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Improve Marketing and Sales: Integrate ActiveCampaign with Salesforce

Written by Jakub Jamny | 7/6/23

In this article, we'll dive into the process of integrating ActiveCampaign with Salesforce and explore not only the benefits, features, and use cases, but also best practices for combining the two platforms.

Content

Introduction

Overview of ActiveCampaign and Salesforce

The Importance of Integration

How to Integrate ActiveCampaign with Salesforce

Case Study at XYZ Corporation

Integration Best Practices

Conclusion

FAQ

Introduction

Marketing automation and customer relationship management (CRM) are integral parts of a successful business strategy today. These technologies help companies streamline marketing processes, nurture leads and build strong relationships with customers. ActiveCampaign and Salesforce are two major platforms in the marketing automation and CRM space, each offering unique features and capabilities.

Overview of ActiveCampaign and Salesforce

ActiveCampaign and Salesforce are designed to help businesses optimize their marketing and sales operations. However, the greatest strength lies in the integration of these two platforms, creating a unified system where marketing and sales teams can collaborate and communicate easily with each other.

ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign is a reliable marketing automation platform that enables businesses to automate marketing processes, engage with customers and increase conversions. It offers features such as email marketing, workflow automation, lead scoring and personalized messaging. With ActiveCampaign, businesses can create targeted campaigns, segment their audiences and track customer interactions to optimize their marketing efforts.

SalesForce

Salesforce, on the other hand, is a widely known CRM platform that is renowned for its comprehensive suite of customer and sales management tools. It enables businesses to effectively handle leads, monitor opportunities and nurture customer relationships. Salesforce provides features such as contact or pipeline management, opportunity tracking and reporting that enable sales teams to streamline all processes and increase their efficiency.

The Importance of Integration

ActiveCampaign's integration with Salesforce is key for businesses that want to create a unified customer experience. The integration enables seamless data synchronization and collaboration between the two platforms, eliminating data silos and increasing overall operational efficiency, eliminating the risk of manual data entry errors, allowing marketing and sales teams to focus on nurturing leads and conversions.

One of the key aspects of the integration is the ability to synchronise contact details between the two platforms. This ensures that customer information, including leads, contacts and opportunities, remains consistent and up-to-date across both platforms. 

Another benefit of the integration is the ability to automate lead management processes. With the ActiveCampaign and Salesforce integration, companies can automatically transfer lead information, track leads and trigger automated actions based on pre-defined rules, such as lead nurturing, follow-up sequences or personalized email campaigns based on customer interactions and behavior. This not only streamlines lead nurturing or qualification processes, but also the work of marketing and sales teams, who can work in tandem, defining priority leads and ensuring a seamless handoff from marketing to sales.

In addition, the integration also brings powerful reporting and analytics capabilities. By consolidating data from ActiveCampaign and Salesforce, businesses can create comprehensive reports, measure campaign effectiveness, track sales performance and gain valuable insights into customer engagement. Individual teams have access to a comprehensive database of customer data, including communication history, purchase behavior, and engagement metrics.

How to integrate ActiveCampaign with Salesforce

Integrating ActiveCampaign with Salesforce is a simple process. Below is a step-by-step guide on how to configure the integration:

Setting Up ActiveCampaign to Integrate with Salesforce

To install ActiveCampaign on your Salesforce account, follow the step-by-step instructions below:

  1. Log in to your Salesforce account.

  2. In the top left corner of the homepage, click on the dot symbols and then select the "Visit AppExchange" button.

  3. Find the "ActiveCampaign" app and select it from the search results.

  4. Click the "Get it now" button and allow the Salesforce app to access your ActiveCampaign account.

  5. Proceed with the installation by selecting the "Install for Admins Only" button.

  6. Grant access for third party websites and continue with the installation process.

  7. Once the installation is complete, you will find the ActiveCampaign app listed in the Salesforce App Launcher.

Grant Permissions to Salesforce Users

After the successful installation of these two platforms, you have the option to assign specific permissions to users in your Salesforce account. These permissions include:

  • ActiveCampaign Package Manager Permission: allows users to configure and manage the integration between ActiveCampaign and Salesforce.

  • ActiveCampaign Standard User Permission: with this permission set, users can interact with ActiveCampaign components and view all activity within Salesforce.

Follow the procedure below to assign permissions to users in Salesforce according to your needs:

  1. Click on the gear icon in the top right corner of the Salesforce page and then select " Setup ".

  2. Click "Users" in the left menu and select "Permission Sets".

  3. On the " Permission Sets" page, locate the appropriate permission set (ActiveCampaign Package Manager or ActiveCampaign Standard User) that you want to assign to users.

