REVIEWSIn this article, Senior Salesforce Marketing Cloud Architect Jimson Lee discusses how in today’s digital landscape, businesses strive to deliver personalised and targeted marketing experiences to engage customers effectively. Salesforce Marketing Cloud, a powerful platform equipped with a myriad of features, has emerged as a game-changer in the marketing realm. “Today, I want to share from experience what we know to be the top Salesforce Marketing Cloud features that can revolutionise your marketing strategies and elevate your brand’s success.”
1. Dynamic Content Blocks – Personalisation at its Best
One of the core pillars of effective marketing is personalisation. With Salesforce Marketing Cloud’s Dynamic Content Blocks feature, you can take personalisation to new heights.
Imagine being in the pet services industry and having the ability to display an image of a cat to customers who own cats, rather than a generic image.
Dynamic Content Blocks enable you to tailor content based on customer preferences, creating a truly personalised experience that resonates with your audience.
Another example, think of dynamic content blocks if you as a marketer want to send tailored marketing campaigns to specific audience segments based on demographic information such as consumer location or status level.
For example, frequent flier mile program holders may receive an email providing a free seat upgrade on their next flight. Excellent use case of this Salesforce marketing cloud feature.
Like this Salesforce Marketing Cloud feature, but don’t know where to begin? Contact us for a free audit of your marketing automation setup, and we’d be happy to recommend you an approach.
2. Marketing Cloud Connect – Harness the Full Potential of Your CRM Data
To achieve marketing excellence, it’s crucial to tap into the power of your customer relationship management (CRM) data. Salesforce Marketing Cloud Connect bridges the gap between your CRM and marketing efforts, allowing you to unlock the full potential of your data. Gone are the days of solely relying on name and email information. With Marketing Cloud Connect, you gain access to comprehensive customer data, enabling you to craft highly targeted campaigns and deliver personalised experiences.
Pro Tip: Most people get excited with just syncing Leads & Contacts with the connector, but you can use your imagination and use any object or custom object. That, coupled with Journey Builder, and you can make some very actionable campaigns. For example, a payment field in a custom object to send an email, or exit a Journey.
3. Global Auto-Suppression – Streamlining Contact Management
Contact management is a common challenge for marketers, especially when dealing with large volumes of data. Salesforce Marketing Cloud’s Global Auto-Suppression feature comes to the rescue by simplifying contact management.
If you find yourself exceeding contact counts or need to adhere to specific regulations, Global Auto-Suppression provides a centralised solution to manage opt-outs and suppressions efficiently. Say goodbye to manual suppression lists and embrace the ease of global management.
If you want to hear how we have saved companies lots of money on Contacts excess (or overage), please reach out to me. Recently, I reduced the number of contacts by 3 million subscribers, while maintaining the GDPR consent, improve deliverability with less bounces, and saved money! At a rough cost of €18,000 per 1 Million extra contacts (depending on your version), that’s a huge benefit. Obviously, that was for one happy client.
4. Filtered Data Extensions – Organise and Segment Data with Ease
In the realm of marketing, data organisation and segmentation are vital for targeted campaigns. Salesforce Marketing Cloud’s Filtered Data Extensions feature empowers marketers to organise and segment their data effortlessly.
By creating filters based on various criteria, you can tailor your messaging to specific audience segments, ensuring that your marketing communications reach the right people at the right time. Enhanced data organisation and segmentation lead to improved campaign effectiveness and customer engagement.
Nothing beats real-time or near-time data!
5. Interactive Email Forms – Engage Subscribers within the Inbox
Surveys and feedback are invaluable tools for gathering insights and understanding your audience. Salesforce Marketing Cloud’s Interactive Email Forms feature takes surveys to a whole new level by allowing subscribers to participate without leaving their inbox.
By integrating interactive forms directly into emails, you provide a seamless experience for your subscribers, increasing survey response rates and enhancing customer engagement.
People love their email on mobile… don’t let them leave the InBox!
