- gettectonic.com

27Jun

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines

WCAG and ADA compliance While compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and WCAG conformance have become almost synonymous over the years, it’s important to understand the distinction. Since WCAG itself is not a law, but a set of accessibility standards, there is no such thing as “compliance” with WCAG. However, WCAG was designed to help website owners achieve the level of accessibility that is required by laws like the ADA. It can be helpful to think of accessibility laws such as the ADA as the end destination—i.e., web accessibility for all—while WCAG maps out how to get there. Web content accessibility guidelines follow. Republished from www.w3.org Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 covers a wide range of recommendations for making Web content more accessible. Following these guidelines will make content more accessible to a wider range of people with disabilities, including accommodations for blindness and low vision, deafness and hearing loss, limited movement, speech disabilities, photosensitivity, and combinations of these, and some accommodation for learning disabilities and cognitive limitations; but will not address every user need for people with these disabilities. These guidelines address accessibility of web content on desktops, laptops, tablets, and mobile devices. Following these guidelines will also often make Web content more usable to users in general. WCAG 2.1 success criteria are written as testable statements that are not technology-specific. Guidance about satisfying the success criteria in specific technologies, as well as general information about interpreting the success criteria, is provided in separate documents. See Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Overview for an introduction and links to WCAG technical and educational material. WCAG 2.1 extends Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 [WCAG20], which was published as a W3C Recommendation December 2008. Content that conforms to WCAG 2.1 also conforms to WCAG 2.0. The WG intends that for policies requiring conformance to WCAG 2.0, WCAG 2.1 can provide an alternate means of conformance. The publication of WCAG 2.1 does not deprecate or supersede WCAG 2.0. While WCAG 2.0 remains a W3C Recommendation, the W3C advises the use of WCAG 2.1 to maximize future applicability of accessibility efforts. The W3C also encourages use of the most current version of WCAG when developing or updating Web accessibility policies. Status of This Document This section describes the status of this document at the time of its publication. A list of current W3C publications and the latest revision of this technical report can be found in the W3C technical reports index at https://www.w3.org/TR/. This is a Recommendation of WCAG 2.1 by the Accessibility Guidelines Working Group. This incorporates errata and are described in the change log. At some point additional changes might be incorporated into an Edited or Amended Recommendation. To comment, file an issue in the W3C WCAG GitHub repository. Although the proposed Success Criteria in this document reference issues tracking discussion, the Working Group requests that public comments be filed as new issues, one issue per discrete comment. It is free to create a GitHub account to file issues. If filing issues in GitHub is not feasible, send email to [email protected] (comment archive). This document was published by the Accessibility Guidelines Working Group as a Recommendation using the Recommendation track. W3C recommends the wide deployment of this specification as a standard for the Web. A W3C Recommendation is a specification that, after extensive consensus-building, is endorsed by W3C and its Members, and has commitments from Working Group members to royalty-free licensing for implementations. This document was produced by a group operating under the 1 August 2017 W3C Patent Policy. W3C maintains a public list of any patent disclosures made in connection with the deliverables of the group; that page also includes instructions for disclosing a patent. An individual who has actual knowledge of a patent which the individual believes contains Essential Claim(s) must disclose the information in accordance with section 6 of the W3C Patent Policy. This document is governed by the 12 June 2023 W3C Process Document. Requirements for WCAG 2.1 Introduction This section is non-normative. Background on WCAG 2 Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 defines how to make Web content more accessible to people with disabilities. Accessibility involves a wide range of disabilities, including visual, auditory, physical, speech, cognitive, language, learning, and neurological disabilities. Although these guidelines cover a wide range of issues, they are not able to address the needs of people with all types, degrees, and combinations of disability. These guidelines also make Web content more usable by older individuals with changing abilities due to aging and often improve usability for users in general. WCAG 2.1 is developed through the W3C process in cooperation with individuals and organizations around the world, with a goal of providing a shared standard for Web content accessibility that meets the needs of individuals, organizations, and governments internationally. WCAG 2.1 builds on WCAG 2.0 [WCAG20], which in turn built on WCAG 1.0 [WAI-WEBCONTENT] and is designed to apply broadly to different Web technologies now and in the future, and to be testable with a combination of automated testing and human evaluation. For an introduction to WCAG, see the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Overview. Significant challenges were encountered in defining additional criteria to address cognitive, language, and learning disabilities, including a short timeline for development as well as challenges in reaching consensus on testability, implementability, and international considerations of proposals. Work will carry on in this area in future versions of WCAG. We encourage authors to refer to our supplemental guidance on improving inclusion for people with disabilities, including learning and cognitive disabilities, people with low-vision, and more. Web accessibility depends not only on accessible content but also on accessible Web browsers and other user agents. Authoring tools also have an important role in Web accessibility. For an overview of how these components of Web development and interaction work together, see: Where this document refers to WCAG 2 it is intended to mean any and all versions of WCAG that start with 2. WCAG

