How to Unify, Understand, and Act on Customer Insights: Salesforce Data Cloud | Salesforce Explained

What's up, everybody? I'm Brian Tong, your guide to all things Salesforce, and this is Salesforce Explained. It's a series where we talk Salesforce and technology without the jargon or buzzwords. And make sure that you subscribe and turn on your notifications so you never miss an episode. Okay, let's say if you have a lot of data in a lot of places or you need to get more value out of your customer data, this one's for you, because we are talking about the Data cloud. So, hey, let's dive in. Now, what is Data Cloud, you ask? Well, here's the basic definition. Data Cloud is a customer data platform that can connect data from any system and turn it into meaningful information. Okay. Now, I know that that can be a lot to process, but I'll dive in deeper into what that all means in a second. But first, let me help. Just set the stage here. So let's say this is your CRM and this is my customer profile. Your salespeople, service agents, and marketers all rely on this profile, also known as a record, to meet my needs, exceed my expectations, and personalize moments for me. But you know what, my profile looks pretty empty. Like, where's my browsing history? How do you know what I've been looking at or engaging with on your app? Or what devices I use to interact with your business? And the big question, why doesn't this company that I've been doing business with know me better? And that's where Data Cloud comes in. Now, Data Cloud helps you fill in all these gaps. You can connect data from all your different systems, harmonize it into meaningful information, and give every user in your company access to it. So this data is always right at their fingertips when they're working. Now, let's talk about why companies use Data Cloud. Ever heard of Salesforce's data plus AI plus CRM plus trust equation? Well, it brings together all the things that you need to connect with your customers in new ways. And as you can see, data is so important that we list it first. And it all comes down to getting more value out of your customer data. Now, today, the average company uses over 1,000 different apps to track a single customer. That's a lot of customer data spread out across a lot of different systems. With Data Cloud, you can streamline it all and get the insights that you need to to create better customer experiences. For example, you can find out how likely it is for a certain customer to stop using your product, see their billing patterns, or reach out on their preferred communication Channel and remember my customer profile. Well, now you can see that I'm buying from your store, visiting your website, and attending your events. Your sales and marketing teams can see that they're both contacting the same customer, and they can stay on the same page in their outreach. The only way that you can get insights like these and to create personalized experiences at this level is by building a complete, unified profile. Now, research shows that 71% of consumers expect companies to deliver personalized interactions, and 76% become frustrated when that doesn't happen. So as a customer, I get more valuable experiences from your company. And more importantly, I can rest easy knowing that the data you're using is secure and collected with my consent. Okay, now this is where we dive even deeper into how Data Cloud works. I know I gave you the basic definition of Data Cloud earlier, but here's the more detailed version. Data Cloud is an open and active hyperscale customer data platform that powers the world's first real time CRM. Is that a little too much jargon? Yeah. Well, okay then let's break that down first. Data Cloud is open, which means we can fully connect your data no matter what source it comes from, how much you have, or what type it is. So think of every single touchpoint a customer interacts with your business. Like when they open a promotional email or call customer service. All these interactions are being stored across all your applications. And like I said earlier today, the average enterprise uses over a thousand different applications. And Data Cloud can integrate with all those apps, turn all that data into unified customer profiles so you have a complete view of your business. This includes all types of data, from web and mobile to third party data, legacy systems, and so much more. Data Cloud also has a variety of pre built connectors, so it can easily integrate with all the products in Salesforce Customer360. And heh, need a quick refresher on Customer360? I'm already on it. Right? There's a link to that video right in the description, because I'm good like that. But in a nutshell, this means that every person in every department in your company can access your unified real time data across Marketing Cloud, Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Slack, and all the other Salesforce apps your heart desires. And when it comes to external Systems outside of customer360, you're covered there too. With Mulesoft's library of connectors, you can seamlessly integrate even more apps and data into Salesforce. Now. Now, Data Cloud integrates with cloud providers like Google Cloud Storage, Amazon Web Services, Azure and all the places that you store data today. That's because it has zero ETL integration with known