As someone who primarily focuses on B2B and Account Engagement, I’ll admit I was a little lost the first time I approached the topic of SMS and Marketing Cloud Growth Edition. SMS was just not regularly part of my Marketing world, so trying to figure out the difference between Long Code and Short Code, go through the provisioning process, and advise others on which code is right for them felt overwhelming. However, thanks in large part to my B2C and Marketing Cloud Engagement focused co-workers, I now have a good handle on this topic and want to make sure others in the community can too! 

Long Code versus Short Code

The first thing to make sense of is the two types of SMS codes within Marketing Cloud on Core, their provisioning process, and which type is right for you.

Note: For some countries only one type of SMS code is currently supported (for example, only Short Code is available for Canada). If you are outside of the US, ensure you check the SMS Rate Card to see which SMS Codes are currently supported for your country.

Long Code

Long codes are a good choice for businesses that want to send messages to a smaller number of customers or create a more personal touch. Long Code SMS is also

• More cost-effective and take less time to set up
• Needed for International SMS
• Needed for Conversational SMS
• Has a longer send time (roughly 1 sec per message per recipient)

In summary, if you are sending delivery updates, appointment or event reminders, customer service communications etc. Long Code is likely the better choice. 

Long Code Provisioning

Long Code Provisioning takes between 4-6 weeks and is a multi-step self-service process. 

Step 1: Request a Brand

You’ll need to compile some basic info about your company for this form and then wait roughly 5 business days for the Brand to be approved (aka verified). 

Step 2: Request a Campaign

After your Brand is “verified” you can then request a Campaign. This step is a little more complex and you’ll need to provide some sample SMS messages for the form. Campaigns take roughly 10 business days to be approved (aka registered).

Step 3: Request a Code

Once your Campaign is “Registered” you can complete the final step of requesting your Long Code. This step should only take 2 business days to complete. 

Short Code

Short codes are the preferred method for organizations sending high volumes of SMS and expect very fast delivery times.

Short codes are also country-specific. A short code is only able to send messages to and receive messages from, same-country phone numbers. US short codes can only send to US phone numbers on US carrier networks that have approved that short code.

Short codes are the better choice if you intend on sending promotional messages to a large audience, such as sending limited-time offers and discount codes to all your current customers.

Short Code Provisioning

Short Code Provisioning takes an average of 12 weeks to set up and can only be done through a Mobile Approved Partner. Each partner has their own fees for Short Code Provisioning, but you can expect anywhere between $8k-$15k for this process. 

That was a lot of information, could you put it in a chart?

You got it!

SMS Credits

Both Short and Long Code SMS require Salesforce Messaging Credits to send SMS. Credits are consumed differently based on their multipliers (which can change so ensure you check the multipliers page for the most up to date info). For example, US Short Codes currently have a multiplier of 4 and Long Code a multiplier of 5. Based on 15K text sends, Short Code US requirement will be 60K of Credits , Long Code: 75K of Credits.

SMS and Consent

Consent for SMS channels can’t be imported until after the SMS Code has been provisioned. Once provisioned you can proceed with importing existing consent records to tie opt-ins and opt-outs to your unified individuals. Ensure your phone numbers use the E164 format in your consent files!

What’s next?

After your SMS code has been provisioned and you’ve imported your Consent Records there are a few additional setup steps you’ll want to tackle before you start sending:

• Create a Branded Domain – This allows you to shorten URLs sent via SMS into personalized links.
• Vet your SMS Brand – Improve your sending reputation by validating your identity.
• Set up Analytics – Ensure you’ve installed the SMS Analytics packages

Original article: SMS Provisioning and Marketing Cloud on Core

©2025 The Spot. All Rights Reserved.

The post SMS Provisioning and Marketing Cloud on Core appeared first on The Spot.

Marketing Cloud on Core (also known as Marketing Cloud Growth or Advanced Edition) can now track how marketing efforts contribute to revenue! With the Spring ‘25 release, Salesforce introduced Opportunity Influence, helping businesses connect marketing engagement to pipeline and revenue. But how does it work, and what’s the difference between Opportunity Influence and Campaign Influence? Let’s dive in!

Opportunity Influence vs. Campaign Influence: What’s the Real Deal?

Before we break down how to customize and report on Opportunity Influence, let’s clarify how it differs from Marketing Cloud Account Engagement’s Customizable Campaign Influence. While both models aim to connect marketing efforts to revenue, they function in distinct ways and serve different use cases. 

Important Note for Account Engagement Users

You cannot use Opportunity Influence alongside Customizable Campaign Influence. If your team already relies on Account Engagement’s Campaign Influence Models, keep this in mind when deciding which model to use.

Additionally, Account Engagement users cannot activate Opportunity Influence as it does not currently integrate with Account Engagement’s Campaign Influence model. If your organization currently tracks marketing-driven revenue using Campaign Influence reports, you’ll need to continue using that model. However, if you’re considering a shift to Marketing Cloud on Core, Opportunity Influence could offer enhanced multi-touch attribution and engagement tracking.

Battle of Influences: Campaign vs. Opportunity – Which One Wins?

Let’s say you’re running a B2B software company and you’ve executed multiple marketing campaigns using a variety of platforms, including ads, email, an e-book, and a webinar, to engage your prospects.

• Campaign Influence: A prospect attends the webinar, clicks on an email, and downloads the e-book before being transitioned to sales as a marketing-qualified lead. These interactions are recorded under a Salesforce Campaign and can be manually associated with the Opportunity when created based on the Opportunity Contact Role and Campaign Member. You can assign influence weight based on your customized rules.
• Opportunity Influence: Marketing Cloud on Core automatically tracks all marketing engagement, including the ad view and click, webinar attendance, and e-book download. These touchpoints are automatically associated to attribute influence based on the predefined model and associated to the Opportunity upon creation.

If Campaign Influence were a fine-dining experience, it would be a chef-curated meal—meticulously crafted with manual customization to fit your exact taste. You decide which interactions get the most credit, but it requires hands-on effort. On the other hand, Opportunity Influence is like an all-you-can-eat buffet with an expert chef behind the scenes. It automatically dishes out credit across touchpoints, giving you a full spread of marketing influence with minimal effort. If you love precision and control, Campaign Influence is for you. But if you want a seamless, automated view of your entire marketing impact, Opportunity Influence takes the crown.

How to Set Up Opportunity Influence

Setting up Opportunity Influence requires configuration in Sales Cloud to ensure marketing engagement is properly attributed to revenue-generating activities. To fully connect marketing efforts with sales outcomes, ensure that contacts engaging with marketing campaigns are linked to Opportunities. This allows for accurate tracking of marketing interactions that influence deals.