June 27, 2023in Salesforce Sales Cloud

26Jun

Salesforce Marketing Cloud Package Manager

Introducing the Marketing Cloud Package Manager Enhance efficiency, scale best practices, and expedite time-to-value by bundling tailored solutions for your company or industry, effortlessly deploying them across diverse environments using Marketing Cloud Package Manager. You can even deploy assets from one business unit to another. Salesforce has continuously refined, upgraded, and enriched the deployment options for Package Manager over the past year. Updates to Package Manager Marketing Cloud Package Manager now facilitates the packaging and deployment of automations containing import activities utilizing subscriber lists. Optimize the inclusion of images in packaged solutions by configuring them as reference URLs, eliminating the need to store them individually within the package. Monitor the deployment progress with the newly introduced progress bar, providing real-time insights into the completion timeline. Additionally, shared data extensions are now usable for packaging items, and users with Journey Builder access can package journey templates using Package Manager. Enhancements to Marketing Cloud Package Manager Package Manager ensures automatic inclusion of in-app messages when packaging a journey. Furthermore, any content referenced by the ContentBlockByName AMPscript function is seamlessly integrated into your package. Significant performance improvements have been implemented for package deployment, specifically for attribute group and attribute set creation and updates. Industry Solutions Templates in Package Manager Industry Solutions represent meticulously crafted campaign templates featuring industry-specific journeys, content, automations, landing pages, and more, facilitating accelerated workflows for marketers. These templates are designed to streamline Marketing Cloud setup times and accommodate various instances for distinct business units. Available solutions encompass: Retail Re-Engagement How to Deploy: To initiate the solution deployment process in Package Manager, navigate to the Industry Solutions tab. Choose the relevant solution, and with a simple click, deploy the chosen solution for seamless integration into your Marketing Cloud environment. Like1 Related Posts Salesforce Data Studio Data Studio Overview Salesforce Data Studio is Salesforce’s premier solution for audience discovery, data acquisition, and data provisioning, offering access Read more How Travel Companies Are Using Big Data and Analytics In today’s hyper-competitive business world, travel and hospitality consumers have more choices than ever before. With hundreds of hotel chains Read more Integration of Salesforce Sales Cloud to Google Analytics 360 Announced In November 2017, Google unveiled a groundbreaking partnership with Salesforce, outlining their commitment to develop innovative integrations between Google Analytics Read more Overlooked Costs of a Salesforce Implementation Let’s look at some frequently overlooked Salesforce costs. The goal is to provide businesses and decision-makers with a comprehensive understanding Read more

June 26, 2023in Salesforce Marketing Cloud

22Jun

Salesforce Data Cloud Terminology

The Data Cloud remains one of Salesforce’s most enigmatic products, often touted for its seemingly ‘magical’ capabilities. Recently, Salesforce made waves by announcing complimentary Data Cloud licenses (albeit with certain restrictions), prompting numerous organizations to explore this platform’s potential. Salesforce Data Cloud Terminology. When diving into any significant facet of the Salesforce ecosystem, navigating a learning curve is par for the course. Familiarizing oneself with the terminology and its practical implications is a crucial starting point to feeling confident with the technology. Introducing Your Guide to Salesforce Safety Net 3 Within this guide, we explain essential terminology to grasp data modeling concepts and elucidate how data traverses through various stages within the Data Cloud, culminating in the activation of refined segments. Understanding these foundational concepts in data sourcing is pivotal when working with the Data Cloud. Given the diverse origins of streamed data, akin to Marketing Cloud data extensions, a grasp of these terms proves invaluable. Primary Key: A distinguishing field within a dataset, such as the Salesforce record ID. Foreign Key: Facilitates linking data across distinct tables or sources; for instance, correlating an OrderID between customer records and order details datasets from an eCommerce platform. To satiate the voracious appetite of the Data Cloud, ingestion serves as the conduit for feeding it with data. Various methods, including SDKs, Connectors, and the Ingestion API, facilitate this process. SDKs: Accelerate integration setup, with examples like the Interactions SDK and Engagement Mobile SDK from Salesforce. Connectors: Pre-built integrations simplifying connections between Salesforce products and Data Cloud. Ingestion API: Enables developers to construct integrations from scratch for data sources not covered by SDKs or connectors. Datasets from disparate sources enter the Data Cloud as data streams, with their frequency of updates dictated by operational needs and API capabilities. Real-time data streams: Immediate data updates. Batched data streams: Data updates occur at predetermined intervals, such as hourly or daily. Visualize the Salesforce data model, where objects relate to one another; these objects collaboratively manage ingested data within the Data Cloud. Data Source object: Initial repository for ingested data in its raw format. Data Lake object: Facilitates data mapping to other sources and applies transformations. Data Model object: Resembles Salesforce objects structurally, facilitating relational data management without storing data internally. The mapping canvas provides a visual interface for aligning disparate data points, crucial for rendering ingested data usable through mappings from data source to data lake objects. During this process, primary keys and match/reconciliation rules are specified. Data Cloud’s strength lies in resolving discrepancies to compile comprehensive records, essential for maintaining unified profiles across platforms without merging records. Building upon traditional Salesforce duplicate and matching rules, Data Cloud offers deterministic and probabilistic matching, catering to various data representation nuances. Similar to Salesforce deduplication concepts, reconciliation rules determine the preferred value for fields, aiding in mass deduplication. Ranking data sources according to reliability helps prioritize trustworthy data over less accurate sources within the Data Cloud. Identity resolution culminates in unified profiles, representing the ‘golden record’ of individuals, adaptable to evolving data streams. Comparable to Salesforce roll-up fields, calculated insights derive new data points from existing ones, enriching data analysis capabilities. Streaming insights offer real-time or near-real-time analysis, suited for smaller datasets requiring swift insights. Activation transpires when perfected segments are dispatched to destinations for personalized interactions, spanning Marketing Cloud, advertising platforms, and other repositories. Data actions trigger alerts or events based on streaming insights and engagement data, fostering automation and integration across Salesforce platforms. In Summary Mastering the Data Cloud entails navigating its terminologies and understanding how data evolves through its lifecycle, culminating in the activation of refined segments for personalized interactions. Like1 Related Posts Salesforce OEM AppExchange Expanding its reach beyond CRM, Salesforce.com has launched a new service called AppExchange OEM Edition, aimed at non-CRM service providers. Read more The Salesforce Story In Marc Benioff’s own words How did salesforce.com grow from a start up in a rented apartment into the world’s Read more Salesforce Jigsaw Salesforce.com, a prominent figure in cloud computing, has finalized a deal to acquire Jigsaw, a wiki-style business contact database, for Read more Health Cloud Brings Healthcare Transformation Following swiftly after last week’s successful launch of Financial Services Cloud, Salesforce has announced the second installment in its series Read more

