# Connect Salesforce Account Engagement

You'll save website answers to Account Engagement prospects and use their fields to personalize your site, with Salesforce field mappings for onward updates.

Available on the Pro plan.

Connecting Salesforce Account Engagement lets you save website answers to prospect records and use their existing fields to personalize your site. If you also need those answers in Salesforce, Account Engagement's connector handles that next part.

Account Engagement was formerly called Pardot. In RightMessage, you'll find it under **Salesforce/Pardot**. This connection works with Account Engagement prospects, not directly with Salesforce Lead and Contact records.

## Connect Salesforce Account Engagement

You'll need access to your RightMessage project's integration settings and a Salesforce login authorized for the intended Account Engagement business unit. Each RightMessage project connects to one email platform or CRM. Check what uses an existing connection before replacing it.

1. In Salesforce **Setup**, search for **Business Unit Setup** and copy the intended business unit's ID. It's 18 characters and begins with `0Uv`, not an organization, Lead, Contact, or prospect ID.
2. In your RightMessage project settings, select **Integration**.
3. Under **Email platforms & CRMs**, choose **Salesforce/Pardot**.
4. Click **Connect to Salesforce/Pardot**.
5. Sign in to the intended Salesforce account and approve the authorization request.
6. Back in RightMessage, enter the copied ID in **Business Unit ID** on **Overview**.
7. Click **Save Configuration** and check the connection status.

![Salesforce Account Engagement connection controls in RightMessage, with no credentials entered](https://rightmessage.com/help/screens/integrations-pardot-connection.light.webp)

*Start with **Connect to Salesforce/Pardot**. **Business Unit ID** appears after authorization.*

OAuth saves the authorization tokens for you. You don't enter an access token or refresh token manually. The **Business Unit ID** is a separate setting you enter afterward, and every Account Engagement API request needs it.

If you see **No Business Unit ID configured**, enter the ID and save it. **Connected to Salesforce/Pardot** confirms authorization, but you still need the right business unit. The health check reads custom-field definitions. You'll test prospect updates and onward Salesforce sync below.

If authorization expires or is revoked, choose **Reconnect to Salesforce/Pardot**. If the business unit is wrong, correct its ID and click **Save Configuration**.

## Choose what to sync

Save answers to custom prospect fields. If you need them in Salesforce too, ask your Salesforce administrator to prepare the full path first:

1. Create corresponding custom fields on both the Salesforce **Lead** and **Contact** objects, with compatible types and values.
2. Set up Lead-to-Contact field mapping so the data has a destination after conversion.
3. Create or select the Account Engagement prospect field and configure its Salesforce mapping and sync behavior.
4. Check that the connected user can access those fields.

RightMessage writes to the Account Engagement prospect field. Account Engagement's connector then handles onward Salesforce sync. Creating a field in only one place doesn't connect the whole path.

### Map your question

1. Open **Questions** and choose a multiple-choice question.
2. Open **Sync with Salesforce/Pardot**.
3. Under **Destination**, select the prepared prospect field in **Save answers to Salesforce/Pardot**.
4. Under **Answer → value**, enter each answer's stored value. Match the field's type and allowed values.
5. Review the changes and click **Publish**.

Choose the prospect field from the integration's list, not a Salesforce object-field identifier. RightMessage handles the Account Engagement API's `__c` suffix when reading and writing custom fields.

Choice questions sync to custom fields, not tags or lists. Multiple selections become comma-separated values, so use a compatible text field. Matching mapped values can also place an identified prospect in the corresponding RightMessage segment without asking again. See [Map answers to contact fields and tags](https://rightmessage.com/help/synchronizing-contact-data-with-your-email-platform-or-crm) for other question types and mapping settings.

To create a text prospect field from RightMessage, choose **New Salesforce/Pardot custom field** in the destination picker. Enter **Field Name** using letters, numbers, and underscores, then click **Create**. Review values suggested by **Auto-generate mappings** before publishing.

Creating the field changes Account Engagement immediately. It doesn't create Salesforce Lead or Contact fields or configure their mappings. Prepare those Salesforce fields first if you want answers to reach them.

> **Use custom fields for answer updates**
>
> RightMessage can read the native **First Name**, **Last Name**, **Email**, **Company**, **Phone**, **Job Title**, **City**, **State**, **Country**, and **Website** fields. Native-field answer updates currently don't reach the prospect update request, even though you can select those fields. Use a prepared custom prospect field instead, or contact support if you need a native-field update.

The update request doesn't send **Email** either. The identifying email finds or creates a prospect rather than changing an existing prospect's address.

After identification, you can use known prospect custom and native fields in website conditions. RightMessage doesn't expose Account Engagement tags or lists as sync destinations, even though Account Engagement itself has them.

### Create prospects from signups

In an Email question's **Setup**, keep **Identify the visitor** enabled and choose **Create/Update contact** under **Contact action**. Review consent before publishing.

RightMessage looks for a prospect by email and updates it, or creates one if none exists. You don't need a list destination. Check Salesforce separately if you also expect a Lead or Contact to be created or updated.

## Recognize subscribers from email links

Choose a test prospect you control and [install the RightMessage snippet](https://rightmessage.com/help/everything-you-need-to-know-about-your-rightmessage-tracking-script) on the page you'll test.

For Account Engagement emails using HML, add `rm_pt` and the email merge field to a link to one of your own pages. Here's an example for [WorkForge](https://workforge.rightmessage.com):

```text
https://workforge.rightmessage.com/pricing.html?rm_pt={{Recipient.Email}}
```

Account Engagement replaces `{{Recipient.Email}}` with the recipient's email. RightMessage looks up that email, then uses the matching prospect ID for later operations. Don't use a Salesforce Contact ID or invent a `{{Recipient.Id}}` merge tag.

If the URL already has a query string, append `&rm_pt={{Recipient.Email}}` instead.

If several prospects in the connected business unit share that email, RightMessage uses the first match returned by Account Engagement. It doesn't choose among duplicates using Salesforce Lead or Contact IDs.

## Check the connection

1. Send an Account Engagement email to your test prospect. Check that the delivered link contains their email, not an unresolved merge tag.
2. Open it in a fresh browser session on a page with RightMessage installed. Follow [Verify an integration change](https://rightmessage.com/help/verify-an-integration-change) to check that RightMessage recognizes the intended prospect in the right business unit.
3. Revisit without the parameter to check that the browser remembers the prospect.
4. Submit one mapped answer, then open the prospect in Account Engagement and check the exact field value.
5. If you're syncing to Salesforce, check the corresponding Lead or Contact after the connector processes the update.
6. If you'll create prospects, test a signup separately with a fresh email address you control.

RightMessage removes `rm_pt` from the displayed URL after reading it, but the original URL contains a plaintext email address. Keep personalized links private. Removing the parameter doesn't mean other systems never received the original URL. Another device needs to identify the prospect again.

If the answer reaches Account Engagement but not Salesforce, check the downstream field mappings, connector permissions, and sync rules. These systems don't update in one immediate transaction. Reconnecting RightMessage won't create missing Lead or Contact fields.

If a destination field is missing, check that it exists in the connected business unit. Then click **Clear Cache** in **Overview** and reopen the picker. Check **History** for failed operations.

When the intended prospect has your submitted answer, the RightMessage connection is working. If you need the answer in Salesforce too, make checking the matching Lead or Contact your next step.