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Automating Salesforce Marketing Cloud
Greg Gifford, Jason Hanshaw, Guilda Hilaire
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eBook - ePub
Automating Salesforce Marketing Cloud
Greg Gifford, Jason Hanshaw, Guilda Hilaire
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About This Book
Make the most of Salesforce Marketing Cloud through automation and increase your productivity on the platform without adding any extra resourcesKey Features• Increase your knowledge of automation theory and the applications of SFMC• Explore automation with SFMC and its capabilities beyond general usage• Understand the automation features and integrations of SFMC to use the platform from outside the user interface (UI) for maximum efficiencyBook DescriptionSalesforce Marketing Cloud (SFMC) allows you to use multiple channels and tools to create a 1: 1 marketing experience for your customers and subscribers. Through automation and helper tasks, you can greatly increase your productivity while also reducing the level of effort required in terms of volume and frequency. Automating Salesforce Marketing Cloud starts by discussing what automation is generally and then progresses to what automation is in SFMC. After that, you'll focus on how to perform automation inside of SFMC all the way to fully running processes and capabilities from an external service. Later chapters explore the benefits and capabilities of automation and having an automation mindset both within and outside of SFMC. Equipped with this knowledge and example code, you'll be prepared to maximize your SFMC efficiency. By the end of this Salesforce book, you'll have the skills you need to build automation both inside and outside of SFMC, along with the knowledge for using the platform optimally.What you will learn• Understand automation to make the most of the SFMC platform• Optimize ETL activities, data import integrations, data segmentations, email sends, and more• Explore different ways to use scripting and API calls to increase Automation Studio efficiency• Identify opportunities for automation with custom integrations and third-party solutions• Optimize usage of SFMC by building on the core concepts of custom integrations and third-party tools• Maximize utilization of employee skills and capabilities and reduce operational costs while increasing outputWho this book is forThis book is for Salesforce Marketing Cloud users who want to know how to make their day to day lives more efficient and get the most out of the tool by working smarter, not harder. A solid understanding of SFMC and basic knowledge of what automation is will help you get the most out of this book.
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Section 1: Automation Theory and Automations in SFMC
In this first section, you will get an understanding of the main ideas behind automation theory and the automation-related components inside of SFMC.
This section contains the following chapters:
- Chapter 1, What Is Automation?
- Chapter 2, SFMC Automation Tools
- Chapter 3, SFMC Automation Best Practices
Chapter 1: What Is Automation?
Automation is something that has become so ingrained in our society that we almost take it for granted. It is in our daily activities and helps us to achieve so many of our wonderful and innovative inventions. The odd thing though is that despite automation being such a day-to-day thing, not many people can actually explain what it means or where it came from. To help get us all in the right mindset, we first wanted to go over what exactly automation and automation theory are.
In this chapter, we will cover the following topics:
- Automation theory: A dive into the history of automation, the theory behind why automation is useful, and how it should be used
- Defining automation: Solidifying the meaning behind our focus in the book by defining exactly what an automation is
- Automation opportunities and pitfalls: A broad overview of the different benefits and potential risks that go along with automation
- Concepts of automation: Basic concepts related to automation and the areas they affect
- Implementation best practices: Some basic best practices related to automation when looking to implement it
- Always Be Documenting (ABD): A case for why you should be documenting each automation and solution you create
With this knowledge, we will be prepared to move forward and fully digest the automation capabilities and possibilities related to Salesforce Marketing Cloud, as discussed further in this book.
Automation theory
In some ways, automation theory is a self-feeding theory in that as each advancement happens, it will use that step as a building block to making further advances to larger and more significant feats. This means that before we dig into the exact meaning of what automation is, we should look at the history of automation and automation theory over the years. This rich history is what built the automation theory and capabilities that we know and love today, and will give great insight into the future of automation as well.
From the development of the first computer, all the way to recent advances in AI, automation theory has had a significant and life-altering impact on humanity and history. Each one of these developments and inventions has helped forge the way for further automation and efficiency in an exponential way. These advances have created a steady push forward to remove all the manual aspects of any activity or process to help improve the speed, efficiency, and possibilities of the results.
Heck, we could probably even go all the way back to the very beginnings of mankind's rise to find the roots of automation theory. The very first automation could have been something as simple as the repeating loop our roaming ancestors took when hunting and/or gathering or even utilizing a tool or their environment to remove repetitive actions in their day-to-day life. Automation does not need to involve technology as we view it today!
Without automation theory, the computer would never have existed, changing the entire world we live in today. And that is only the most recent example of how automation has changed our lives. Look at the world's first moving assembly line for mass production created by Henry Ford (https://corporate.ford.com/articles/history/moving-assembly-line.html). Without that innovation, our entire world would be irrevocably different.