  4. Click on the " Manage Assignments" button.

  5. Click on the " Add Assignments" button.

  6. Select the users you want to assign the permission set to and click the " Assign" button.

Configuring System Connections

In order to share data between the two platforms, a connection must be established. Follow the instructions below to create a connection:

  1. Access the App Launcher by clicking on the dot symbols in your Salesforce account.

  2. Select "ActiveCampaign Setup Assistant".

  3. On the " Setup" page, click the "Get Started" button.

  4. On the "API access" tab, enter the name of your ActiveCampaign account in the designated field.

  5. Enter your ActiveCampaign API key in the "API Key" field and click the "Authorize" button.

  6. After successful authorization, a green bar will appear confirming the connection.

  7. Click on the " Next " button.

  8. On the "Authorize ActiveCampaign to Salesforce" tab, click the "Authorize" button.

  9. You will be prompted to log in to your Salesforce account. Log in and allow access.

  10. After successful authorization, a green bar will appear indicating the connection.

  11. Click "Finish" to complete the setup process.

Dynamic Field Mapping for Data Integration

Dynamic field mapping allows you to map contacts from ActiveCampaign to the corresponding contact and lead fields in Salesforce. By default, the "Standard Lead" and "Standard Contact" field mappings are already configured for you, so you don't need to perform this step. However, if you prefer to do your own mapping, you can continue on the ActiveCampaign settings page by clicking the " Continue" button.

To customize the default mapping, simply use the drop-down menus provided to select the Salesforce fields you want to map.

Likewise, you have the option to add custom mappings for lead and contact fields. To do this, click on the "Add Mapping" button located below the relevant sections.

Once you have completed all sections of the dynamic mapping, simply click the " Finish " button.

Configure synchronization settings

As configured, the selected contacts and leads from Salesforce are synchronized with ActiveCampaign. If you want to modify the outbound sync settings, you can do so by clicking the " Continue " button on the settings page in ActiveCampaign.

On the " Sync Selection " tab, select the specific leads you want to sync with ActiveCampaign, and on the " Contact Sync Selection " tab, select the desired contacts to sync. After making your selection, continue by clicking the " Next " button.

Next, you can set the frequency of data synchronization from Salesforce to ActiveCampaign. To do this, go to the " Job Schedule" tab and select the desired synchronization frequency from the "Job Frequency" drop-down menu.

Once selected, click on the " Schedule " button and then click on the " Finish " button to complete the process.

Aktivace funkce ActiveCampaign CX Automation

The last step is to enable the ActiveCampaign CX (Customer Experience) Automation component. To do this, click the " Continue " button on the settings page in ActiveCampaign.

To complete the automation setup, click the " Finish " button. Congratulations! You have successfully created the ActiveCampaign integration with Salesforce.

To view the connected integration, go to your ActiveCampaign account and click on " Settings ". In the left menu, select " Integrations " and you will find the ActiveCampaign integration with Salesforce in the list.

Case Study at XYZ Corporation

An unnamed XYZ company that n is a leading provider of telecommunications services to residential and business customers. Its goal was to improve customer engagement and drive sales growth. Hence, it implemented ActiveCampaign integration with Salesforce platform.

Business challenges

  • Ineffective Email Marketing: XYZ Company was struggling to deliver personalized and targeted email campaigns due to manual data management processes and limited automation capabilities.

  • Fragmented customer data: the separation of customer data between the CRM system and the email marketing platform led to inconsistent information and ineffective customer communication.

  • Inadequate lead scoring: The company lacked a standardized lead scoring mechanism, which led to problems identifying and prioritizing high-potential leads.

ActiveCampaign integration with Salesforce

  • Seamless data synchronization: XYZ integrated ActiveCampaign with Salesforce, which enabled real-time synchronization of customer data between the two systems. This ensured accurate and up-to-date customer profiles across platforms.

  • Automated Email Campaigns: Using ActiveCampaign's automation features, the company created targeted email campaigns triggered by specific behaviors or events for individual customers, such as abandoned carts or recent purchases.

  • Advanced Lead Scoring: Through the integration, this company has implemented a comprehensive lead scoring system that uses customer engagement data, purchase history, and demographic data to simultaneously identify and prioritize leads for the sales team.

  • Unified Customer View: The integration provided a holistic view of customer interactions and activities within Salesforce, allowing sales reps to have more personalized conversations with prospective customers.