Enabling Opportunity Influence

1. Navigate to Salesforce Setup > Opportunity Influence
2. Enable Opportunity Influence
3. Select an Attribution Model
   1. First-Touch: Gives full credit to the first marketing engagement that led to the opportunity. It’s ideal for understanding which top-of-funnel efforts drive initial interest.
   2. Last-Touch: Assigns full credit to the last marketing interaction before the opportunity was created. It helps measure the final push that converted a lead into an opportunity.
   3. Even-Distribution: Spreads credit evenly across all marketing interactions that occurred before opportunity creation, giving a balanced view of multi-touch engagement. This approach is ideal for businesses with long sales cycles and/or multiple high-value touchpoints.

Going Beyond Activation

Customization is key to maximizing Opportunity Influence. Marketers should align influence models with their sales cycle, ensuring critical marketing touchpoints, such as email engagements, paid ads, and automation journeys, are correctly captured. Because Opportunity Influence consumes Data Credits, it’s essential to be strategic when enabling multiple models to avoid unnecessary credit usage.

Making Sense of Your Data: Reporting on Opportunity Influence

Once Opportunity Influence is enabled and tracking data, you can start reporting on marketing’s impact. The key to unlocking valuable insights is leveraging Salesforce’s Reports & Dashboards to tell a clear story about how marketing drives revenue.

Your Treasure Map to Salesforce Reports & Dashboards

• Head over to Salesforce Reports and search for Opportunity Influence Reports. This is your go-to hub for seeing which marketing touchpoints are helping close deals.
• Get specific with your insights! Use filters to refine reports by timeframe, campaign, or opportunity. Want to know which emails led to the most revenue? Adjust your filters to see the impact.
• Create Salesforce Dashboards to visualize Opportunity Influence. Need a quick snapshot for your leadership team? Build an easy-to-read chart that shows exactly how marketing is fueling revenue.

The Ultimate Guide to Opportunity Influence Report Types

Salesforce provides several built-in report types to help you analyze how marketing efforts contribute to revenue. Here are the key report types you can use:

• Opportunity Influence Summary Report – This high-level report shows how marketing engagements are influencing revenue across all opportunities. Use it to track overall marketing impact.
• Opportunity Influence Detail Report – A more granular report that breaks down individual touchpoints per opportunity, allowing you to analyze which specific marketing interactions played a role in closing deals.
• Influence Attribution Model Comparison Chart – Compare first-touch, last-touch, and even-distribution models side by side to see which one provides the best insights for your marketing strategy.
• Marketing Touchpoint Analysis Report – Identifies which marketing channels (email, ads, website visits, etc.) are contributing the most to opportunity creation and pipeline growth.

By setting up and analyzing Opportunity Influence reports, marketing teams can gain deeper insights into which touchpoints matter most, optimize their strategies accordingly, and confidently demonstrate their return on investment.

Why Opportunity Influence is a Game-Changer

Opportunity Influence is a must-have tool for any marketing team looking to measure true revenue impact. No more guessing which emails, ads, or landing pages are driving pipeline – Opportunity Influence connects the dots, giving you a clear picture of how marketing fuels business growth. With built-in attribution models, you can customize insights based on what matters most to your strategy.

Whether you’re aiming to prove marketing ROI, optimize your campaigns, or align better with sales, Opportunity Influence provides automated, data-driven attribution that simplifies reporting and enhances decision-making. If you want better visibility into marketing’s role in revenue generation, this feature is your new best friend!

Next Steps:

1. Check your org to see if the new update is available.
2. Test Opportunity Influence tracking before rolling it out company-wide.
3. Monitor data service credit usage if you’re using multiple attribution models.

Want to learn more? Check out the full Spring ‘25 release highlights or dive into the official release notes.

What are your thoughts on Opportunity Influence? Drop a comment below, and let’s discuss!

Original article: Cracking the Code: How Opportunity Influence Connects Marketing to Revenue

©2025 The Spot. All Rights Reserved.

The post Cracking the Code: How Opportunity Influence Connects Marketing to Revenue appeared first on The Spot.

Autonomous AI is transforming the way organizations operate, and Salesforce’s Agentforce is at the forefront of this revolution. The product was made generally available by Salesforce in October 2024. Whether you want to streamline case management, enhance lead nurturing, or delight customers, Agentforce empowers businesses to accomplish more with fewer resources. In this post, we’ll share five practical tips to help you successfully implement and use Agentforce. 

Feeling anxious about diving all in with Agentforce? Contact the Sercante team for an Agentforce readiness assessment. That way, you can be sure you’re getting set up for success before you implement Agentforce in your org.

Understanding Agentforce

Before diving into the tips, let’s take a closer look at what Agentforce is.

Agentforce enables autonomous AI agents to perform tasks without human intervention, acting as digital workers within Salesforce or external customer channels. These agents enhance productivity by automating routine tasks and assisting with complex ones. With tools like Agent Builder, you can customize agents using pre-built topics and actions or create entirely new ones tailored to your organization’s needs.

Agentforce integrates seamlessly across the Salesforce platform, leveraging Data Cloud for reasoning and learning. Out-of-the-box agents include Service Agents for case deflection, with more capabilities to be released in December 2024, such as SDR and sales coaching agents.

Unleashing the Power of Agentforce: Five Steps to Get Started

Follow these five steps to get started on the right foot when you dive into Agentforce.

Tip 1: Identify Use Cases

Start by identifying where Agentforce can deliver the most value in your organization. Ask yourself:

• How are you using your CRM today?
• What are the current pain points in your processes?
• Are there routine tasks that could be automated to free up team capacity?
• Are there new processes you’ve avoided due to resource constraints?

Examples of use cases include automating FAQ responses for service teams, generating campaign briefs for marketing, or assisting sales reps with lead prioritization and moving deals faster.

Then for each use case, think about what would be needed to transition to an agent:

• What job should they do?
• What actions will they need to take?
• What actions should they NOT take?  (This is just as if not more important to make sure you have defined the lane where an agent should operate within that use case)

Your responses to those questions are going to help you to understand the level of effort involved in use case. This in turn is going to help you to prioritize based on the level of effort and potential value

Tip 2: Define Success Metrics

To gauge the success of your Agentforce implementation, establish clear goals and KPIs. 

Questions you can ask:

• What does success mean? How will we know we have addressed our problem? 
• What metrics are we tracking today that we want to see improvement on?
• Are there additional metrics that will let us know we are seeing success?

For example:

• Reducing average case handling time by 20%
• Improving lead response times
• Increasing campaign ROI by automating content creation

Ensure you have baseline data for comparison and that the necessary measurement tools are in place to help you track success.

