What is Salesforce Experience Cloud?
Salesforce Experience Cloud, formerly known as Salesforce Community Cloud, is a platform provided by Salesforce that allows organizations to create branded online communities for their employees, customers, partners, and other stakeholders. These communities are designed to foster collaboration, engagement, and self-service among community members.
Key Features
Customization: Experience Cloud provides tools for customization, allowing organizations to tailor the look and feel of their community to match their branding. You can create custom themes, templates, and layouts to ensure a seamless user experience.
Member Engagement: It offers various engagement tools such as discussion forums, chats, and groups enabling members to interact with each other, share information, and collaborate on projects.
Contact Management: You can easily create, manage, and share content with the community. This includes articles, documents, videos, and other resources. Content can be organized into topics and categories for easy navigation.
Access Control: Administrators can control who has access to the community and what they can see and do within it. You can set up different levels of access and permissions for different user groups.
Integration: Salesforce Experience Cloud integrates seamlessly with other Salesforce products and external systems. This means you can connect your community with your CRM, marketing automation, and other business applications.
Mobile-Responsive: Communities built with Experience Cloud are mobile-responsive, ensuring that members can access and engage with the community from different devices, including smartphones and tablets.
Data Visibility: Users can access relevant data from Salesforce CRM, allowing them to view customer records, support cases, and other information that is pertinent to their role within the community.
Self-Service: Community members can find answers to common questions, access support resources, and even resolve issues themselves through self-service features, reducing the burden on customer support teams.
Analytics: Experience Cloud provides analytics and reporting tools to track community engagement, member activity, and content performance. This data can help organizations make informed decisions and improve their communities over time.
Developer Tools: For more advanced customization and integration requirements, Salesforce Experience Cloud provides developer tools, APIs, and developer documentation to extend the functionality of the community.
What Can You Build Using Salesforce Experience Cloud?
Customer Communities
- Self-Service Portals: Provide customers with a self-service portal where they can access FAQs, knowledge articles, and find answers to common questions without contacting support.
- Case Management: Allow customers to submit and track support cases, view case histories, and communicate with support agents.
Partner Portals
- Partner Relationship Management (PRM): Create a portal for partners to access resources, collaborate on deals, and manage leads, opportunities, and sales data.
- Partner Training and Certifications: Deliver training materials, documentation, and certification programs to partners.
Employee Communities
- Intranets: Build internal employee communities for collaboration, document sharing, HR processes, and company announcements.
- Employee Onboarding: Create onboarding portals to help new hires complete paperwork, access training materials, and get acquainted with company culture.
B2B Commerce
- E-Commerce Sites: Develop custom e-commerce websites to sell products or services to business customers, complete with product catalogs, shopping carts, and checkout processes.
Social Collaboration
- Discussion Forums: Set up discussion forums and groups for community members to engage in discussions and share knowledge.
- Chatter Feeds: Enable real-time collaboration and communication with Chatter feeds and notifications.
Knowledge Sharing
- Knowledge Bases: Build extensive knowledge bases with articles, FAQs, and documentation for community members to easily access and search.
- Wikis: Create collaborative wiki-style documentation and information repositories.
Event Management
- Event Registration: Allow community members to register for events, webinars, and training sessions.
- Event Calendars: Display event schedules and agendas within the community.
Custom Applications
- Custom App Development: Create custom applications using Salesforce Lightning components to address specific business needs.
- Integration: Integrate external systems and data sources to provide a seamless user experience within the community.
Branding and Theming
- Custom Branding: Customize the look and feel of your community to match your organization’s branding and style.
Analytics and Reporting
- Community Analytics: Track community engagement, user behavior, and performance using built-in analytics tools.
Why Should You Use Salesforce Experience Cloud?
Enhanced Customer Engagement: Experience Cloud enables you to build interactive and engaging online communities that connect with your customers. You can provide self-support, forums, and discussion boards, allowing customers to find answers to their questions and connect.
Scalable Collaboration: You can create communities for various user groups, such as customers, partners, and employees. This enables collaboration and information sharing among these groups while maintaining security and access control.
Personalization: Salesforce Experience Cloud allows you to deliver personalized content, services, and recommendations to community members. This helps in improving user engagement and satisfaction.
Brand Consistency: You can customize the look and feel of your community to align with your brand’s identity. This ensures a consistent brand experience for your users.
Integration: Experience Cloud seamlessly integrates with other Salesforce products and external systems, allowing you to access and share data across your organization. This integration streamlines processes and improves data accuracy.
Mobile-Friendly: Communities built using Experience Cloud are mobile-responsive, making it easy for users to access your community on various devices, enhancing accessibility and convenience.
Analytics and Insights: You can gain valuable insights into community engagement, user behavior, and content effectiveness through built-in analytics and reporting tools. This data-driven approach helps you make informed decisions to optimize your community.
Automation: Experience Cloud allows you to automate various processes, such as customer support workflows and case routing, which can save time and improve efficiency.
Security: Salesforce provides strong security features to protect your community data, ensuring that your sensitive information is kept safe and compliant with data security regulations.
Customer and Partner Enablement: For businesses that rely on customer self-service or partner collaboration, Experience Cloud provides a platform for these groups to access resources, information, and support easily.
Reduced IT Overhead: With Salesforce Experience Cloud, you can configure and customize your community without extensive coding or IT resources, reducing the cost and time associated with development and maintenance.
Community Growth: As your organization grows, Experience Cloud can scale with you, accommodating more users and communities as needed.
Salesforce Experience Cloud Vs. Community Cloud
One of the frequently asked questions about Salesforce Experience Cloud is whether it is synonymous with Communities. In brief, the answer is “Yes”. Back in 2010, Salesforce introduced a fresh product called “Chatter” to facilitate efficient collaboration within the platform.
