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Beginning a career as a Salesforce Consultant, you develop interests around how you grow your Salesforce technical skillset. During my 4+ years at Solving IT, my team is constantly striving to put our Consultants on projects that peak those interests. While this is a huge positive, we do not always get to pick and choose the nature of our clients and projects – there are occasions where a project presents itself, you have bandwidth, and you jump on board ready and willing to learn whatever you need to learn to make the project a success. For me, this is how I wound up on my first Pardot Project. Little did I know, this project would peak my love for Pardot and propel me into many more projects to come.
Solving IT had been a longstanding Pardot customer prior to me joining the team, but my Pardot knowledge at the time started and stopped with our internal use. I knew I could quickly pick up the implementation piece (thank you, Trailheads and Accelerators!), but the understanding of what it takes to execute a successful Marketing Strategy with Pardot was something I needed to learn.
As the project kicked off, I quickly learned that while Pardot is an extremely powerful tool, it can be very overwhelming to know where to start. You’ve seen it in action, you’ve been wowed by other organizations’ results, and you know you want to put the tool to use – but, where do you start? I learned that many Pardot customers struggle with this very same question.
I started with focusing on learning one thing at a time and guided my client to do the same. I learned that a successful Pardot Implementation needs to revolve around executing all of the basics exceptionally well. This means educating clients on Email Authentication, warming up your sending IP, integrating with Salesforce properly, adding Tracker Domains, etc. – not just diving into building beautiful Emails, Landing Pages, and Engagement Programs. Without tackling the less exciting basics, aspects of your Marketing Automation and Email Marketing Strategies are bound to fail. (Trust me, I learned this the hard way when I did not question the source of a client’s Prospect List, and it turned out to be a purchased list which had the client’s account shut down.)
And while all of these learns were helpful, the most important thing I learned on my first Pardot Project is that Pardot is an incredible solution that all Salesforce customers should be using. Not everyone needs 12-month long, complex Engagement Programs involving custom Landing Page development. Starting with the basics, driving conversions, properly segmenting Prospects to provide relevant content, and acting on valuable Prospect data will have a positive impact for any business.
WRITTEN BY MEGAN WINTERLAND