Tip 3: Assess Your Data

Your AI agents are only as good as the data they access. For the use cases identified, evaluate your data readiness:

• What data do need? 
• Where is it located? Is it in your CRM, Data Cloud, or other external systems?
• Is it accessible from your CRM? If it’s stored in an external system, do you have APIs in place to get that information?
• Is the data clean, accurate, and up-to-date?
  • Follow this blog post for tips on how to keep your imported Pardot prospect data clean.
• Do you have a single view of the customer across systems?
  • Get tips for creating that single source of truth in this blog post that covers marketing asset reporting, and this blog post that covers customer data platform reporting.
• Lastly, are knowledge bases and metadata structured for easy access? 
  • Agents need knowledge to inform how they will operate and answer questions. This is all of the background configurations your agents actions will rely on — flows, prompts, and Apex for example — they need to also be clearly identifiable and accessible. 
  • When you add actions to your topics, it uses the descriptions to help fuel the instructions. The naming conventions of your resources will also make it easier to determine what the inputs and outputs need to be.

Data and metadata are the backbone of AI performance, so this is an important area to pay attention to.

Tip 4: Start Small

After completing the previous steps, you may have more than one great use case to start with. Here’s where you ask yourself: What are the quick wins that we can get started on that can move the needle and that we can expand on as we mature?

It’s really easy to get caught up on how this can solve ALL the things. There are many challenges to starting a complex process all at once. If a lot of effort is required to get the data in place or to get the actions set up, it will be more difficult to roll out, not to mention making it potentially disruptive and prone to issues 

Avoid the temptation to tackle complex processes right away. Instead, focus on a simple, high-impact use case to pilot Agentforce. There are many out-of-the-box topics and actions that make getting started easier. For example, automating a single FAQ response or generating summaries for sales reps.

Starting small helps build confidence, momentum, and organizational buy-in, and it also reduces the risk of missteps.

Tip 5: Nail Down Clear Instructions

When designing agents, clarity is key. Use the Agent Builder to create and test well-defined topics and actions:

• Topics – Include precise instructions for classifying user requests, setting guardrails, and outlining scope.
• Actions – Clearly define what the agent should do, including required inputs and expected outputs.

Salesforce Agentforce Topic Instruction Best Practices

Instructions are the foundation for grounding how agents perform. They set the guardrails for how the agent should behave and give the agent the context it needs to do its job. 

Here are a few best practices for writing Agentforce topic instructions:

• Start simple
  • Start with the main use case first to ensure the agent is performing as expected. Then, add in more detail to address edge cases. Be sure to test existing instructions for any conflict. You don’t want to confuse the agent! 
• Use plain language
  • Use concise natural language to describe what your action does. Keep it to 1-3 sentences, and it can include the goal of the action, any use cases, and the objects or records it uses or modifies. 
  • In general, the more relevant detail you include in your instructions, the easier it is for the agent to differentiate between actions. Also, be sure to vary the words you use. For example, use a mix of “Get,” “Find,” “Retrieve,” or “Identify” for actions that will query records.
• Avoid industry or company jargon
  • Write like you are instructing someone who doesn’t know your business. Even terms like ‘qualified lead’ could mean something different from one organization to another. Give context where necessary, and reference clear criteria using the data it will have access to. 
  • For example, instead of vague terms like “qualify lead,” specify conditions such as “lead status equals MQL.” 
  • The agent isn’t not going to know your business processes either, so be explicit about the sequence of instructions or any conditions a conversation must meet for an agent to apply an action.
• Think of all the paths
  • You want to go through every possible permutation to determine the actions required. For example: a customer reaches out because they didn’t receive their order. 
  • First think about the order status ( Order Shipped, Delayed, Not Found, Processing). If the status is Shipped then there could be different tracking statuses (In Transit or Delivered for example). If the order is showing as Delivered, was it delivered to the customer’s correct address? Was it stolen? …and so on.
• Remember the Guardrails
  • Keep the Agent in its lane by providing clear instructions on what the agent should not do to prevent unwanted responses. In cases where the agent is customer-facing, be sure to also give clear direction on when an interaction should be routed to a human.

Test these instructions thoroughly in the Agent Builder’s testing environment to ensure your agents behave as expected.

Ready to Explore Agentforce?

Agentforce offers an exciting opportunity to enhance productivity and streamline operations. By identifying the right use cases, preparing your data, and starting with manageable projects, you can set your organization up for success.

Want to learn more? Check out Salesforce’s Agentforce Trailhead and virtual workshops to get hands-on experience. Need expert guidance? Contact the Sercante team for an Agentforce readiness assessment.

Original article: Five Tips for Getting Started with Salesforce Agentforce

©2025 The Spot. All Rights Reserved.

The post Five Tips for Getting Started with Salesforce Agentforce appeared first on The Spot.

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

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

Using Account Engagement for Event Marketing: Planning and Promotion

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

Here’s how to do that.

Set Up Your Event in Account Engagement (Pardot)

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

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

Create Your Campaign Structure

These are the steps to create your campaign structure:

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

Design Event Registration Forms

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

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

Develop Event-Specific Landing Pages

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

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

Promoting Your Event

Develop Email Marketing Campaigns

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

Your campaign will include some form of the following emails:

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

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

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

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

Sending One-Off List Emails

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

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

Segmentation and Targeting

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

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

Want to go a step further? Use social media connectors

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

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

Managing Marketing Event Registrations with Account Engagement

Tracking Registrations

Forms

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

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

Automation Rules for Registration Management

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

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

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

Confirmation and Reminder Emails

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

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

Sending Confirmation Emails

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

Reminder Emails

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

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

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

During the Event

Engaging Attendees with Personalized Content

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

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

Real-Time Data Collection

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

Feedback Forms

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

Post-Event Follow-Up

Analyzing Event Performance

Generating Reports

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

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

ROI Analysis

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

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

Nurturing Leads

Follow-Up Emails

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

Lead Scoring and Grading

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

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

Re-Engaging Non-Attendees

Post-Event Outreach

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

Surveys and Feedback

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

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

Planning Future Events

Reviewing Your Feedback

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

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

Early Bird Promotions

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

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

Now you’re an Account Engagement event marketing pro!

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

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

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

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

©2025 The Spot. All Rights Reserved.

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

In February 2024, Salesforce released Marketing Cloud Growth Edition, its first marketing automation platform built fully on the Einstein 1 Platform (a.k.a. “On Core”). Marketing Cloud Growth Edition has been rapidly evolving and expanding the features of this new solution ever since, and Account Engagement (f.k.a. Pardot) users are about to get a taste of it.

