Introduction:
Pardot automation rules offer a powerful means to establish consistent procedures, freeing you from monotonous administrative tasks.
Many Marketing Cloud Account Engagement (Pardot) users utilize these rules to allocate prospects once they are primed for sales, route prospects to appropriate Salesforce campaigns, and apply grading profiles.
However, the potential for creativity with Pardot automation rules is boundless, enabling you to significantly enhance your marketing initiatives.
What Are Automation Rules in Pardot?
Automation rules in Pardot consist of two main components:
- Rules: Criteria that define which prospects should be processed by the automation rule. These can be data-based (e.g., a prospect’s country) or activity-based (e.g., form submission).
- Actions: Steps that Pardot applies to the prospects meeting the rules. This could involve assigning them to sales, adding them to Salesforce campaigns, or updating their profiles.
Create an Automation Rule :
Create an automation rule to perform criteria-based actions on prospects.
- Open the Automation Rules page.
- In Account Engagement, select Marketing | Automation | Automation Rules.
- In the Lightning app, open the Automations tab and then select Automation Rules.
- Click + Add Automation Rule.
- Name the rule.
- (Optional) Select Repeat Rule. This option controls how many times the rule can match a prospect. If the rule is set to repeat, you can’t change this setting after you resume.
- Select a match type.
- Match All—Prospect must meet all criteria to match.
- Match Any—Prospect must meet at least one rule to match.
- In the Rules section, to add individual criteria, click + Add new rule. To add sets of criteria, click + Add new rule group.
- In the Actions section, click + Add new action, and select at least one action to apply when a prospect meets the criteria.
- When finished, click Create automation rules.
The rule is saved in paused mode, and you can still edit it. Follow the instructions to preview the rule’s matches. Confirm that your rule works as expected, and click Resume automation rules.
Match Type: Match All vs Match Any:
When creating automation rule criteria in Pardot, there are two match types to choose from: Match All and Match Any. These match types determine how Pardot processes prospects based on multiple criteria.
Match All:
This requires prospects to meet all specified criteria to be eligible for the rule. It functions as an AND operator. For example:
- Criteria: Industry is Manufacturing AND Country is Germany
- Result: Actions apply only to prospects working in manufacturing firms in Germany.
Match Any:
This allows prospects to meet any one of the specified criteria to be eligible for the rule. It functions as an OR operator. For example:
- Criteria: Industry is Manufacturing OR Country is Germany
- Result: Actions apply to all prospects in manufacturing and all prospects based in Germany.
Automation Rule Examples:
Automation rules can be set up to perform various actions based on criteria. Here are a couple of examples:
Change Prospect Profile :
This rule updates a prospect’s profile to “Executive Buyer” if they are located in Texas, work at a midsize company, and have a high score for corporate culture.
Example: Rules:
- Match Type: Match All
- Prospect default field: State | is | TX
- Prospect account field: Number of Employees | is between | 100 and 250
- Prospect custom field: Corporate Culture | is between | 8 and 10
Actions: Change prospect profile | Executive Buyer
Add Prospects to a List:
This rule adds a prospect to the “Newsletter Interest” list when they reach a grade of C+ or better.
Example: Rules:
- Match Type: Match All
- Prospect grade: is greater than | C+
Actions: Add prospect to list | Newsletter Interest
Adjust Prospect Score:
This rule adds 50 points to the score of a prospect who submitted the Demo Request form or attended the Engage Alerts webinar.
Example: Rules:
- Match Type: Match Any
- Prospect form | Demo Request | was completed successfully
- Prospect webinar | attended webinar | Engage Alerts
Actions: Adjust prospect score | by | +50
Decrease Prospect Score Based on Inactivity :
This repeating rule checks for prospects with no activity in the past 30 days and decreases their scores by 20 points every 30 days of inactivity.
Example: Rules:
- Match Type: Match All
- Prospect time | last activity days ago | is greater than | 30
- Prospect score | is greater than | 0
Actions: Adjust prospect score | by | -20
Assign a Prospect Based on Form Submission and Location:
This rule assigns a prospect to the Southeastern US Reps user group if they complete a Demo Request form and are from Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, or Florida.
