How to Build a Dynamic Pardot Email Engagement Dashboard in Salesforce

 

This session provides a step-by-step guide on leveraging Connected Campaigns and native Salesforce reporting to create a dynamic, highly shareable email engagement dashboard, offering a solution similar to B2B Marketing Analytics (B2BMA) but accessible to more users in Salesforce.

Key Takeaways

 

• Shareability is Key: Building the dashboard in Salesforce maximizes cross-departmental visibility and shareability, as Salesforce typically has more users than B2BMA/Analytics Studio licenses.

• Requirements: You must be using the Pardot Lightning App and Salesforce Lightning, and Connected Campaigns must be set up.

• Engagement Studio Data Included: Despite the report name, this method captures engagement data from both static List Emails and dynamic Engagement Studio programs.

• Dynamic Filters are the Hidden Gem: Maximizing the dashboard’s value relies on creating filters that allow users to dynamically slice data by date range, segment, and email type.

1. Building the Core Salesforce Report

 

The dashboard relies on a single source of truth report in Salesforce.

Report Type

 

• Select Campaigns with List Emails as the report type. This report pulls data for both static list emails and automated emails (Engagement Studio emails are included).

• Troubleshooting: If you cannot find this report type or see data, check with your Salesforce admin. Ensure the permission settings allow you to view list emails connected to campaigns.

Filters and Setup

 

• Show Me: All Campaigns.

• Create Date: All Time.

• Subject: Does not contain “Proof” (to exclude test emails).

• Total Sent: Is greater than 0 (as a troubleshooting measure).

Outline and Columns

 

• Group Rows By: Schedule Date and Time (then change the grouping to Calendar Month for monthly aggregation).

• Columns to Include: Deliverability Rate, Open Rate, Unique Click Through Rate, Click to Open Ratio, and Opt Out Rate.

• Summarize: Summarize key rate columns by Average to see the benchmark for the consolidated email types.

• Grouping (Optional): Group by Type (to separate static emails from automated emails) or a custom campaign field like Segment or Offer Type.

2. Interpreting the Data Types

 

Understanding how automated emails appear in the report is critical for accurate analysis:

• Static Emails: Show up clearly as List Email under the type field.

• Engagement Studio Emails: Are grouped under Automated Emails and typically appear with the name “Send Email” in the report.

• Auto-Responders: Are also grouped under Automated Emails, but will show their specific email name rather than “Send Email.”

3. Building the Dynamic Dashboard

 

Use the report you just built as the foundation for the dashboard components.

• Headers: Use Metric Charts for key average rates (Open Rate, Deliverability Rate, etc.). Use color coding (green for good, red for poor, black for neutral) to quickly express performance satisfaction.

• Charts: Incorporate Line Charts to visualize month-over-month trends and Vertical Bar Charts to compare performance across different categories (e.g., offer type on the X-axis vs. click-through rate on the Y-axis).

Maximizing Value with Dynamic Filters

 

Dynamic filters are the “hidden gem” that allow users to deeply analyze the data without editing the report. You should select three key filters that address common business questions:

• Scheduled Date: Allows users to easily pivot the entire dashboard to view performance This Month, Last Month, This Year, Last Year, or specific custom ranges (e.g., Last 365 Days).

• Segment/Custom Field: If campaigns are organized by segment (e.g., Astro, Einstein), this filter allows users to see how engagement benchmarks differ by audience. This can reveal if a certain segment is being over-mailed (high opt-out rate) or needs more relevant content.

• Email Type: This is crucial for comparing List Email performance versus Automated Email performance (Engagement Studio). If automated emails show a significantly higher engagement rate, it supports the strategic initiative to invest more time in building personalized engagement campaigns over simple batch blasts.

Final Tips and Troubleshooting

 

• Engagement Studio Data: If you need to see specific email subject lines within Engagement Studio campaigns, you must drill down into the report itself. You can also use a unified naming convention for campaigns and use that as a dynamic filter.

• Campaign Hierarchy: In the presenter’s org, each email was given its own campaign, often including offer type. This strategy makes it easier to capture specific offer performance, but one campaign does not necessarily equal one segment.

• Pardot-Salesforce Sync: As long as Connected Campaigns are enabled, the necessary data is pushed to Salesforce, making the dashboard functional.