Update! In the Dreamforce ‘24 Marketing Keynote, Salesforce announced that all Account Engagement orgs can get Marketing Cloud Growth provisioned at no additional cost. Previously, this offer was only for orgs with Growth Edition Account Engagement, but it now includes all orgs with a current edition of Account Engagement. A banner notifying all Account Engagement orgs that they can now get access to Marketing Cloud Growth Edition was published on October 15th. This blog has been updated to reflect the most recent news around this offering.

In this post, we’ll cover how to take advantage of the offer and use Marketing Cloud Growth alongside Account Engagement.

A Note on Naming

Now the naming of this new tool has caused quite a bit of confusion in the Salesforce community as it seems to change on a weekly basis. When launched, this new solution was referred to as “Marketing Cloud Growth Edition” or “Marketing Cloud on the Einstein 1 Platform”. During Dreamforce, Advanced Edition was announced, so this solution became “Marketing Cloud Growth or Advanced Edition” or “Marketing Cloud built on Data Cloud”. Finally, during the Winter ‘25 release, this tool started showing up in Salesforce documentation as just “Marketing Cloud” or the “Marketing Cloud App”, much to the chagrin of Marketing Cloud Engagement users. Now, if you are using Marketing Cloud Growth with Account Engagement, it is being referred to as “Account Engagement on Marketing Cloud” but also “Account Engagement powered by Data Cloud”.

Confused? Yes, me too. But all this is to say there is one new Salesforce Marketing tool that is built on core to bring users a truly unified marketing experience. For simplicity, we will continue to refer to this tool as “Marketing Cloud Growth” for this blog post.

What Account Engagement Users Need to Access Marketing Cloud Growth Edition

1. A current instance of a Marketing Cloud Account Engagement
   This includes Growth, Plus, Advanced, and Premium editions of Marketing Cloud Account Engagement (MCAE). Your MCAE Admins can view your Edition by going to the Account Engagement Settings tab.

2. Data Cloud
   Data Cloud not only unifies customer data for use within Marketing Cloud Growth, but also ensures data continuity between Account Engagement and Marketing Cloud Growth. Free Data Cloud is available for orgs with Enterprise and Unlimited Edition Salesforce customers. If you have a lower edition of Salesforce, check out more information on provisioning and access here.
   
   If you are brand new to Data Cloud or don’t have a Data Cloud Architect at your disposal, don’t fret! Marketing Cloud Growth comes with Data Kits that help map your Marketing and CRM Data to Data Cloud. The free Data Cloud SKU + Marketing Cloud Growth’s out of the box data kits will cover everything most orgs need to get started, but if you’d like assistance with additional Data Cloud Data Streams or want to dive into more advanced Data Cloud use cases, we’re happy to help!

Data Cloud Credits

Marketing Cloud Growth uses Data Cloud’s credits to fuel its activities. So, although MCAE users will get Marketing Cloud Growth at no additional charge, orgs still need to purchase credits to fuel Marketing Cloud Growth. Think of it like you’re being given a car, but you still have to purchase the gas to make it run.

If you’re new to Data Cloud’s consumption model, our previous blog post and this Trailhead module will help give you an idea of how this works and the different types of credits available. If you’re using the Free Data Cloud SKU to get started, note that this does include some credits to fuel data ingestion and unification. However, orgs will need to reach out to their AE to purchase the credits that fuel sending emails, sending SMS, compiling Segments, and using Einstein.

You don’t necessarily have to purchase these credits before implementing Marketing Cloud Growth for testing purposes, but you may be limited in the features you can play around with without them.

Getting Started

Here are a few things to keep in mind as you start using Account Engagement and Marketing Cloud Growth side by side.

Understanding Consent and Subscriptions

Consent works a little differently between the two systems. 

Account Engagement has a permission-based marketing policy, meaning that although there is no default “Opt-in” field, users must certify that they only contact prospects who have expressly consented to receive marketing communications. 

In Marketing Cloud Growth Edition, consent is a bit more rigid. To send marketing communications, each prospect must have a Consent Record comprising of:

• The Contact Point (email or phone number)
• The Marketing Channel (Email, SMS, etc.)
• The Communication Subscription (Webinars, Events, Product updates, etc.)
• The Date and Time the prospect opted in

More considerations for Consent and Subscriptions are available in this Salesforce Help article. 

Import Consent Data

Before you import consent data, make sure the contact point exists in Marketing Cloud Growth Edition. A consent import can update consent information for existing contact points, but it can’t create new leads or contacts or update other fields (at least as of the Winter ‘25 release).

First, export your list from Account Engagement:

1. In Account Engagement, navigate to Prospects > Segmentation > Segmentation Lists
2. Locate and open the preference list you would like to import into Growth
3. Select Tools
4. Select CSV Export

You’ll need to format your export before importing it into Growth, see this help article for guidance. 

Start Your Import

1. Within Marketing Cloud Growth, navigate to the Consent tab
2. Ensure you are on the Consent Imports tab, then select + Import

3. Select your Channel, Communication Subscription, and whether this list is opted in or opted out

4. Select Next
5. Upload your CSV, select Next
6. Review the import preview and select Import
7. Select Done

Send Account Engagement Images to CMS

Use images in both Account Engagement and Marketing Cloud Growth by enabling “Copy to CMS”.

1. In Salesforce, navigate to Marketing Setup > Copy to CMS
2. Use the dropdown menu next to your Account Engagement business unit to select Enable
3. Repeat for additional Account Engagement business units

This will create a CMS Workspace named, “Content Workspace for Marketing Cloud Account Engagement – Copied Content – [business unit name]”. To avoid issues, do not change the workspace name or remove the B2BMA Integration user as a contributor. 

Copy Images from Account Engagement to the Growth Edition CMS Workspace

Next, you’ll need to copy the images from Account Engagement to your new CMS Workspace. 

1. In Account Engagement, navigate to Content > Files
2. Use the checkboxes on the left-hand side to select the files you would like to move. Once selected, use the dropdown menu at the bottom of the table to select Copy to CMS 
3. Select Go

Use the New Growth Edition Email Editing Experience

Now you can build emails that are available in both Account Engagement and Growth Edition. When creating or editing Email Content in the Lightning Email Builder, select New Email Experience to use Marketing Cloud Growth Edition’s editor.

Account Engagement Campaign Considerations 

Account Engagement and Marketing Cloud Growth Edition cannot currently share campaigns, so you’ll want to have distinct naming conventions to easily identify which campaigns belong to each platform. You can also keep Marketing Cloud Growth’s campaigns from syncing to Account Engagement by creating a new campaign record type for Growth. 

Read more about Campaigns for Marketing Cloud Growth in this help article. 

Using Account Engagement & Growth Edition Together

Current users of Account Engagement probably have long-standing engagement studio programs that are set up to run on a recurring basis. Account Engagement thrives in this situation and provides flexibility for enrolling prospects and ensuring that the marketing journey you want to happen actually happens. Let’s look at instances where you can use this existing functionality with all the bells and whistles Growth offers.

