The integration for Microsoft Dynamics CRM (MSCRM) can work with either an on-premises installation with web service that has access to the internet OR with the online version of MSCRM. The integration requires a managed solution with a custom activity entity for holding tracking information be installed. Like all Microsoft platforms, we recommend MSCRM be used with Internet Explorer or Edge. The integration is compatible with MSCRM 2011 through 2016.
MSCRM installation files
NOTE: Scroll to the bottom of this article to access the installation files for your version of MSCRM.
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Who should read this guide?
This guide is for Real Magnet users responsible for determining messaging and contact management guidelines. It assumes that you are familiar with:
- Using the Real Magnet system
- Managing Users in MSCRM
- Managing Data within MSCRM
Failure Notifications
Whenever there is a failure for the integration, an individual can opt-in to receive a daily notification.
To modify this setting:
- Log in to Real Magnet.
- Select MSCRM2011 Management.
- Select Settings.
- Under Failure Report, ensure that Enabled is set to YES.
- Enter a Run Time.
- Enter the email address(es) (comma separated format).
- Click Save.
User Access Requirements
A Real Magnet account administrator can designate what users in the account have permission to access the integration. Below you will find tables detailing what each permission level means and what a user can do with that permission.
To assign a permission:
- Select Tools.
- Select Account Management.
- Select Integration Access Levels.
Real Magnet User Permissions
Scheduled Upload
Permission Level | View | Run | Create/Schedule | Edit | Delete |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Full Access | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y |
Read Only | Y | Y | N | N | N |
No Access | N | N | N | N | N |
Tracking
Permission Level | View | Edit |
---|---|---|
Full Access | Y | Y |
Read Only | Y | N |
No Access | N | N |
Configure Tracking Information in the Real Magnet Account
As a default, no tracking information is selected to push over to the production environment. In order to select what tracking information is pushed to MSCRM, and when, an administrator must log in to Real Magnet.
Real Magnet recommends that full access over manage tracking be a permission granted only to other administrators. Once tracking information has been selected, Real Magnet will only sync records with MSCRM from that point onward. It is for this reason that access to this panel should remain limited.
NOTE: This page also provides detailed error descriptions in the event any records have not synced the night before.
To enable tracking, log in to Real Magnet, and then:
- Select Tools.
- Select MSCRM Management.
- Select Manage Tracking.
- Select the Tracking items to sync to the MSCRM.
- Select the time you would like for this information to come over.
NOTE: With any integration platform, there is a known use of data; for this reason, Real Magnet recommends that the data be sent over in off-peak hours.
Options for tracking data that can be returned to MSCRM include:
- Email Delivered
- Opens
- Click-throughs
- Unsubscribes
- Subscribes
- Suppressed
- All Bounces
- Soft Bounces
- Hard Bounces
- User Not Found Mailbox Full
- Bad Domain
- Temporarily Unavailable
- In Progress
- Send Failed
- Fax Sends
- SMS Sends
- Event Signups
- Survey Submissions
- Landing Pages Submitted
- Website Visits
- Goal Reached
Considerations before Uploading MSCRM Marketing Lists or Views
Uploading recipients from the MSCRM interface to Real Magnet can be performed in a variety of ways. Below are the considerations that must be made before you upload your first query from MSCRM.
Unique Identifiers
Every database-driven system has a way to enforce uniqueness on records to avoid duplicates. Real Magnet offers two options for determining uniqueness:
- Email address
- MSCRM ID
NOTE: The default setting has the recipient’s email address as the unique ID.
Email as a Unique ID
When this default option is enabled, Real Magnet will only create one record for any single email address. For every record uploaded to Real Magnet that contains a custom ID and an email address, Real Magnet will create a unique record based on that email address.
NOTE: There can be NO duplicate email addresses with this method.
Implications
- Email addresses cannot be overwritten from MSCRM
Custom Member ID as a Unique ID
When custom ID is selected as the unique identifier, this will be generated by the unique identifier supplied with your AMS or API process. In the case of MSCRM, this is the ID.