June 22, 2023in Salesforce Data Cloud

21Jun

Lead Assignment Automation for Salesforce

Automating Lead Assignment for Salesforce Platforms with Lead Assignment Automation for Salesforce Effective lead assignment within Salesforce is critical to ensure that sales-ready leads are directed to the appropriate individuals at the right moment. This process should never be overlooked. Lead assignment ensures that when a lead is marketing qualified or sales qualified it is contacted. Lead assignment plays a pivotal role in ensuring that sales-ready leads are promptly delivered to the right sales representatives, which underscores the significance of automating this process across various Salesforce platforms, from Account Engagement to Sales Cloud and Marketing Cloud to Sales Cloud. The primary goal for marketers is to assign inbound leads in the most efficient manner possible, and Salesforce’s lead assignment features empower us to achieve precisely that. With automation! Whether to queues or designated account representatives, this frees up your time to go back to marketing. If you’ve been manually assigning leads up until now, get ready for a transformative experience. Lead Assignment Automation for Salesforce And for those already leveraging automated lead assignment features in your Salesforce accounts, don’t rush to stop reading just yet. Stay tuned to ensure you’re adhering to best practices and making lead assignment (also known as lead routing) as seamless as possible with this insight from Tectonic. For this insight, we’ll assume you’re using Sales Cloud alongside Account Engagement and/or Marketing Cloud. This involves two essential components to ensure smooth lead assignment: integrating and configuring your Salesforce products to work harmoniously together and setting up Lead Assignment Rules in Salesforce. Part 1 – Configuring Your Salesforce Products Integration The initial crucial step is to establish connectivity between your platforms using the Salesforce Connector for Account Engagement or Marketing Cloud Connect, depending on your usage. Connecting Marketing Cloud Account Engagement and Sales Cloud via the Salesforce Connector is relatively straightforward, enabling the two platforms to communicate and share data seamlessly, eliminating the need for manual data imports and exports by marketers. You’ll find the Salesforce Connector on the AppExchange, and Salesforce provides an implementation guide, which includes pre-installation considerations. Tectonic can assist. Ensure you’re utilizing the V2 Connector; if you’re currently using the connector but haven’t upgraded, make that your first step. Marketing Data Sharing Upon installing the Account Engagement-Salesforce Connector, you’ll encounter ‘Marketing Data Sharing,’ which allows you to control which Leads, Contacts, Opportunities, or custom objects are eligible for syncing from Salesforce to Account Engagement. This feature is ideal for organizations with multiple Business Units and can also benefit those with a single unit. MDS offers greater control over when prospect and lead records are created, contributing to effective lead management. Understanding Sync Behaviors Once your platforms are connected, make time to fully understand how data syncs between them. You can designate either Account Engagement or Salesforce as the ‘master’ values, ensuring consistency in case of discrepancies between the platforms. Additionally, you can opt to use the ‘most recently updated record’ as the standard. This option ensures data is up to date regardless of which platform it was last updated in. For Account Engagement and Sales Cloud, prospects’ records typically sync every two to four minutes, with immediate syncing for most records. However, Account Engagement processes sync queues with over 400 records in batches. Standard batch processing syncs 12,000 records per hour. Certain activities can trigger a sync, which can occur at a prospect, trigger, or system level. We recommend reviewing a comprehensive guide to Account Engagement and Salesforce sync behaviors for newcomers to this topic or to validate your current sync settings for accuracy and error-free operations. Part 2 – Setting Up Lead Assignment Planning Lead Assignment and Criteria Assuming successful integration and syncing of accounts, you’re now poised to plan and implement lead assignment using predefined criteria. Differentiate between implicit and explicit leads based on lead scoring and grading: The perfect sales-ready or marketing qualified lead will meet both explicit and implicit criteria. Therefore, your first task is to collaboratively define and document what constitutes a qualified lead, involving both marketing and sales teams. Only after establishing a clear definition of a sales-ready lead can you proceed to map out who should receive such leads, when, and how. Consider the following: Utilize these considerations to outline more precise criteria: Document your lead assignment plan offline before implementing changes in Salesforce accounts. This aids in gaining a clear understanding of the workflow and allows for validation before modifying settings that could lead to issues later. For that matter you should always document system modifications. Creating a Lead Assignment Rule in Salesforce Navigate to the ‘Marketing’ section in Salesforce and access ‘Lead Assignment Rules.’ Here, you can create a Lead Assignment Rule; note that only one rule can be active at a time. Specify the processing order for each criterion when creating a rule, prioritizing the most important criteria first. Once criteria are entered (ensuring you have necessary data values to match the rule), select the assignment action: To assign a lead to a ‘Queue,’ first create the Queue in Salesforce’s Administration > Users > Queues section. For instance, set up Queues for each region’s sales team with relevant users as members (e.g., ‘Leads – UK’ or ‘Leads – Germany’). Once activated, all leads will be assigned based on the active rule. Consider adding a final criteria to catch all other leads and assign them to a default user or queue for review and manual assignment if needed. Triggering LARs from Account Engagement/Marketing Cloud Lead assignment complexities arise when determining how leads are assigned in Salesforce via Account Engagement or Marketing Cloud. Account Engagement In Account Engagement, formerly Pardot, prospects must have an assigned user to sync with Salesforce initially. However, an assigned user bypasses the Salesforce Lead Assignment Rule. For organizations preferring a Lead Assignment Rule in Salesforce to automate large lead volumes among multiple users, select ‘Assign Prospect Via Salesforce Active Assignment Rule’ within the Completion Actions (for forms, form handlers, custom redirects, emails, and page actions), Automation Rules, or Engagement

June 21, 2023in Einstein Insights, Salesforce, Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Salesforce Marketing Cloud Account Engagement (Pardot), Salesforce Optimization, Salesforce Sales Cloud

20Jun

Key Metrics of a Sales Pipeline

Key Metrics of a Sales Pipeline ensure you measure statistics that drive the needle to results. Initiate the optimization of your sales pipeline by incorporating vital elements that span distinct stages and pivotal metrics. Here are essential considerations: Lead Source: Determine how potential clients discover your business, whether through digital advertisements, print marketing, email campaigns, customer referrals, or alternative methods. Evaluate the effectiveness of each source in terms of conversion rates, enabling a focused approach on the most productive channels. Industry: Identify industries where your product resonates more effectively with clients. Concentrate marketing efforts on specific industries, tailoring strategies to align with their preferences and needs. Decision Makers Involved: Quantify the number of client-side contacts participating in the decision-making process. Customize strategies based on the roles of each contact, adapting approaches for CEOs, finance directors, or CTOs. Deal Size: Categorize buyers based on their willingness to invest, distinguishing between those with substantial budgets and those with more conservative ones. Tailor your presentations to accommodate the budget constraints and preferences of different segments. Probability to Close: Evaluate the likelihood of each lead transitioning into a customer. Consider factors like the sales pipeline stage, team interactions, and other criteria indicating the lead’s readiness to finalize a deal. Ensure the adaptability of your sales pipeline design, allowing for diverse analyses and inquiries. Regularly review and adjust your template to detect data anomalies, enabling the resolution of issues in your sales funnel and the maximization of opportunities to expedite your sales process. Key Metrics of a Sales Pipeline Like1 Related Posts Salesforce OEM AppExchange Expanding its reach beyond CRM, Salesforce.com has launched a new service called AppExchange OEM Edition, aimed at non-CRM service providers. Read more Salesforce Jigsaw Salesforce.com, a prominent figure in cloud computing, has finalized a deal to acquire Jigsaw, a wiki-style business contact database, for Read more Health Cloud Brings Healthcare Transformation Following swiftly after last week’s successful launch of Financial Services Cloud, Salesforce has announced the second installment in its series Read more Top Ten Reasons Why Tectonic Loves the Cloud The Cloud is Good for Everyone – Why Tectonic loves the cloud You don’t need to worry about tracking licenses. Read more

