In this post, we will cover one of the entry sources of the Journey Builder called 'Salesforce Data.'
When the Marketing Cloud account is integrated with Sales/Service Cloud using the Marketing Cloud Connector, this entry source can be used to trigger the journeys whenever an object record gets created or updated.
ENTRY SOURCE FLOW
Let's go through each of the steps involved, in detail.
STEP 1: SELECT OBJECT
First, choose a Sales or Service Cloud object for the entry event source.
After selection, it will display a set of ID-related fields (based on the lookup with User/Contact/Lead/PersonAccount Objects) that has to be selected, which represents who will be creating or updating the records. This field will act as the Subscriber Key in the 'Send Relationship' of the Data extension.
For Example, A company has a set of users(agents) who create or update the Case records. These agents are part of the User Object. In this case, select the Case Object and then the CreatedByID(User) field that will result as Case: CreatedByID(User).
NOTE: This step cannot be edited after the entry source gets created.
STEP 2: ENTRY CRITERIA
In this Step, choose when the record should enter the Journey. Once the 'Is Created' or 'Is Updated' checkbox is selected, you can enable the 'Meet Specific Event Criteria' checkbox that is used to define the entry criteria. These filters can only be added using the fields that are part of the Object selected in Step 1.
NOTE: This event can only be edited in a new version when its previous versions are not running.
STEP 3: FILTER CRITERIA
In this Step, add the attributes from the related objects, to filter out the records as needed.
NOTE: This event can only be edited in a new version when its previous versions are not running.
STEP 4: ENTRY DATA
In this Step, select the fields from the Object and its related Objects that will be added as part of the Data extension, when created.
If personalization is to be added in Email or SMS either through AMPscript or Personalization String, make sure to select those fields as well.
NOTE:
You cannot edit this selection after the entry source is created. But additional fields can be added in the new version.
It is important to select the Email Address (if email activity is used) and Phone Number fields (if SMS activity is used). This will be used in the Journey settings and to send out the communication.
STEP 5: SUMMARY TAB
Under this tab, verify the Object, Action, Criteria, Entry data, and WHO (the user who creates/updates the records) attributes.
Once all the above steps are configured, set up the activities as needed. Under the Journey settings, make sure to include the correct Email and Phone number fields from the entry source.
Data Extension creation and configuration
1. While using a Salesforce Data entry source, a new data extension gets created automatically when:
The Journey is saved and validated.
Journey with a new version is modified to a different object or a Send Relationship.
2. The Data extension gets created under the 'Data Extension' root folder under the Email Studio. It will have the Object and its related fields that are selected while configuring the entry source.
3. Once the Journey is activated, all the records that pass the entry and filter criteria are captured in the Data Extension.
4. The records can only be created in the Data Extension, not updated. So, there can be duplicates.
5. When the 'WHO' attribute is set, that acts as the subscriber key in the 'send relationship' of the Data Extension.
6. Only the selected Objects' ID and the field selected for the 'send relationship' can be set as a Primary Key after the Data extension is created.
7. If additional fields are to be added after the Data extension is created, follow the below steps:
Create a new version of the Journey.
Stop the previous version of the Journey that is running.
Go to Entry source and click on the 'ENTRY DATA' tab. Select the additional fields as needed.
Once the Journey is saved and validated, verify if the fields are captured in the Data extension under the Email Studio.
THINGS TO NOTE:
Before creating a new version of the journey and modifying it, understand the following -
1. If an object or a 'send relationship' needs to be modified in the Journey, then the entry source needs to be deleted and created from scratch. Doing this will create a new data extension and Contacts will no longer get populated in the old data extension.
2. 'Send relationship' of the data extension gets modified if the 'WHO' attribute of the journey is changed.
3. Queries using the old data extensions have to be modified with the new data extension.
4. Any changes to the entry source might impact decision splits, Journey settings, and object data configuration that utilizes the entry data for mapping with the Sales/Service cloud fields.
5. If an opt-out mechanism is set up to capture the data using AMPscript, update it to the new data extension. This is valid only if the entry source is re-created.
6. If the Sales/Service cloud org connection is changed, then the journeys that use 'Salesforce Data entry source' have to be deleted.
Hope you enjoyed it. Please drop a comment or email me with any feedback or suggestions.
See you in the next one!