What’s the worst mistake in marketing?
Most think about marketers sending wayward emails to the whole database, but what happens behind the scenes can be scary too.
For instance, one marketing team was staring at an automation rule that had gone wrong. The marketer accidentally chose the criteria “Isn’t on the list” instead of “Is on the list.”
The result?
The system unsubscribed twenty-five thousand prospects.
Ouch.
(Having a wishful thought about an “Undo” button on Automation Rules at this moment.)
The company also didn’t have Salesforce History Tracking set on the Opted Out field.
Ugh.
Now what?
Field History Tracking
Make sure that you have Salesforce Field History Tracking enabled for the Email Opt Out field.
By turning on Field History Tracking, you will see who made a change, the edit date, and the field’s previous value. This feature creates an audit trail for reviewing or correcting past changes.
In the example above, the marketers could run a Salesforce report to retrieve previous Opted Out field values. The whole situation could have been fixed in about 20 minutes.
How to Enable Field History Tracking
With recent mailability features enhanced, the chance for mistakes is high.
Safeguard your database by turning on History Tracking on the fields. (Consider doing the same for the Do Not Email field in Salesforce.)
If you haven’t turned on Salesforce history tracking on the Email Opt Out field in the Lead and Contact object, put down your salami sandwich and do it now.
Here’s a short, one-minute video demonstrating the process.
Review Field History Tracking for Leads and Contacts
Once you have enabled Field History Tracking on the Lead AND Contact objects for Email Opt Out, you can access reports when needed.
For instance, if you accidentally unsubscribed thousands of Leads and Contacts, you can pull a report with previous values to import into either Account Engagement or Salesforce.
Good luck!