Wouldn’t it be great if your marketing actions are automatically performed by Salesforce Pardot once set criteria have been met by prospects? Automated marketing actions can be created using Pardot’s Automation Rules, which will be discussed in this post.
Definition of Automation Rule
Automation Rules are pre-set criteria that you can create to trigger specific behaviors or actions within your Pardot system. Actions automatically fire up after your defined Automation Rules have been met.
Automation rules usually scan your prospect’s records for information that will match its pre-set criteria. If there are any matches, Pardot analyzes it and applies the appropriate action you desire to happen to that specific prospect record.
Automation Rule Example
Using if-then statements can help you understand automation rules better. For instance, you want prospects assigned to team members by virtue of age. If a prospect is within the age bracket of 18-25, then he will be assigned to Team Member 1. Likewise, if a prospect falls under 26-35 years old bracket, he is automatically assigned to Team Member 2.
The above sample means that when a 21-year-old prospect ticks the 18-25 years old age bracket on your online form, he will then be automatically given to Team Member 1. The same logic applies to a 34-year-old woman who chooses the bracket 26-35 years old; she gets assigned to Team Member 2 at once.
Considerations in Using Automation Rules
Keep these things in mind when setting Automation Rules:
- Each automation rule must be assigned a unique name to identify it internally across your org’s Pardot interface.
- You should select a Match type every time you create a new rule. Match types indicate which rule aspects must be fulfilled in order for your desired automatic action to fire. There are two basic Match Types:
- Match All – Requires all rule aspects to be fulfilled
- Match Any – Requires only a part of the rule aspect to be fulfilled
After creating a new rule, it will be saved under a so-called Paused Mode. This means the rule won’t go live until you’ve finished creating your entire campaign and looked at a preview run for your automation rule. Let your new rule stay in Pause Mode until you’ve previewed the rule first.
To sum it up, automation rules are powerful logical tools that help you automate processes by simply defining a set of triggering criteria. That way, you’re freeing up yourself of tasks that could be automated, giving you more time and energy to focus on improving your business marketing campaigns towards your business goals.