Connecting data to systems has always been a roadblock for marketers in understanding how effective their initiatives are. Platforms like Salesforce typically sit within (and are paid for by) the sales side of the enterprise. IT teams are responsible for implementation and usually take direction from the primary stakeholder, and rightfully so. Implementations rarely include input from the marketing teams—which has created a gap in capturing sales data for marketing teams. Google AdWords can help close that gap with its data import feature.
how it works
In most cases, ‘major’ changes to Salesforce—or how the data is being captured and passed to Salesforce—would need to be completed before lead data could be connected to sales data. Google has simplified this process in a major way. They have created a direct connection to Salesforce. Below is an overview of how the import feature works:
- AdWords ad is served and clicked on by user
- User completes form
- Internal sales team follows up and closes on a user who completed the form through an AdWords campaign
- AdWords automatically imports conversion information from Salesforce
- Salesforce conversion data included in AdWords reports
- Provide reports at the keyword level which include true conversions, not just form fills
Requirements
There are a few prerequisites before you can begin accessing your Salesforce data in Google AdWords. Two of the requirements are technical and the third is relationship-based. Implementation will require coordination between the team who owns Salesforce, the paid search team, and someone who can make site updates. Google’s documentation does make the setup seem extremely straightforward—it is—but from experience, any changes to Salesforce and its collection process require careful and successful coordination between teams.
Requirements before the data can be imported:
- AdWords campaigns must be collecting lead generation form fills
- Auto-tagging must be enabled
- Coordination from the Paid search team, Webmaster, and Salesforce admin are required
This long-awaited integration offers many advantages for marketers: by gaining access to sales data, you can now execute paid search campaigns, optimizing against lead generation and form fills. Marketers will also be able to more effectively manage and determine return on ad spend and cost per acquisition.
Source: Google
