Why integrate messaging into Salesforce Marketing Cloud?

Salesforce Marketing Cloud is designed to help marketers deliver personalized customer journeys at scale. It excels at email and social media marketing, but the modern customer journey is increasingly happening on private messaging channels. People want to connect with brands in the same way they chat with friends and family — quickly, conveniently, and personally.

Integrating a SFMC connector allows you to meet customers where they are. Instead of managing separate platforms for different channels, you can consolidate your campaign workflows within the familiar Salesforce interface. This creates a unified view of the customer, allowing you to build more cohesive, context-aware journeys that boost engagement and ROI.

By bringing channels like SMS, WhatsApp, and RCS into SFMC, you can:

• Centralize workflows: Manage all your messaging campaigns directly within Salesforce, which eliminates the need to switch between different tools and platforms.

• Create a single customer profile: Link a customer's omnichannel data with their Salesforce ID to get a 360-degree view of their interactions with your brand.

• Automate personalized journeys: Trigger messaging campaigns based on customer actions, such as browsing a product or abandoning a cart, to deliver timely and relevant content.

The power of omnichannel connectors

Messaging connectors act as a bridge between Salesforce Marketing Cloud and powerful communication APIs. They allow you to leverage the speed, reach, and engagement of various messaging channels without leaving your Salesforce environment. Let's look at some key benefits.

Future-proof your marketing efforts

The digital landscape is always changing. Today, SMS and WhatsApp are dominant, but what about tomorrow? Leading connectors offer native support for rich messaging channels like RCS and WhatsApp, often with built-in failover to SMS. This ensures your message always gets delivered, regardless of the channel, and positions you to adopt new communication methods as they emerge.

Drive higher engagement and revenue

Imagine a customer who browses a product on your website but doesn't complete the purchase. With an integrated messaging connector, you can automatically send them a personalized WhatsApp message with a helpful link or a special offer to encourage them to complete the transaction. This level of real-time, automated engagement based on customer behavior can significantly increase conversion rates and drive revenue.

Enhance campaign effectiveness

Effective personalization relies on data. A SFMC connector enables the native use of your existing data extensions for deep personalization. You gain full visibility into outbound messages, delivery receipts, and opt-in/out events. This data provides invaluable insights into campaign performance to help you refine your strategy and improve the effectiveness of future communications.

Increase your ROI

By consolidating your tools and automating multichannel engagement at scale, you can achieve more with fewer resources. A seamless integration reduces manual work, minimizes the risk of errors, and allows your marketing team to focus on strategy rather than execution. The result is a more-efficient, more-effective marketing operation that delivers a higher return on investment.

Choosing the right connector for your business

While the benefits are clear, not all connectors are created equal. When evaluating options, it’s important to find a solution that not only meets your current needs but also supports your future growth.

Look for a provider that offers:

• A wide range of channels: You want to be sure that the connector supports the channels your customers prefer and use most, including SMS, WhatsApp, and RCS.

• Seamless integration: The solution should feel like a natural extension of Salesforce, with guided implementation and support to reduce onboarding friction.

• Advanced features: It’s important to find capabilities like built-in transcoding (to adapt content for different channels), automatic fallback, and message templates to improve team efficiency.

• Enterprise-grade security and support: Your communications partner should offer robust security, global compliance expertise, and 24/7 support to ensure your operations run smoothly and securely.

For example, Vonage Salesforce Marketing Cloud Connector streamlines onboarding and embeds multichannel messaging directly into your familiar SFMC interface. It enhances customer engagement by making campaigns faster and more effective, with native support for WhatsApp and RCS, along with failover to SMS. This empowers marketing teams with future-ready tools to drive higher engagement and ROI.

RCS: A new era of customer engagement

mydealz selected Vonage for its RCS journey. In doing so, it became the first company in their region to implement RCS for marketing communications, positioning them as an innovation leader in the digital shopping space.

Their RCS strategy focuses on:

• Visual deal alerts: Product images, pricing information, and retailer branding appear directly in message notifications. This removes the need for users to open separate apps or websites.

• Personalized recommendations: AI-driven content curation delivers relevant deals based on user preferences and shopping history.

• Interactive shopping: Clickable buttons enable immediate actions like "View Deal," "Save for Later," or "Share with Friends" directly from the message interface.

• Real-time notifications: Time-sensitive offers reach users instantly with rich formatting that emphasizes urgency and value.

Business impact

Alex Wagner, VP Marketing at mydealz, emphasized the competitive advantage: “This new capability not only enhances the user experience but positions mydealz as a pioneer in the market. With RCS, we’re able to provide our users with timely, visually engaging, and personalized deal alerts unlike anything we've done before."

The implementation has enhanced user engagement through personalized, automated, visually rich communications that drive higher response rates and customer satisfaction. The company reports improved deal discovery rates and increased user retention through more effective communication strategies.

Your next step

Integrating omnichannel messaging is no longer optional — it’s how you build loyal, high-value customer relationships.

Ready to transform your customer interactions? See how the Vonage Salesforce Marketing Cloud Connector can help you launch frictionless, high-impact customer journeys today.

Learn more and request a demo.