Automation theory has helped advance and shape technology and theories throughout the years, including such recent advances as the following:
- Control functions (electronic digital computer)
- Programming languages and capabilities (computers and machines)
- A vast array of sensor technology (light, electromagnetic, kinetic, and so on)
- Advanced mathematical theory of control systems (evolved during WWII)
- Artificial intelligence (robotics and learning systems)
These advances have set the stage for the highly interconnected and digital world that we experience today. The simultaneous development and maturation of many technologies, in particular, information technologies, have enabled vast levels of interdependence and communication between previously disparate systems that were impossible before. While not a new feature of this development, automation has recently taken center stage in discussions about the future of business, communication, production, and many other aspects of our lives.
To help understand this, I wanted to provide a quick visual representation of automation theory as we just described it.
Figure 1.1 – Visual representation of automation theory
Now that we have a strong understanding of the history of automation and how it has affected our lives, let's figure out what exactly it is.
Automation definition
The dictionary defines automation as the technique of making an apparatus, a process, or a system operate automatically (Merriam-Webster: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/automation). That's a bit generic for our purposes, so let's consider it in an IT context so that we can make that more applicable to this domain. Automation is the use of repeated instructions to create a process that replaces previously used human intervention in order to accomplish a task. There, that's a bit better, right?
It has become a buzzword in our modern era, and its application has re-shaped the ways that we interact and live within our world. From home appliances to robotic rovers on other worlds, automation has found its way into the fabric of our technical and social world. In a world driven by speed, connectivity, and efficiency, it's not hard to see why it's become such a central focus of many organizations and technologies today.
One of the more obvious consequences from this transformative concept, and one relevant to this book, has been the dramatic shift in the ways that both business and individuals communicate and interact with each other in emerging digital spaces. As the rate at which aspects of our lives occur within these spaces increases, so too has the expectations for instantaneous communication and services tailored to the personalized needs of individuals.
This has presented challenges for sure, but has also created tremendous opportunities for organizations that have embraced this digital transformation and have sought to redefine their business and processes to operate in this space.
This digital transformation has been critical for businesses to meet emerging customer demands and expectations, and has become a requirement to compete in this new global, digital world. This does not come without cost, however, and businesses today must be more cognizant than ever before of how their organization uses technology, both internally and externally.
One of the key components and performance multipliers in digital transformation is automation. Incorporating automation as a central feature in business processes, aside from introducing an innovative mindset to an organization, introduces efficiency in costs and performance that can have dramatic impacts when well planned and thoughtfully applied. In that vein, let's move onward to learn about the different opportunities and pitfalls that come along with automation.
Automation opportunities and pitfalls
Before diving further into the concept of automation, it's helpful to consider exactly why it can be such an important component of business processes and what risks are associated with its implementation.
First, automation is essential for reducing both financial and productivity costs associated with repetitive, time-consuming, and error-prone tasks. These could range from manual data-entry processes to complex monitoring or communication activities. In addition to its impact on these sorts of tasks, when well planned, it can introduce a single standard of quality that can be replicated and adhered to over time.
Opportunities
Let's take a deeper look into the benefits that can be extracted from incorporating automation into your business processes. First, I wanted to start with a quick visual to show the benefits and then from there, we will dive deeper into each aspect.
Figure 1.2 – Visualization of the benefits of automation
As you can see in each of the bars from the visual, there are a ton of great opportunities available. Now, let's take a deeper dive into these benefits.
Increased efficiency
One of the simplest benefits of incorporating automation is that it increases the efficiency with which tasks or events can be completed. When repetitive or time-intensive tasks are eliminated, it frees up resources to do more innovative and impactful work. This provides an immediate cost benefit as resources can be allocated to other impactful projects while also reducing the strain on employees, all without a loss in productivity.
Its impact in a customer-facing context can be even more beneficial. As customers demand real-time engagement and services, being able to meet them in the moment is critical. Whether it's automated communication for a password reset request, or a one-click online checkout, creating sustainable automated processes that can deliver on customer requests immediately is a massive benefit and has become an expectation in our digital world.
More reliable solutions
When it comes to any solution or project, consistent and reliable quality is an important factor for success. With manual solutions, where human input and decision making are ever-present and necessary for the completion of a task, there are risk factors that will inevitably impact the overall stability and reliability of the performance. Humans, while our capacities for attention and skill are prodigious, are subject to factors that will reduce work quality and performance. Whether it's a poor night's sleep, long periods of intense focus, or multi-tasking, attention to detail and performance will vary across individuals and circumstances.
This limitation provides an opp...