data storage platforms. Wait, hold up. Zero et what? Yeah, well, this just means that Data Cloud can take in data from multiple sources and make it ready to use almost instantly without creating a duplicate copy of it, which means it all stays in the same place. Traditionally, you need a bunch of tools to extract data and transform it into a format that you can actually use. But that can get really complicated and cost you the big bucks. So with the whole 0ETL integration thing, you can access all your data inside what's called the Salesforce Metadata Framework without spending a ton of money to move it across platforms. And before I get too ahead of myself, the Salesforce Metadata Framework is, is basically a set of objects within your Salesforce CRM. Now, once you set up these tools the way that you want them, they'll be standardized across all your Salesforce products like Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, and so on. Having this metadata framework makes it faster for Data Cloud to connect data no matter what app it's in. And all this means is that all this data you're connecting from all these places can be added to their unified customer profiles that you're creating to to make them more complete. Okay, now remember our jargony definition of data cloud. Let's dive into that a little more. And what we mean by active hyperscale and real time. Data Cloud is a hyperscale platform, meaning it can take in any volume of data. Now, when we talk about real time data, we're basically saying that all this data is being processed really, really fast. Like as it's being generated fast. When you're looking at data that's updated in real time, you can understand your customers needs and preferences as they interact with your business. Okay, now here's a little trivia question for y'. All. Guess how many records Data Cloud connects and harmonizes every day? Do you know? You know. Well, it's big. As in 100 billion big. And that just tells you how powerful this thing really is. Okay, so let's see how you can now use Data Cloud. And first we're going to connect your customer data at Hyperscale. Remember that Mulesoft library of connectors? Well, all you smarty pants know that this is where those come in. And now all this data could be in a variety of formats. So once we bring it into Data Cloud, it's being prepped, transformed and harmonized into one common data model. Together these models form a clear and complete customer profile. Now, here's where things really start heating up. Okay? Once your data is in data cloud, it's available in all your Salesforce applications across Customer360. Now, let me show you how that can help for sales. You'll be able to consolidate data across multiple orgs and data sources so you can find new opportunities, prioritize leads, and increase revenue. Hey, customer service agents out there. You can use customer profiles to resolve every issue in the moment and, and even get ahead of issues before they come up. Any marketers out there? Yeah, I know you're there. I see you. Imagine a website offer that changes based on what your users clicked on in your marketing email. Now, that's just a handful of ways data cloud can help your business do more with all the data that you have. And believe me, there are so many more. So let's say you want to personalize experiences, find insights, and be more productive with artificial intelligence or AI. Well, there's a reason Salesforce is the number one numero uno AI CRM. And that reason's name is Salesforce. Einstein. Einstein is the first trusted AI for CRM and is built directly into Salesforce products. Using both predictive and generative AI, Einstein can basically analyze all your data to find answers, gather insights, predict the best outcomes, and generate content. Now, let's go back to our data cloud examples from earlier, but this time we're going to sprinkle in some AI magic, right? Just sprinkle some here and a little over there. Just sprinkle it all around. Sellers can use Einstein to write personalized emails to priority customers with the data that's already in data cloud. You got service agents. Well, they can use Einstein to proactively alert customers about an issue before it happens. And they can get recommendations to share with customers as they're chatting. And as for our marketers out there, yes, you, Einstein can tell you how audiences are are engaging with your emails or website so you can create more relevant campaigns for them. Now, trust. We know trust is a big thing when it comes to AI, right? Well, that's why Salesforce has what's called the Einstein trust layer. This trust layer includes all the security measures Salesforce has in place to make sure you and your customer data are protected. Salesforce's number one value is trust. And with all the questions and challenges swirling around in this new world of AI, it's never been more important to maintain that value. That's why you can't have data, AI and CRM without trust. And it all goes together like one big happy family equation heart. Okay, so, everybody, that's all for this episode of Salesforce Explained. But there is so much more to learn about Data Cloud. To dig even deeper, be sure to hit the link on your screen now and we'll also link resources for you in the description. Okay, everybody, thanks so much for watching and we'll see you next time.