June 20, 2023in Salesforce Sales Cloud

19Jun

Writing and Sending Marketing Automation in Salesforce

Marketing automation refers to technology that efficiently manages various marketing processes and multifaceted campaigns across multiple channels. It automates the targeting of customers through messages delivered via email, web, social media, and text. These messages are sent automatically based on predefined sets of instructions known as workflows. These workflows can be template-defined, custom-built, or adjusted during a campaign for improved outcomes. Marketing automation in Salesforce is the same, only better. The primary functions of marketing automation encompass lead generation, nurturing, scoring, and measuring the overall return on investment (ROI) of campaigns. As an organization grows in size and complexity, the time- and cost-saving benefits of automation become more apparent. Robust marketing automation systems are designed to seamlessly scale alongside the evolving needs of your business. Why Marketing Automation By employing marketing automation, you can execute a digital marketing strategy without the need to manually send every email, message, campaign, or post. Efficient automation tools aid in audience identification, content design, and the automatic triggering of actions based on schedules and customer behavior. This allows you to focus on other tasks while your campaign unfolds, enabling subsequent analysis and adjustments to your marketing plan based on emerging results. An automated marketing strategy proves invaluable in saving time and resources, driving revenue and ROI, while enabling you to concentrate on business growth. Customer data is collected through various interactions, such as emails, website visits, app usage, and social media engagement. Marketing automation leverages this data to create a comprehensive 360-degree view of each customer. The system streamlines segmentation and targeting processes, enabling quick and scalable identification of the right audiences. It tailors messaging automatically based on individual customer profiles, creating relevant and personalized content across email, mobile, social media, web experiences, and more. Whether dealing with a customer base of 100 or 100 million, marketing automation efficiently delivers personalized experiences. At scale. Marketing automation plays a pivotal role in crafting relevant content and messaging across diverse channels. It goes beyond mere personalization by dynamically customizing email subject lines, integrating mobile messaging with email and social campaigns, generating targeted digital ads, and automatically recommending suitable products on websites. Marketing Automation in Salesforce This approach allows businesses to engage customers throughout their journey, irrespective of where they are in the customer lifecycle — from acquisition to advocacy. Marketing automation ensures the delivery of timely, pertinent content that aligns with customer preferences, converting prospects into lifelong brand advocates. Emphasizing ease of use, marketing automation enables the creation of campaigns with a single click and centralizes control over all aspects of the digital marketing strategy. User-friendly interfaces and drag-and-drop functionality, reminiscent of everyday apps, make the process straightforward. Moreover, marketing automation with Salesforce serves as a central hub for customer data, ensuring a consistent brand identity across all teams — seamlessly bringing together marketing, sales, and customer service to create a unified and seamless customer experience. Automation Assistance Tectonic looks forward to assisting you in implementing a marketing automation platform, such as Marketing Cloud or Account Engagement (formerly Pardot), and providing consulting services to optimize your emails for maximum impact. Contact us today. Like2 Related Posts Salesforce OEM AppExchange Expanding its reach beyond CRM, Salesforce.com has launched a new service called AppExchange OEM Edition, aimed at non-CRM service providers. Read more The Salesforce Story In Marc Benioff’s own words How did salesforce.com grow from a start up in a rented apartment into the world’s Read more Salesforce Jigsaw Salesforce.com, a prominent figure in cloud computing, has finalized a deal to acquire Jigsaw, a wiki-style business contact database, for Read more Health Cloud Brings Healthcare Transformation Following swiftly after last week’s successful launch of Financial Services Cloud, Salesforce has announced the second installment in its series Read more

June 19, 2023in Data, Marketing Automation, Salesforce, Salesforce Communications Cloud, Salesforce Marketing Automation, Salesforce Marketing Cloud Advertising, Salesforce Optimization, Technology

18Jun

AI in Salesforce Service Cloud

Deliver personalized service and save time with AI built directly into your flow of service work. Utilize Salesforce’s trusted AI for customer service to create seamless conversational, predictive, and generative AI experiences for your agents and customers. Service Cloud has everything you need to scale now and drive immediate value. Salesforce launched Service Intelligence, a powerful new analytics app for Service Cloud designed to boost agent productivity, cut costs, and enhance customer satisfaction. And now you have AI in Service Cloud. Powered by Data Cloud, Salesforce’s real-time hyperscale data engine, Service Intelligence gives users access to all of their data directly within Service Cloud, eliminating the need to toggle between screens for information. Pre-built, customizable dashboards inside Service Intelligence provide a view of essential metrics like customer satisfaction and individual and team workloads. And, with Einstein Conversation Mining, service professionals can use AI to analyze customer chat and email conversations to uncover insights — like specific challenges customers face during service interactions — assess the likelihood of complaint escalation, and proactively address the issue with the customer. To add AI in Service Cloud to your instance, contact Tectonic today. Service Intelligence, a new analytics app for Service Cloud is designed to boost productivity, cut costs, and enhance customer satisfaction. AI is gaining prominence among service professionals, with an 88% increase in AI adoption from 2020 to 2022. This is no surprise, as 63% of service professionals say AI will help them serve customers faster. By embracing AI, service professionals can make informed decisions fast and enhance customer satisfaction, securing a competitive edge. Like Related Posts Health Cloud Brings Healthcare Transformation Following swiftly after last week’s successful launch of Financial Services Cloud, Salesforce has announced the second installment in its series Read more Salesforce Artificial Intelligence Is artificial intelligence integrated into Salesforce? Salesforce Einstein stands as an intelligent layer embedded within the Lightning Platform, bringing robust Read more CRM Cloud Salesforce What is a CRM Cloud Salesforce? Salesforce Service Cloud is a customer relationship management (CRM) platform for Salesforce clients to Read more Salesforce’s Quest for AI for the Masses The software engine, Optimus Prime (not to be confused with the Autobot leader), originated in a basement beneath a West Read more

