Jumpstart your Digital Marketing Program with Pardot
What is Pardot and how can SMBHD help?
What is Pardot and how does it differ from other digital solutions like MailChimp, Constant Contact, etc.? Probably the most obvious answer to this question is that Pardot is Salesforce’s native lead generating and nurturing system, so it seamlessly integrates with your current Salesforce Sales Cloud instance. It also a key component in Salesforce Marketing Cloud, but it is not necessary to have a full Salesforce Marketing Cloud implementation to use Pardot. In fact, here at SMBHD we do Pardot QuickStarts every month and with great speed and impact. Typically, we can get a Pardot QuickStart implementation completed in 4-6 weeks depending on the client needs and solution complexity.
Where Should I Start? Pardot QuickStart
If you are already on a sophisticated competitor solution like Eloqua or Marketo and already have a functioning and successful marketing automation program within that tool, you probably want to start by replicating that solution when moving to Salesforce Pardot.
But for clients currently using no tools or a simple marketing automation tool like MailChimp or Constant Contact, a common first step is to sign a Pardot QuickStart agreement. A Pardot QuickStart gets you started quickly, cheaply, and will have an almost instant positive impact on your marketing efforts.
What is Included in a Typical Pardot Implementation?
That is the great thing about using a Pardot QuickStart project to kickoff or ignite your marketing automation efforts. You get all the core functionality right off the bat, so you can implement active campaigns in as quick as a few weeks. It is important to understand some of the key functionality you get with your Pardot QuickStart. Some key functionality includes:
List Segmentation: This is a great tool that will be core to your marketing strategy and implementation. So, what is it? It is a tool that allows you to slice and dive your email lists based off any fields and criteria you would like, if the data exists in the system. Some of the ways you can generate in new list is by title, location, birthday, etc.…you name it.
Scoring & Grading: Although they sound synonymous, these are two very distinct concepts within Salesforce Pardot platform. Scoring is a methodology that assigns a numerical score to a prospect (i.e. potential donor, volunteer , employee, member, etc.) based off their behavior. Specifically, based off interactions with your marketing collateral including forms or email. A Grade is simply how qualified the deal is to become a Closed Won opportunity. It factors in things like whether the prospect is a decision maker, what industry they are in, their budget, their specific business need, etc.
Engagement Programs: This is one the most powerful features within the Pardot suite of tools. An engagement program allows you to devise very sophisticated year-long nurturing programs, where you can design criteria on when and who to send custom marketing collateral.
Completion Actions: This is another great feature in Salesforce Pardot. It is part of the core automation tools that do all sort of updates on the backend of Salesforce. This includes updating lead scores, generating notifications for your sales team, etc.
…and many more options!
Again, this is just a tip of the iceberg in terms of Salesforce Pardot can accelerate your marketing efforts. If you have any questions, we would love to talk to you about it, so please contact us at SMBHD.