Use cases for combining the two platforms

1. SMS functionality. In Account Engagement, You may have a pre-existing engagement studio program set up for every event your company puts on, thanking attendees for joining and sharing pertinent details. If you want to send a reminder text message to people who have registered for the event, you can now take advantage of native Marketing Cloud Growth functionality to do so.

2. Using cross-object personalization. Say you have a recurring monthly email sent out to your customers letting them know their account status, YTD savings with your company, and other information pertinent to the customer on an ongoing basis. If this information is stored within custom objects, it’s difficult to populate an Account Engagement email with those details. With Marketing Cloud Growth Edition, users can create Data Graphs for cross-object personalization, allowing marketers to personalize emails with data from any object. 

3. Custom processes for post-form-fill actions. Another great example of how you can use Marketing Cloud Growth Edition alongside Account Engagement is when you want to implement a custom process when someone submits a form.

Since Growth uses Flow for automation, the actions taken after a form is completed can be customized to each unique need. For instance, you can standardize field values or send data to several objects within Salesforce before the Lead/Contact record is updated. 

There you have it

You are now ready to start experiencing Marketing Cloud Growth Edition. The future of Salesforce marketing is bright and evolving every day.

Stay tuned for Growth’s next iterations. In the meantime, use these resources to get started:

• Prepare for a New Campaign Experience with Marketing Cloud Growth
• Marketing Cloud Growth Edition: Landing Page and Form Builder
• Marketing Cloud Growth Edition: Creating Brand Guidelines
• All the FAQs on Marketing Cloud Growth Edition

If you need help implementing or learning how to use Marketing Cloud Growth Edition, send us a message!

Original article: Big News! Account Engagement Users Can Access Marketing Cloud Growth Edition

©2025 The Spot. All Rights Reserved.

The post Big News! Account Engagement Users Can Access Marketing Cloud Growth Edition appeared first on The Spot.

Personalized marketing can make a significant impact on customer engagement and business growth. According to a recent study, personalized marketing can boost ROI by up to 20%.

One of the most effective ways to achieve this personalization is by scoring leads and contacts based on their engagement and fit with your ideal customer profile. This approach allows marketers to prioritize high-value prospects and create targeted campaigns that resonate with specific audience segments.

By understanding and implementing engagement and fit scoring, you can enhance your marketing strategies, improve customer relationships, and drive business growth. This blog provides valuable insights and practical steps to get you started effectively scoring leads and contacts in Marketing Cloud Growth Edition. 

Understanding Engagement and Fit Scoring

By combining Engagement and Fit Scoring, businesses can create a comprehensive scoring model that prioritizes leads and contacts based on their level of interest and their potential value to the company. This dual approach ensures marketing efforts are focused on the most promising prospects, leading to more effective and efficient campaigns.

What is Engagement Scoring?

Engagement Scoring evaluates how actively and positively leads and contacts interact with your marketing efforts. It quantifies the level of interest and involvement a prospect shows, helping you identify the most engaged individuals who are likely to convert into customers.

Key Metrics Used in Engagement Scoring

When configuring rules, utilize data from the available attributes. Ensure the specified values are exact and case-sensitive. Many attribute values are unique to your organization or vary based on the lead or contact. To identify the correct values, review your data model objects in Data Explorer.

What is Fit Scoring?

Fit Scoring assesses how closely a lead or contact matches your ideal customer profile. This scoring method evaluates criteria to determine the potential value and suitability of a prospect for your business. Fit helps prioritize leads that are not only engaged but also align well with your target market characteristics. Currently, the default fit model only includes “Contact Point Address.” However, you can customize your fit model by adding additional attributes.

Criteria Used to Determine Fit

1. Demographic Information: This includes age, gender, income level, education, and other personal attributes that help define your ideal customer profile.
2. Firmographic Data: For B2B businesses, this includes company size, industry, revenue, and other business characteristics that indicate a good match with your products or services.
3. Behavioral Patterns: This involves analyzing past behaviors and actions, such as purchase history, product usage, and interaction patterns, to predict future behavior and fit.
4. Geographic Location: The physical location of a lead can be crucial, especially for businesses with regional sales strategies or location-specific products.
5. Technographic Information: For tech-related businesses, understanding the technology stack a prospect uses can indicate their compatibility with your solutions.

Customizing Engagement and Fit Scoring

Leads and contacts are scored according to the rules you establish. You can use the default rules provided by Marketing Cloud Growth or customize them to your specific needs.

Base  Model

How to Create a Customized Model

1. Navigate to Setup > Scoring Rules
2. Next to Unified Individual DMO Name, click Select
3. Select Score On Unified Individual
   
4. Select Save
5. Edit, Delete, or Add rules as needed. Keep in mind that you are limited to 30 rules of each type (Engagement and Fit)
6. When you are done editing your rules, select Save
7. Select Publish

• The rules are immediately applied to records that are related to the target object you selected.
• After you publish scoring rules, you can’t unpublish them.
• After you publish rules for the first time, you must publish them again to save any further changes.

Combining Engagement and Fit Scoring

The overall marketing score is a comprehensive metric that combines both engagement and fit scores. The engagement score measures how actively a prospect interacts with your marketing efforts, while the fit score evaluates how closely they match your ideal customer profile. By integrating these two dimensions, you can prioritize leads that are not only highly interested, but also highly relevant to your business.

While engagement and fit scores will be a sum of points, the Overall Score will always be between 0 and 100. Out of the box, the Overall Score will consist of 50% of the engagement score and 50% of the fit score. However, this can be customized per org.

By maintaining a balanced scoring approach, you can ensure your marketing efforts are directed toward leads that are both highly engaged and closely aligned with your ideal customer profile. This holistic view enables more effective segmentation, targeted content delivery, and higher conversion rates.

Combining engagement and fit scores into an overall marketing score provides a nuanced understanding of each lead’s potential. By carefully balancing these scores, you can optimize your marketing strategies to focus on the most promising prospects, leading to more successful and efficient marketing campaigns.

Personalized marketing is the future

In conclusion, personalized marketing is essential for standing out in today’s highly competitive digital landscape. Research shows that businesses using advanced personalization techniques see a 10-30% increase in sales and customer retention rates. This underscores the importance of understanding and meeting customer preferences.

With the insights and practical steps outlined, you are now equipped to optimize your lead-scoring methods. Embrace this dual approach to prioritize your most promising prospects, ensuring that your marketing efforts are both efficient and effective. By doing so, you will position your business for sustained success in an increasingly competitive marketplace.

