When it comes to CRMs, Salesforce is the Swiss Army knife of email marketing. Need to slice through marketing tasks faster than you can say “open rates”? Or maybe you’re craving that sweet ROI in record time? Using Salesforce for email marketing can make those dreams a reality with its complex tools and features designed to optimize your campaigns.
Buckle up as we dive into how Salesforce can make your campaigns smarter, easier, and downright slicker.
Not sure you’ve got the proper internal resources to run your email marketing program with such a powerful took as Salesforce Marketing Cloud (SFMC)? We’ve got you covered there as well! Contact us today and let’s get an audit going.
What’s The Deal with Salesforce Email Marketing?
SFMC isn’t just any CRM - it’s an all-in-one powerhouse for email marketing. Think of it as your trusty sidekick, making your campaigns super easy, efficient, and effective. With its suite of tools, you’ll take your email campaigns to the next level. From automation to AI, it’s got everything but the kitchen sink.
As a Salesforce Marketing Cloud consultant agency, CodeCrew, we believe SFMC is one of the strongest tools we use for our clients, and we’ve been certified Salesforce experts since we got founded in 2018, so we’ve been around to witness a lot of the changes the platform made throughout the last few years.
Many big brands trust Salesforce Marketing Cloud as their preferred provider for digital marketing automation and analytics software. It might just be the magic wand your company needs, whatever your size. Simply put, using Salesforce for email marketing is great for generating leads and guiding prospective clients to your brand.
Turbocharge Your Salesforce Email Marketing
Once you get the hang of it, using Salesforce for email marketing is smooth sailing. But what’s the use of having such a powerful marketing tool if you don’t know how to work it? Let’s explore how to make the most of it:
Tracking – Know What’s Happening, When It’s Happening:
Salesforce Marketing Cloud’s (SFMC) tracking features are like having eyes everywhere, but with next-level precision. You’ll get real-time updates on how your email marketing campaigns are performing, letting you see every click, open, and conversion as it happens. Unlike standard ESPs, SFMC offers incredibly in-depth tracking reports, so you’re always clear on critical KPIs like conversion rates, click-through rates, and open rates and quite literally any other metrics that you have a data point on (and anything else your heart desires). Plus, with its seamless integration into the Salesforce CRM, you can tie tracking data directly to individual customer records, giving you a complete view of customer engagement across all channels. Unlike many other ESPs, SFMC’s tracking is designed to power up personalization and optimize every campaign - so you're not just tracking data - you're tracking smarter.
A/B Testing - Test, Test, And Test Some More:
A/B testing emails is your secret weapon for higher open rates. Experiment with different components of your emails to find what suits you best. Test out different versions - subject lines, designs, CTAs - to find out what your audience loves. It’s all about hitting that sweet spot to make your emails irresistible. At CodeCrew, we’ve spent countless hours learning the intricacies of Salesforce email marketing to make it look effortless. We’ve run over 25,000 individual A/B tests to date for our clients, compiling a wealth of “benchmark-beating” battle-tested tricks. Imagine the stratospheric awesomeness we can whip up for you with all that data experience!
Einstein AI – Let Data Do The Talking
Einstein AI tech is built into every Salesforce application, including SFMC. It’s like your own personal data whiz, constantly analyzing your marketing data and turning it into real, actionable insights. This isn’t just about numbers - using AI is really about giving you back your time and helping you make smarter decisions to make your campaigns more effective. In fact, Salesforce's Generative AI Snapshot Research Series found that 51% of marketers are already using AI, with another 22% planning to jump on board soon. That’s nearly three-quarters of marketers letting AI handle the details so they can focus on what really matters. And with 71% of marketers saying AI will help cut down on tedious tasks, it’s clear that AI is freeing up more time for the big-picture, strategic work.
Ok, so what makes Einstein so great in these AI times? While other AIs in ESPs might be good at one or two things (think basic personalization or A/B testing), Einstein goes all in on the entire customer journey. From optimizing send times to recommending personalized content, it’s built to make sure every part of your campaign hits just right. Here’s a closer look at how Einstein AI is designed to take on some of that heavy lifting:
- Send Time Optimization: Einstein AI analyzes your audience’s behavior patterns to predict the best time to send each email, ensuring every message arrives when it’s most likely to be opened, boosting engagement.
- Predictive Scoring and Segmentation: Using advanced machine learning, Einstein scores each recipient’s likelihood to engage, purchase, or unsubscribe, and then creates predictive audience segments. This helps you pinpoint and focus on high-value and at-risk subscribers, maximizing the relevance and effectiveness of every email.
- Content Recommendations: With Einstein Content Selection, emails become more personal than ever. It can help customize content for each user based on their past behaviors and engagement history, driving up click-through rates with every send.
- Journey Optimization: Einstein AI identifies patterns in customer journeys, highlighting the most effective pathways and where drop-offs happen. These insights help you continually refine your customer journeys, boosting conversions and creating seamless experiences.
