This blog was written before Pardot was renamed to Marketing Cloud Account Engagement. You can read more about the name change and what it means here.
One of the USPs of Pardot is the ability to track campaign ROI by generating the Velocity Chart, which shows average conversion times, and the Lifecycle Funnel Report. If data is managed well and Salesforce opportunities are used as intended, these reports will always be automatically updated. However, it’s a question of the data being accurately updated.
I've put together this quick Pardot tutorial for greece numbers phone managing data between Pardot and Salesforce because it’s not always the case that the reports I've mentioned accurately reflect the true scenario. If contact roles are not being assigned to opportunities within Salesforce, or data is being uploaded to Salesforce in the first instance instead of Pardot, you may encounter inaccuracies. I find that the latter is a more common scenario.
Manage your data well though and your marketing teams will have a much easier time with reporting.
Managing Data - The Pardot Tutorial
To extract the most value from the Pardot-Salesforce relationship, you’ll need to understand how the two systems were designed to work together.
First off, Pardot should be considered the entry point for all new, unqualified data. This might completely go against your current process, but there’s a good reason for it. By uploading data straight into Pardot, it becomes the unqualified nurturing hub of your marketing operations.
Naturally, Salesforce will then become the qualified nurturing hub that’s filled with leads that are ready for sales to convert. To help clarify what I’m trying to say, I’ve drawn up a diagram below.
Pardot Reporting & Salesforce Data Management
Life begins at… Pardot
It’s an easy rule to go by once you start adopting this process.
But what if they’re already qualified and need to go straight to sales?
This should be built into your automated lead distribution. For example, if you want to instantly qualify prospects who complete your ‘contact us' form, then build this into your automation. This might be Profile is X and Score is above 100’, so set their profile and allocate 100 points as a completed action then the prospect will instantly be assigned and sent to Salesforce with an assigned user.
New data: it’s a grower, not a show-er
Nurture your prospects in Pardot to ensure that you’re well aligned with your sales team and they’re only given marketing qualified leads to convert. Combine an Engagement Program with a smart lead qualification process prior to sending to Salesforce for them to work. Uploading your data straight into Salesforce can overwhelm sales and make it much more difficult for them to prioritise the hottest leads. Grow, then show.