What the Pardot is Account Engagement? Extending your Salesforce Admin Skills to Marketing Automation

As the Pardot (Marketing Cloud Account Engagement) interface is becoming more integrated with Salesforce (lightning App, Marketing Data Sharing Rules, V2 Connector, etc.) the need for dual system understanding continues to grow. Both scenarios outlined below have the same underlying pain: admins unprepared to support the success of both systems. Either admins are out of the loop of what’s happening in Pardot, a system that has potentially significant consequences for their Salesforce data and metadata, OR they are now expected to be in the loop and have zero Pardot understanding. Basic proficiency is a key element to the successful maintenance and growth of a Salesforce instance that has a connected Pardot and I would love to build confidence and understanding for these folks!

I have seen the following scenarios grow significantly in the last two years:

• Client is sold Pardot with no designated resource to become the product owner and the admin is expected to take on ownership of the system because it’s “part of Salesforce”.
• Client is sold Pardot and the Marketing person who will become the product owner has zero Pardot experience and/or is not knowledgeable in Salesforce data architecture.