June 18, 2023in Salesforce Einstein, Salesforce Manufacturing Automotive Energy, Salesforce Service Cloud

Salesforce Quip Sales Cloud Service Cloud

17Jun

Salesforce Records in Quip

Integrate your Salesforce records directly into Quip, enabling streamlined collaboration and efficient workflows. With Quip, you can customize record views, perform bulk updates, and sync changes seamlessly to Salesforce. Additionally, you can add notes and define next steps to share with your team, keeping everyone aligned. The Salesforce Record Live App in Quip connects your free-form content with Salesforce data. This integration ensures your records stay up to date and readily accessible for collaboration. To enhance team productivity, import your Salesforce records into Quip and customize them to fit your needs. Using Salesforce Template Records in Quip Template Records allow dynamic integration between Salesforce data and Quip templates. When a document is created from an embedded template, the Template Records automatically populate with relevant data and stay synced to Salesforce. Control which fields are displayed to ensure information remains relevant, fostering better adoption of tools like Account Plans. Setting Up Salesforce Template Records Key Considerations By leveraging Salesforce Template Records in Quip, you can ensure your team has real-time access to relevant data while maintaining streamlined processes for document creation and collaboration. Like Related Posts Salesforce OEM AppExchange Expanding its reach beyond CRM, Salesforce.com has launched a new service called AppExchange OEM Edition, aimed at non-CRM service providers. Read more The Salesforce Story In Marc Benioff’s own words How did salesforce.com grow from a start up in a rented apartment into the world’s Read more Salesforce Jigsaw Salesforce.com, a prominent figure in cloud computing, has finalized a deal to acquire Jigsaw, a wiki-style business contact database, for Read more Health Cloud Brings Healthcare Transformation Following swiftly after last week’s successful launch of Financial Services Cloud, Salesforce has announced the second installment in its series Read more

June 17, 2023in Data, Salesforce Development Services, Salesforce Optimization

16Jun

Codescan Salesforce

Codescan Salesforce by AutoRABIT is a static code analysis solution that provides visibility into code health from the first line written through final deployment into production. Reliable code analysis directly on the AutoRABIT DevSecOps platform drives Salesforce development quality, speed, and security. The quick code scan tool is free of charge at this time. Code Scanning Definition Code scanning is the process of examining code to identify bugs, errors, and security flaws. Any issues found are displayed, enabling you to address them quickly and enhance the security of your application. What is the CodeScan tool for Salesforce? CodeScan Shield is the leading end-to-end static code analysis solution for code security and quality. Lightning ready and exclusively for the Salesforce platform, CodeScan increases productivity, quality, and security for all Salesforce DevOps teams. What does static code analysis do? Static analysis is a method of debugging that is done by automatically examining the source code without having to execute the program. This provides developers with an understanding of their code base and helps ensure that it is compliant, safe, and secure. The most comprehensive code analysis tool supporting SF languages and metadata. Track and control your SF code quality with CodeScan. Robust Analysis for High-Quality Code and Intuitive Governance Total visibility over the health of your environment reduces costs and increases time to market. Like Related Posts Salesforce OEM AppExchange Expanding its reach beyond CRM, Salesforce.com has launched a new service called AppExchange OEM Edition, aimed at non-CRM service providers. Read more The Salesforce Story In Marc Benioff’s own words How did salesforce.com grow from a start up in a rented apartment into the world’s Read more Salesforce Jigsaw Salesforce.com, a prominent figure in cloud computing, has finalized a deal to acquire Jigsaw, a wiki-style business contact database, for Read more Health Cloud Brings Healthcare Transformation Following swiftly after last week’s successful launch of Financial Services Cloud, Salesforce has announced the second installment in its series Read more

