How to Integrate Salesforce Into WordPress
Whether you’re a small business owner or an enterprise-level marketing manager, lead generation should be a crucial part of your operations. However, deciding on the best way to unlock the lead-generating potential of your WordPress site can be tricky. This is largely due to the huge variety of resources and guides competing for your attention.
Fortunately, there are tools available that make lead generation simple and straightforward. One top solution is Salesforce, an online Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform that tracks and segments user data. WordPress and Salesforce integration can help you better pinpoint conversion opportunities, manage potential lead information, and improve your networking strategy.
In this guide, we’ll explain how WordPress and Salesforce integration works. We’ll also explore the various tools you can use to simplify the integration process. Let’s get started!
WordPress and Salesforce Integration
As one of the leading CRMs on the market, Salesforce lets you identify potential customers, personalize your marketing techniques to address them, and field their enquiries, all from a single platform. WordPress and Salesforce integration is possible via various plugins and tools.
With so many integration options available, you’ll need to ask yourself a few questions before deciding what solution to use:
- How much information is required from my site’s lead forms?
- How are leads handled after collection?
- How many customized elements do my forms need to have?
Once you’ve answered these questions, you’ll be in a better position to pick the best plugin or tool for your needs. WordPress and Salesforce can work well together, but it’s important to consider the optimal implementation method for your site.
Salesforce and WordPress Form Plugins (And More)
Now, let’s take a closer look at some of the form plugins and other applications that make WordPress and Salesforce integration possible.
Brilliant Web-to-Lead for Salesforce
The Brilliant Web-to-Lead for Salesforce plugin is ideal for streamlined integration. It enables potential leads to fill in information via a dedicated WordPress form, which is then sent directly to your Salesforce account. Leads are saved automatically, and you have the option to either add your form to specific pages and posts, or include it as a widget.
Price: It’s completely free!
Pros: This plugin offers a beginner-friendly interface, and shortcodes for easy integration.
Cons: The functionality is limited and it has not been tested with the 3 latest versions of WordPress.
The lead generation types this basic plugin is useful for include:
- Email marketing
- Referrals
As such, it’s best suited to the following applications:
- Small-to medium-sized consultation businesses
- Small-to medium-sized web service businesses
If you feel that this Salesforce integration plugin is for you, there’s some documentation on the plugin download page that can get you started.
Zapier
Zapier is an application-integration tool that lets you connect apps in order to automate repetitive tasks. Using it, you can connect a variety of plugins (Gravity Forms, WPForms, etc.) with Salesforce to enhance its lead generating capabilities.
Price: Although there is a basic free plan, feature-heavy premium plans start at $20 per month.
Pros: You can use this tool to integrate dozens of applications with your WordPress site.
Cons: The free plan limits you to creating two-step workflows only.
Zapier supports many Salesforce triggers and actions, making it ideal for numerous lead generation tasks including:
- Email marketing
- Paid search strategies
The businesses that are most likely to benefit from Zapier are:
- Large-scale companies with tiered offerings
- Business-to-Business (B2B) operations
- Online advertising companies
You can get started with a free Zapier account to learn more about its features and benefits.
Gravity Forms
Gravity Forms is a favorite forms plugin among WordPress users. Its visual builder is extremely intuitive, and its conditional logic lets you display and hide selected fields. It also integrates effortlessly with Salesforce, enabling you to add form-collected leads to your email marketing and social media campaigns.
Price: The developer has plans starting at $59 per year.
Pros: There Are multiple Salesforce integration options, and a powerful visual form builder.
Cons: Not all of the plugin add-ons are included in the basic license.
You can use Gravity Forms (and its Salesforce integration) for numerous lead generation tasks, including:
- Checklist campaigns
- Email marketing and subscriptions
- Newsletter campaigns
This makes the tool well suited to various sectors, including:
- eCommerce
- Affiliate marketing
- B2C applications
You can integrate Gravity Forms with Salesforce via Zapier. However, you can also use a third-party plugin, such as Gravity Forms – Salesforce CRM Integration.
WP Forms
WPForms is a drag-and-drop form builder that can be set up for a variety of lead generation tasks. It integrates with Salesforce, ensuring that all form-collected data is sent right to your Salesforce account. This data can then be used to track user behavior and add leads to your email marketing campaigns and promotions.
Price: WP Forms plans start at $50 per year.
Pros: This plugin’s extremely user-friendly interface makes it easy to create surveys, polls, campaign monitor forms, and more.
Cons: If email integration is important to you, you’ll have to upgrade to the $99 per year plan.
As with Gravity Forms, you can use WPForms for numerous lead generation tasks. These include:
- User behavior data collection
- Email marketing
- Surveys
- Promotions
This makes the plugin ideal for a range of sectors, including:
- eCommerce
- Finance
- Health and wellness
- Online publications
Best of all, you can integrate WPForms with Salesforce in just a few steps.
Choosing the Right WordPress Salesforce Integration for Your Site
A-Grade Salesforce Integration
If you’re looking for the best all-around option, Zapier takes the cake. It offers app-connection capabilities that can further enhance Salesforce. In addition, it’s particularly valuable for large enterprise-level websites.
B-Grade Salesforce Integration
Gravity Forms and WPForms have earned a place on the honorable mentions list. They both offer advanced field options and conditional logic, but aren’t quite as powerful when combined with Salesforce as Zapier is. These plugins are best suited to marketing-oriented eCommerce businesses that make frequent use of online surveys and polls.
C-Grade Salesforce Integration
Brilliant Web-to-Lead for Salesforce is the most basic option on our list. It offers lightweight functionality, and is best used for minimal data collection (i.e. gathering names and email addresses). This Salesforce plugin is ideal for those who just need basic functionality, and don’t want to get bogged down with features they won’t use.
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