Results and benefits

  • Improved Customer Engagement: By leveraging ActiveCampaign's automation features, XYZ Company saw higher customer engagement, higher open rates, and higher click-through rates and conversions from email campaigns.

  • Higher Conversion Rates: Implementing advanced lead scoring enabled this company to effectively prioritize leads, resulting in improved sales results.

  • Increased marketing efficiency: the ActiveCampaign integration streamlined the company's email marketing processes, reducing manual effort and enabling more targeted and personalized campaigns. This led to increased marketing efficiency and higher ROI.

  • Personalized customer experience: the integration of customer data provided a 360-degree view of customers, which in turn enabled the company to deliver personalized experiences, tailored recommendations and relevant offers, leading to increased customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Integration Best Practices

Here are some best practices to consider when integrating the two platforms:

  1. Clearly define your goals: set specific goals before you begin the integration process. Identify the data you want to sync between ActiveCampaign and Salesforce, such as contact information, lead scoring, email activity, or campaign data.

  2. Plan the data mapping: determine how the data will flow between ActiveCampaign and Salesforce. Map fields and objects in both systems to ensure accurate and consistent data synchronization. Consider creating custom fields in Salesforce that contain unique data from ActiveCampaign.

  3. Set up automation rules: use the automation capabilities in ActiveCampaign to trigger actions in Salesforce and vice versa. For example, automate lead generation in Salesforce when a lead reaches a certain score in ActiveCampaign. This will streamline the lead management process and ensure timely follow-up.

  4. Establish data maintenance procedures: maintain data integrity by implementing regular data cleansing and deduplication. Identify and merge duplicate records in both ActiveCampaign and Salesforce to avoid confusion and inconsistencies. 

  5. Leverage segmentation and personalization: ActiveCampaign offers powerful segmentation and personalization features. Use these features to target specific audience segments based on Salesforce data. Create personalized email campaigns or automation workflows to nurture leads and drive conversions.

  6. Tracking and data analytics: Enable tracking and analytics integrations between ActiveCampaign and Salesforce. Track key metrics such as email open rates, click-through rates, conversion rates, and revenue generated. Use this data to optimize campaigns, refine messaging, and improve overall marketing and sales performance.

  7. Ensure data security and compliance: Prioritize data security and compliance throughout the integration process. Implement appropriate security measures to protect sensitive customer information. Comply with applicable data privacy regulations, such as GDPR or CCPA, and obtain necessary approvals from your contacts.

  8. Test and monitor: Test your integration thoroughly before deploying it at scale. Run test scenarios to verify data accuracy, automation workflows, and synchronization processes. Continuously monitor and fine-tune the integration based on feedback and performance indicators to optimize its effectiveness.

  9. Provide training and support to the team: educate your team on how to use the integrated system effectively. Implement training or provide resources to ensure your sales and marketing teams understand the new processes, data flow, and automation rules. Offer ongoing support to address any problems or questions.

Conclusion

In conclusion, integrating ActiveCampaign with Salesforce can bring a boost to your marketing and sales activities. This integration combines unique automation and customer care capabilities and also provides a single view of all customer interactions. Sales teams can gain valuable insights, make informed decisions, and prioritize high-value leads, resulting in increased conversion rates. 

Personalized and automated marketing campaigns foster stronger customer relationships and increase customer engagement. Integration creates a closed feedback system, encourages collaboration and enables continuous optimization. 

In general, integrating ActiveCampaign with Salesforce streamlines processes and can support company-wide growth, which can lead to long-term success in a competitive market.

Not sure if these two tools are right for your business? Check out our Comparison of the most popular CRMs for 2023. We'd be happy to help you integrate these and other tools into your business processes, don't hesitate to contact us. Our specialists can save you a lot of time and effort.

FAQ

1.What is ActiveCampaign?

ActiveCampaign is a platform for automating marketing and sales processes.

2.What is Salesforce?

Salesforce is a CRM platform for managing sales, marketing and customer activities.

3.Why integrate ActiveCampaign with Salesforce?

The integration enables seamless communication between marketing and sales teams, streamlines internal processes and provides a holistic view of customer interactions.

4.What are the benefits of integration?

Better lead management, improved customer segmentation, streamlined workflows, comprehensive reporting, and increased efficiency and collaboration.

5.How to integrate ActiveCampaign with Salesforce?

Access the integration setup in ActiveCampaign and follow the instructions above in the article.

6.What data can be synchronized?

Based on your preferences, leads, contacts, custom fields, email activity, and data collected from campaigns can be synced.

7.What support is available?

Both platforms offer documentation, tutorials, and customer support resources to help with integration.