There are some cool functionalities and features which will help you to become a Salesforce Cloud Rockstar. Like any other technology platform, Salesforce Marketing Cloud is also fascinating, and for the digital marketers who are into online marketing, this is something extraordinary. We may try all the bells and whistles to see how they promise to make marketing a much enjoyable and rewarding affair.
However, many may not know what and how to achieve with Salesforce Marketing Cloud as with any given new platform. For many, Salesforce Marketing Cloud (SFMC) may be tricky even after using it for many years as newer things are coming day by day. Salesforce Marketing Cloud and expanded over time to now become the conglomerate of many cool tools and functionalities. Indeed, one may not know everything about the Salesforce Marketing Cloud, but what brings you success is how you explore these hidden treasures.
Let us discuss some of such hidden treasures that will revolutionize your marketing approach. If you have not provisioned any of these features yet, then explore the Help & Training portal of Salesforce and raise a request for feature activation or contact the support.
Salesforce Marketing Cloud Features
1) Impression region
If you have created email campaigns for many different products with distinct dynamic content blocks, then you may have experienced what the Impression Region can do for you. Impression Region uses the AMPscript can effectively list all possible content combinations as to how it can be shown to the users. You may wrap all the <a> tags in a unique AMPscript code and give each link or region a unique identification name. AMPscript is a simple scripting language that you can embed onto your emails, SMS messages, landing pages, and mobile push notifications to render dynamic content.
Impression Region using Dynamic Content will add impression region to the AMPscript code in different content blocks for you. With this, you can effectively track the individual links to identify the effectiveness of various campaigns than looking at the entire content areas, consisting of various linked grouped under it.
2) Impression tracking
After declaring the impression regions and tagging them with unique names, impression tracking will let you track each link within the AMPscript. You can also effectively view the info in different reports or get the same through the data extracts. However, the reporting of the Impression Region may not be active by default. You have to raise a support request to get it enabled. Once it is done, you may further see all types of reports on the report catalog with details of:
- Region performance in the given timeframe
- Impression tracking based on the job report
- Impression tracking for the triggered sends a report
- Region-wise performance for the triggered sends in the given timeframe.
3) Domain Exclusion
If you have seen that domains do no longer exist in your data lists of some of the domains you need to block, then domain exclusion will come into help. As FLOSUM experts point out, you can use this effectively to block some domains from the email sends, and even when your sending IP has a good reputation. You may want to exclude some domains for a purpose. You have to create a Data Extension with proper Domain Exclusion Template. After creating this, the options will be shown in the Audience section of the Send Definition. Just populate the data extension with the domains to exclude, and you are all set to go.
4) Exclusion Script
What you have to do if you have to exclude the subscribers dynamically in a given extension. To exclude, you can use the AMPscript statements and write an exclusion script to prevent any mail from being sent. If the statement is true by meeting the criteria, then the Marketing Cloud will block the email sending to that particular subscriber. Exclusion scripts can also be used in the customer Journey Builder, Triggered Sends, Automation Studio, and the Content Builder.
5) Custom List Detective
You may not prefer to have some typos or some irrelevant domains in the subscriber list. If you are looking for options to have all your lists scrutinized whenever these get imported, or during send, then you can use this exact tool. Custom List detective can be set up effectively to reject all the email IDs under a given domain. Salesforce support is the only such platform with this kind of a modified feature. However, you cannot access the List Detective through the UI. It also cannot be turned off. You can apply the updates at the business unit level, with which changes are made easier to the business unit without impacting others.
6) Send Logging
If you want to get more data or if you want to check the sends those are failed, then the Sendlog feature within Salesforce Marketing Cloud can serve this purpose. This functions as a data extension that can store data at the level of individual subscribers, and the metadata about the emails sent from the particular accounts. It can also log several fields by default related to the send by including JobID, ListID, SubscriberID, ErrorCode, and BatchID, etc. In addition to these values, you can also easily track the custom fields and values of the AMPscript variables.
Send logs can also be used as an effective way for the issues that arise from the links as to “view as a web page” when an online view cannot access the data in Sendable Data Extension. This may be because your Data Extension is cleared, deleted, or got overwritten. While you click on the view mail URL, hosted pages will render the mail based on the given data extensions to which it was sent. If the data is all gone, then it will be shown as an error. Here, the solution is to use the _SendContext variable, which can pull the fields from Sendlog instead of checking it out at the Sendable DE.
Other features also include Safehouse, which functions as a safe location for file transfer, Analytics Builder to make marketers be better communicators, Discover Reporting as a drag and drop too to create custom reports about the efficiency of the marketing cloud campaigns, etc.
Author Bio:
Kelly Wilson is an experienced and skilled Business Consultant and Financial advisor in the USA. She helps clients both personal and professional in long-term wealth building plans. During her spare time, she loves to write on FLOSUM. She loves to share her knowledge and Experts tips with her readers.