- Proof in the Numbers: Salesforce reports that companies using Einstein AI in Marketing Cloud see an average 28% increase in customer engagement and a 31% lift in conversion rates. This is because Einstein doesn’t just provide intel, it makes recommendations that are easy to act on and provides real, measurable improvements in engagement and ROI.
Einstein AI adapts, acts, and amplifies your marketing power - making sure every piece of your campaign is working its hardest, so you can stay one step ahead.
Content Creation – Emails That Yell ‘Open This’:
Start with a catchy subject line, personalize the content to make it relevant to specific segments, and craft a concise yet appealing call-to-action (CTA). Use visuals like images and videos to boost the appeal of your emails. As a full-service email marketing agency, we’re hands-on with our campaign creation process. Every Salesforce email marketing campaign we create is bespoke and hand-crafted from scratch with that campaign’s strategy in mind.
Automation Station: Salesforce Workflows:
Automation is where Salesforce really shines. Automated email marketing flows is one of the first things we focus on with a new client, which tells you something about its importance (spoiler: very). Automation keeps your customers and clients engaged without you having to lift a finger. And here’s the real advantage: when done right, Salesforce automation makes every email feel like it was crafted just for that individual, even if they’re one of thousands in your audience.
Unlike basic autoresponders, Salesforce automation goes beyond a set-it-and-forget-it model. It integrates with Salesforce CRM data, enabling you to build workflows based on complete customer profiles. This means your automations can respond not just to clicks or opens, but also to actions like past purchases, support interactions, and lead status, creating a deeply personalized experience.
And it gets even better. Salesforce’s real-time analytics let you adjust workflows on the fly, responding to live engagement data. Whether it’s a complex lead-nurturing sequence, a cart abandonment series, or an upsell triggered by a recent purchase, Salesforce automation delivers the right message at the perfect moment—no manual work required.
Set up your campaign workflows to run on autopilot so you can focus on other important tasks. Salesforce email marketing automation lets you implement a digital marketing strategy without manually pressing “send” on each email. With Salesforce’s automation, you’re covered from welcome series to re-engagement and everything in between, all while continuously tweaking and optimizing for even better results.
Launch Pad: A Quick Guide to Your First Salesforce Email Marketing Campaign
Ready to dive in? Here’s a basic roadmap:
- Know Your Audience: Who are you talking to? What do they want?
- Set Up Shop: Create email lists and templates, and get your settings in order.
- Craft Your Campaign: Define your campaign goals, write compelling content, and make sure it looks great.
- Personalize It: Add a personal touch to make your emails stand out.
- Legal Stuff: Ensure your emails follow all legal requirements, like GDPR, CASL and CAN-SPAM.
Crafting your first Salesforce email marketing campaign can be overwhelming if you’re not sure what you’re doing. Let CodeCrew, your trusted Salesforce email marketing experts, guide you through the process from start to finish.
Price Check: Is Salesforce Worth the Investment?
Salesforce Email Marketing pricing is like a choose-your-own-adventure book, with most options admittedly being higher than the average ESP. If you’re serious about your email program but not quite ready to play ball in the NBA quite yet, check out our Klaviyo pricing post for a solid alternative. With that said, Salesforce gives you the option of choosing the exact features that you need, so, it’s built specifically to your specifications. Before buying into Salesforce Marketing Cloud, however, we do want to stress the importance of ROI - it’s admittedly one of the more expensive options, with a relatively old management system built in. We typically recommend newer ESPs, as they’re both more cost-effective as well as more powerful for 95%+ use-cases out there. In case you’re still not decided at all, here are some other Salesforce & Klaviyo alternatives to sink your teeth into.
With that said, as we always say, no two businesses are alike and it could indeed be the best fit for YOU! So let us help you get the most out of Salesforce. If this is you, we’re happy to be your partner in this adventure.
The Bottom Line: Salesforce Email Marketing Rocks
Salesforce Email Marketing is your golden ticket to crafting show-stopping campaigns for businesses of all sizes. With its powerful features, automation wizardry, and seamless CRM integration, you’ll smash those marketing goals and build connections that stick like glue.
And while Salesforce email marketing is a powerhouse, it’s not exactly plug-and-play nor simple compared to other ESPs out there. With that said, we've spent nearly a decade working with Salesforce Marketing Cloud and know it better than most email agencies out there today. So when we say we're your #1 Salesforce solution, we're not kidding!
Even the sharpest in-house teams can miss a beat without the right mojo. That's where Salesforce Email Marketing pros like us can swoop in. From lead nurturing to brand buzz, CodeCrew’s got your back.
So, if you’re ready to crush your goals, snag jaw-dropping ROI, and unleash Salesforce’s full potential, let’s team up. Contact our experts today, and let's rock those campaigns together like never before!
