Marketing Cloud Next implementation: how the project unfolds with Ceili
Ceili has delivered numerous Salesforce Marketing Cloud Next and Data 360 implementations for organizations across the board: from manufacturing and professional services to IT, financial administration services, care and wellbeing services, and media.
In this article, we’ve gathered the starting points, goals, and solutions that come up frequently in Marketing Cloud Next projects, to make it easier to consider a move from another marketing platform to Marketing Cloud Next.
We currently deliver roughly a third (1/3) of all Marketing Cloud Next projects in Finland (Salesforce) and this article explains what a Marketing Cloud Next and Data 360 implementation project with Ceili typically includes.
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What starting point do Marketing Cloud Next projects usually begin from?
The starting point tends to look similar from project to project, usually falling into one of the following categories:
- Marketing runs on a separate tool (such as HubSpot, Mailchimp, Act-On, or ActiveCampaign), while sales and customer data live in Salesforce. When the systems don’t talk to each other, information falls through the cracks, marketing can’t access data from across the full customer lifecycle, and collaboration between sales and marketing isn’t transparent.
- Marketing runs on Salesforce’s earlier marketing tool, Account Engagement (Pardot) or Engagement (ExactTarget), and the new capabilities Marketing Cloud Next offers – such as data segmentation, automation, content management, and AI – are of interest.
- There’s no dedicated system for marketing and it isn’t run systematically – for example, emails are sent out sporadically from the sales system.
If the chosen solution is Salesforce Marketing Cloud Next, running on Data 360 (Data Cloud) underneath it, marketing is brought onto the same platform as sales and customer data.
In these projects, the goals can include, for example:
- Bringing marketing onto the same platform as sales and customer data
- Enabling marketing across the entire customer lifecycle
- Removing silos between sales, customer service, and marketing
- Improving transparency and information flow between sales, customer service, and marketing
- Enabling data-driven segmentation and personalized communication
- Introducing automated communication based on customer data
- Freeing up resources from routine marketing work for more strategic development, thanks to automation and AI
What does a Marketing Cloud Next implementation project include?
So how does this actually happen in practice? What’s expected from Ceili, and what’s expected from the client organization?
Marketing Cloud Next is Salesforce’s newest marketing platform, running on top of Data 360 (Data Cloud). Data 360 makes it possible to process and combine large volumes of data from different sources, which is why it’s part of the implementation alongside the marketing platform itself. Many clients already use Salesforce Sales Cloud to support sales, and Marketing Cloud Next and Data 360 are brought in alongside it.
With Marketing Cloud Next and Data 360, our clients are able to:
- Capture leads and manage lead generation in one place
- Automatically route marketing leads to nurturing or to sales
- Unify the marketing and sales lead pipeline
- Carry out data-driven segmentation
- Send personalized communication across multiple channels
- Run marketing based on data spanning the entire customer lifecycle
- Manage event marketing
- Run nurturing automations in the background
- Use AI in everyday marketing
- Report on marketing results clearly
What is expected from customer (as an addition to Ceili’s project management and expertise):
- Time resource for sessions
- Project management (from customer side)
- Customer’s marketing current status and future definition skills
- Willingness to test and learn the new system
How does Ceili run Marketing Cloud Next projects?
The project moves forward with Ceili in five stages:
- Current-state review. Together, we go through your existing marketing and systems: what gets carried over as-is, what needs developing, and what gets left out. This forms the basis for agreeing on needs and responsibilities.
- Technical implementation. Setup covers both Data 360 and Marketing Cloud Next, with Ceili taking the lead. Some input is needed from the client for certain parts, such as the domain, DNS, and website tracking settings.
- Workshops and user training. The goal is for the client to build a solid understanding of using Marketing Cloud Next day to day. Ceili provides support, but the client owns the system.
- Flexible division of responsibilities and support. Some clients want example implementations from Ceili to build the rest on their own. Others want Ceili to handle everything, from forms to the visual design of emails. The division of work is agreed based on the client’s expertise and resources.
- Continued development after go-live. Most questions tend to come up in the first few months, as the client builds out new use cases. Ceili also offers flexible support and continued-development services after the project ends, bringing in strategic marketing expertise, such as recommendations for the first use cases to tackle.
The most common first use cases are newsletter sign-up, event marketing, contact forms and lead processes, campaign management, downloadable content, data-segmented nurturing automations, lifecycle communication, and the marketing agent.
Figure: How does Ceili run Marketing Cloud Next projects? The figure shows the general structure, which is adapted based on the client's situation and needs, and Ceili's recommendations.
Already using Marketing Cloud Next or Foundations, but the platform isn’t working the way you want, or you’re not sure how to use it?
Ceili also does what we call Re-starts – helping in situations where a Marketing Cloud Next or Foundations implementation has already been done, but the system isn’t working the way it should, or isn’t being used effectively enough day to day.
Typically, one of two situations is behind this:
- The client implemented it themselves, and questions or problems have come up along the way. Or it’s unclear what to do next.
- Another partner carried out the implementation, and the client isn’t happy with the result or isn’t able to use the system to its full potential.
In both cases, we start the same way we would with a new project: we review the current state and the challenges, then move forward from there as needed.
The general structure of a re-start project is:
- Current-state review
- Fixes and development of the technical side and top priorities
- Workshops and user training to deepen expertise
- Building and/or continued development of use cases
Why do organisations choose Ceili as their Marketing Cloud Next partner?
”We have a strong point of view on how to approach a Marketing Cloud Next implementation, because we've run these projects many times, across many different industries. That shows up in our projects as clear progress, and in the fact that we can tell clients right away, straightforwardly, what works and what doesn't, and give recommendations that fit their situation. Our clients tell us they appreciate our clear project leadership, our support, our understanding of marketing, and simply that we're easy to work with.”
- Julia Jalojärvi, Marketing Manager & Senior Salesforce Consultant, Ceili Oy
Frequently Asked Questions
- What’s the difference between Marketing Cloud Next and Account Engagement (Pardot)?
Account Engagement (Pardot) is Salesforce’s earlier marketing tool for managing B2B leads. Marketing Cloud Next is the newer platform, running on top of Data 360, bringing broader data unification, multichannel automation, and AI across the entire customer lifecycle. - Do you also need Data 360 to use Marketing Cloud Next?
Yes. Data 360 (Data Cloud) runs behind Marketing Cloud Next and makes it possible to combine different data sources, so it’s always part of the implementation alongside the marketing platform. - Can a Marketing Cloud Next project be implemented in phases?
Ceili agrees the division of responsibilities, project scope, and timeline based on the client’s needs. The project’s content and progress are based on the client’s resources and wishes. - What if Marketing Cloud Next is already in use, but it’s not working the way you want?
Ceili runs re-start projects, reviewing the current state and challenges the same way as in a new implementation, then moving forward with technical fixes, training, and use-case development.
If marketing and sales live in separate systems at your organization too, or Marketing Cloud Next has caught your interest, let’s talk – we’re happy to walk you through what a project could look like for your situation.
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