October 8, 2023

How to connect Salesforce Marketing Cloud with Google Analytics

 

In today’s competitive landscape, staying informed about your marketing cloud campaign performance is crucial. This blog post aims to guide you on how to achieve a seamless integration between Salesforce Marketing Cloud and Google Analytics, enabling you to gain deeper insights into your data.

Why integrate Google Analytics and Salesforce?

The integration of Google Analytics and Salesforce serves several purposes:

  1. Identify High-Quality Lead Sources

Some marketing campaigns may generate a high volume of leads that seldom convert, consuming valuable resources for your sales team. Conversely, other channels may yield a smaller quantity of leads, but a substantial portion of them could become loyal, high-spending customers. Evaluating this effectiveness is often measured through “Revenue per lead.”

  1. Attain a 360-degree view of your Marketing Efforts

The ultimate goal of marketing is to generate a consistent flow of leads with high revenue potential. To accomplish this, it’s essential to pinpoint the specific marketing channels, campaigns, blog posts, keywords, and more that are most likely to generate such leads.

This is precisely where the integration of Google Analytics and Salesforce proves invaluable. It provides a comprehensive perspective of your marketing campaigns, facilitating the calculation of ROI for each channel, campaign, and keyword. Consequently, you can allocate your resources more effectively, focusing on activities that yield results and minimizing time and money spent on less productive endeavors.

The Process of Integrating Google Analytics and Salesforce Marketing Cloud

Embark on this journey by following these FIVE simple steps to establish the integration of Google Analytics with your marketing cloud:

Step 1: Create a Dedicated Google Analytics Integration User

We strongly recommend setting up a dedicated Google Analytics account that grants access to all organizational properties and views within Google Analytics. This specialized account will serve as the authorization point for Marketing Cloud to access Google Analytics data. Seek assistance from your analytics specialist in setting up this new account.

Step 2: Connect Google Analytics to the Marketing Cloud

Navigate to the Setup settings by clicking on your name in the upper right corner. Select “Apps” and then choose “Google Analytics Integration” from the left menu. Click the “Link Account” button.

 

Step 3: Configure Access to Google Analytics Views

Select the dedicated Integration user you created earlier and click “Allow.”

 

Once completed, the page will redirect you to the Google Analytics Integrations Setup page. A successful integration will be indicated by a green checkmark () next to your username. Click “Manage” under the “Setup Access to Google Analytics Views” section, and choose a property and a view. This will make all Google Analytics goals set in the selected view visible on the Journey Builder dashboard.

 

 

Step 4: Set Up Web URL Tracking Parameters

In this final step, configure URL link parameters that will be appended to all messaging links. Click “Manage” under the “Manager Tracking Parameters” section, and you’ll be redirected to the Parameter Management Setup page.

️ If you’re currently using the Web Analytics Connector to append UTMs, it’s essential to update or deactivate it beforehand. Additionally, it’s advisable to consult with other Marketing Cloud stakeholders to ensure the Web Analytics Connector isn’t being used with any emails in Marketing Cloud.

Make the necessary updates to the utm_source and utm_medium parameters, and decide whether utm_campaign should represent the message name or be set manually for each communication. Then, click “Save.”

If your organization utilizes GA4, you can also set up GA4 property tracking for web and app links.

 

 

Step 5: Test the Integration

To ensure a successful integration, send a sample via Journey Builder and complete a goal on the website that aligns with one of the Google Analytics goals created in your Google Analytics account. Allow 10-15 minutes after sending the email, then access the Journey Analytics dashboard. If the integration has been successful, you’ll find goal completion and site usage data populated.

 

 

By merging Google Analytics and Marketing Cloud, you’ll gain a comprehensive overview of your campaign performance across both platforms, enabling data-driven decisions and improved marketing strategies.

 

– Written by Meshach Dimka

 

If you’re eager to improve your Salesforce Campaign Management, you’re on a journey to redefine your marketing success. Salesforce is your essential partner in the fast-paced digital world, offering impressive features and data-driven insights. Whether you run a small business or a large corporation, Salesforce Campaign Management provides the scalability and tools to boost your digital presence. Contact us at DKLOUD to explore how it can revolutionize your marketing efforts. Email us at bam@dkloudconsulting.com or enquiries@dkloudconsulting.com to start enhancing your marketing with Salesforce Campaign Management and DKLOUD today!

 

 

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