The Resources to Hold Onto As Pardot Becomes Part of Marketing Cloud

Salesforce released the news this month that Pardot will be no more, and the platform of features we've come to know as Pardot will now be a part of Marketing Cloud. What does that mean for users? 

There are a number of posts out there from other awesome teams in the ecosystem with great info about this update. We encourage users to read around. This is our primer on the change and tips to navigate the swap, along with some key links we’re keeping “top of browser” ourselves. 

Starting now, Pardot will move under the Marketing Cloud umbrella and be known as Account Engagement. Users may or may not see the phrase “powered by Pardot” alongside Account Engagement in documentation and messaging, as it becomes one among a number of other “powered by” offerings that are a part of Marketing Cloud. 

The name is changing but pricing, features, and access will not change. 

Why is this happening? 

This change reflects an effort to simplify the product offerings by Salesforce. See a link to a post from the Salesforce blog further below with more on the "why" behind the change.

The primary differences between Marketing Cloud and Pardot for some time have been in their target user audiences. Marketing Cloud is often seen as a tool for B2C users while Pardot is considered a platform best suited for B2B. 

While the change brings Pardot into the Marketing Cloud universe, the target user audience for the Account Engagement powered by Pardot product is expected to remain the same. 

The Platform Formerly Known as Pardot 

As a team of Marketing Cloud and Pardot, now Account Engagement, specialists and consultants, we help other teams implement these tools alongside Salesforce. We also use the platform now formerly known as Pardot in-house and have had to hunt down our fair share of tough-to-find answers for clients and our own team. 

The path to learning Pardot has never been as simple as stepping from beginner to intermediate to expert. Instead, there have always been specific features to master, certain concepts to take in, and specific skills to sharpen The exact how and why of what one learns, and in what order, could vary greatly depending on each user's specific marketing goals. There have always been a number of places to go to learn and find help online.

 As the move into Account Engagement and Marketing Cloud takes place, we’re checking in with some of the most important points and places to know about. 

Staying up to Speed on Pardot as it Moves to Marketing Cloud  

Read the Release Notes

Salesforce, Marketing Cloud, and now Account Engagement “powered by Pardot,” all follow a seasonal release cycle that delivers updates and new features every Winter, Spring, and Summer. 

Each seasonal release comes with release notes that track these changes. It’s good to remember these exist, even if the name change is confusing. The platform is really about functionality.

A consulting partner, such as Arkus, can also be a resource for helping a team know what changes are coming and how to work with them. Even with a partner, it’s a good idea for teams to have practices in place to check in on the Pardot resources themselves. Release notes can be found on the Salesforce Help site. 

Here are the Spring ‘22 Pardot (Now known as Account Engagement) release notes.  

Go to the Success Center for Support 

Up until this name change, the Pardot Customer Success hub was the Salesforce spot for Pardot answers. That hub retired on April 6, 2022. 

Customers working with Pardot can stay connected going forward to resources through the Salesforce Success Center. The Pardot page there will transition away from the Pardot naming over to Marketing Cloud and Account Engagement around April 7, 2022. Depending on when you check this link out, it might still say Pardot.

Visit the Salesforce product Success Center Account Engagement page here. 

Ask in a Trailblazer Group 

The Trailblazer Community will continue to be a place to ask questions and receive help from the community. A Pardot B2B Marketing Automation group has existed in there for some time. As of April 7th, the Pardot naming remains the same but changes are expected here in the near future. This spot will remain a place for questions related to the platform formerly known as Pardot. 

Visit the Pardot B2B Marketing Automation group here. 

Getting Technical Help For What You’ve Always Called Pardot 

On another note, as what we all knew as Pardot grows and changes, customers are encouraged to speak up about bugs and issues they may experience. 

While major changes to core functionality aren’t expected, Marketing Cloud Account Engagement will still push updates out to make sure the current functionality works correctly and improvements are made. Seasonal releases may see some changes, as resolutions for bugs and issues will also be pushed out. 

Should a user experience a bug or problem, a good place to look to see if it’s already been reported and is known about is the Issues Index. As of the writing of this post, Pardot is still a tagged section in the Issue Index.  

The IdeaExchange also remains in place, and customer ideas and suggestions can be shared with Salesforce and the community there too. Visit the IdeaExchange here.

If an issue hasn’t been reported yet, and it doesn’t seem like it’s just an idea to suggest, support cases can be created. Visit Salesforce Support here. 

Moving Ahead With Marketing Cloud

Read more about the changes from the marketing platform makers themselves, over on the Salesforce blog in this post.  

“What the Next-Gen Marketing Cloud (and Naming) Means for You.”

There’s a lot of buzz about this name change and questions still. Arkus continues to support our clients who have been working with Pardot as we grow our Marketing Cloud practice, and welcome Pardot into that group. 

If you have questions for our team, please reach out to a project contact or connect with us through our contact form. 

If you have questions for me about this post or anything else Arkus, reach out on Twitter @ktatwd. As of the writing of this post, the @Pardot Twitter account is still active. Check that out for updates as well. 

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