Implications
- Every record uploaded to Real Magnet must contain an MSCRM ID
- Duplicate email addresses can exist
- Email addresses can be overwritten from MSCRM
Replacing Real Magnet Records
Real Magnet provides two options when uploading a Saved Search:
- Adding recipients - If add to existing list is selected, Real Magnet will only add the records to the group with the records from the upload. Individual records will not be updated or overwritten.
- Replacing recipients - If Replace existing list is selected, Real Magnet will replace the records in the group with the records from the upload. The records being removed are not deleted, only removed from the group (they remain in the database), and there is no impact on the historical data.
NOTE: The replace method can be made the default. To do so, submit a request to your Implementation Project Manager or to Support.
If Replace is selected (Real Magnet’s default setting to overwrite existing data), based on the unique identifier will overwrite the corresponding data that exists in Real Magnet. This can be particularly useful in instances where there is one database of record that is in the process of being constantly updated.
NOTE: Add to Group will not update individual records in Real Magnet.
Character Limitations
When uploading a list to Real Magnet, the maximum characters allowed per field are:
Field Type | Characters |
---|---|
E-mail, Address 1, Address 2, All Custom Fields | 100 Characters |
First Name, Last Name, Phone, Fax, City, State, Zip | 50 Characters |
Company | 200 Characters |
Enhanced Personalization Field | 250 Characters |
Uploading MSCRM Recipients to Real Magnet
All Marketing Lists or Views that are transferred from MSCRM to Real Magnet are referred to as an upload job. Upload jobs that are allowed via the integration:
- Contact, Lead, or Account Marketing Lists (Static or Dynamic)
- Contact, Lead or Account Views including Saved Views (Static or Dynamic)
NOTE: If you'd like your list to refresh its data, the List Type should always be dynamic; Static lists are a snapshot of data at the time the list was created.
Transferring Lists from MSCRM to Real Magnet
Data can be transferred from MSCRM to Real Magnet via a scheduled upload or one-time transfer from within Real Magnet.
Scheduled Upload
The Real Magnet Upload Scheduler (RMUS) is a feature of the integration that allows for automated uploads to the Real Magnet system; it is extremely useful in the event there are any Saved Searches that you send to on a regular basis.
It allows the following upload job types:
- Run Now - This upload job will run once. Once completed, edits or changes cannot be made to this upload job.
- On Demand - This upload job will only run when the green play icon is clicked or using the Sync on Send functionality. This will deploy the upload job when a message is scheduled to send to the group attached to the upload job.
- Scheduled - This upload job will run on a scheduled basis, either daily or weekly, and can be manually run by clicking the green play button. When selecting a group connected to an active Marketing Automation campaign, this option can also upload groups on an hourly basis.
The RMUS can be accessed by logging into Real Magnet and selecting Tools. The details below will cover all aspects of the RMUS.
Icon Legend
Icon | Description |
---|---|
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Delete the upload job. |
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Edit the upload job. This function only applies to On Demand and Scheduled jobs. |
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Run job. This function only applies to On Demand and Scheduled jobs. |
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View the rejected individual records. (Real Magnet validates all email addresses uploaded to Real Magnet.) |
Upload Jobs Page Overview
This page contains a list of your existing upload jobs in the Real Magnet platform, you’ll see a list of the existing upload jobs, and it will contain the following:
- List Name - The name of the Marketing List or View from MSCRM.
- Date Created - The date the upload job was created.
- Job Type - Whether the job is Run Now, On Demand, or Scheduled.
- Frequency - The frequency of the scheduled job, for Run Now and On Demand this will remain blank.
- Scheduled time - The times the job has either completed or is scheduled to run next.
- Start Time (HH:MM) – The time the upload job is scheduled to start.
- Last Run (MM/DD/YYYY HH:MM) – The time the upload job was last executed and completed.
- Next Run (MM/DD/YYYY HH:MM) – The next scheduled time it is set to run.
- Group Results - The group in Real Magnet the query was uploaded to and the results of the last upload, that includes the total number in the group and the number added. Any error that may occur on upload will surface here.
- Actions - The allowed actions a user can make to the upload job.
