Automating Marketing For Your WordPress Site With Pardot

Creating successful marketing campaigns can take a lot of time and resources. There are many components that go into any marketing effort. Consequently, you might be wondering if there’s a way to automate parts of the process while maximizing your WordPress website as a digital asset. 

Fortunately, Pardot, a marketing automation tool, offers several WordPress integration options. This combination means you’ll be able to create powerful automated marketing campaigns that utilize all of your best resources. 

In this article, we’ll explore both Pardot’s features and the plugin for WordPress. We’ll also walk you through how to set up Pardot forms on your WordPress website. Let’s get started!

The Pardot WordPress Plugin

Plugins are one of the easiest ways to extend the functionality of your WordPress website. The Pardot plugin is no exception. With a single login, you’ll be able to securely connect your account to WordPress. You can then select from your campaigns and start maximizing the best of both of these powerful online tools.  

Why Integrate Pardot Into Your WordPress Site?

Pardot is owned by the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) company Salesforce. As a leader in the field, integrating Salesforce, Pardot, and WordPress is like getting your online marketing superfriends together to save the day. It’s important to understand that Pardot is really focused on campaigns for Business-to-Business (B2B) marketing, while Salesforce Marketing Cloud is geared more toward Business-to-Customer (B2C) interactions. 

Automated Lead Management

One feature Pardot brings to the table is an automated approach to managing leads. When you layer Pardot over your WordPress website, you can leverage a number of data collection possibilities. The lead management tools Pardot has to offer include automated lead qualification based on user interactions

Additionally, once quality leads are identified, you can automate the nurturing of those leads by building, testing, and sending email campaigns based on pre-set triggers. 

Automated Lead Generation

In particular, Pardot’s lead generation tools can come in handy when you integrate with WordPress. The tools include a landing page builder and a drag-and-drop smart form builder. These forms can later be embedded using widgets in WordPress.

You’ll also have access to social posting and profiling tools. These enable you to schedule and post to multiple platforms while also gaining measurable insights from the available tracking mechanisms. 

Automated Email Marketing

This feature really lets you take a ‘set and forget’ approach to lead nurturing through email. You’ll have access to an intuitive email builder that provides an easy-to-use visual editor.

You can then use the visual lead nurturing tool mentioned previously to create pathways and set automatic email responses for landing pages and forms. 

Pardot’s automated email marketing tools also offer A/B split testing capabilities, so you’ll know without a doubt what is resonating with potential customers. Automation doesn’t mean you have to forego personalization either. You’ll have the benefit of personalized subject lines and signatures in addition to automatic audience segmentation so the right messages are sent at just the right times.  

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has opened up new possibilities in the realm of marketing and automation by helping to make sense of a glut of collected data. AI can be used to take your marketing goals and coordinate with real-time data to make the most of your resources and reduce human error.

Pardot’s AI system is called ‘Einstein’ and works to integrate information from both Pardot and Salesforce to automatically prioritize workflows. It is also built to provide easy to read scores and insights so you can see right away how leads are engaging with content. 

Pros And Cons Of Pardot

Undoubtedly, Pardot offers powerful automation tools for Salesforce users looking to beef up their B2B marketing workflows. It leaves pretty much no stone unturned in terms of data collection and presenting helpful, usable analytics.

When you securely connect your WordPress site with Pardot, you can track visitors and gather valuable data from your WordPress site without adding new code to your website. However, there are some aspects to keep in mind as you contemplate pairing Pardot with WordPress. 

Additionally, the cost to implement Pardot is a factor. Billed annually, the base tier ‘Growth’ plan is $1,250 a month. You’ll also need to look into whether you need add-ons for social media or other features. Those will cost extra for basic plans. Ultimately, investing in Pardot is a commitment you’ll want to make sure your WordPress system is ready for. 

Installing Pardot Forms

Let’s take a look at the process of using the Pardot plugin for WordPress. We’ll walk through how to use Pardot forms on your WordPress website. 

Step 1: Download Plugin

First, you’ll need to navigate to Plugins > Add New in your WordPress dashboard.

Once you’re in the plugin directory, you can use the search bar and look for ‘Pardot’. Once you find the plugin, click Install Now to begin the process in WordPress.

Next, once the plugin is successfully installed, you’ll have the option to click Active to complete the WordPress installation.

Once the activation is complete, you’ll be prompted to configure your Pardot settings in WordPress. You can find these anytime by going to Settings > Pardot in your WordPress dashboard.

After your Salesforce Pardot account is successfully connected to WordPress, you’ll be able to begin customizing and using all the great features, such as embedded forms. 

Step 2: Format form layout

Your WordPress visual editor will now have a Pardot button you can use to easily add Pardot forms to your content. You can also use shortcodes to add your forms.

The Pardot editor button gives you an easy-to-access drop-down menu of forms to choose from, provided by your Pardot account. You can then style and format the layout of your forms and how they will appear on your post or page. 

Step 3: Select Widget

You can also use widgets to display your form throughout your website in a sidebar or other widget area. To add a form, navigate to Appearance > Widgets in WordPress. You’ll see a list of possible widgets you can use, including Pardot Forms and Pardot Dynamic Content.

Next, you’ll be able to further customize the placement of your form as well as the height and width. 

Step 4: Place Your Widget

Depending on your theme, you’ll be able to place your Pardot widget in an active widget area. This could be a footer or sidebar. For example, simply click Pardot Forms to see your options. Then, you’ll click Add Widget to add it to your list of active widgets.

Next, you can drag and drop your Pardot form widget into the place you want it in the list.

From here you’ll be able to select your form or dynamic content, depending on the widget you selected. Your forms will then automatically appear on your website. Here’s an example of displaying a form both in the content area of a post as well as in the sidebar.

Regardless of where you place your forms, you’ll now have a dynamic way to gather customer information on your website! 

Where Should Pardot Landing Pages Be Hosted?

Another useful feature Pardot has to offer is its landing page builder, and you can choose to host them either on Pardot’s servers, or directly on your WordPress website.

A few things to keep in mind when making your decision include: 

• Google rank: If you want Google to index your form pages, you’ll likely want to make sure they are embedded in your WordPress website.  
• The funnel: Where your forms are designed to appear within your lead generation funnel will also impact where you should host them. 
• Menus: For data-only integration, hosting on Paradot might be the way to go. Bear in mind that when embedding in WordPress, you’ll want to decide whether to remove your sitewide navigation, to limit the possibility that a lead will wander away from your form. 

Consequently, there is no single correct answer when it comes to hosting Pardot landing pages. What’s best for your strategy will be the choice that serves you best.  

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