Salesforce is now an AI-powered CRM that focuses on combining AI and data to deliver the best results. Data is crucial for AI, enabling it to function effectively, learn, and evolve. Without sufficient data, AI's capabilities are significantly limited. A Salesforce study reveals that the average company uses 1,026 different applications to manage business operations. Consequently, whenever multiple systems are involved, identity resolution becomes a challenge. This is where Data Cloud enhances connectivity between different clouds or applications across the platform.
Data Cloud’s journey with Salesforce began in 2020 as Salesforce Customer 360 Audience. In 2021, it was renamed Salesforce Customer Data Platform (CDP). CDPs are designed to consolidate data from diverse sources, allowing teams within an organization to gain a comprehensive understanding of customer potential across the business. In 2022, it was renamed again to Marketing Cloud Customer Data Platform. Later that same year, it was rebranded as Salesforce Genie, reflecting a shift in its business use cases. Finally, in 2023, it acquired its official identity as Salesforce Data Cloud, responsible for uniting AI and CRM. Just as Flow and Einstein have introduced intelligence and automation to various aspects of the Salesforce ecosystem, Data Cloud similarly integrates AI and automation. This enables organizations to make data-driven decisions and deliver personalized experiences across multiple business functions.
One of Data Cloud's primary tasks is to unify data from the various applications used in businesses. Data Cloud excels at this by providing open and extensible connectors. Data from any app can be brought into Data Cloud and shared using over 200 connectors, powered by Data Cloud or through MuleSoft's Anypoint Exchange. Data Cloud’s architecture simplifies the process of flowing data in and out, offering more value when unifying your data.
Data Cloud empowers Salesforce Sales Cloud with AI capabilities and automation, enabling faster deal closures and increased productivity across every channel. It also creates upsell and cross-sell opportunities by unifying your CRM, marketing, and entitlement data, guiding upsell efforts with insights such as propensity to buy or next-best-offer recommendations—all based on customer interactions and entitlements.
The data incorporated from various sources helps organizations provide more efficient, personalized, and proactive customer support, building robust customer relationships. With prebuilt dashboards and optimized service operations, service leaders can access key metrics like customer satisfaction scores, case resolution times, and agent productivity in just a few clicks, allowing them to better understand service performance.
Connecting marketing, commerce, sales, service, revenue, and campaign performance data into unified profiles helps marketers quickly create target audience segments and activate them across channels through a user-friendly, AI-powered interface. Additionally, marketers can automate dynamic, personalized journeys and update messaging, content, and offers based on real-time signals from customer and prospect behavior by linking CRM data with engagement data from campaign
Organizations integrate Data Cloud with Salesforce Commerce Cloud to conduct commerce according to their business requirements, from the discovery phase to successful delivery. Brands run offers and exclusive personalized promotions by analyzing customers' shopping experience data, purchase history, and preferences. Additionally, integrating inventory management data, order data, and CRM data provides insights into customer behavior and inventory performance, enabling merchants to make proactive, data-driven decisions.
With all the insights shared about Salesforce Data Cloud and its advantages, it is time to unlock even more value by combining AI and data. As revealed at the recent Dreamforce 2024 event, Salesforce introduced Agentforce.
According to Salesforce, Agentforce is a proactive and autonomous application that provides specialized, always-on support to employees and customers. For Agentforce to elevate customer success to new levels, it requires the right data to function effectively. Thanks to Data Cloud, intelligent agents are empowered with the necessary data to support employees and customers.
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