Just four years down the line, the company expanded upon this concept and introduced a comprehensive product suite known as Community Cloud. This suite includes the capabilities to create portals (formerly known as Salesforce Portals), websites, and knowledge centers, all of which already incorporated the functionality of Chatter.
Fast forward to 2021, and Salesforce decided to rebrand Community Cloud as Experience Cloud. This renaming signified that it had moved beyond its original identity as merely “a platform for communities” and is now primarily focused on delivering enhanced digital experiences.
While Experience Cloud and Community Cloud may appear similar at first glance, they indeed have some distinct differences. Let’s dive into what sets them apart:
Name and Branding
The most apparent difference is the name itself. Experience Cloud represents a broader and more evolved concept compared to the term “Community,” which is more limited in scope. This name change reflects Salesforce’s shift in focus towards delivering a comprehensive digital experience beyond just community-building.
Focus on Digital Experience
Experience Cloud focuses on creating seamless and engaging digital experiences for customers, partners, and employees. It goes beyond traditional community building to include a wide range of tools and features designed for the overall online experience.
Functionality
Community Cloud, as the name suggests, is primarily centered around building and managing online communities, enabling collaboration and support. In contrast, Experience Cloud extends its functionality to create websites, portals, knowledge centers, and more, making it a versatile platform for a broader range of digital experiences.
Integration Capabilities
Experience Cloud offers enhanced integration capabilities, making it easier to connect with various data sources and third-party applications. This integration flexibility is crucial for delivering a smooth digital experience.
Personalization and AI
Experience Cloud leverages artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to provide advanced personalization features. It can deliver tailored content, recommendations, and experiences to individual users, enhancing engagement and satisfaction.
Scalability
Experience Cloud is designed to scale efficiently, making it suitable for businesses of all sizes. It can accommodate growing user bases and evolving digital requirements.
User Interface and Design
Experience Cloud provides a more modern and flexible user interface design, allowing organizations to create visually appealing and user-friendly digital experiences.
Content Management
Experience Cloud offers robust content management capabilities, enabling organizations to create, organize, and deliver content structurally.
Real Examples of What Can Be Achieved with Salesforce Experience Cloud
Customer Self-Service Portal
Many companies use Experience Cloud to create self-service portals where customers can find answers to frequently asked questions, access product documentation, submit support tickets, and interact with other customers for community-based support.
Partner Portals
Organizations with channel partners, distributors, or resellers can build partner portals to provide them with access to sales and marketing resources, lead management tools, product information, and collaborative spaces to improve partner engagement and productivity.
Employee Intranets
Salesforce Experience Cloud can be used to develop internal employee portals and intranets. These portals are a central hub for employees to access HR resources, company policies, training materials, and collaborate with colleagues.
Knowledge Base and FAQ Sites
Create a knowledge base or FAQ sites to house articles, videos, and other resources that help users find information quickly. Users can search for answers or browse through organized content to address queries.
Customer Engagement Communities
For organizations focused on building strong customer relationships, Experience Cloud allows you to create interactive communities where customers can engage with each other, share experiences, provide feedback, and participate in user groups.
Event and Conference Portals
Companies hosting events, conferences, or webinars can use Experience Cloud to build event-specific portals. Attendees can register, access event details, view schedules, and network with other participants.
E-Commerce Storefronts
Experience Cloud can integrate with Salesforce Commerce Cloud to create e-commerce storefronts where customers can browse and purchase products. You can also incorporate community features like product reviews and user-generated content to enhance the shopping experience.
Patient and Healthcare Portals
In the healthcare industry, Experience Cloud can be used to create patient portals for appointment scheduling, prescription refills, access to medical records, and communication with healthcare providers.
Nonprofit Donor and Volunteer Engagement
Nonprofit organizations can build communities to engage with donors, volunteers, and beneficiaries. Share success stories, fundraising campaigns, and opportunities for volunteers to get involved.
Education and Learning Management
Educational institutions can use Experience Cloud to build learning portals for students, teachers, and administrators. These portals can host course materials, discussion boards, and academic resources.
Government and Public Sector Portals
Government agencies can create portals for citizens to access services, report issues, and participate in public discussions. These portals can streamline government operations and enhance citizen engagement.
Financial Services Client Portals
Financial institutions can build secure client portals for customers to access account information, financial planning tools, and investment reports. These portals can also facilitate secure communication with advisors.
Salesforce Experience Cloud Licenses Pricing Comparison
Now, let’s talk about the different types of licenses for Salesforce Experience Cloud and how much they cost. The good news is that if you know your way around Salesforce or have someone on your team who does, you’ll only have to pay for the licenses you need. Unlike some other software companies, Salesforce doesn’t charge extra fees for setting up new accounts, so you’ll know exactly what you’re paying for.
But if you’re familiar with how to customize Experience Cloud to fit your specific needs, you might need to hire a consultant who specializes in Salesforce Experience Cloud. This means you’ll have to pay for both the licenses and services to make it work for you. When it comes to license types there are three options: Customer Communities, Partner Relationship Management, and External Apps.
|
Plan Name |
Customer Communities |
Customer Community Plus |
Partner Relationship Management |
External Apps |
|
Pricing Details |
You can choose either $2 per login or $5 per member |
You can either pay $6 per login or $15 per member per month |
You can select paying either $10 per login or $25 per member per month |
You can opt for either $15 per login or $35 per member per month |
Let’s now examine the features of each plan:
|
Plan Name |
Self-Service Customer Community (Customer Communities + Customer Community Plus) |
Partner Relationship Management |
External Apps |
|
Features |
It includes a standard set to manage client communities:
|
It includes:
|
It allows:
|