Create an Upload Job
To create an upload job in Real Magnet:
- Select Tools.
- Select MicrosoftCRM Management.
- Select Create Upload Job.
- Select a Marketing List or View.
- Select Create Map.
- Select View Entire Field List or One by One.
- Select which columns you would like to bring over to Real Magnet. These are a one-to-one relationship when mapping fields. This means that you can only map the fields on the left side of the screen with one item on the Real Magnet side once.
- Click Create Schedule.
- Select Create New Group or Add to Existing Group.
- Select either Add to existing group or Replace existing list.
- Depending on account settings the third upload step may reveal the option whether or not to update. Select Do not Update Existing Records (Only Add Records To Group) or Update Existing Records.
- Click Create.
- Select your frequency: Run Now, On Demand, or Scheduled.
- Click Submit.
Manually Upload Marketing Lists or Views to Real Magnet
When uploading a list independent of the RMUS for tracking information to report back to MSCRM, a user must include the ID and email address. Upon upload, the user must map the ID column to the Custom Member ID field in Real Magnet.
Field Type | Characters |
---|---|
E-mail, Address 1, Address 2, All Custom Fields | 100 Characters |
First Name, Last Name, Phone, Fax, City, State, Zip | 50 Characters |
Company | 200 Characters |
Enhanced Personalization Field | 250 Characters |
Real Magnet Data in MSCRM
The only information to report back to MSCRM is the tracking results of a message. This tracking information will update once per day.
View Tracking Data in MSCRM
The Real Magnet tracking data is displayed under Accounts, Contacts, or Leads under Activities.
The tab can contain the following details, based on the configuration of your Activites view:
- Subject - Will contain Activity Subcodes (e.g., Sent: Activity Subcode || Message Name || Group Name).
- Code - This is the Activity Code.
- Subcode - This is the Activity Subcode.
- Message Name - The Message Name.
- Category Name - The category the individual unsubscribed from if applicable.
- Group Name - The name of the group if applicable.
- Link Label - This is the link label.
- Link URL - The URL of the link clicked.
NOTE: The Activity Status will record as completed by the user login we have provisioned for the account.
View Marketing Automation Information in MSCRM
Once integrated with Real Magnet’s marketing automation platform, a few items will now be visible to you in MSCRM:
- Additional Activity codes:
- Landing Pages Submitted
- Website Visits
- Goal Reached
Prospect Creation
Currently, there is no functionality to create new records in MSCRM.
Frequently Asked Questions
Question | Answer |
---|---|
Why are individuals missing from my group? | Is your list Dynamic or Static? Ensure that your Marketing List is Dynamic so it has the most up to date members. |
Why are there multiple opens or link clicks in my recipient’s activity history? | Real Magnet reports back gross opens and clicks. |
Why is there no tracking data updating to my MSCRM? | Did you select tracking data? Log in to Real Magnet and: 1. Select Tools. 2. Select MicrosoftCRM Management. 3. Select Manage Tracking. 4. Select the Tracking items to sync to MSCRM. |
Why is this individual record missing tracking information? | Ensure that individual is assigned a ID. If the individual was uploaded outside of the Real Magnet Scheduler, you must ensure that it also has its ID mapped to the Custom Member ID. This is how the MSCRM platform identifies that individual in its database. If an individual is missing this information, no tracking information will push back for that recipient to MSCRM. |
Why am I getting the message: “This upload job has one or more groups to which you do not have access.”? | Do you have access to the group? If your account is Enterprise, you'll need to ensure that you have access to the group the Upload Job is connected to OR that the group has not been archived. |
What happens if the tracking data portion is canceled mid-stream? | Real Magnet logs the failure and re-attempts to send the data through to MSCRM. |
What happens if I am using Internet Explorer? |
Due to Internet Explorer’s security configurations, as part of Real Magnet’s compatibility steps, we recommend the clients:
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Installation files
There are two sets of installation files; use the one for the version of MSCRM that you are using.
- Versions 2013 – 2016: MSCRM_Real Magnet Files.zip
- Versions 2011 and 2012: MSCRM2013_Installation_Files.zip