Salesforce Marketing Cloud
This page describes how to use Census with Salesforce Marketing Cloud.
In this guide, we will show you how to connect Salesforce Marketing Cloud to Census and create your first sync.
- Have your Salesforce Marketing Cloud account ready, with the Administrator role.
This process involves several steps - please set aside 15-30 minutes to complete it. Note that you may be on an older or newer version of Marketing Cloud which has slightly different screens than the ones pictured below. Marketing Cloud configuration can be complex, so if you have any questions please contact us via [email protected] and we'll help you tailor these instructions to your needs.
- Have the proper credentials to access to your data source. See our docs for each supported data source for further information:
Sign in to Salesforce Marketing Cloud and enter "Setup"
Navigate to "Apps > Installed Packages". Click "New" to create a new package. Create an app called "Census" and provide an optional description, then click "Save"
Click "Add Component" and choose "API Integration"
Choose "Server-to-Server" as the OAuth Integration Type
In "Set Server-to-Server Properties", given the new component the following permissions by checking the appropriate boxes:
- Automation > Automations: Read, Write, Execute
- Contacts > Audiences: Read, Write
- Contacts > List and Subscribers: Read, Write
- Data > Data Extensions: Read, Write
- Data > File Locations: Read, Write
Click "Save" to continue. You should see a new Component in your package - verify that it has the correct permissions (in the Scope section) by comparing to the image below.
Copy the Client Id, Client Secret, and Authentication Base URI from this page - you will need to provide these values to Census in Step 3.
Census uses the ExactTarget Enhanced FTP server to upload large data files to your Salesforce Marketing Cloud instance and prepare them for import. In this step, you'll ensure there is a File Location for Census to upload the data, and create a new user account on your FTP server that Census can use to sign in.
File Location
In Salesforce Marketing Cloud Setup, navigate to "Data Management > File Locations". If you have an Enhanced FTP location with an external key of "ExactTarget Enhanced FTP", then no action is required. If you do not see this File Location, click "Create" to generate a new location with the following configurations:
- An "External Key" value of ExactTarget Enhanced FTP
- A "Location Type" of Enhanced FTP Site Import Directory
FTP User
Still in Salesforce Marketing Cloud Setup, navigate to "Data Management > FTP Accounts" and click "Add FTP User".
For the email address, type in "[email protected]" and give the user a strong, random password. You do not need to write down or memorize this password - Census does not require it, and in step 4 we will replace it with an SSH key. Make sure to give the Census user "Full" access, and do not specify any IPs in the "Allowlist IPs" list. Click Next.
There's nothing to do yet on the next screen - we'll set up SSH Keys later. Click "Save" to create the user.
Salesforce Marketing Cloud will create the user, which may take a few seconds. Copy the FTP Username that was assigned to the user, which you'll need in Step 3.
In the dialog, fill out the data you gathered in steps 2 and 3:
- Name: A descriptive name of your choosing. If you have more than one Salesforce Marketing Cloud connection, you can use this field to help you keep track them
- Endpoint URL: Fill in the Authentication Base URI from Step 1
- Client ID and Client Secret: Fill in the Client ID and Client Secret from Step 1
- SFTP User: Fill in the FTP Username from Step 2
- (Optional) Business Unit MID: If you would like to create a connection for a business unit other than your primary SFMC account, you can provide a Business Unit MID. This can be found in the SFMC top navigation menu:
- In order to enable Census support for business units, you will also need to turn on business unit app integration in your SFMC instance under
Setup>Apps>Installed Packages>Census>Access>Enable Integration:
Click "Save Connection".
Census will show your new Salesforce Marketing Cloud connection in its connections list
The final step is to configure Marketing Cloud to accept Census's SSH public key for FTP access, instead of using a password. Still in Census, click the button labeled "Click to Download" next to the "SFTP Public Key". This will download a file called "census.pub" to your computer - make a note of where it was saved.
Return to Salesforce Marketing Cloud Setup and navigate to "Data Management" > "Key Management". Click "Create".
- For "Key Type", choose "SSH"
- For "Name", type "Census Public Key"
- For "External Key", type "census-public-key"
- Check the "Public Key" checkbox
- Click "Browse" next to the "Key (required)" field and find the "census.pub" file you previously downloaded.
- Click "Save"
Now we'll associate the key with the Census user. Navigate to "Data Management" > "FTP Accounts". Choose the "[email protected]" user and click the small arrow next to their name (you may need to scroll to the right. Choose "SSH Keys" from the drop-down menu.
Click in the "Search SSH Keys" box and find "Census Public Key" and select it. Change the "Authentication Options" to "SSH Key" and click "Save". In a few seconds, Salesforce Marketing Cloud will finish configuring the SSH key (you can click the refresh icon at the top right to see the activity log go from "Pending" to "Success".
You're ready to start using Census to load data from your warehouse to Salesforce Marketing Cloud!
Service | Records sync / Minute |
Salesforce Marketing Cloud | ~20,000 |
Object Name | Supported? |
Any Custom Data Extension | ✅ |
Behaviors | Supported? | Objects |
Update or Create | ✅ | All |
Mirror | ✅ | All |
Update Only | 🔜 | All |
Last modified 4mo ago