More Marketing Cloud Growth Edition Resources

1. Announcing Marketing Cloud Growth Edition
2. The Marketing Cloud That Broke the Internet (& 5 Key Takeaways)
3. Data Cloud No Cost Edition: Get Ready First
4. What Marketing Cloud Growth Edition Means for Your Career
5. Evolving Your Skills as a Marketing Cloud Engagement Practitioner
6. Evolving Your Skills as an Account Engagement Pro
7. Marketing Cloud Growth Edition: Creating Brand Guidelines
8. All the FAQs on Marketing Cloud Growth Edition
9. Marketing Cloud Growth Edition: Landing Page and Form Builder
10. How to Create Campaign Assets with Marketing Cloud Growth Edition

Original article: Marketing Cloud Growth Edition: A Guide to Fit and Engagement Scoring

©2025 The Spot. All Rights Reserved.

The post Marketing Cloud Growth Edition: A Guide to Fit and Engagement Scoring 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.

Welcome to the marketing side of Salesforce! As a Salesforce admin, you may occasionally need to assist your marketing team in developing processes or generating reports from data in Salesforce and Marketing Cloud Account Engagement (Pardot). Understanding Account Engagement and how it affects your Salesforce org can enhance your ability to contribute to those initiatives. 

7 Account Engagement Facts Salesforce Admins Must Know

In this blog, we will review several fundamental concepts in Account Engagement and how they relate to your role as a Salesforce Administrator. This guide is designed to provide you with insights from a Salesforce perspective about Account Engagement so that you can best support marketing and other teams using the platform. While these features are available to all organizations, access to the features can vary based on your org configuration and tier.

Tip 1: We call people “prospects”

In Salesforce, you are accustomed to working with Leads and Contacts. While this does carry over, the platform labels “people-records” as Prospects. Prospects can exist solely in Account Engagement or be synced with existing Salesforce records.

Verifying Prospects are linked to Salesforce records

To verify that a Prospect is linked to a Salesforce record, you can click on an individual record and look for the Salesforce cloud icon listed on the right of their name (see above) or by the CRM ID listed at the bottom of the record. Clicking on this cloud icon will take you to the connected Salesforce record. In Salesforce, you can click the Account Engagement URL to bring you into the platform. This is particularly helpful when you are trying to diagnose data sync issues. 

Key reminders:

• Records are matched using 18-digit IDs and email (if no matching record is found)
• You can navigate from Salesforce to Account Engagement records and vice versa
• Managing deleted records and duplicates may require additional effort across both platforms
  

Tip 2: Add visibility for sales and marketing teams in Salesforce

Enabling Account Engagement introduces several new fields, components, and features exclusive to the integration. You should review the implementation guide and work with your team to align on what information is valuable for sales and marketing to deliver on their respective functions.

The package includes fields like engagement score, fit (grading), what “object” they converted on, and a log of their latest activity in Account Engagement, to name a few. Additionally, depending on your tier, you may also find additional components you can take advantage of, such as B2B Marketing Analytics.

When mapping fields, not all Salesforce field types transfer seamlessly to Account Engagement. To avoid data loss, review your fields (including matching API names) and ensure they are mapped across objects in Salesforce before attempting to sync any data into Account Engagement.

Key reminders:

• Field types may affect your ability to map fields into Account Engagement
• Beware that Formula fields do not trigger sync updates in Account Engagement
• Field level permissions and user profile access on the integration user can affect dataflow

Tip 3: Security matters but looks and works differently

Security is the #1 pillar of any Salesforce Admin role.

There are different levels of access you can give to Salesforce users via permission sets. Those levels include:

• No access to Account Engagement data – on either platform: This is usually for operations teams who don’t need access
• Access to Account Engagement data on a page layout in Salesforce: This is usually for sales/SDR teams
• Access to the Account Engagement app: This is usually for marketing and creative teams

To enter the Account Engagement app, the user’s record must be mapped into Account Engagement. No user in Account Engagement, no access to it regardless of permissions in Salesforce.

Secondly. while you may be familiar with profiles and roles in Salesforce, well Account Engagement adds another layer of complexity to the mix. Account Engagement has its own “roles” and they do completely different things. These roles only apply within Account Engagement and allow you to see and do specific activities (build segments, forms, etc) on the platform. 

Default Account Engagement user roles include Administrators, Marketing, Sales Manager, and Sales. You can configure these roles under the account settings section and connect profiles to roles within the Salesforce connector section in Account Engagement.



To conclude, you can personalize the levels of access to different Users. You’ll ultimately need two “keys” to get into Account Engagement (a Salesforce permission set and an Account Engagement role assigned to a synced User). It is important to work with marketing to outline the level of access needed to perform daily tasks.

Key reminders:

• You can create custom roles in Account Engagement (may require an add-on)
• All the users with the same role, have the same access in Account Engagement, regardless of their permissions in Salesforce

Tip 4: The Salesforce Integration is flexible

This integration (or connector) is the key to aligning your data between two systems. Through the connector, we can sync everything from Users, objects, fields, and campaigns. You can deep dive into the individual components here.



In these settings, you can choose if you want to allow a bi-directional sync or not. This is your on/off switch. Most customers want this feature enabled. 

Additionally, you can control data flow on a field-to-field level. It is important to discuss how data will be used and by what team. 

You can allow data to be managed by:

• Salesforce only
• Account Engagement only
• Whichever system makes the most recent update

As data comes circulates between the platforms we can be met with conflicts between the two systems. For most teams, these conflicts can be attributed to their use of validation rules or restricted field values and dependencies. The conflicts are called sync errors in Account Engagement. 

These conflicts can be found under the Salesforce connector gear icon (under Connectors) and can range from:

• Access issues – Connector user lacks access to read/write to an object
• Data formatting issues – Issues with field types or values
• Process alignment issues – dependencies between fields or steps in a process

As an admin, is important to support your team in resolving these issues as quickly as possible to restore data sync on those records. These sync errors offer opportunities to improve communication between teams and for process improvements. Our team at Sercante often uses ProspectUpdater to help customers fix data formatting issues at a scale.

Key reminders:

• Enabling a bi-directional sync of data is recommended but optional
• Large imports can cause bottlenecks – if you notice this becoming an issue you may want to check daily processes as well

Tip 5: Account settings are the key to understanding your org

This section can help you identify important information about your account such as the Business Unit ID, when the account was enabled, admin alerts, and account limits. On the right side of the screenshot below, you will find the ability to personalize who gets alerts about these items. To ensure these alerts are taken seriously, ensure these are received by team members who are active in the org.



The most common way that admins discover this page is when they have to increase the number of prospects that can be kept in the account or run out of storage.

