Salesforce Marketing Cloud Explained: Benefits & Features
What if you had the superpower to understand what your customers want? As an add-on, what if you could send hyper-personalised messages to each one of them? One thing is sure, this can definitely boost your conversion rates. With Salesforce Marketing Cloud (SFMC), this is absolutely possible. You can create tailor-made marketing campaigns plus a lot more using this powerful system. So what is the Salesforce Marketing Cloud and how useful it is for today’s businesses? Let us find the answers to these questions in this article where we will take you through the definition, features, and benefits of SFMC. What is Salesforce Marketing Cloud? Salesforce Marketing Cloud(SFMC) is an umbrella term for a multitude of related products each capable of handling different marketing functions individually. It could include anything from multi-channel campaign execution to designing a dynamic customer journey. As you would have rightly guessed, SFMC is an integral part of the Salesforce ecosystem and is integrated with other Salesforce platforms so that you have a Single Source Of Truth for all your customer information. The goal of SFMC is simple – to tailor your customer interactions, thereby increasing brand loyalty, and ultimately enabling you to close more deals. What does Salesforce Marketing Cloud include? SFMC typically includes two types of modules viz. Studios (to manage content and specific marketing channels) and Builders (to manage data and campaign automation). Here are the different products under them – Email Studio This lets you personalise email messages by leveraging data from Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, and various other sources. You can send promotional, transactional, and triggered messages with ease. It also equips you with advanced capabilities like segmentation, automation, and predictive capabilities to enhance your email marketing efforts. Mobile Studio This lets you engage customers at the perfect moment using SMS, MMS, push messaging, and group messaging. You can target your messages based on events, location, proximity, and more to ensure timely and relevant communications. Marketing Cloud Advertising This module lets you utilise customer data to fuel your digital advertising and manage ad campaigns effectively. You can also Improve customer acquisition with lookalike audiences, re-engage inactive customers, and optimise advertising efforts throughout the customer journey. Journey Builder This lets you craft seamless customer journeys across email, mobile, advertising, websites, and the Internet of Things. It helps in creating a consistent experience across marketing, sales, and service channels. Audience Builder You can create a comprehensive view of each customer by integrating information from various sources. It lets you target specific audiences and segments throughout the customer journey, shifting from mere data management to building meaningful relationships. Personalisation Builder You can leverage Einstein’s predictive intelligence to enhance personalisation via this product. You can also use machine learning algorithms to pair customer profiles with the most relevant content, automatically delivering personalised experiences to each individual. Content Builder This lets you centralise the management of all your content and assets in one location. You can utilise advanced search and tagging capabilities to handle assets efficiently. You can even securely share and approve content for use across the enterprise. Analytics Builder This product lets you measure and track the performance of your campaigns and customer journeys. You can gain new insights about your customers through comprehensive reporting and predictive analytics, allowing for data-driven decision-making and optimisation. How does Salesforce Marketing Cloud aid your growth journey? Saleforce Marketing Cloud can be a strong catalyst for your business’s growth journey. Here are three ways in which it achieves the same – Make Data-Driven Marketing Decisions SFMC empowers you to make informed, data-driven marketing decisions by providing a single source of truth for all your data needs, along with access to comprehensive analytics and insights. For instance, with tools like Audience Builder and Journey Builder, you can segment your audiences precisely, track their behaviours, and measure the effectiveness of your campaigns. This data-centric approach allows for the optimisation of marketing strategies in real-time, ensuring that your efforts are continually refined, and you make well-informed marketing decisions to achieve better results. Leverage the Power of AI to Drive Growth The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) within Salesforce Marketing Cloud, primarily through Salesforce Einstein, revolutionises the way you approach marketing. Einstein AI offers predictive analytics, personalisation, automation, and GenAI capabilities that drive significant growth for your business. For instance, it can predict customer behaviour, recommend the best times to engage, and personalise content on an individual level. Another example would be Einstein’s predictive scoring feature which can identify which leads are most likely to convert, allowing you and your team to focus your efforts on where they’ll have the most impact. Such intelligent approaches not only save time but also maximise your marketing ROI. Uniting Salesforce Tech Stack for Harmonised Growth Salesforce Marketing Cloud seamlessly integrates with the broader Salesforce ecosystem and other external platforms like Slack and Sharepoint. This helps in creating a unified tech stack that supports harmonised growth. Simply put, when you connect Marketing Cloud with platforms like Salesforce Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Accounting Seed, and Commerce Cloud, you effectively ensure that all customer touchpoints are aligned and working towards common goals. For example, data from Sales Cloud can help shape marketing strategies that are developed using Marketing Cloud. This ensures that your marketing efforts are always aligned with sales objectives. Also, it breaks down silos within the organisation, promoting collaboration and ensuring that every department is contributing to the overarching growth strategy. Increase the shelf life of your business with the Salesforce tech stack If you want to extend the shelf life of your business, you need to make sure that your customers have seamless and positive experiences at every touchpoint. There is no other way. Thankfully, the Salesforce tech stack constituting SFMC helps in achieving this through the following: It provides a holistic view of your customer journey and allows you to deliver consistent and personalised experiences across channels. SFMC and other Salesforce products are carefully designed to help you stay ahead of the curve
