How Do You Create Campaigns in Pardot?
To create effective campaigns in Pardot (Account Engagement), you define a clear offer and audience, stand up a connected Salesforce campaign, wire in tracking and assets, and measure sourced pipeline—not just email clicks. Done well, every campaign becomes a repeatable pattern that Sales trusts.
You create campaigns in Pardot by first defining the goal, offer, and audience, then building or selecting a Salesforce campaign (with Connected Campaigns enabled) as your source of truth. From there, you create or map the Pardot campaign, apply a naming convention, and associate every asset—forms, emails, landing pages, redirects, and files—to that campaign. Finally, you launch with testing and tracking in place, sync members and statuses with Salesforce, and use standard reports and dashboards to optimize based on sourced leads, opportunities, and revenue, not just email engagement.
What Matters Before You Click “Create Campaign”?
A Practical Workflow to Create Campaigns in Pardot
Use this sequence when you stand up a new Pardot campaign so every landing page, email, and form rolls up to the right Salesforce campaign and revenue.
Plan → Build in Salesforce → Connect in Pardot → Wire Assets → Test & Launch → Measure & Optimize
- Clarify objective, audience, and offer. Capture why this campaign exists (e.g., “Generate 100 net-new demo requests for Product X in Q2”), who you’re targeting, and what the primary conversion is.
- Create or select the Salesforce campaign. In Salesforce, create a new campaign with the correct hierarchy, record type, and member statuses. This becomes the parent for your Pardot campaign.
- Ensure Connected Campaigns and settings. Confirm that Campaign Alignment is configured (Connected Campaigns, Campaign Member Sync, and appropriate record types) between Pardot and Salesforce.
- Create the Pardot campaign and map it. In Pardot, create (or link to) the corresponding campaign, using the same naming and parent-child structure as Salesforce so reporting stays consistent.
- Associate all assets to the campaign. Attach landing pages, forms, emails, custom redirects, files, and engagement programs to the campaign so all engagement is captured under one umbrella.
- Configure automation and segmentation. Use lists, dynamic lists, automation rules, and completion actions (e.g., add to Salesforce campaign, adjust score, notify sales) founded on your lifecycle model.
- Test, launch, and monitor. Validate sync, member statuses, scoring, and routing with a test group; then launch and inspect dashboards daily in the first week to catch routing or tracking gaps.
Pardot Campaign Maturity Matrix
| Capability | From (Ad Hoc) | To (Operationalized) | Owner | Primary KPI |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Campaign Structure | One-off campaigns with inconsistent naming | Global taxonomy for parent/child campaigns by region, product, and funnel stage | Marketing Ops | Campaign discoverability, build time |
| Connected Campaigns | Pardot and Salesforce campaigns not aligned | Connected Campaigns with consistent statuses and shared dashboards | Salesforce/Pardot Admin | Reporting accuracy, Sales adoption |
| Asset Association | Some forms/emails not attached to any campaign | 100% of campaign assets (emails, forms, LPs, redirects) tied to the right Pardot campaign | Marketing Operations | % assets associated, engagement attribution |
| Lifecycle & Member Statuses | Basic “Sent/Responded” statuses | Statuses mapped to lifecycle (Invited, Registered, Attended, MQL, SQL, Customer) | RevOps | MQL→SQL conversion, velocity |
| Attribution & Pipeline | Email opens/clicks as success metric | Pipeline and revenue attribution using Salesforce campaigns and dashboards | Analytics/RevOps | Sourced pipeline, campaign ROI |
| Templates & Reuse | Every build starts from scratch | Standardized Pardot “blueprints” for webinars, ABM plays, product launches, and nurture | Demand Gen | Time-to-launch, volume of campaigns |
Client Snapshot: From Disconnected Tactics to a Campaign Engine
A B2B tech company running Pardot and Salesforce had dozens of disconnected campaigns, duplicated names, and no clear view of sourced pipeline. After rationalizing campaign structure, enabling Connected Campaigns, and standardizing build templates, they saw faster campaign launches, reliable dashboards, and better Sales trust in Marketing numbers. Explore related outcomes: Comcast Business · Broadridge
When your Pardot campaigns are designed around revenue, not just emails, you can connect every touch to The Loop™ customer journey and your broader revenue marketing transformation.
Frequently Asked Questions About Creating Campaigns in Pardot
Turn Pardot Campaigns Into a Revenue Engine
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