Learn more: Interactive Email Marketing
6. Deployment or Package Manager – A Time-Saving Game-Changer
Efficiency and time management are key considerations for marketers, particularly when dealing with multiple business units. Salesforce Marketing Cloud’s Deployment or Package Manager feature streamlines the deployment of assets across various business units. With this time-saving feature, you can easily manage and deploy content, emails, and other marketing assets across multiple units, ensuring consistency and saving valuable time and effort.
Learn more: Salesforce marketing cloud package manager
7. Journey Builder ‘Copy Activity’ – Simplify Journey Creation
Building customer journeys is an essential part of marketing automation. Salesforce Marketing Cloud’s Journey Builder offers a powerful feature called ‘Copy Activity’ that simplifies the process of replicating activities within a journey. Whether you need to duplicate an email send, an interaction, or any other activity, the ‘Copy Activity’ feature reduces
reduces the time and effort required to create complex customer journeys. With just a few clicks, you can replicate and modify activities, ensuring consistency across multiple journeys and maximising efficiency in your marketing automation workflows.
8. Unlocking the Power of Einstein – AI Options for Enhanced Insights
Learn more: How to craft an AI Marketing Strategy for Growth & Success
Salesforce Marketing Cloud integrates with Salesforce Einstein, a robust artificial intelligence (AI) platform. Depending on your version and subscription, you can explore a range of Einstein options to supercharge your marketing efforts.
These AI-driven capabilities offer advanced insights, predictive analytics, and personalisation features.
From Einstein Content Selection for optimised content recommendations to Einstein Engagement Scoring for identifying high-value leads, leveraging Einstein options can significantly enhance your marketing effectiveness.
9. Meta WhatsApp for SFMC – Embracing the Latest Messaging Channel
In today’s digital age, messaging apps have become a dominant communication channel. Salesforce Marketing Cloud introduces Meta WhatsApp, the latest addition to its messaging capabilities. Meta WhatsApp integration enables businesses to engage customers through this popular platform. By providing an additional touchpoint for personalised and targeted messaging. Stay ahead of the curve by leveraging Meta WhatsApp. Tap into its vast user base for enhanced customer engagement and communication.
Learn more: Marketing cloud and WhatsApp
(this article will soon be updated)
10. Salesforce Marketing Cloud Features for Security
Protect your Org. Security is of utmost importance when it comes to managing customer data and marketing operations. Salesforce Marketing Cloud offers robust security features to safeguard your organisation and customer information. Ensure you review and optimise security measures such as user lists, API packages, and FTP accounts. By proactively strengthening security protocols, you can protect sensitive data, build trust with customers, and mitigate potential risks.
Over to you
Salesforce Marketing Cloud presents a powerful arsenal of features that can transform your marketing strategies and elevate your brand’s success. From personalization with Dynamic Content Blocks to unlocking the full potential of CRM data with Marketing Cloud Connect, each feature brings unique benefits to the table. By leveraging Global Auto-Suppression, Filtered Data Extensions, and Interactive Email Forms, you can streamline contact management and deliver engaging experiences.
Save time and effort with the Deployment or Package Manager. You can simplify journey creation with the ‘Copy Activity’ in Journey Builder. Then, tap into the power of Einstein’s AI options for enhanced insights. Embrace the latest messaging capabilities with Meta WhatsApp, and prioritise security to protect your organisation and customer data.
By using these Salesforce Marketing Cloud features to their full potential, you can elevate your marketing effectiveness, build meaningful connections with customers, and drive exceptional results for your brand in today’s competitive landscape. Stay ahead of the curve, leverage these features, and unlock the true power of Salesforce Marketing Cloud for unparalleled marketing success.
Your Next Steps
Curious how you can take advantage of these Salesforce marketing cloud features? Reach out to us for a free initial chat or marketing cloud audit. Based on our review, you’ll be armed with recommendations you can implement your self, ask your agency or work with us for best results.
Last Updated on June 22, 2023