Key reminders:

• You can always reduce the number of files/prospects to make room for more before you buy more space
• The recycle bin in Account Engagement doesn’t autodelete after 30 days, feel free to use it to free up space (exclusions may apply)
• Your account ID, account tier, and API key can all be found here and may be useful for certain integrations
  

Tip 6: Leverage Account Engagement forms

You’re probably familiar with web-to-lead forms. While these mechanisms can help do more with Salesforce they do not cookie leads or contacts upon completion. Why does that matter? Cookies help us identify prospects and avoid duplicates.

With Account Engagement you can simplify the form creation and management (say goodbye to your external tools) or form handlers (similar to webhooks) to streamline your inbound marketing and processes. The forms can be embedded as Iframes on your website, Account Engagements’ landing pages, or stand-alone.

Upon completing a form, you can set a cookie on the Prospect. You can still do notifications (email and Slack), send emails, add to segments, and so much more without complex flows or other Salesforce automation. 

Key reminders:

• Testing forms incognito mode is strongly recommended
• Cookie length can be adjusted under your account settings or by individual user browser settings
  

Tip 7: Encourage campaign collaboration

First thing is first, Account Engagement has campaigns too! However, these are exclusively used in Account Engagement for capturing the 1st touch interactions (all time). This makes it challenging to see the life of the lead across time and also makes reporting difficult.

Luckily, we can create and sync Salesforce campaigns into Account Engagement for the same purposes AND to capture the multiple touches on their journey to conversion and beyond.

By leveraging Account Engagement’s automation to add prospects to Salesforce campaigns, we avoid doing multiple imports to update the Campaign member records. This functionality also allows us to take advantage of standard Campaign reports in Salesforce that can help us see ROI and campaign influence across our initiatives. To help find the latter, we created a Campaign Influence Started Pack, go check it out. 

Key reminders:

• When creating campaigns, leverage campaign member statuses and make sure to check the “active” checkbox to sync over into Account Engagement
• Keep an eye on campaign members and campaign influence records, which can eat up your Salesforce storage if created in large volumes over time

Learn the essential Account Engagement concepts for Salesforce admins

While Account Engagement predominately serves marketing functions, Salesforce Admins play a crucial role in understanding and supporting its broader impact. By acting as the bridge between IT and marketing, admins can help facilitate more collaboration and more effective project rollouts on projects affecting users across the organization.

If you are struggling with any of these tasks/concepts, please reach out for assistance. Together, we can foster more seamless experiences that drive transformative outcomes!

Original article: 7 Fundamental Account Engagement Concepts for Salesforce Admins

©2025 The Spot. All Rights Reserved.

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You may have heard Salesforce’s announcement of Marketing Cloud Growth Edition, their new marketing automation platform built on the Einstein 1 platform (also known as “Core”), intended for SMB marketers to help them more efficiently engage their audience at scale. This thrilling new announcement came with a lot of questions, one of them being, what is the campaign asset creation process like with Marketing Cloud Growth Edition? Well, here’s how it works.

Campaign Asset Creation with Marketing Cloud Growth Edition

When it comes to building your campaign in Marketing Cloud Growth Edition, you will be presented with five options:

• Single Email with Einstein
• Single Email Template
• Message Template Series
• Signup Form Template
• Blank Email Campaign

Single Email with Einstein

When you use Single Email with Einstein, this starts your team off with using Einstein Co-create. The type of campaign you are planning will determine which option you choose from above, but when you use Einstein Co-create it expedites the campaign brief process. 

Einstein Co-create campaign brief

Your campaign brief is essentially the written plan for your campaign strategy. When you use Einstein Co-create, you provide the prompt to Einstein, sharing what your campaign is about the general goal you are looking to achieve, and your target segment and it will then generate a campaign brief with the below elements:

• Campaign Objective
• Target Segment
• Goals/KPIs
• Key Message

In addition, because the original selection here was Single Email with Einstein, the platform will also automatically generate a Campaign Asset with an Email Subject Line, Preheader, and Body Copy.

You can upvote, downvote, or refresh the content to help the AI improve. Select Looks Good to generate your Campaign Assets.

It’s the same campaign strategy principles, new platform, and a more efficient way to generate campaign briefs along with the email for your campaign. If you select Single Email Template from the campaign asset creation options, it is the same interface as the previous selection, just without automatic content generation.

Message Template Series

The Message Template Series selection allows you to create two emails customized to your campaign set up from a flow sequence with a Wait 1 Day step between email sends that can be edited to wait minutes, hours, days, months, or resume at a specific time of day. 

Sticking with the Marketing Cloud Growth Edition webinar example from the previous campaign brief generated with Einstein Co-create, the first email could serve as the invitation to our recipient list of marketers and the two emails in this series could serve as the reminder email and the last chance to register email, while suppressing the people who have already registered. 

We could also create a second message template series to start engaging with our prospects who have already registered for the webinar. Maybe for the first email we send them a piece of content that shares an introduction about Marketing Cloud Growth Edition providing initial tips and tricks for how they could get started with the platform and then the second email could be sent on the day of the webinar, reminding registrants it will start in an hour.

There is a lot that your team can do with this option, it just depends on what your plan is for how you will achieve your campaign goal. You already defined the goal, measurement, and audience, with your strategy, but you also need to determine the how.

• How are you going to promote this campaign to increase registrants?
• How will you compel your audience to attend the webinar to reach the goal of increasing attendance by XX%?
• How do you plan on following up with registrants and attendees after the webinar to maximize the results from this webinar three months after, six months after, twelve months after? (This is also where a collaboration with sales comes in.)
• What has worked well in the past?
• What has not worked well that should either be nixed for the future or improved upon?

All of this should be defined after you frame your initial campaign strategy and before you and your team start creating the campaign assets, so that when the team starts going down the path of execution, everyone is aligned and focused on the campaign initiatives that will make the greatest impact.

Single Form Template

The Single Form Template option is what you would use to create the registration form and landing page for the webinar. The platform starts you out with creating a landing page that includes a form. The Landing Page includes a form, but the form can be switched out for another form that exists in your org. This campaign also includes a flow to create new Leads when the form is completed. 

The landing page builder comes with the following features:

• Title, Description, and Public Page Title can be customized
• URL Content Slug can be edited for a custom landing page URL
• Favicons can be added
• Landing Pages can be hidden from Search Engine indexing 

Building the landing page content is similar to the Lightning Builder experience for Account Engagement. Each component on the Landing page also includes a Custom CSS field. 

As you build the landing page for the webinar, you can then move to the registration form. The form features for Marketing Cloud Growth Edition can show a Thank You message or redirect to another URL, such as a thank you page.

When adding the fields to your form, you can use the Configure Data Source feature to pull in Lead, Contact, or Account fields into your form. If you do not want to use this feature to pull in the fields, you can simply add the fields to your form and then map them accordingly in the flow.