June 16, 2023in Salesforce

15Jun

Scale Data and Analytics in the Cloud

Winning in the Data Economy In the rapidly growing data economy, enterprises are eager to gain a competitive edge. This data economy, which revolves around the global supply and demand for data and data-driven applications, continues to expand as more organizations seek critical insights to drive their success. Scale Data and Analytics in the Cloud. The value of data isn’t a new concept. Companies acquired other companies for the sole purpose of obtaining their data – customers, prospects, etc. The value of actionable data is a bit newer. Whereas we once marketed to prospects based primarily on historical data, data-driven applications let us market at the right time on the right channel with the right message. To understand what it takes to excel in the new data economy, Tableau partner Snowflake surveyed business and technology leaders. Their research highlighted the characteristics of the leaders and laggards, emphasizing the importance of a strong data strategy for achieving successful outcomes. Industries like financial services, health and life sciences, and retail are still struggling to fully benefit from the data economy, often finding it challenging to unlock the full value of their data. Here are four key actions that can help organizations win in today’s data economy and achieve tangible results: 1. Create a Strong Data Culture A robust data culture is foundational for realizing the value of data. Organizations that prioritize becoming data-driven see significant benefits: Jennifer Belissent, Principal Data Strategist at Snowflake, emphasizes how a cloud-enabled data culture accelerates time-to-value by breaking down organizational silos. Tableau offers a playbook to help organizations build, expand, and mature their data capabilities. 2. Adopt an AI-Driven, Enterprise-Ready Analytics Platform Data leaders utilize AI-driven enterprise analytics platforms like Tableau, which provide trusted predictions and insights to scale decision-making. Traditional solutions often fall short in delivering speed to insight and self-service capabilities. Tableau, particularly with Tableau Cloud, offers an easy-to-scale solution that manages and analyzes data across various sources, supporting meaningful impact and agility. Tableau Cloud’s Advanced Management capabilities enhance security, usability, and scalability. Additionally, Tableau Accelerators—over 100 ready-to-use, in-product dashboard starters—support various industries, enabling comprehensive analysis and problem-solving. 3. Migrate to the Cloud Cloud adoption is accelerating as organizations pursue data-driven digital transformations. The cloud offers flexibility, agility, scalability, reduced IT overhead, and increased resilience and performance. Key considerations for cloud migration include: Whether opting for on-premise, hybrid, or full cloud migration, Tableau connects to data wherever it resides, fueling insights across the business. Tableau’s own journey to the cloud involved evaluating criteria, enhancing collaboration, and applying new data management processes, resulting in a unified source of truth. 4. Choose the Right Partners to Scale Cloud-Native Analytics Selecting partners that facilitate cloud-native analytics is crucial. Ideal partners should offer: Snowflake and Tableau exemplify these qualities, addressing data and organizational demands. Snowflake provides extensive data storage and processing, while Tableau offers intuitive, self-service analytics. This partnership has helped enterprises like Cart.com achieve significant revenue growth by embedding Tableau analytics in Snowflake’s platform. Embrace the Data Economy with Cloud-Native Analytics Regardless of where your organization stands in the data economy, taking steps to leverage cloud-native analytics can unlock numerous opportunities. Tableau continues to invest in its platform to help organizations thrive with data in the cloud, offering expert advice, solutions, and valuable partnerships. By adopting these strategies, your organization can become a leader in the data economy and achieve remarkable results. Like Related Posts Salesforce OEM AppExchange Expanding its reach beyond CRM, Salesforce.com has launched a new service called AppExchange OEM Edition, aimed at non-CRM service providers. Read more The Salesforce Story In Marc Benioff’s own words How did salesforce.com grow from a start up in a rented apartment into the world’s Read more Salesforce Jigsaw Salesforce.com, a prominent figure in cloud computing, has finalized a deal to acquire Jigsaw, a wiki-style business contact database, for Read more Health Cloud Brings Healthcare Transformation Following swiftly after last week’s successful launch of Financial Services Cloud, Salesforce has announced the second installment in its series Read more

June 15, 2023in Salesforce Data Cloud, Snowflake

14Jun

Marketing GPT and Commerce GPT Announcement

Salesforce Introduces Marketing GPT and Commerce GPT to Revolutionize Personalized Campaigns and Shopping Experiences with Generative AI San Francisco — June 7, 2023 — Salesforce (NYSE: CRM), the global CRM leader, announced today at Connections its latest innovations, Marketing GPT and Commerce GPT, which combine generative AI with real-time data from Data Cloud. These groundbreaking products aim to transform how businesses engage with customers by delivering personalized experiences across every touchpoint. Significance: Generative AI is driving efficiency and productivity for businesses, with 60% of marketers acknowledging its transformative potential. However, concerns about accuracy and quality remain prevalent, highlighting the importance of trusted customer data for effective generative AI implementation. What’s new: Marketing GPT empowers marketers to create personalized, relevant experiences using generative AI and trusted first-party data from Data Cloud. With Marketing GPT and Data Cloud, marketers can: Commerce GPT enables companies to deliver customized shopping experiences throughout the buyer’s journey with auto-generated insights and recommendations based on unified real-time data from Data Cloud. With Commerce GPT and Data Cloud, brands can: Salesforce partners like DEPT®, Media.Monks, NeuraFlash, and Slalom are building a generative AI ecosystem with new accelerators, language models, and integrations to simplify Marketing GPT and Commerce GPT implementation for businesses. Soundbites: Availability: Like1 Related Posts Salesforce OEM AppExchange Expanding its reach beyond CRM, Salesforce.com has launched a new service called AppExchange OEM Edition, aimed at non-CRM service providers. Read more The Salesforce Story In Marc Benioff’s own words How did salesforce.com grow from a start up in a rented apartment into the world’s Read more Salesforce Jigsaw Salesforce.com, a prominent figure in cloud computing, has finalized a deal to acquire Jigsaw, a wiki-style business contact database, for Read more Health Cloud Brings Healthcare Transformation Following swiftly after last week’s successful launch of Financial Services Cloud, Salesforce has announced the second installment in its series Read more

June 14, 2023in Generative AI, Salesforce Einstein

13Jun

Account Engagement Optimizer

Introducing Account Engagement Optimizer: Elevating Account Engagement Performance Account Engagement, formerly Pardot, Optimizer is a powerful tool designed to deliver actionable insights for improving the performance of your Account Engagement application. This automated recommendation tool concentrates on streamlining email send times, expediting automation processing, and ensuring the optimal functionality of your application. It aids administrators by categorizing recommendations into critical and lower-priority actions, facilitating efficient management. To explore and implement Account Engagement Optimizer’s recommendations, follow these straightforward steps: For pausing or resuming actions, follow these steps: For efficient management of dynamic lists, proceed as follows: Account Engagement, aka Pardot, Optimizer provides a comprehensive view of your business units, flagging items needing attention and offering proactive recommendations for swift action. The tool includes a table featuring suggested actions, enabling prioritization based on urgency and potential impact on your organization. Features like email send time monitoring and visitor tracking contribute to an enhanced overall account health score gauge chart. Introduced as a pilot in Spring ’23, Pardot Optimizer is now available in beta. Access to this tool is limited to Pardot Administrators, while Marketing users in Pardot can request Admin privileges to leverage this feature. To access Pardot Optimizer: Enabling Optimizer is a permanent action and cannot be undone. Once enabled, the Optimizer page displays recommendations, allowing you to take necessary actions and efficiently manage critical tasks. Pardot Optimizer proves to be a valuable tool, aiding administrators in optimizing system bandwidth, improving efficiency, and ensuring a seamless processing experience. With four Maintenance Resources – Table Action Manager, Inactive Automation Rules, Inactive Dynamic Lists, and Unused Dynamic Lists – administrators can uphold their Account Engagement business unit in top-notch condition. Like2 Related Posts Salesforce OEM AppExchange Expanding its reach beyond CRM, Salesforce.com has launched a new service called AppExchange OEM Edition, aimed at non-CRM service providers. Read more The Salesforce Story In Marc Benioff’s own words How did salesforce.com grow from a start up in a rented apartment into the world’s Read more Salesforce Jigsaw Salesforce.com, a prominent figure in cloud computing, has finalized a deal to acquire Jigsaw, a wiki-style business contact database, for Read more Health Cloud Brings Healthcare Transformation Following swiftly after last week’s successful launch of Financial Services Cloud, Salesforce has announced the second installment in its series Read more

