Salesforce has announced new data cloud integrations with Google Display & Video 360 and LinkedIn. These integrations are expected to help Salesforce customers connect their first-party data from Salesforce’s AI CRM and execute automated, personalised advertising campaigns across Google and LinkedIn.
Why it matters
As the cookieless future approaches and data privacy laws rapidly evolve, companies are prioritising consent-based data collected directly from their audiences as the basis for how they understand and interact with customers. Data silos are making it challenging for marketers to harness company’s first-party data to create a unified view of customers. Organisations are using an average of 1,061 applications, and yet, 71% aren’t integrated.
The Salesforce solution
Salesforce says Data Cloud for Marketing helps customers unify data from any source into a single profile. The solution provides insights with AI and build personalised advertising campaigns by activating first-party audience segments across the digital ad ecosystem.
The new integrations with Google and LinkedIn is expected to help marketers securely leverage their first-party data. Customers will be able to build segments from Data Cloud and then deliver relevant advertising campaigns on Google and LinkedIn. With these new capabilities, advertisers can:
- Create connected advertising experiences across display, video, TV, audio, and other channels with Google Display & Video 360. For example, a media brand can create engaging and seamless advertising experiences that increase customer loyalty. This is achieved by using unified customer profiles from Data Cloud to deliver personalised ads. In addition to campaign measurement across display, video, TV, audio, and more with Google Display & Video 360.
- Target a network of over 1 billion active professionals on LinkedIn based on job title, function, industry, and more. For example, a tech company can create an end-to-end programme to increase awareness and promote relevant upsell and cross-sell conversion opportunities to grow their sales pipeline. This uses first-party data and AI-powered product interest scoring from Marketing Cloud, Sales Cloud, and Service Cloud. In addition to product usage data from their own apps,
Innovation in action
Customers can unify data from across the Salesforce Customer 360 platform in Data Cloud. Surfacing AI-powered insights and recommendations from Einstein, and activating them across their digital ad ecosystem, advertisers can:
- Improve ad effectiveness with a complete customer profile that natively unifies customer data across marketing, commerce, sales, service, or any touchpoint.
- Increase efficiency by delivering the right message to the right person at the right time with rapidly updated segment memberships, near real-time data sharing with ad partners, and suppressing users that have already purchased or have open Service Cloud cases.
“Advertisers are constantly under pressure to acquire new customers, deliver personalised experiences across channels, and increase margins. These partnerships expand Data Cloud’s digital ad ecosystem to new platforms. As a result, businesses can connect every moment in the customer journey. Delivering greater loyalty and better business outcomes,” says Steve Hammond, EVP and GM of Marketing Cloud.
Enterprise Times: What this means for business
The end of cookies is nigh. Enterprises have to plan for a world without cookies. The EU has taken the lead, developing new stringent data privacy laws with serious financial penalties for organisations who transgress. As a result, brands, retailers and all enterprises are restructuring how consent-based data is collected directly from their audiences. This will be vital to ensure enterprises understand and sustain relationships with customers. Hence the interest of Google and LinkedIn to support the Data Cloud integration. This should ensure their customers can initiate automated, personalised advertising campaigns across their platforms.
The marcoms digital advertising landscape has become increasingly complex. Salesforce says Data Cloud empowers every team to put insights into action across the Customer 360. This should be music to the ears of customers who have totally embraced the Salesforce ecosystem. Customers, who may already utilise Commerce Cloud, Marketing Cloud or Service Cloud etc. However, how effective will the solution be for extracting and sharing customer data if a business intelligence or analytics tool is used to present customer insights. A grey area that needs to be further investigated by enterprises potentially interested in the solution.
