Customer Experience
From implementation to adoption: Driving value from Salesforce Marketing Cloud
Let’s talk about a truth that often gets overlooked: implementing Salesforce Marketing Cloud (SFMC) is only the first step in the long and arduous journey of your organization’s digital transformation.
I know, it’s tempting to celebrate when the implementation phase ends—and you should! It’s a big milestone. But if you stop there, you’re leaving a lot of value on the table.
In today’s hyper-competitive market, implementing a robust marketing automation tool like Salesforce Marketing Cloud (SFMC) is no longer a differentiator—it’s table stakes. Yet, a successful implementation alone isn’t enough to deliver business impact.
The real magic happens post-implementation when businesses fully adopt the platform and harness its features to drive personalized customer engagement, improve operational efficiency, and measure marketing ROI effectively. The real impact of SFMC comes when your team starts using it strategically, weaving its capabilities into your daily operations and campaigns.
As a Salesforce Marketing Cloud Practice Lead for Functional Consulting at Horizontal Digital, I’ve seen businesses thrive when they make adoption a priority—and falter when they don’t. In this article, we’ll explore how organizations can bridge the gap between implementation and adoption to unlock SFMC’s full potential.
So, let’s dive into what happens after the go-live, the challenges businesses face, and how to overcome them.
What gets in the way after Go-Live?
Adoption sounds straightforward, right? You’ve got this amazing platform, a team eager to use it, and exciting campaigns waiting to be launched. But in reality, the road is rarely that smooth.
Here are some common bumps in the road—and trust me, I’ve seen them all:
1. The “We’ll figure it out later” trap
This happens when teams aren’t fully trained, or processes aren’t defined. The platform gets underused because people don’t know what’s possible—or they’re intimidated by the learning curve.
Business scenario: Imagine a retail company implementing SFMC to manage loyalty campaigns. They planned to roll out Journey Builder right away but skipped the training. Weeks later, they were still sending generic newsletters because no one felt comfortable setting up journeys.
My take: Adoption starts before go-live. Training, role-based onboarding, and playbooks are critical. Without proper guidance, teams may find SFMC’s vast array of tools intimidating and complex.
2. The one-size-fits-all approach
Your sales team wants one thing, your marketers want another, and your IT team is focused on something entirely different. Without alignment, the platform feels like it’s working for everyone—and no one.
Business scenario: A real estate company used SFMC to manage leads but didn’t coordinate between their sales and marketing teams. Marketers created detailed campaigns, but sales didn’t follow up in time because they weren’t looped into the journey flows.
My take: SFMC isn’t just a tool; it’s an ecosystem. You’ve got to get everyone on the same page from day one.
3. The fear of change
People are creatures of habit. When you introduce a new platform, it’s not uncommon for teams to fall back on familiar tools or old ways of working, even if they’re inefficient.
Business scenario: A global hospitality chain implemented SFMC but kept using their legacy email platform for promotions.
Why?
Because the team wasn’t comfortable transitioning to the new system, despite its advanced features.
My take: Change management isn’t a buzzword—it’s the bridge between potential and performance. Teams accustomed to legacy systems often hesitate to embrace a new platform’s capabilities.
4. Feature underutilization
Imagine investing in a high-end smartphone but only using it to make calls and send texts. That’s what feature underutilization feels like for many teams post-Salesforce Marketing Cloud implementation.
Many organizations fail to go beyond the basics. They may stick to familiar features, like basic email campaigns, while ignoring the power of advanced tools such as Journey Builder, Audience Studio, or Einstein-powered insights.
This happens due to lack of awareness, insufficient training, or the perception that these tools are too complex. When features are underutilized, the ROI on the implementation plummets, and the platform’s true potential remains untapped.
Business scenario: A luxury retail brand invests in Salesforce Marketing Cloud with the goal of delivering personalized customer journeys. Six months after implementation, the marketing team is only sending out basic promotional emails and hasn’t explored the platform’s advanced features like Journey Builder or Audience Studio.
As a result, customers receive generic messages, and the company sees no noticeable improvement in engagement or conversions.
My take: Feature underutilization is often the byproduct of inadequate training or an overwhelming post-implementation workload. Teams need hands-on sessions and real-life use cases to see how these features can elevate their marketing efforts. We recommend embedding feature enablement as a phased post-implementation plan.
5. Inconsistent usage
Adoption is not a one-and-done activity; consistent usage and evolution are key to long-term success. A common scenario is when teams use the platform sporadically or follow inconsistent processes, leading to fragmented customer experiences.
For example, one team might rely on it for email campaigns, while another sticks to spreadsheets for contact management, creating data silos and misaligned strategies. Inconsistent usage typically stems from poor governance and a lack of unified workflows.
The result?
Lost opportunities, degraded data quality, and reduced trust in the platform’s capabilities across teams.
Business scenario: A financial services company implements Salesforce Marketing Cloud to streamline lead nurturing and unify marketing efforts. Initially, all teams are aligned, but as time passes, the tele sales team reverts to manually tracking leads in Excel, while the marketing team sticks to SFMC for email campaigns.
