Learn more about the intricacies of Salesforce CRM sync with Marketo Engage, including common sync issues during lead-to-contact conversion, sync errors and their resolutions, and when to level up by syncing Salesforce Custom Objects.

Maintaining a robust and efficient CRM integration with Adobe Marketo Engage is essential for effective marketing automation. From troubleshooting the initial sync to managing CRM Custom Object sync, understanding the intricacies of this connection ensures accurate data flow and empowers personalized campaigns.

Marketo Engage offers three native CRM connectors for Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics, and Veeva, each with its unique maintenance requirements. This article draws from my extensive experience with Salesforce CRM integration. I cover common use cases of enhancing Salesforce to Marketo Engage synchronization post-initial sync:

• Mapping Custom Fields in Salesforce
• Understanding sync errors
• Creating and syncing CRM Custom Objects.

Additionally, I will demonstrate how to configure these elements in Salesforce and Marketo Engage. Watch the videos to learn my tips and tricks.

Use case 1: Mapping CRM Custom Fields for Lead to Contact conversions

Business Scenario: Lead scoring

Consider a scenario where lead scoring is implemented in a field within the lead object. If this lead score triggers various actions and is displayed to the sales team, but the fields are not mapped for conversion, the data is lost during the transition from lead to contact. This data loss means that the data remains in the lead object but does not transfer to the contact object, causing important marketing fields to be invisible on the CRM side for sales.

As a Marketo Engage admin, you should work closely with your Salesforce admins to ensure they properly map the custom fields in Salesforce. Understanding how to map these fields correctly is crucial for maintaining data integrity.

Action item: Please ask your Salesforce admins to map Custom Salesforce CRM Fields for Conversions. This mapping ensures that lead data seamlessly transitions to contact data during the lead lifecycle and leverages custom data points in Marketo Engage.

Common pitfalls: I have seen users create custom fields on Salesforce Lead and Contact objects and sync these fields to Marketo Engage. If the API name and field settings are the same, both fields from Salesforce Lead and Contact objects would be displayed in Marketo Engage under one field.

If your Salesforce admins don't map these fields, the values from the Salesforce Lead object would not be carried over to the Salesforce Contact object during your Sales team’s lead conversion process, leading to marketing data loss and incomplete contact profiles.

Video: Follow along to see how I map this in Salesforce.

With this setup, as your Sales team converts Leads to Contacts in Salesforce, the values in your Salesforce Lead Object can be transported adequately to the Salesforce Contact Object. Ultimately, they can sync to the unified field in Marketo Engage.

Use case 2: Understanding the Salesforce CRM sync errors

Business scenario: CRM data discrepancy and errors

Despite robust data integration, CRM sync errors are common and often resolvable. When facing disruptions in data flow between Marketo Engage and Salesforce, you must quickly pinpoint and resolve the root cause of sync failures. First, you should analyze the specific error messages in the “Admin” section to identify the type of issue.

Video: Watch and learn how I troubleshoot three common sync errors and their corresponding actions.

I have also outlined three types of sync errors and the corresponding actions to resolve them for your future reference.

1. Access Issues: When the Marketo sync user lacks sufficient permissions in Salesforce to perform necessary actions like inserting or updating records, you would encounter an "INSUFFICIENT_ACCESS_ON_CROSS_REFERENCE_ENTITY" or "INSUFFICIENT_ACCESS_OR_READONLY" error.

• Action item:  In this scenario, you need to grant the Marketo sync user the required administrative profile permissions within Salesforce to restore data synchronization.

2. Duplicate Issues: When Salesforce duplicate rules prevent the creation of new records with matching criteria, such as email addresses, you would receive a "DUPLICATES_DETECTED" error.

• Action item: In this scenario, you need to review and potentially adjust Salesforce duplicate rules or resolve the duplicate records to allow the sync to proceed.

3. Missing or invalid data Issues:  When data validation fails due to missing required fields, invalid picklist values, or custom validation rules, you would encounter errors like "FIELD_CUSTOM_VALIDATION_EXCEPTION," "INVALID_OR_NULL_FOR_RESTRICTED_PICKLIST," or "REQUIRED_FIELD_MISSING." For example, if a lead’s "Status" field is set to "Disqualified" and a "Disqualified Reason" field is required, the sync would fail. The records would not populate in Salesforce until the "Disqualified Reason" field is populated with a valid value. This resolution varies based on any custom rules that your records need to adhere to.