By default, the flow will create new Leads upon form submission. If you have existing leads and contacts that are expected to be registering for the webinar, you will need to customize the flow to update existing records.

Keep in mind that editing the fields on the form does not update the flow. Make sure you edit the flow to include the final fields selected for the form.

As you continue moving through building your registration form, there are quite a few form options to choose from such as adding dividers, text, and new sections as well as adding images to forms. If your team has not tried any of these options before, it could be worth a test to see if this increases registrations. The main thing to keep in mind here though is user experience. Will the registration form you are creating provide the best experience for your audience? Delighting and connecting with them is the focus.

Blank Email Campaign

The last option you can choose from for the campaign asset creation process is the Blank Email Campaign. This selection only contains a Flow to send an email message. For this you will need to:

• Create or select a segment
• Create an email or use an email that already exists in the org
• Currently, you can only add one email to this campaign type. There is no option to add a Landing page or form to these campaigns.
• Customize and activate your flow

The process with this option is a little more manual, but it is an option in case your team wants this type of experience.

No matter the platform, campaign creation comes back to the strategy.

We are all smiles about the announcement of Marketing Cloud Growth Edition and are looking forward to having SMB marketing teams dive into the platform and experience all that can be accomplished with it. The new technology may seem overwhelming, but remember your foundational approach to marketing campaign strategy remains the same, which guides you through the campaign asset creation process. 
It is just a matter of getting used to where to click and pull in the different features that you want to use to get the best results. And if at any point it seems scary and you want an expert guide, we’ll be here to help you.

Original article: How to Create Campaign Assets with Marketing Cloud Growth Edition

©2025 The Spot. All Rights Reserved.

The post How to Create Campaign Assets with Marketing Cloud Growth Edition appeared first on The Spot.

Marketing Cloud Growth Edition builders enable marketers to build beautiful landing pages and forms with ease. The builders have a robust set of styling and functionality options that allow Marketers to customize their assets without needing extensive custom coding. Let’s dive into the features of these builders and walk through how to build your first Growth Edition assets. 

Creating a New Landing Page

Users can create a new landing page in two ways:

Option 1

1. Navigate to Content > CMS Workspace for Marketing Cloud
2. Select Add > Content
3. Select Landing Page

This option starts you with a completely blank canvas and does not auto-generate a form or flow for your page.

Option 2

1. Navigate to Campaigns and create a new campaign
2. Select Save
3. Select the Signup Form Template

This option starts you with a Salesforce Landing Page that can be easily customized with your own content and styling. It also auto-generates a form and flow for the form. 

Landing Page Builder

Once you’re in the landing page builder, you can begin setting up the landing page’s basic info. 

This includes:

• Internal title and description
• URL content slug, this is the URL-friendly name for your page (a.k.a. vanity URL)
• Favicon
• Public page title (max 70 characters)
• Public Description (max 2000 characters)
  • If SEO indexing is enabled and this field is blank, the search engine results display the first text that the search engine finds on the page.
• Head Tags
• Whether or not the Landing Page should be hidden from search engine indexing

You can also optionally set a background image for the Landing Page on the Style tab. 

Drag-and-drop components

Similar to the Lightning Builder experience for Account Engagement, you can begin building your Landing Page by dragging and dropping components from the left-hand components menu. 

I always like to start with a Sections component so I can divide up my section and set the style before dragging in another component for my content. The Sections component can be divided up to 12 and includes an option to stack columns when the page is viewed on mobile.

Add more components to the section

Once you’ve formatted your section, you can drag and drop additional components into said section. This includes:

• Buttons
• Dividers
• Headings
• HTML
• Lists
• Paragraphs
• Forms
• Images

All components and sections have robust editing options and have an optional area to enter Custom CSS for more granular customization.

Add form to landing page

To add a form to your Landing Page, drag and drop a form component anywhere on the builder canvas. Once a form component is added, select the existing form you’d like to use. You cannot create a new form while in the landing page builder, but you can open the form builder to edit an existing form or switch out the form later. You can only have one form on your Landing Page.

Form Builder

Build your form by selecting edit within the form component on your landing page. Once in the form builder, you have the option to configure a data source to pull in Lead, Contact, or Account fields into your form. Doing so allows you to easily see which fields are required to create a new record of that type. 

If you opt to not configure a data source, just ensure your fields are mapped accordingly within the flow. 

Customize your form

The components panel has several options for customizing your form. You can enter buttons, dividers, headings, HTML, lists, and paragraphs above, below, or in between form fields. You can also create a new section or insert images. The following form field types (aka Inputs) are supported in this form builder: 

• Email
• Phone Number
• Plain Text
• Checkbox
  • This is an individual checkbox, but multiple checkbox components can be added in if you want a multi-picklist.
• Dropdown
• You must manually enter the picklist options for dropdown components. Labels and Unique Names can be set for each value within the field.

Drag and drop Inputs into your form to add new fields. Options to add placeholder text, make the field required, and set the max length of the entered data are available on the right-side panel. You can also fully customize the field’s text styling, background, padding, border etc., as well as insert Custom CSS.

Edit any flows

Keep in mind that adding or removing fields from the form does not automatically update the flow that is associated with it. When you are done building your form, you will need to edit your flow to correctly map the final form fields to their destinations.

Publishing your Landing Page

Once you’re ready to test and publish your landing page, select the Preview option from the top right-hand corner. The Preview will allow you to view your landing page in Desktop, Tablet, and Mobile views to ensure everything looks good no matter how your audience is viewing the page. 

When you are ready to push the landing page live, select the Publish button in the top right-hand corner. You can then confirm the related content that needs to be published with your landing page, such as images used on the page, translations, and your form. 

Activate URL Alias

Once published, you also need to activate your URL alias. Publishing a landing page indicates that the content is ready to be made available online, but the content isn’t accessible until you also activate the URL alias. To do so, 

1. Navigate to Content > CMS Workspace for Marketing Cloud 
2. Select your landing page
3. Select the URL tab
4. Select Activate URL Alias

5. Select Activate

Start Building in Growth!

Now you’re ready to build your first landing page in Marketing Cloud Growth Edition! Be sure to return to The Spot for more posts about Marketing Cloud Growth. We’ll dive into Flows, building emails and all our other Growth learnings in future blog posts.  

Want to know more about Marketing Cloud Growth, like, today? Then reach out to the team at Sercante to start a conversation.

Original article: Marketing Cloud Growth Edition: Landing Page and Form Builder

©2025 The Spot. All Rights Reserved.

The post Marketing Cloud Growth Edition: Landing Page and Form Builder appeared first on The Spot.