Marketing Cloud Implementation Checklist
A step-by-step Marketing Cloud Engagement checklist, from account and sender setup through authentication, data model, journeys, testing and the first live send.
This checklist covers a Marketing Cloud Engagement implementation from account setup to the first live send. Work through it in order, because sender authentication and the data model are hard to change once journeys depend on them. If you are starting on Marketing Cloud Next, where the data model sits on Data 360, use the Marketing Cloud Next implementation checklist alongside this one.
1. Account and send setup
Account setup checks
| Item | Check |
|---|---|
| Business units and roles | Map who needs access to which business unit before you create users |
| Sender profiles | Set the From name and address. AMPscript is allowed if the From name must vary |
| Delivery profiles | Set the physical address and footer |
| Send classifications | Each one joins a sender profile and a delivery profile under a CAN-SPAM label: Commercial or Transactional |
| Send methods | Pick one per use case: audience-driven (such as Journey Builder Single Sends or Automation Studio) or event-driven (such as transactional send journeys or triggered sends) |
2. Sender authentication
Mailbox providers now enforce authentication for bulk senders. Set up your sending domain before any production send, and recheck the provider pages, because enforcement has tightened.
Gmail, Yahoo and Microsoft sender requirements
| Requirement | Gmail | Yahoo | Microsoft consumer mail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who it applies to | About 5,000+ messages a day to personal Gmail accounts. Once you qualify, you stay a bulk sender | Baseline rules for all senders, more for bulk senders | Domains sending more than 5,000 emails a day |
| SPF and DKIM | Both, for bulk senders | Both for bulk senders. All senders need SPF or DKIM | Both |
| DMARC | At least p=none, with the From domain aligned with SPF or DKIM | At least p=none and passing. Relaxed alignment is accepted | At least p=none, aligned with SPF or DKIM |
| Unsubscribe | One-click (RFC 8058) on marketing mail, honoured within 48 hours | One-click List-Unsubscribe (RFC 8058 POST recommended, mailto accepted), honoured within 2 days | Unsubscribe links recommended |
| Spam rate | Below 0.1%, never reaching 0.3% | Below 0.3% | List hygiene recommended |
| Enforcement | Rules from February 2024. Enforcement ramping up from November 2025, with possible rejection | From February 2024, rolled out gradually | From 5 May 2025 |
In practice: pick a sending domain or subdomain, publish SPF and DKIM, start DMARC at p=none with reporting on, and confirm one-click unsubscribe on a test send. For a fuller walkthrough, see SPF, DKIM and DMARC for Marketing Cloud and the deliverability checklist.
3. Data model
- Contact Key agreed. In Contact Builder, data extensions link to the contact record through the Contact Key. With Marketing Cloud Connect, the subscriber key is the Contact or Lead ID.
- Populations kept small. Salesforce advises no more than three per account.
- Data extensions designed. Primary keys, sendable fields and retention are set. See data extension design.
- Marketing Cloud Connect planned, if used. It needs Enterprise, Unlimited or Performance edition CRM (or a Developer sandbox), the managed package and two system users. Every synchronised contact or lead counts as a contact in Contact Builder, and a sync can only be paused, not deleted. See Marketing Cloud Connect implementation.
- Automations built safely. Do not put activities that read query output in the same step as the query. SQL Query activities time out after 30 minutes and are deactivated after 24 consecutive failures.
4. Journeys
- Entry sources defined for each journey, including the CloudPagesForm Submit Event for form-driven entry. CloudPages should use HTTPS only.
- Exit criteria, suppression and consent checks documented.
- If you use Einstein Send Time Optimization, place it immediately before the email or MobilePush activity, and allow up to 72 hours after activation before relying on it.
5. Testing and go-live
Testing and go-live
- 01
Test data in place
Use test contacts covering every branch, language and consent state.
- 02
Content checked
Check personalization fallbacks, links and rendering across email clients.
- 03
Journeys tested
Run each path end to end, using the journey QA checklist.
- 04
Automations monitored
Check the Automation Studio Action Log for SQL, file transfer and import errors.
- 05
Warm start
Begin with your most engaged audience and watch bounce and complaint rates.
- 06
Hand over
Document owners, runbooks and the escalation path.
Questions we hear
Do these rules apply below 5,000 emails a day?
Is DMARC at p=none enough?
Can we change the Contact Key later?
Sources
- https://support.google.com/mail/answer/14229414?rd=1
- https://senders.yahooinc.com/best-practices
- https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/send-management-in-marketing-cloud/create-sender-profiles-delivery-profiles-and-send-classifications
- https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/marketing-cloud-connect/get-started-with-mc-connect
- https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/contact-builder-implementation-basics/organize-data
Planning a Marketing Cloud rollout?
We can scope your setup, authentication, data model and journeys, and run the testing before you go live.