June 13, 2023in Salesforce Marketing Cloud Account Engagement (Pardot)

12Jun

Data Management in Salesforce Marketing Cloud Account Engagement

Data Management in Salesforce Marketing Cloud Account Engagement by Tectonic Salesforce Marketing Consultant, Shannan Hearne One of the most critical aspects to begin on the right foot within Salesforce Marketing Cloud Account Engagement (Pardot) is the organization of your data—comprising lists, prospects, email assets, campaigns, and forms. Properly “filing” these elements is essential for maximizing the tracking and reporting capabilities inherent in your Salesforce Marketing Cloud Account Engagement digital marketing tool. Failure in data organization poses significant risks to your business, including: To maintain an organized instance of Marketing Cloud Account Engagement, regularly check for sync errors between Salesforce and Account Engagement. Ensure that the Salesforce connector has all necessary permissions, preventing future issues with automation or reporting features. By consistently monitoring the connector, data synchronization across platforms can be assured, avoiding discrepancies between sales and marketing information. Enable features like email send result reporting back to your Salesforce database for daily insights into campaign results and connector health. Data Management in Salesforce Marketing Cloud Account Engagement Associating assets with the correct Marketing Cloud Account Engagement campaigns is crucial for effective tracking and reporting. Remove irrelevant campaigns to declutter your Marketing Cloud Account Engagement instance, promoting transparency. Periodically review and streamline custom fields, eliminating redundant ones and identifying fields needed for segmenting data or pulling additional data from Salesforce. Organization of Content Maintain a clear and logical folder structure for efficient asset management, saving time and preventing lost or duplicated assets. Organize marketing assets into logical folders and sub-folders, ensuring transparency and accessibility for Marketing Cloud Account Engagement users. Establish and enforce proper naming conventions for assets, promoting easy retrieval and future reviews. Many administrators will go a step farther with a standard naming convention such as year-month-line of business-campaign-asset. Utilize Marketing Cloud Account Engagement tags for sorting, organizing, and searching content, enhancing overall asset management. Apply tags to prospects for efficient reviewing or reporting, and maintain consistency in naming conventions organization-wide. Employ dynamic lists to automatically segment prospects based on defined criteria, ensuring ease of management and organization. Use rules to add and remove tags based on completion or actions taken by prospects. Data Management in The Recycle Bin of Account Engagement Leverage the Marketing Cloud Account Engagement recycle bin to retain deleted items and easily restore them if needed. Keep an eye on usage limits through the admin panel, especially file storage limits. Utilize the recycle bin to free up space by placing unnecessary items, like outdated Marketing Cloud Account Engagement-hosted files or inactive prospects, in the bin. Regularly check and enable features like Handlebars Merge Language (HML) for advanced personalization in emails and landing pages. Stay updated on new features to maximize the benefits of your Marketing Cloud Account Engagement. Tectonic, through managed services, ensures Marketing Cloud Account Engagement instances are up-to-date, offering customization and training for optimal utilization. Contact us for a Marketing Cloud Account Engagement analysis and cleanup tailored to your company’s needs. Like1 Related Posts Salesforce OEM AppExchange Expanding its reach beyond CRM, Salesforce.com has launched a new service called AppExchange OEM Edition, aimed at non-CRM service providers. Read more The Salesforce Story In Marc Benioff’s own words How did salesforce.com grow from a start up in a rented apartment into the world’s Read more Salesforce Jigsaw Salesforce.com, a prominent figure in cloud computing, has finalized a deal to acquire Jigsaw, a wiki-style business contact database, for Read more Health Cloud Brings Healthcare Transformation Following swiftly after last week’s successful launch of Financial Services Cloud, Salesforce has announced the second installment in its series Read more

June 12, 2023in Data, Salesforce, Salesforce Managed Services, Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Salesforce Marketing Cloud Account Engagement (Pardot)

12Jun

Subscription Models

In today’s business world, numerous companies are either adopting or considering the implementation of paid subscription models. A subscription model involves providing products or services to customers on a recurring basis, usually monthly or annually, in exchange for a regular and likely reduced fee. This approach helps companies establish predictable revenue streams, foster customer loyalty, and offer flexibility to customers. Successfully refreshing the pricing strategy for your subscription business requires two essential components: a clear picture of what success looks like and a customer-first approach. Recurring revenue serves as a cornerstone for growth and predictability in business operations. By incorporating Subscription Models, companies can initiate each quarter with a baseline revenue, providing a foundation for continued growth. Customers benefit from flexible payment options, such as pay-as-you-go, facilitating easier commitment to purchases. Subscription Models While building recurring revenue through subscriptions is advantageous, success is not guaranteed solely by its implementation. Traditional billing methods may hinder the full potential of subscription selling, necessitating collaboration between sales and finance teams to introduce new processes and technology to capture maximum value. The first step to refreshing your pricing strategy is to identify what’s not currently working. Signals of dysfunction, such as excessive discounts, constant promotions, and static price rates, indicate areas for improvement. A thorough review of these red flags helps identify the goal of your pricing refresh. Have a clear picture of the metric you are trying to move, whether it’s increasing customers in a particular segment or improving the upsell path. Paralysis of Analysis After the initial analysis stage, many companies find themselves in a state of paralysis. We call that paralysis of analysis. It’s crucial to be cautious with existing customers while applying new pricing to new customers. Set a timeline for when your new subscription pricing will be available to new customers and work backward from there. Pilot your new pricing with both new and existing customers, supporting both old and new pricing in your catalog for testing, iteration, and repetition. For new customers, test the right price point and packaging strategy, then roll it out to all new customers after the launch date. For existing customers, identify those who will benefit from the new pricing strategy and start with them. It’s imperative to pilot your new pricing with both new and existing customers, ensuring a smooth transition. Salesforce’s Next Best Action tool will help you automate this process. The adoption of recurring revenue models extends beyond technology companies. Michelin, for instance, successfully transitioned to a recurring revenue model by charging customers based on mileage instead of selling tires outright. This strategic shift increased profits and maintained Michelin’s competitive edge in the tire industry. This example underscores that any company, regardless of industry, can develop a subscription-based model for their existing lines of business. Recurring Revenue In a subscription model, customers are charged on a recurring basis for a product or service. They choose how long and how often they want to receive each offer, with the option to renew or cancel at any time. This approach creates a contract between the business and the customer, providing a steady and predictable revenue stream. It also has been proven to enhance customer loyalty and satisfaction. A subscription business model is one in which customers are charged a recurring fee for access to a product, replacing a one-time expense. This recurring fee is typically paid monthly or yearly, offering customers the flexibility to choose the frequency of their purchases. In some cases customers can even choose the delay period between shipments. Like Related Posts Salesforce OEM AppExchange Expanding its reach beyond CRM, Salesforce.com has launched a new service called AppExchange OEM Edition, aimed at non-CRM service providers. Read more The Salesforce Story In Marc Benioff’s own words How did salesforce.com grow from a start up in a rented apartment into the world’s Read more Salesforce Jigsaw Salesforce.com, a prominent figure in cloud computing, has finalized a deal to acquire Jigsaw, a wiki-style business contact database, for Read more Health Cloud Brings Healthcare Transformation Following swiftly after last week’s successful launch of Financial Services Cloud, Salesforce has announced the second installment in its series Read more

