by Sophie Daniline 
Do you need a Pardot Audit? Keeping your Pardot account running smoothly is no small feat, especially if you have a large team. You can put all of the best practice guidelines in place, and produce enough documentation to run a small city, and still find that you run into problems. So how can a Pardot Audit ensure you’re staying on top of your Pardot account, and simultaneously ensure you’re not missing out on any new features?
What is a Pardot Audit?
A Pardot Audit is essentially a health check of your Pardot account. It typically assesses:
Technical Set up
This includes everything from checking that your Pardot account and website are synced up properly, to checking if your set up is optimised. This can also include evaluations of features you may not be utilising.
User Management
This looks at your current user set up. For example, are you ready for the new SSO changes coming?
Salesforce Connection & Data Management
This assesses your Salesforce Connector set up, and will recommend any changes to make the flow of data better. It will also look at how visible your Pardot information is inside Salesforce.
System Organisation
Do you have a good folder structure? Is it easy to find everything you’re looking for? How many assets are sitting in your uncategorised folder?
Lead Generation & Automation
How well are you utilising native Pardot form functionality? How well made are your layout templates? Are you making the most of Pardot’s extensive list of Automation?
Campaign Management and Reporting
There have been so many changes to campaigns and how we can report on them, often you will miss out on key pieces of functionality that will make reporting a lot easier.
Sales and Marketing Alignment
Are you making the best use of Pardot Scoring and Grading? What’s your lead assignment process like? What could you be doing better?
Prospect Health
This takes a look at your Pardot database, what percentage of your database is mailable, and who you have never emailed!
Compliance / Governance
One word. GDPR. Do your opt out and preference journeys make sense? Are you testing properly?
Email Performance
How do your email statistics perform against industry benchmarks? Are you managing your templates properly?
What format does a Pardot Audit come in?
When we do Pardot Audits at Nebula, we present back findings in a combination of a working document, along with a set of recommendations in roadmap format. We find this works really well in giving our customers the next steps to take to up their Pardot game.
The best way to get the most out of a Pardot Audit is to have a carefully laid out document where you can group actions based on key Pardot areas. Without this, you’ll end up going in circles!
Can you do a Pardot Audit yourself?
Sure, if you know what you’re looking for. The reason I’d always recommend reaching out to a consultancy to help with a Pardot Audit is threefold:
- Having a fresh set of eyes on your account is hugely valuable. They will see things you won’t, as you’re buried in your Pardot account every day!
- Expertise. There may be pieces of Pardot functionality that you’re unaware of, and wouldn’t pick up that you were missing out on if you were to do the Pardot Audit yourself.
- Strategic help. Once the audit is done, how do you know where to start with fixing issues? A consultancy can help you prioritise, and even help you implement and resolve any outcomes.
Next steps
2020 is nearly over. You’ll see plenty of people use the #NewYearNewYou hashtag. Why not make a real difference to your Pardot account in 2021 and use #NewYearNewlyOptimisedPardotAccount. Okay so the hashtag may not catch on, but at least your Pardot account will be next-level.
Get in touch if you want our help with your Pardot Audit!