Connectors
Salesforce Marketing Cloud
Enabling Agentforce agents to interact with Salesforce Marketing Cloud for subscriber management, email sends, journey interactions, and data retrieval.
The Salesforce Marketing Cloud (SFMC) Connector for ACP empowers Agentforce agents to engage with your marketing platform, manage customer communications, and leverage marketing data to personalize interactions and automate tasks.
Purpose and Capabilities
This Connector enables Agentforce agents to interact with various aspects of Salesforce Marketing Cloud:
| Tool Name | Description | Example Inputs |
|---|---|---|
marketing_cloud_get_subscriber | Retrieves subscriber details by subscriber key or email address. | subscriber_key or email_address, list_ids (optional) |
marketing_cloud_update_subscriber | Creates or updates a subscriber’s attributes and list memberships. | subscriber_key, email_address, attributes_map, list_ids_to_add_remove |
marketing_cloud_send_email_to_subscriber | Sends a specific email (e.g., transactional) to a subscriber. | subscriber_key, email_id or email_name, data_extension_payload (optional) |
marketing_cloud_send_email_to_data_extension | Triggers an email send to a Data Extension. | email_id or email_name, data_extension_name or data_extension_key |
marketing_cloud_get_email_send_status | Retrieves the status of a specific email send job. | job_id |
marketing_cloud_get_journey_entry_status | Checks if a contact is in a specific journey or their status within it. | journey_api_key or journey_name, contact_key |
marketing_cloud_trigger_journey_entry | Fires an event to admit a contact into a Journey Builder journey. | journey_api_key or journey_name, contact_key, data_payload (optional) |
marketing_cloud_query_data_extension_rows | Retrieves rows from a Data Extension based on filter criteria. | data_extension_name or data_extension_key, filter_criteria, fields_to_retrieve |
marketing_cloud_add_data_extension_rows | Adds or updates rows in a Data Extension. | data_extension_name or data_extension_key, rows_data (list of maps) |
marketing_cloud_list_automations | Lists available automations in Automation Studio. | (optional filters like status) |
marketing_cloud_start_automation | Starts a specific automation in Automation Studio. | automation_key or automation_name |
Prerequisites
- Marketing Cloud Account: Your organization must have an active Salesforce Marketing Cloud account.
- API Integration:
- An Installed Package must be created in Marketing Cloud Setup with API Integration component and appropriate permissions (e.g., Read/Write for Subscribers, Data Extensions, Email Sends, Journey Events).
- The Client ID, Client Secret, and Authentication Base URI (Tenant Specific Endpoint - TSE) from the installed package are required for authentication.
- User Permissions (within SFMC): The API user associated with the Installed Package needs permissions to access the specific SFMC features, emails, Data Extensions, and Journeys the agent will interact with.
- Understanding of SFMC Concepts: Familiarity with SFMC terms like Subscribers, Lists, Data Extensions, Journey Builder, Email Studio, Automation Studio, Subscriber Key, etc., is essential.
Setup Instructions
- Create/Configure Installed Package in SFMC:
- In Marketing Cloud, navigate to Setup > Apps > Installed Packages.
- Click New and give your package a name (e.g., “ACP Connector”).
- Add an API Integration component.
- Choose Server-to-Server integration type.
- Grant necessary permissions under Scope. Ensure you select permissions for Email (Read, Write, Send), Data Extensions (Read, Write), Subscribers (Read, Write), Journeys (Read, Execute), Automations (Read, Execute), etc., based on the tools you intend to use.
- Save the component. You will receive a Client ID, Client Secret, and Authentication Base URI. Store these securely.
- Configure ACP Connector:
- The ACP administrator will need to configure the Marketing Cloud Connector settings within the ACP management interface (or a configuration file, depending on ACP’s architecture).
- This typically involves securely storing the Client ID, Client Secret, and Authentication Base URI obtained in the previous step. These will be used by ACP to obtain OAuth 2.0 access tokens for SFMC API calls.
- Verify Connection:
- Use a simple tool like
marketing_cloud_get_subscriber(with a known subscriber key) to test if the connection and authentication are working correctly.
- Use a simple tool like
Common Use Cases
- Personalized Welcome Emails: Agent adds a new user to a welcome journey in SFMC.
- Transactional Notifications: Agent triggers an order confirmation email via SFMC.
- Subscriber Preference Updates: Agent updates a user’s communication preferences in SFMC based on an interaction.
- Targeted Campaign Entry: Agent adds a lead to a specific nurturing journey in SFMC based on qualification criteria.
- Retrieve Engagement Data: Agent queries a Data Extension to fetch recent email engagement for a subscriber to inform next best actions.
- Automated List Management: Agent adds or removes subscribers from lists based on CRM events.
Troubleshooting Tips
- Authentication Errors (401 Unauthorized):
- Verify Client ID, Client Secret, and Authentication Base URI are correct.
- Ensure the Installed Package in SFMC is active and has not expired.
- Check that the server clock is synchronized (important for OAuth token validation).
- Permission Denied (403 Forbidden):
- The Installed Package (API User) in SFMC lacks the necessary scope/permissions for the attempted action (e.g., trying to send an email but doesn’t have Email Send permissions). Review and update permissions in the Installed Package components.
- Object Not Found (404 Not Found):
- Double-check API names or keys for Data Extensions, Emails, Journeys, etc. They are case-sensitive and must be exact.
- Ensure the item (e.g., email, journey) exists and is active/published in the correct SFMC Business Unit.
- Invalid Data Format:
- Ensure payload data for adding/updating Data Extension rows or journey entry matches the expected schema in SFMC.
- Check date formats, boolean representations, etc.
- API Rate Limits: SFMC has API call limits. If making many calls in rapid succession, you might encounter throttling. Implement retry logic with backoff if necessary.
- Business Unit Context: Ensure the API user for the Installed Package has access to the correct Business Unit(s) where the assets (emails, DEs, Journeys) reside. Some API calls might require specifying the BU ID.
This Connector bridges AI capabilities with the powerful marketing automation engine of Salesforce Marketing Cloud.