Example: Rules:
- Match Type: Match All
- Prospect default field | State | is | GA; AL; TN; FL
- Prospect form | Demo Request | was completed successfully
Actions: Assign prospect to user in group | Southeastern US Reps
Deciding Which Tool to Use
With different automation tools available it can get confusing when deciding which one is the right one for you. Don’t worry, help is on its way! Follow this flowchart by answering a few questions to direct you to the right Pardot automation tool to use.
Repeat Automation Rules:
Automation rules have the ability to repeat, and marketers can define how many times they can process eligible prospects, and how often. Automation rules can be set to restrict the number of days between ending and reentering (“Days before eligible to reenter”), and/or the number of reentries to the rule:
- Not set to repeat: Assess criteria → no match → no action [end]
- Set to repeat: Assess criteria → no match → no action → [after the defined period of time] → assess criteria → match → apply action/s → [end]
Once a prospect had been processed by an automation rule that is not set to repeat that would be it. Spent. Finito. The prospect would be ignored in all future evaluations for that rule.
When you enable an automation rule to repeat additional options appear:
- Days before eligible to repeat rule: The time that passes before the prospect can be reprocessed by the rule.
- Limit rule matches? Define exactly how many times a rule is allowed to apply an action to a prospect (with a criteria match) – or leave it unlimited.
Automation Rule Description Field:
In 2017, Pardot introduced a description field for automation rules, a seemingly minor update that proved immensely beneficial, especially for consultants.
Just like Salesforce’s field descriptions (for admin use) and help text (tooltips when hovering over fields), automation rules should also include context.
- Cleaning: Including an end-of-life period in the description helps improve speed and frees up limits when cleaning up your account.
- Collaboration: When working with consultants, agencies, or developers who aren’t part of your core team, the information ensures everyone is aligned and avoids “stepping on each other’s toes.”
- Context: The ‘Name’ field has limited characters. Use the description to clarify the rule’s purpose, preventing the need to decipher a string of acronyms written in the past.
- Caution: Include reasons why the rule should not be removed or modified, highlighting any critical dependencies.
6 Innovative Uses for Automation Rules in Pardot:
Now that you’re more familiar with the considerations for utilizing automation rules, let’s delve into additional applications.
Prospect Assignment
When a prospect is deemed ‘sales-ready’, it’s crucial for marketers to ensure these prospects are captured by the assignment workflow. Remember, a prospect must be assigned before they can sync to Salesforce through the connector.
Prospect Seniority Field
Imagine having a handy ‘Seniority’ or ‘Management Level’ field to classify prospects based on their position in the organizational hierarchy! Advocate for a ‘Seniority’/‘Management Level’ field in Salesforce on the Lead and Contact objects.
Pardot Score Decay
As a prospect engages with your marketing content, their score increases.With an automation rule, you can set criteria for prospects who haven’t engaged in a specific period, such as 1, 3, or 6 months, and reset their score to 0.
Eliminate Spam Leads
Spam leads are an escalating problem. Spam form submissions, once created as Pardot prospects, can infiltrate your automation, assignment rules, and eventually your Salesforce org.
In the ‘Actions’ section, add these actions:
- Do not sync with CRM: Prevents further progression.
- Add prospect to list [your spam leads list]: Collects them in a list for mass deletion.
- (Optional) Decay their score to 0.
- (Optional) Notify you via Pardot.
Combine Values from Multiple Fields
There’s a creative workaround for a dynamic content limitation. Using an automation rule, you can merge values from multiple fields into one, which can then serve as the basis for dynamic content variations.Whether it’s because a prospect is a list member or completed a specific form, an automation rule can populate the new field.
“Invite Only” List
Want to organize an exclusive event for a select group of VIPs?
By implementing a straightforward automation rule, you can identify prospects who:
- Have submitted a form.
- Are not on the invite list.
Then, add an action to remove them from the list, notify an admin user, and/or send an autoresponder email.
Summary :
Account Engagement Automation Rules are powerful tools in Pardot that enable marketers to automate repetitive tasks and manage prospects efficiently.
These rules help streamline workflows, maintain data integrity, and enhance engagement strategies by ensuring that the right prospects are targeted and managed efficiently.