First Time Pardot Admin: How to Pass Driver’s Ed and Avoid a Crash

 

This session provides a crucial “getting started” guide for first-time Pardot administrators or marketing specialists suddenly tasked with managing the platform. It covers the bare minimum technical setup, user management, lead routing, and managing common data sync errors.

Key Takeaways

 

• The Bare Minimum: Before sending any email, the core technical setup (Email Sending Domain, Website Tracking, Tracker Domain) must be validated to avoid blacklists and low deliverability.

• HTTPS is Mandatory: Marketers must work with IT to ensure all assets are secured with HTTPS/SSL certificates to prevent “mixed content” warnings and loss of tracking.

• User Permissions are Vital: Do not overlook user management; establish clear roles and permissions immediately to protect assets from unauthorized changes.

• Sync Errors are Your Enemy: Regularly check the sync error queue, as these issues prevent data updates and can lead to lost leads and poor customer experience.

1. Day 1: Essential Technical Setup

 

Before any campaign launch, these three technical settings must be validated (often requiring IT assistance).

1. Email Sending Domain (ESD): Validates the address emails are sent from (e.g., @yourcompany.com). If not validated (red triangle status), emails risk being blocked, blacklisted, or experiencing high bounce rates.

2. Website Tracking Code: Must be added to your website header to track visitor activity (page views, site travel).

3. Tracker Domain: Used as the URL for all branded assets (landing pages, files). Out-of-the-box is go.pardot.com. This should be branded to reflect your company’s domain.

2. Day 2: Templates and HTTPS Validation

 

The biggest current risk to email and landing page templates is the shift to mandatory HTTPS.

• The Mixed Content Issue: Older templates often contain a mixture of secure (https://) and insecure (http://) links (for images, hosted assets, custom fonts). Browsers (like Chrome) will soon start blocking access to forms or content with mixed content.

• Marketer Action: Go through all templates and search for http: links. Work with IT to secure assets with an SSL certificate and update all links to https:.

• Tracker Domain HTTPS: The tracker domain itself must be set to primary, and then a subsequent step is required to make it fully HTTPS.

3. Day 3: User Management and Security

 

Establishing clear user roles immediately is non-negotiable for security and asset protection.

• Admin Access: Ensure you have anywhere from two to five administrators to prevent a single point of failure (e.g., losing access or being on vacation).

• Role Documentation: Document all user permissions and roles (e.g., Marketing User, Sales Manager) to prevent unauthorized users (like a Sales rep) from accidentally editing live email templates.

4. Day 5: Lead Routing (Avoiding Lost Leads)

 

Leads assigned to a new Pardot instance or those who have been sitting in the system often become unassigned, leading to lost opportunities.

• Assign Everything: Ensure all leads are assigned to an owner or team.

• Routing Options (in Pardot): Assignment rules can be executed from various places (Forms, Automation Rules, Engagement Studio) using one of three methods:

  1. Salesforce Assignment Rules: Push the lead to Salesforce, which handles the routing.

  2. Assign User: Assign to a single user (who must exist in both Pardot and Salesforce).

  3. Round Robin Group: Assign to a group of users in a rotating, round-robin fashion.

• The Unassigned Problem: Leads without an owner or a proper assignment rule will sit and die, often requiring manual intervention to find and assign them.

5. Day 10-15: Conquering Sync Errors

 

Sync errors prevent data from moving between Pardot and Salesforce, jeopardizing data integrity. The goal is to clear the queue and prevent future growth.

• Locating Errors: Go to Admin (or Pardot Settings) > Connectors > salesforce.com (gear icon) to view the sync error log.

• Common Causes:

  • Picklist Misalignment: Mapped picklists (Country, State) have values in Pardot that are not valid or locked in Salesforce.

  • Validation Rules: Salesforce validation rules are triggered because data submitted via Pardot forms violates the required format.

  • Duplicates: Issues in Salesforce’s duplicate matching.

• Solution (Bulk Cleanup): Work with your Salesforce admin to align picklists. For immediate cleanup, download the sync error log (CSV), normalize the data in Excel (e.g., correct country/state formats), and re-import the CSV. The import process updates the data and pushes the records back into the sync queue.