June 12, 2023in Salesforce

11Jun

Interaction Studio (Marketing Cloud Personalization)

Marketing Cloud Personalization, a component of Salesforce Marketing Cloud, serves as a real-time personalization and interaction management solution. Formerly known as Interaction Studio, this tool empowers organizations, particularly marketers, to dynamically promote relevant products and services in real-time across various channels such as web, email, and mobile. Website and App Personalization Leverage machine learning and AI to craft personalized experiences across webpages, in-app interfaces, product recommendations, and content. Tailor each customer interaction to drive specific key performance indicators (KPIs), from acquisition to customer retention, utilizing a blend of real-time user behavior and historical customer data. Enhance page personalization with machine learning for elements like banners or pop-ups, and conduct targeting and testing at the pace customers browse, with personalization decisions occurring in milliseconds. AI-Driven Journey Triggers Initiate relevant, real-time experiences guiding customers along their buying journey. Utilize AI-driven decisions to identify the most fitting next engagement, based on real-time customer behavior, historical data, and business-specific datasets such as pricing and inventory. Deliver predefined experiences, such as browsing or cart abandon journeys, while employing real-time customer interactions to determine the appropriate content, channel, or offer. Sales and Service Personalization Integrate real-time engagement data seamlessly into sales and service consoles to enhance customer and prospect interactions. Empower service teams to preempt queries and offer more effective case resolutions by gaining faster access to a customer’s recent interactions across various business touchpoints. Provide sales teams with insights into an account or prospect’s purchase journey, enabling more relevant conversations and offers based on real-time knowledge of content consumed, products viewed, or time spent on your site. Real-Time Affinity Profiling Utilize AI to synthesize in-the-moment intent data and past business engagements, identifying customer affinities, interests, and preferences. Enhance personalization capabilities with a fully customizable affinity graph, mapping and visualizing real-time customer profiles. Develop nuanced perspectives on customers to deliver custom messaging and offers, resulting in higher conversion rates across website, app, and other channels. Open-Time Email Personalization Engage customers with relevant email campaigns using real-time personalization. Deliver timely, customized messages with Open-Time Email Personalization, optimizing emails dynamically at the time of open with changeable sections. Personalize any aspect of the email, including offers, product selection, and general content, based entirely on the real-time understanding of the customer’s journey. AI Automated Offers Enhance the relevance of every customer engagement with Einstein Decisions. Powered by a contextual bandit algorithm, these decisions use real-time and historical profile data alongside predetermined business logic to identify dynamic offers throughout the customer journey. Continuously improve decision-making by feeding new data into Einstein, optimizing future decisions across various dynamic scenarios. Behavioral Data and Analytics Access real-time analytics across key performance indicators, monitoring transactions, responses, conversions, and revenue. Analyze data at the individual, segment, and campaign levels, utilizing dashboards with deep analytics on customer trends across channels and touchpoints to enhance website and app experiences. AI Test and Learn Optimize web and app experiences with A/B and multivariate testing, targeting tests based on real-time, behavioral, contextual, and historical data. Act confidently on results using randomized tests that employ Bayesian modeling to assess confidence levels for both out-of-the-box and custom KPIs. Integrate data to optimize personalization across channels, including the website, mobile app, email, service, and sales interactions. Survey Management Leverage profile data to deliver highly targeted surveys across websites and apps, capturing zero-party data that enriches customer insights. Utilize individual responses to shape subsequent content and improve the effectiveness of different calls to action. Related Products Enhance the effectiveness of your Personalization Studio with related products such as Data Cloud for Marketing, Marketing Cloud Engagement, Marketing Cloud Account Engagement, and Marketing Cloud Intelligence. Marketing Cloud Personalization was previously also known as Evergage. Salesforce bought Evergage for its personalization engine, which predicts marketing offers based on customer history and behavioral data with AI. “They were pretty clear that this is quite separate from their CDP project,” Raab said, adding that Salesforce B2C customers will benefit the most. Like Related Posts Salesforce OEM AppExchange Expanding its reach beyond CRM, Salesforce.com has launched a new service called AppExchange OEM Edition, aimed at non-CRM service providers. Read more The Salesforce Story In Marc Benioff’s own words How did salesforce.com grow from a start up in a rented apartment into the world’s Read more Salesforce Jigsaw Salesforce.com, a prominent figure in cloud computing, has finalized a deal to acquire Jigsaw, a wiki-style business contact database, for Read more Health Cloud Brings Healthcare Transformation Following swiftly after last week’s successful launch of Financial Services Cloud, Salesforce has announced the second installment in its series Read more

June 11, 2023in Marketing Automation, Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Salesforce Personalization

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