Engagement Studio nurture programs: 2026 Expert Guide Engagement Studio nurture programs in Salesforce let B2B marketers build multi-step automated journeys that respond to prospect behavior with targeted emails and alerts. For official documentation, visit Salesforce Engagement Studio docs. Cendance Systems — Certified Salesforce Partner Build Automated B2B Nurture Programmes in Salesforce Engagement Studio Download Free Nurture Template Short answer: Engagement Studio is Marketing Cloud Account Engagement’s visual drag-and-drop programme builder. You create automated sequences of emails, wait steps, and conditional branches that respond to prospect behaviour — running 24/7 without manual work. What Is Engagement Studio? Engagement Studio replaces the old Pardot Drip Programmes with a far more powerful visual canvas. You drag actions (send email, add to list, assign to user, create task), triggers (email opened, link clicked, form submitted), and rules (field value equals, score is above) onto a canvas and connect them with arrows. The result is a living programme that responds uniquely to each prospect’s behaviour in real time. For more information, visit the official Salesforce Engagement Studio documentation page. The 3 Nurture Programmes Every SMB Needs Programme Trigger Goal Recommended Length Welcome Series New lead submits any form Introduce your company and establish trust 5 emails over 3 weeks Lead Nurture Score 20–50, Grade B+ Move mid-funnel leads toward a sales conversation 8 emails over 8 weeks Re-Engagement No activity in 90 days Win back dormant contacts before they unsubscribe 3 emails over 2 weeks Step-by-Step: Building Your First Programme Step 1 — Define your audience. Navigate to Marketing → Engagement → Engagement Studio and click New Programme. Choose the list that will enter this programme (e.g., All New Leads). Set a start condition. Step 2 — Add your first action. Drag a Send Email action onto the canvas. Connect it to a pre-built email template. Set a send delay (e.g., send immediately upon entry or wait 1 day). Step 3 — Add a trigger. Drag a trigger block below the email action: Email Opened or Link Clicked. This creates two branches — one for engaged prospects, one for non-openers. Step 4 — Build each branch. For the opened branch, send a follow-up email with a stronger CTA. For the non-opened branch, wait 3 days and resend with a different subject line. This simple A/B logic can double your programme response rates. Step 5 — Add a completion action. When a prospect reaches the end of the programme or hits your hot-lead threshold, add them to a Sales Ready list and create a Salesforce task for their assigned rep. Step 6 — Test and activate. Use the Test Mode feature to send all programme emails to yourself before going live. Then activate and monitor the reporting dashboard weekly for the first month. Related: Lead Scoring Setup Guide | Complete MCAE Guide Frequently Asked Questions How many Engagement Studio programmes should an SMB have? Start with 3 programmes: Welcome Series, Lead Nurture, and Re-Engagement. Once these are running successfully, add product-specific nurture programmes, event follow-up sequences, and customer onboarding programmes. Can I clone an Engagement Studio programme? Yes. Open any existing programme, click the dropdown menu, and select Clone. This copies the entire programme structure including emails, triggers, and rules — ideal for building product-specific variants quickly. What is the maximum number of steps in an Engagement Studio programme? Engagement Studio supports up to 50 steps per programme with no practical limit on branches. Most effective SMB programmes use 8 to 15 steps. Need Help Building Nurture Programmes? Cendance builds custom Engagement Studio programmes tailored to your buyer journey. Book a free consultation. Book a Free Consultation →

Account Engagement lead scoring: 2026 Expert Guide Account Engagement lead scoring uses rule-based scoring and grading to identify your highest-value prospects — so sales teams focus on leads most likely to convert. For official documentation, visit Salesforce lead scoring docs. Cendance Systems — Certified Salesforce Partner Set Up Lead Scoring in Marketing Cloud Account Engagement — Step by Step Book a Lead Scoring Workshop Short answer: Lead scoring in MCAE assigns a numerical score (0–100) to each prospect based on their engagement with your content, and a letter grade (A–F) based on how well they match your ideal customer profile. Together, score + grade tell your sales team exactly who to call first. Understanding Score vs Grade Before configuring scoring, understand the distinction: Score reflects engagement level — how active a prospect is with your emails, website, and content. Grade reflects fit — how closely a prospect matches your ideal buyer based on job title, industry, company size, and location. An A-grade, high-score lead is your hottest prospect. A D-grade, high-score lead is very engaged but a poor fit — worth a polite disqualification rather than a sales push. For more information, visit the official Salesforce Trailhead lead scoring guide page. Step 1: Define Your Scoring Rules Navigate to Marketing → Scoring → Scoring Rules in your MCAE account. Default rules include: email open (+1), email click (+2), form submission (+10), landing page view (+2), pricing page view (+5), webinar attendance (+20). Customise these based on what signals matter most in your sales process. If visiting your pricing page is a strong buying signal, weight it higher (+15). Step 2: Configure Score Decay Enable score decay to reduce scores for inactive prospects over time. Go to Admin → Scoring → Score Decay and set a decay rate — typically reducing scores by 10–20 points after 90 days of inactivity. This keeps your “hot leads” list current and prevents stale prospects from clogging your sales queue. Step 3: Set Up Profile Fields for Grading Navigate to Admin → Profiles and create a profile matching your ideal customer. Map CRM field values to grade adjustments. For example: Director/VP title (+2), C-Suite title (+3), company size 50–500 employees (+2), target industry (+3), competitor domain (−3). This ensures grades reflect genuine business fit, not just seniority. Step 4: Create Automation Rules for Hot Lead Alerts Go to Automation → Automation Rules and create a rule: when prospect score is greater than 50 AND grade is A or B, notify assigned Salesforce owner and add to the “Hot Leads” list. This automates the most critical action — alerting your sales team the moment a prospect becomes sales-ready, 24 hours a day. Step 5: Validate and Review After 30 Days After 30 days, review your scoring distribution. If fewer than 5% of leads reach score 50+, your thresholds may be too high. If more than 30% reach that threshold, they may be too low. The goal is to surface the top 10–15% of engaged prospects for immediate sales follow-up while keeping lower-scored leads in automated nurture. Cendance recommends a 90-day scoring audit for all new implementations. Related reading: Complete MCAE Guide for SMBs 2026 | MCAE Implementation Services Frequently Asked Questions What is a good lead score threshold for B2B SMBs? Most B2B SMBs use a threshold of 50–75 as the trigger for sales notification. Start at 50, review after 30 days, and adjust based on actual conversion rates from your alerted leads. How do I prevent score inflation for unqualified leads? Use grading alongside scoring. A high score with a low grade (D or F) should stay in nurture — not go to sales. Set your hot lead automation rules to require BOTH a score above threshold AND a grade of A or B. Can I have multiple scoring models in MCAE? Yes — the Advanced and Premium tiers support multiple scoring categories, allowing you to score different product interests separately. The Growth and Plus tiers support a single global score. How often should I review and update scoring rules? Review your scoring model quarterly. As your sales team gives feedback on lead quality, adjust weights accordingly. If sales reps consistently say a certain behaviour produces low-quality leads, reduce that behaviour’s score weight. Want a Custom Lead Scoring Model? Cendance builds bespoke MCAE lead scoring models aligned to your buyer journey. Book a free Lead Scoring Workshop. Book a Free Consultation →