Connecting to Salesforce will allow Act-On to:

• Synchronize the following:
  • Salesforce CRM objects via the Data Management panel
  • Hard Bounces
  • Opt-outs
  • Lead scores
• Create new Leads in Salesforce from Form Submissions
• Import and sync Marketing Lists, including:
  • All Leads
  • All Contacts
  • Campaigns
  • Reports (pull only)
• Use automated programs to update records with specific activity from Act-On.

Connect to Salesforce

1. Log in to your account at Act-On.com
2. Navigate to Settings > Connectors > CRM > Salesforce
3. Click Connect
4. Enter your Salesforce login, password, and security token. The security token must immediately follow your password with no space in between.
• If you do not have your Salesforce Security Token saved, you will need to reset it. See Salesforce Help for instructions (note: this is an external link that opens in new window).
5. Click Login

Once you are logged in and successfully connected, the page will reflect that the Salesforce.com connector is active.

The recommended next step in setting up a new Salesforce integration is configuring the Data Management panel.

Best Practices

Maintain a separate user account to connect to Act-On

There are several benefits to this practice.

1. Identify integration activity
   • Act-On's integration logs activities on Lead and Contact records. By using a separate user, you avoid confusion about who generated the activity.
2. Better control of permissions
   • You can specify more precise permissions for the integration user and security profile, such as the password expiration policy (see below)
3. Simplified user management and fewer disconnections
   • Avoid disconnection when your organization has personnel changes.
4. You can enable MFA for the rest of your account users.
   • Act-On does not support Salesforce MFA, so you must have a separate user that does not have MFA enabled in order to connect. 
   • Connected user must have these permissions set. For more details see this article.
     • API Enabled
     • API Only User (available only for Enterprise) 

Securely store your Password and Security Token

Use a password manager to store the Salesforce user password and Security Token. This will reduce the need to reset your password, and in turn, will avoid disconnections with your Act-On account.

Turn off or extend the period for Password Expiration

When your connected user's password expires, Salesforce will force a new password and security token. When this happens, you need to immediately update your credentials in Act-On.

By default, Salesforce expires user passwords every 90 days. We recommend changing the password expiration policy for the user's profile. See this page in Salesforce for further information and instructions: View and Edit Password Policies in Profiles.

FAQs and Troubleshooting

Which Salesforce API version does Act-On connect to?

Our integration is built using Salesforce's REST API version 49.0.

How do I choose which Salesforce user to connect?

General considerations:

• The connected Salesforce user will be associated as the user for all Salesforce activities created by the Act-On API (activity notes, tasks, inbound leads, etc).
  • A recommended practice for connecting Act-On with Salesforce is to create a generic Salesforce user account specifically for use with the connector. This allows you to distinguish between Act-On automation and user-specific actions in Salesforce. 
• The connected user MUST be in Salesforce Classic mode for Reports to import to Act-On. 
  • With our package versions 1.85 and above, this is no longer a requirement.
• The account cannot have Multi-factor Authentication (MFA) enabled. Act-On does not support connection to Salesforce with MFA. However, you can a separate API only user that does not have MFA enabled in order to connect. 

Important considerations when the connected user is NOT a Salesforce administrator:

• Your Salesforce administrator will still need to install and update the Act-On package on behalf of the account.
• The data available in Act-On will be limited to the privileges of the connected user, including read and write.
• Because the connected user does not have permission to see which version has been installed, Act-On cannot validate the package version and the connector page will always present the following message:

Your Salesforce.com account does not have the latest Act-On package or is using a deprecated package.

We highly recommend that you follow our updates so that you receive an email notification of product changes, including when a new Salesforce package is available.

Minimum permissions for the Salesforce user Connecting to Act-On

Object Settings

• Accounts: Read/View All
  • Field Permissions as needed for revenue reporting and CRM segmentation. Recommendations:
    • Active (Read)
    • Annual Revenue (Read)
    • Industry (Read)

• Campaigns: Read/Create/Edit/View All
  • Field Permissions as needed. Recommendations:
    
    • Contacts in Campaign
    • Converted Leads in Campaign
    • Leads in Campaign
    • Opportunities in Campaign

• Contacts: Read/Create/Edit/View All/Modify All
  • Field Permissions as needed. Read/Edit access based on data policy. Recommendations:
    • Email (Edit)
    • Email Opt Out (Edit)
    • Hard Bounce (Edit)
    • Lead Score (Edit)
    • Lead Source (Edit)
    • Owner ID (read)
    • RecordID (read)

• Leads: Read/Create/Edit/View All/Modify All
  • Field Permissions as needed. Read/Edit access based on data policy. Recommendations:
    • Email (Edit)
    • Email Opt Out (Edit)
    • Hard Bounce (Edit)
    • Lead Score (Edit)
    • Lead Source (Edit)
    • Lead Status (Edit)
    • Owner ID (read)
    • RecordID (read)

• Opportunities: Read/View All
  • Field Permissions as needed for reporting and CRM segmentation. Recommendations:
    • Amount (read)
    • Lead Source (read)

• Tasks
  • Field Permissions - Edit access:
    • Comments
    • Due Date
    • Name
    • Type

System Permissions

• API Enabled
• Edit Tasks
• Export Reports
• Run Reports
• View Reports in Public Folders
• MFA must be disabled for this user

Additional Permissions

• Oauth for the Act-On Lightning Support App is required for the System Administrator and any Act-On users. Find these instructions in our Salesforce Package Installation Guide.
• Enable Read access on any custom objects that you would like Act-On to have access to.
  • Act On can integrate with custom objects that are related with Leads and Contacts. Please contact your Customer Success Manager for more information.
• Edit Record Type Settings to select only the record types you want Act On to have access to. This is configured at the object-level (eg Leads, Contacts, Accounts).
• Drill down on objects in field-level security settings and block unneeded fields that are not required for marketing purposes.

Can I connect my Salesforce account to more than one Act-On account?

Yes. See our related article for more information on this configuration.

I received an error that I am switching organizations, what should I do?

This typically occurs when you were once connected with Salesforce and are now connecting to a different account, or your email domain has changed. Further action is necessary to maintain integration and our support team will assist you.

If you have received this error message, contact our support team for further assistance.

Why is Salesforce suddenly disconnected?

The most common cause for a disconnected account is a password change or password expiration in Salesforce. User passwords will expire after a specified period of time as set by your Salesforce administrator. By default, this is set to every 90 days. The Salesforce user credentials in Act-On must be updated whenever a password has been changed to prevent interruptions with your Act-On integration. 

Note: Your Salesforce user will have a new security token with each password reset.

To avoid this issue, we recommend turning off password expiration. For more information, see Best Practices (above).

Other causes for disconnection with Salesforce:

• The username has changed
• Inadequate Salesforce user permissions
• The Salesforce user has been set to inactive or is otherwise disabled

Once you have verified you have the correct credentials to your Salesforce account (and you have generated a new security token, if the password has changed), you may proceed to reconnect in Act-On.

Click on Update Login and enter the new password + security token (with no spaces or characters). 

How can I connect Act-On to my Salesforce Developer or Sandbox account?

Developer Edition (free) accounts can be connected to Act-On as a Production account.

If you have a Salesforce Sandbox that accompanies your Salesforce production account, see our article here for instructions: Setting Up the Salesforce Sandbox Connector

How can I connect when my Salesforce account has Multi-factor Authentication (MFA) enabled?

You must connect to Act-On with a user that does not have Multi-Factor Authentication for API Logins enabled. If your account has this turned on, you should create an integration-only user and permission set if you have not already done this.

For complete instructions, see our related article here.