouping. 
• Visually test multiple message frequency scenarios: instead of testing scenarios in the wild and coming to learn potential negative outcomes that are too late to be course-corrected, you can view possible outcomes on how additional messages will affect your engagement over time through the power of AI. It’s like a crystal ball into the future! 

Availability: customers who have access to Einstein Engagement Frequency (paid add on to pro, included with corp editions and above)

Personalization: Triggered Campaign Messages

Combining Marketing Cloud Personalization (Interaction Studio) with the outbound communication engine of Journey Builder, users are now able to easily deliver personalized, relevant messages across numerous channels based on deep, contextual customer behavior — all in real-time. 

You can use nine configurable, real-time, behavioral triggers to start Marketing Cloud Journeys. That includes cart or browse abandonment, product price reduction, and product back-in-stock. 

You also can send user information and recommendations from Interaction Studio to Journey Builder Entry Events, and then use that data for personalization and decision splits. You can run A/B tests and analyze the performance of your triggered campaigns with built-in reports and dashboards.

Availability: Included in both Growth and Premium editions of Marketing Cloud Personalization.

Engagement: Data Extensions Query Support for Intelligence Reports Advanced 

Before we dive right in, as a reminder, Intelligence Reports Advanced (formerly known as Datorama Reports Advanced) is a premium upgrade for Marketing Cloud Engagement (SFMC). It’s an included analytics tool for analyzing and optimizing email, mobile and Journey Builder messaging. 

With Intelligence Reports Advanced, you can create your own dashboards, dimensions, and measurements, query high volume and granular data with a Codeless Query Builder, and start your cross-channel analytics journey. You have access to ready-made apps for connecting email to the web, advertising studio first-party audiences to performance data and more. 

Now to the latest enhancements. In a nutshell, users who have Intelligence Reports Advanced will be able to add Data Extensions and query them with Engagement Data (Opens, clicks,  bounce, unsubs, etc).

Key benefits include: 

• Enrich Engagement Data with Data Extensions: by easily querying your data extensions alongside email and mobile push engagement you’re able to add additional context and optimize messages based on performance by audience attributes from your data extensions
• Optimize future messaging based on performance by audience attributes: Perform codeless queries to uncover optimization opportunities per any audience attribute stored in a Data Extension.
  • Use Case: You have a data extension of subscriber IDs and an audience attribute indicating that they’re part of your brand’s loyalty program. Now, you can join this data and then run queries to compare performance for subscribers in that loyalty program, versus customers not in that loyalty program. Once your data connections are connected, querying them is easy. 
• Query Data Extensions to validate and explore their data: Understand the structure and rows of your Data Extensions with standalone querying.

Availability: Requires Intelligence Reports Advanced for Engagement.

Intelligence: Database Exports

Users can now easily export clean and harmonized marketing data into your enterprise database, specifically for Snowflake and Postgres, and in turn unlock more value in your enterprise data strategy while creating an audit-proof system of data for managing exports.  

To break this down a bit more, your marketing data no longer needs to live in a silo. It can be made available to your Business Intelligence group to make insights accessible across the org in a manner that addresses concerns such as data integrity and auditing.  

Highlights include: 

• Automation of the export of cleansed and harmonized marketing data into your orgs database
• Marketing Data is available to other parts of your org for analysis and deeper insights
• Marketing data is backed up in your preferred database, creating an audit-proof system for all your enterprise data.

Availability: Included in all Intelligence (Datorama) editions

Customer Data Platform (CDP): Activation Enhancements

Users can now send additional customer profile information from CDP to marketing platforms like Marketing Cloud Engagement (SFMC). This feature allows marketers to enhance personalization communication and leverage mobile push as an activation contact point, which until now was not possible. And as a result, you can more easily reach customers with the right message on their preferred channels. 

Benefits include: 

• Greater personalization options for messaging and journeys by changing the volume and variety of data types that can be shared with Marketing Cloud Engagement, for example.
• Ability to connect data from across the enterprise: blend marketing (loyalty data) and non-marketing (transactional) systems simultaneously during activation across clouds.
• Meet customers on preferred channels: increase marketing reach and flexibility, specifically driving personalization mobile messages.

Availability: Included in all CDP editions

Some other gems we wanted to call out…

Marketing Cloud Einstein and Analytics

• GA Integration with Journey Builder:  You can now see how your SMS, mobile, and email activity throughout a journey impact conversion events on a website or mobile app (err… about time )
• Einstein & Mail Privacy Protection: Einstein models have been updated to address the expanding list of MPP initiatives, allowing more accurate predictions
• Subject Line Performance: Uncover which language factor is impacting your subject line. For each factor, you get a score and guidance on how best to update to get the highest impact 
• Einstein Weather Content Selection:  Use local weather conditions including forecasts (temperature and precipitation) and alarm events (thunderstorms) to personalize and promote your content.

Marketing Cloud Journeys and Mobile App

From activating audiences in CDP (as previously mentioned) and retargeting contacts when they open a push notification or engage with an in-app message to directly linking between your mobile app and Journey builder, which allows for marketers to listen for corresponding in-app message engagement as a wait step in a journey, this release is finally expanding on the potential of mobile push and in-app interaction points. 

See full Salesforce Marketing Cloud Summer ‘22 Release details here.

Summer of Love

As you can tell, the Marketing Cloud Engagement product teams have been quite busy and super focused on cross-cloud capabilities. This release is chock full of terrific enhancements that will allow marketers to continue to push the limits and advance their digital marketing initiatives forward. Thanks for the love, Salesforce!

To learn more about this release, register to attend Salesforce’s Marketing Cloud Summer ‘22 New Feature Overview Webinar on June 23, 2022, or contact us for assistance on how to unlock some of the exciting new enhancements for your org. We are ready to take your program to the next level!

Resources: 

1. Full Release Notes
2. Release Demo
3. Release FAQs

Original article: Salesforce Marketing Cloud Summer ‘22 Release Highlights

©2025 The Spot. All Rights Reserved.

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