• Action item: In these instances, you need to ensure data compliance with Salesforce validation rules to resolve the sync errors. For example, you should use consistent picklist values of the fields in both systems. In the sample screenshots below, the picklist value “Job Level: HR” triggered the invalid data sync error. You would need to update the picklist value to resolve the sync error.

Now, you have learned how to diagnose and resolve the common sync errors in Marketo Engage and Salesforce!

Use case 3: Level up with more fields by creating and syncing Custom Objects

Business scenario: New data fields for targeting marketing campaigns

Your Marketing and Sales teams request to bring unique, business-specific data from your Salesforce CRM into Marketo Engage for targeted marketing campaigns and enhanced segmentation. This is the scenario when you can leverage Custom Object syncing to create more fields for the new data. For example, a use case can be that your team wants certain accounts to get a different email campaign from others if they are subscribed to a different kind of product/service.

Before you proceed to CRM Custom Object sync, it’s important to check that your Salesforce Custom Objects are configured properly.

• Action item 1:  Extending Salesforce functionality with Custom Objects

  • When standard Salesforce objects don't meet your specific data needs for marketing campaigns, you can create Custom Objects to tailor the platform. For instance, if you're a software company managing projects, you might consider creating a "License" Custom Object to track license details. You can then relate this "License" object to the "Accounts" object to link the license to specific clients. This strategy allows you to capture and manage data that's unique to your business processes.

• Action item 2: Custom Object Association and Permissions

  • To ensure a Custom Object in Salesforce is available for syncing with Marketo Engage, you would first verify it's associated with a Lead, Contact, or Account Object. Additionally, the Marketo Sync User must have read access to the Custom Object. This access ensures that Marketo Engage can both list and sync the Custom Object data. For example, you create a Custom Object called "Events Attended" and want to use it in Marketo Engage. The first action is to ensure it is related to the "Contact" object and that the sync user has read access.

Video: Watch me demonstrate how to set up the Salesforce CRM Custom Object sync properly and locate the people who have Custom Object data in Smart Campaigns/Smart Lists.

Tips for working with Salesforce Custom Objects in Marketo Engage

• Disable Salesforce sync before adding Custom Objects: It is crucial to disable the Salesforce sync in Marketo Engage before you begin adding any Custom Objects from Salesforce. This helps prevent potential conflicts or errors during the integration process.

• Use Velocity Script tokens for Custom Object fields in emails: Do you intend to use fields from Salesforce Custom Objects as tokens within Marketo Engage emails? If so, you need to create and use Velocity Script tokens. Standard Marketo Engage tokens do not directly access these fields.

• Ensure unique Custom Object names: Marketo Engage requires that all Custom Objects have unique names. It does not support having two different Custom Objects with the same name.

• Use Custom Object fields as constraints: Custom Object fields aren't available as a direct filter like other custom/standard fields on the Person Object in Marketo Engage. They are rather available as constraints of the Has <custom object name> filter.

Now you have learned that CRM Custom Object sync can level up your segmentation capabilities in Marketo Engage. Once you set it up, you can target your audience in Marketo Engage with data from Salesforce Custom Objects.

Key takeaways

After the initial Salesforce sync, it’s critical for you as a Marketo Engage admin to maintain the data flow from Salesforce to Marketo Engage, enabling your marketers to target campaigns properly.

Let’s review the common Salesforce CRM sync use cases and suggested actions to handle the essential CRM sync daily tasks:

1. Incomplete contact profiles in Salesforce as Leads are converted into Contacts in Salesforce: Verify if you map your Salesforce Custom Fields properly for the Lead and Contact objects.

2. Resolving common Salesforce sync errors: Understand the root cause of common sync errors, such as access, duplicates, and missing or invalid data. Then, investigate the right areas in your Salesforce instance to allow the sync to proceed.

3. Syncing Custom Object to Marketo Engage to enhance segmentation capabilities: Start in Salesforce to configure the Custom Object permission and associate it with your Lead, Contact, or Account Object. From there, you can proceed to enable your Custom Object sync in Marketo Engage.