The Future of Pardot Email: A Deep Dive into the New Drag-and-Drop Builder

 

This session, led by independent consultant Jen Kazin, provides a comprehensive overview of the new Pardot drag-and-drop email builder, highlighting its current capabilities, limitations, and the exciting potential it holds for the future of email marketing within Salesforce.

Key Takeaways

 

• The Future of Sending: The new builder is the future of email creation in Pardot. Users should adopt it now, even with current limitations, to prepare for future enhancements.

• Prerequisites: Requires Pardot Lightning App, Connected Campaigns, and HML (Handlebars Merge Language).

• Templates are Responsive: All templates built in the new editor are responsive and automatically stack components for mobile view.

• Current Limitations (V1.0): The builder is currently only available for List Emails and does not yet support Engagement Studio, AB Testing, Dynamic Content, Snippets, or custom brand styling/fonts.

• Simultaneous Use: The new builder can be used simultaneously with the traditional email send experience, allowing flexibility during the transition.

1. Builder Fundamentals and Core Features

 

The new builder utilizes a drag-and-drop interface within Salesforce, separating asset creation from the send process.

• Email Templates vs. Email Content:

  • Email Templates: The drag-and-drop interface used to create the reusable template.

  • Email Content: The interface used to send the email based on a saved template (similar to the traditional send process).

• Interface: The interface has three main parts: Components (left side, e.g., buttons, images, text), the Canvas (middle, where the email is built), and the Properties Panel (right side, for component settings).

• Preheader Text: There is now a dedicated field for Preheader Text, a change expected to increase open rates.

• Structural Components: You can drag in the Row component to create up to 12 columns, and define the column width using a 12-column grid system (e.g., two equal columns would be 6/12).

• HTML Component (The Wildcard): A dedicated HTML component is available to insert custom code, though it is limited to 10,000 characters and is designed for component-level code, not the entire source code. Note: You cannot view the entire email source code in the new builder.

• Quality of Life Features: Includes a handy Undo button to easily revert accidental changes.

2. Controlling Templates and Sharing

 

The new builder provides better control over how assets are shared and managed.

• Component Locking: The “Allow changes in email” toggle can be disabled on any component (e.g., a footer or banner) to lock it down and prevent other marketers from making changes when they use the template.

• Salesforce Folders: Templates are saved using Salesforce Folders (Private, Public, or shared with specific users/groups), providing more robust sharing controls than traditional Pardot folders.

• Cross-Business Unit Sharing: Templates can be saved in one folder and shared across multiple Pardot Business Units (a major efficiency win).

3. The Email Sending Experience

 

The send process includes collaboration features and simplifies resending.

• Chatter Integration: The send record includes a Chatter feed, allowing users to mention colleagues for reviews or dialogue directly within the record, keeping communication attached to the email.

• Resending: You can send the same email multiple times to different audiences by simply clicking “Send” again. This creates separate send records (in the Related tab) for individual tracking and campaign assignment.

• Key Send Gotchas (Troubleshooting):

  • “Text Body is Required”: If this error appears, you must click “Sync from HTML” on the send screen to populate the plain text body.

  • Unsubscribe/Preference Center: These must be added manually as a merge field linked to text (e.g., highlighting “unsubscribe” and inserting the merge field).

  • Completion Actions: Completion actions currently apply to any link in the email; you cannot specify a single link.

4. Image Strategy (CMS is Recommended)

 

The source of images has been changed, making the Salesforce CMS the recommended best practice.

• Three Image Sources:

  1. URL Link: Using a public link (including Pardot hosted images).

  2. Salesforce CMS (Recommended): The Content Management System is a free area in Salesforce for storing images.

  3. Files: Stored under Setup > Asset Files. Limited functionality.

• Why Use CMS: The CMS uses a CDN (Content Delivery Network), ensuring images efficiently deliver correctly to a high volume of recipients (e.g., 300,000 sends) without rendering issues. It also provides better sharing controls and image thumbnails.

• Sales Use: The CMS is flexible, allowing marketers to create templates where images can be used in Pardot emails and Sales emails (when reps use the template from the Lead/Contact record).