Create in CRM Step - Salesforce

  • Updated

Use a Create in CRM step to automatically add new leads or contacts to Salesforce when they reach a certain point in your Automated Program. You can create new records, update existing ones, or add contacts directly into a Salesforce Campaign with the correct campaign member status. This ensures your sales team gets timely leads and campaign participation without manual data entry.

Quick Reference (Advanced Users) – Click to Expand
  • Requires Salesforce sync enabled in Act-On
  • Pushes All Contacts or Marketing List fields mapped to Salesforce
  • Options: create new contacts/leads, update existing, or create entities (Campaign, Task, Opportunity, etc.)
  • Insert a Wait step if using multiple Create in CRM steps

Use Cases

Use this step to:

  • Create new Salesforce leads from Act-On records and assign to an owner or lead queue.
  • Add members to a Salesforce Campaign with the correct member status.
  • Push highly qualified leads to Salesforce based on lead score, and create Accounts, Opportunities, or Contact Roles.
  • Create tasks and activities for the sales team to follow up.
  • Create Opportunities from forms or lists where interest has been explicitly expressed.
  • Add notes to Salesforce records to document interactions.
  • Schedule events in Salesforce for meetings or calls.

Before You Begin

  • Salesforce Sync: A Salesforce sync must be enabled in Act-On for Create in CRM steps to work. See Salesforce sync setup.
  • Field Mapping: Fields must be mapped between Act-On and Salesforce. Check your All Contacts or Marketing Lists setup to confirm mappings.
  • Wait Steps: If using multiple Create in CRM steps, insert a Wait step between them to prevent update conflicts.

Choose an Action

When adding a Create in CRM step, choose whether to:

  • Create new contacts (including duplicates if desired)
  • Update existing records
  • Create entities (Campaigns, Tasks, Opportunities, Accounts, Events, Notes)
Create in CRM step configuration in Act-On

Create New Contacts

Create new Salesforce Leads or Contacts based on the email address. You can also add extra fields not present in your list, if you want to set them to a static value.

Lead creation notes:

  • Include all required fields for Salesforce leads in your All Contacts database or on your source list. If a required field is missing, the lead will not be created.   You can also manually set a value to the required field using the "Add a field to set on new records" if it is not present in your data.
  • All mapped fields will be sent to SalesForce, you don't need to specifically add fields.  Use the "Add a field" option to add data to a SalesForce field that is not on your source data.
  • If your source list has fields that are not explicitly mapped, for example form data fields, they will be populated in SalesForce if the field name is an exact match to the SalesForce field name.
  • You can assign new records to an Owner or a Lead Queue.
  • You cannot re-assign existing records with this step.

Update Existing Records

Update existing Salesforce records with new data from Act-On by choosing Update existing records.

Create in CRM Update existing records.jpg

Here you have 3 options to control how data will be updated

  • Update fields based on list's push policy will only update fields that are authorized to push.   Learn more
  • Update all fields (overwrite list's push policy) will update all mapped fields to SalesForce.
  • Update only blank fields (overwrite list's push policy) will update any field that is blank in SalesForce but populated in Act-On, but will not overwrite other data.

 

Create Entities

Use +Add Entity to create related Salesforce records:

  • Campaign Members – add contacts to Salesforce Campaigns with status
  • Tasks – assign tasks with due dates, owners, priorities
  • Opportunities – create opportunities with stage, amount, probability
  • Accounts, Notes, Events, or Opportunity Contact Roles

Push Personalized Data

Create in CRM steps can include personalized values from your Act-On lists or segments. For example, you can customize the task subject to include the lead First Name and Last Name, as in this example.

 

Test Your Automated Program

Always test with a Test List or Test Segment from All Contacts. Then check Salesforce to confirm:

  • New records are created or updated correctly
  • Entities (Tasks, Campaigns, Opportunities) are added as expected
  • Mapped fields sync properly

Need More Help with Salesforce?

See the Salesforce Help Center for entity-specific requirements and troubleshooting.

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