Account Engagement (Pardot) guide
Account Engagement, formerly Pardot, is Salesforce's B2B marketing automation product. Here is what it does and how to plan for it.
Marketing Cloud Account Engagement is Salesforce's B2B marketing automation product. Most people still know it as Pardot, its former name. It helps marketing teams capture leads, nurture them over long buying cycles and pass sales-ready prospects to Sales Cloud with useful context.
What it is for
Account Engagement suits businesses where a sale involves several people, several weeks or months, and a sales team that needs to know which prospects are ready. It focuses on forms, nurture programmes, scoring and grading, and alignment with CRM records rather than very high-volume consumer messaging.
Core capabilities
| Area | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Lead capture | Forms, form handlers and landing pages |
| Nurture | Engagement Studio programmes for multi-step B2B nurture |
| Automation | Automation rules, completion actions and dynamic lists |
| Qualification | Lead scoring (interest) and grading (fit) |
| Structure | Business units for separate brands or regions |
| Reporting | Connected campaigns linking marketing activity to Salesforce campaigns |
How it connects with other Salesforce products
Account Engagement syncs prospects with Sales Cloud leads and contacts through its connector, so sales teams see activity and scores on records. Existing customers can renew into Account Engagement+, which Salesforce says unlocks Marketing Cloud Next AI capabilities. Salesforce Ben reports that Winter '27 brings Pardot-style completion actions to Marketing Cloud Next through Flow, which narrows one gap between the two products.
Who it suits
- B2B companies running Sales Cloud with a defined lead-to-opportunity process.
- Marketing teams that need nurture and scoring without heavy development.
- Organisations with several brands or regions that need business units.
Planning an implementation
- 01
Agree lead definitions
Define MQL and SQL criteria with sales before configuring scoring.
- 02
Plan the connector
Decide sync behaviour, field mapping and which records are marketable.
- 03
Design scoring and grading
Weight activity and fit separately, then test on real prospects.
- 04
Build nurture programmes
Start with one Engagement Studio programme per key stage.
- 05
Set up attribution
Use connected campaigns so reports reflect real influence.
Common mistakes
- Turning on scoring without agreeing thresholds with sales.
- Ignoring prospect sync errors, which leave records out of date.
- Using form handlers where Account Engagement forms would be simpler, or the reverse.
- Creating business units without a clear reason, which duplicates work.
How GeekMidst can help
Our Account Engagement consulting covers setup, audits and optimisation, and our lead scoring and grading setup service helps you build qualification models that sales trusts. If you are comparing Account Engagement with Marketing Cloud Next, our Marketing Cloud Next implementation team can help you weigh the options.
Questions we hear
Is Pardot being retired?
What is Account Engagement+?
Should a new B2B customer choose Account Engagement or Marketing Cloud Next?
Does Account Engagement need Sales Cloud?
Related reading
Account Engagement vs Marketing Cloud Next
Choosing for B2B
→Engagement Studio design patterns
Building nurture programmes that work
→B2B lead nurturing blueprint
A reference architecture
→Business units in Account Engagement
When separate business units make sense
→Sources
Getting more from Account Engagement?
Tell us how your lead process works today, and we will help you plan improvements or a move.
