ExactTarget for Appexchange Subscription Preferences

How to Create Custom Fields for Preferences in Salesforce

Create Salesforce custom fields for each of the communication preferences you want to manage via the Subscription Center.  

Follow these steps to create a custom field for a Contact:

1. Log in to your Salesforce instance.
2. Click Setup in the upper-right corner.
3. Click the plus sign next to Customize under the App Setup heading.
4. Click the plus sign next to Contacts and click Fields.
5. Click New.
6. Select the radio button next to the Checkbox data type, with default value set to Unchecked.
7. Enter the field, label, description, and attributes of the field and click Next.
8. Set the security levels for your field and click Next.
9. Select the location of your field.
10. Click Save.

To create a custom field for a Lead follow this path in Salesforce:

1. Log in to your Salesforce instance.
2. Click Setup in the upper-right corner.
3. Click the plus sign next to Customize under the App Setup heading.
4. Click the plus sign next to Leads and click Fields.
5. Click New.
6. Select the radio button next to the Checkbox data type, with default value set to Unchecked.
7. Enter the field, label, description, and attributes of the field and click Next.
8. Set the security levels for your field and click Next.
9. Select the location of your field.
10. Click Save.

Custom fields can be the same for both Contacts and Leads; but, they do not have to be.  For example, you might only want Contacts to have the ability to subscribe to communications you send only to your clients.  You can achieve this by only creating a custom field for your Contacts, but not for your Leads.

How to Create Preference Attributes in ExactTarget

For each Salesforce custom field you just created, you will need to create and map corresponding ExactTarget Preference Attributes.

Follow these steps in the ExactTarget to create a preference attribute:

1. Log in to your ExactTarget instance.
2. Click the Subscribers tab.
3. Click Preference Management.
4. Click Create Preference.

Provide a detailed description for the preference attribute.  This description will be displayed on the Subscription Center and help Leads and Contacts understand the content of your particular communications offerings.  

How to Map the ExactTarget Attribute to the Salesforce Field

After you have created the Preference attribute, be sure to use the Salesforce Field Mapping functionality to map the ExactTarget Preference Attributes to the appropriate Salesforce field.  

After you have created subscription preferences within Salesforce and ExactTarget, your Contacts and Leads can click on the automatically-appended Update Your Profile and Subscription Preferences link in their message and make the appropriate choices.  

Using Salesforce's Report tools, you can then build targeted lists based on the preferences stored in Salesforce.