by Hannah Shimali 
In the world of B2B marketing, data-driven decision-making is essential for success. However, as you may be aware native Account Engagement reporting is fairly limited, making it difficult for marketers to gain insights into the success of their email marketing (and overall campaigns). To address this, Salesforce created the B2B Marketing Analytics App in 2018 which provides deeper insights by combining marketing and sales data, helping businesses optimise their campaigns and drive revenue.
However understanding how data syncs between Account Engagement and Salesforce, and how to ensure data flows into the B2B Marketing Analytics app can be quite confusing. Continue reading to find out more.
Sync Behaviour Between Account Engagement and Salesforce
Account Engagement and Salesforce sync through a bi-directional process, meaning that updates in one platform is reflected in the other. However, certain conditions must be met for data synchronisation to occur:
- Connector Setup: A properly configured Salesforce-Account Engagement connector is required to establish data exchange.
- Sync Frequency: By default, Account Engagement records sync to Salesforce every 2-4 minutes when a change is detected.
- Field Mapping: Data must have properly mapped fields between Account Engagement and Salesforce to ensure consistency.
- User Permissions: Syncing requires appropriate user permissions in both Account Engagement and Salesforce.
- Automation Rules & Triggers: Lead assignment rules, automation rules, and completion actions in Account Engagement can initiate a sync with Salesforce.
Now that you are aware of this between Account Engagement and Salesforce, the sync with B2B Marketing Analytics App has some additional aspects to be considered.
Understanding the Sync Process for B2B Marketing Analytics
To fully leverage the B2B Marketing Analytics App, it’s essential to understand how data from Account Engagement and Salesforce is integrated into CRM Analytics (the business intelligence tool that the app is created on). The syncing process involves multiple steps and dependencies that ensure accurate and timely data availability. Some parts of the sync are managed by Salesforce and cannot be modified, where others can be.
By understanding the below, businesses can optimise their data strategy and reporting workflows:
Data Sync with CRM Analytics: Account Engagement syncs with CRM Analytics once every 24 hours via file uploads, and this process is controlled by Salesforce with no ability for users to adjust the sync timing. This sync is facilitated by the Account Engagement connector user and means that marketing teams should plan their reporting needs to align with this fixed refresh rate.
B2B Marketing Analytics Dataflow: The dataflow utilises a legacy dataset builder called ‘B2B Marketing Analytics Dataflow’ for data transformation. While Salesforce has introduced Recipes as a new and improved data transformation interface, there is an option to amend the dataflow to a recipe but this will need to be handled internally. Then since the Account Engagement sync to CRM Analytics is fixed at once every 24 hours, it’s best to schedule the B2BMA dataflow after this process completes.
Salesforce Local Connection: The Salesforce local connection enables syncing of Salesforce objects and Account Engagement data into CRM Analytics, but it requires manual scheduling. Best practices suggest scheduling this sync outside of peak business hours to reduce system strain and ensure timely data availability for reporting.
In Summary
Understanding how data flows between Account Engagement, Salesforce, and CRM Analytics is crucial for making the most out of B2B Marketing Analytics. By properly setting up data synchronisation, ensuring dataset readiness, and maintaining a consistent refresh schedule, businesses can gain actionable insights to refine their marketing strategies.
With the right approach, B2B marketing analytics can become a powerful tool for creating customised dashboards that can track campaign performance, optimise lead nurturing, and ultimately, accelerate business growth.