The result?
Duplicated effort, data inconsistencies, and missed follow-ups. For instance, a lead might receive an SMS promotion after they’ve already closed a deal, causing frustration and damaging trust.
My take: Inconsistent usage signals a need for stronger governance and alignment. The solution lies in establishing clear workflows and assigning platform champions to ensure adherence. Regular audits can catch deviations early, and incorporating gamified adoption challenges can keep teams motivated.
Remember, the goal is to make Salesforce Marketing Cloud the single source of truth—not just another tool among many.
How to navigate change and drive adoption – The Horizontal Digital approach
If you’re thinking, “Okay, but what do we do about it?”—don’t worry, we’ve got you.
At Horizontal Digital, we’ve fine-tuned a methodology to ensure that businesses extract maximum value from SFMC post-implementation.
Here’s how we help our clients tackle these adoption challenges with our strategic approach:
1. A phased rollout - Start with small, tangible wins
Rather than overwhelming teams with a complete rollout, we recommend a phased approach. Start with foundational features like email marketing and contact management, then gradually incorporate advanced capabilities like predictive analytics, mobile studio, and advertising integration.
For a client in the real estate sector, we prioritized email journeys for lead nurturing before introducing dynamic audience segmentation through Advertising Studio.
2. Quick wins for momentum
When teams see early success, they build confidence in the platform. Demonstrating quick wins—like improved open rates or a successful cross-channel campaign—can boost confidence in the platform and drive adoption.
For example, a quick A/B test on subject lines can show how SFMC’s data-driven insights drive better results.
For another client in retail, we ran a simple A/B test that boosted email open rates. It was such an easy win, but it made the team excited to explore more features.
3. Tailored training and enablement
No two organizations are the same, and neither are their training needs. Generic training doesn’t cut it. People need to know how SFMC applies to their specific roles.
At Horizontal, we focus on role-specific tailored training—marketers, analysts, and executives each receive customized sessions that empower them to use the platform effectively.
Pro Tips:
- Think beyond onboarding—offer refresher courses or on-demand support. Platforms evolve, and so should your team’s skills.
- Leverage Trailhead, Salesforce’s learning platform, to build a culture of continuous learning.
4. Governance and change management – Creating a Center of Excellence (CoE)
Successful adoption requires clear processes, governance, and leadership buy-in. We can help clients establish governance frameworks to ensure data hygiene, workflow consistency, and compliance with regulatory requirements.
Investing in setting up a Center of Excellence (CoE) can play an important role in standardizing and overseeing SFMC usage across teams. A CoE acts as your SFMC command center, ensuring consistent processes, data hygiene, and alignment across teams.
For a luxury hospitality client, we advised setting up a CoE to oversee customer journeys and ensure campaigns aligned with their brand voice, and they followed our advice.
The result?
More cohesive messaging and fewer missed opportunities.
5. Align on clear goals
Adoption thrives when there’s a shared vision. Set measurable goals, like increasing journey completion rates or boosting engagement. When people know what they’re working toward, they’re more likely to stay committed.
Let’s talk about change management
Change is hard. It’s messy, it’s uncomfortable, and it’s absolutely necessary. The key is to make it less overwhelming and more empowering.
Here are some of our go-to strategies:
- Overcommunicate: Keep everyone in the loop. Share updates, celebrate wins, and address concerns head-on.
- Empower champions: Identify power users who can mentor others and act as SFMC ambassadors within the team.
- Iterate and improve: Adoption isn’t a one-and-done deal. Regularly review what’s working (and what’s not) and adjust your approach.
How do you know it’s working – Metrics that matter
Adoption isn’t just about using SFMC—it’s about achieving measurable results. Some metrics we recommend tracking:
- Feature adoption rate: Are teams using advanced tools like Einstein and Journey Builder, or sticking to basics? Measuring percentage of SFMC features actively used.
- Engagement metrics: Are open rates, click-through rates, and conversions improving?
- ROI: How is SFMC contributing to revenue and cost efficiency?
- Internal feedback: Are teams confident and comfortable using the platform?
Conclusion: Adoption as a continuous journey
The journey from implementation to adoption isn’t a straight line; it requires commitment, strategy, and adaptability.
At the end of the day, SFMC isn’t just a tool you implement—it’s a catalyst for transformation. But that transformation doesn’t happen on its own. It takes thoughtful planning, ongoing support, and a willingness to embrace change.
At Horizontal Digital, we partner closely with clients beyond implementation, ensuring adoption strategies are tailored to their unique business goals. Whether its helping real estate leaders create customer journeys or empowering hospitality brands to deepen guest engagement, we believe the true value of SFMC lies in how it’s adopted and evolved over time.
We’ve seen that when businesses make adoption a priority, they achieve outcomes that exceed expectations—improved customer experiences, streamlined operations, and a measurable return on investment.
Salesforce Marketing Cloud isn’t just a platform; it’s a powerful enabler of marketing transformation. Let’s not just implement it—let’s adopt it, evolve with it, and thrive.