Salesforce is an Enterprise CRM used by higher education institutions across the world. Gecko integrates with Salesforce using API integration.
Engage
Creating a two-way API integration between GeckoEngage and Salesforce is incredibly easy. Gecko supports multiple integrations, allowing you to simultaneously push data to a sandbox and live environments (in addition to other CRMs).
Integrating Engage with Salesforce
To begin integrating with Gecko, go to Settings > Integrations and click + New Integration in the top-right corner. Pick Salesforce.
Tell Gecko which root module you're using in Salesforce (Contacts or leads. Don't panic if you're using both! Gecko allows you to write data to almost any object/table in your Salesforce instance).
Pick the event module you're using (Campaigns or Target X)
Choose whether this is a Sandbox or Production environment you're integrating with
Click Connect with Salesforce
You'll be redirected to Salesforce and asked to provide your username/password.
💡 To protect your integration against staff members leaving and/or personal Salesforce accounts being disabled, we advise creating a unique admin user on Salesforce and using the credentials for this account when logging in
After successfully logging in, you'll be redirected back to Gecko and can begin mapping fields between the two systems. In the video below, we showcase how this mapping works and how the integration looks on both platforms:
Integrating forms/scripts
By syncing form/script responses, Gecko can create new contacts/leads in Salesforce (or merge them into existing ones).
✅ Gecko can push over:
Any details captured on the form
response meta information;
When the response was captured
UTM parameters
Student Geo-IP information
Capture app compatibility
who was logged in when the response was captured
which device was used
A record of any email/texts sent via form workflows (inc., the body of the message, sender name, subject lines, etc.)
You have complete autonomy over when a form response is synced and where the data in each field is pushed to.
Integrating events
Gecko can push event information to Salesforce Campaigns or to Target X.
Campaigns
Gecko writes data to the Salesforce Campaign object. Attendee information is pushed over as Campaign Member data. At a glance:
Gecko pulls event information from Salesforce
Gecko push/pull attendee information from Salesforce
Attendee information from Gecko creates “Campaign Members”
Target X
Gecko writes to Target X’s Organization Events. Attendee information is pushed over as Organization event attendee information. The event will appear in the contact's ‘Event History’ table.
Gecko can push/pull event information to/from Target X
Gecko can push/pull attendee information to/from Target X
Gecko can push/pull guest numbers to/from Target X
Gecko can push/pull the event category to/from Target X
Gecko can push/pull the event type to/from Target X
Pushing your event category or type from Gecko to Target X easily be achieved. In Gecko, click on your event and go to Edit > Type & Category. In the Assign a Category field, structure your Gecko categories as follows, replacing the values in curly braces with your category and types:
txcat:{Target X category name}, txtype:{Target X type name}
e.g.,
txcat:Institute of Design, txtype:Admitted Student Reception
Integrating emails/texts
Texts or emails sent from Gecko automatically create a log on the student’s Salesforce activity timeline. This occurs anytime a new message is sent in Gecko, and the contact is synced.
✅ Gecko can push over:
Any desired Student details
The sender of the text/email (e.g., “Admissions - admissions@gecko-university.edu”)
The subject line of the email
The body of the text/email
The time/date the email was sent
The status of the email/text (i.e., clicked, opened, delivered)
Integrating calls
Calls made in Gecko can automatically create an interaction on the student’s activity timeline.
✅ Gecko can push over:
Call data (start time, end time, outcome, caller ID, the agent that made the call, caller number)
A .mp4 recording of the call
The campaign of the call
Associated script responses
Automatically pushes over any outcome notes made by the caller
Importing from Salesforce into Engage
Salesforce contacts can be imported into Gecko in one of two ways:
Via the Imports page using a Salesforce > Contacts > List View
Events (Gecko will pull any contacts in a synced Salesforce event into Gecko)
Gecko will only import student data from fields/attributes mapped in the Settings > Integration > {Salesforce} page on Gecko.
Importing from Salesforce can be one-off or recurring (hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly).
Chat
Integrating Chat with Salesforce
To integrate Salesforce with Chat, go to Settings > Integrations, find the Salesforce card, and click Setup:
Pick if the Salesforce account you're linking to is a Live (production) or Sandbox (testing) instance.
Enter your Salesforce credentials. To protect your integration against staff members leaving and personal Salesforce accounts being disabled, we advise creating a unique admin user on Salesforce and using the credentials for this account when logging in!
Pick the module/object you'd like to write to. These are Contact or Lead by default, but Gecko supports writing to other modules - contact the support team if you wish to write to other modules!
Begin mapping the fields back on Gecko.
Choose whether you'd like your default Salesforce settings to define contact matching conditions or set these in Gecko with the Used for matching conditions values.
In the video below, we showcase how this mapping works and how the integration looks on both platforms:
Integrating conversations
Your Chat conversation transcripts and metadata can be dynamically synced to any number of useful places in your Salesforce account, such as Cases, Tasks, Activities, and more.
Begin by navigating to Settings > Integrations, finding the Salesforce card, and clicking Manage.
Click Add new conversation field and choose the object and area in Salesforce to which you'd like to push conversation data.
Choose which Chat field you'd like to push. Pick from options such as Transcript, Created at, Subject line, Last Message, Duration in minutes, Assigned Agents, and many more.
💡 Important: We strongly recommend creating a relationship between your conversation fields and contact fields. Doing so instructs Salesforce to link the conversation details with the contact!
Any questions? Start a live chat with a support team member, or feel free to explore the rest of our academy. Spotted an error or want to suggest a future article for the academy? Let us know here.