The Microsoft Dynamics CRM (MSCRM) integration with Higher Logic Thrive Marketing Enterprise (Thrive Marketing Enterprise) 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.
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Who should read this guide?
This guide is for Thrive Marketing Enterprise users responsible for determining messaging and contact management guidelines. It assumes that you are familiar with:
- Using the Thrive Marketing Enterprise system
- Managing users in MSCRM
- Managing data in MSCRM
Additional information
The following articles provide important information about your Thrive Marketing Enterprise integration.
- See Unique Identifiers: Email Address and Custom ID to learn about these unique IDs and their differences.
- See Integration Access Levels & Permissions to learn about the access levels for integration features, and how you can set the access levels for your Admins.
Failure notifications
Thrive Marketing Enterprise can automatically generate a failure report if an upload job fails and automatically send an email alert to one or more individuals. The report includes:
- the name of the file that was used,
- the group name that the file was mapped to, and
- any identifiable error message.
TIP: This is a simple way to ensure that you are alerted to upload failures and can easily explore the details of the failure.
To enable the failure report and notifications:
- Log in to Thrive Marketing Enterprise.
- Navigate to Settings > Integrations > Integration Settings.
- In the Failure Report section:
- Set Enabled to Yes.
- Click into the Run Time field and choose a time.
- Specify the email address of the person to be notified; separate multiple email addresses with commas.
- Click Save and then click Close.
Track and report on user activity
You can configure Thrive Marketing Enterprise to track and report on your users' activities (e.g., email opens, unsubscribes, event registrations, and website visits), and have the results data written to your integrated AMS/CRM database.
The tracking and reporting do not automatically happen. An Admin must select which activities to track and then schedule a synchronization with your AMS/CRM database to write the tracking results to it.
Configure tracking and scheduling
Tracking and the sync schedule are configured on the same page.
- Log in to Thrive Marketing Enterprise.
- Navigate to Settings > Integrations > [integration] Management.
(The name of your AMS/CRM will display instead of "integration.") - Click the Manage Tracking tab.
Choose activities to track
NOTE: The Full Access permission for Tracking is required to be able to enable tracking. Thrive Marketing Enterprise recommends that you limit the number of Admins granted this permission. See Integration Access Levels & Permissions to learn how to set this permission.
In the Track the Following box:
- Check the boxes for the activities that you want tracked.
Check All Bounces to select all of its sub-options; uncheck it to deselect all sub-options. - RESULTS: The Tracking History box displays daily historical results. Use the dropdown to specify how many records to display.
Schedule the sync
In the Schedule section:
- Configure the time you would like the tracking results written to your integration database.
- RESULTS: Information about the last sync displays in the lower right.
Notes
- Higher Logic recommends that the sync be set for off-peak hours to better ensure uninterrupted data transmission.
- If there were issues with the previous day's sync, this page provides detailed error descriptions for un-synced activities.
- Be sure to click Go to save your settings.
Replacing Thrive Marketing Enterprise records
Thrive Marketing Enterprise provides two options when uploading a Saved Search:
- Adding recipients - If add to existing list is selected, Thrive Marketing Enterprise 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, Thrive Marketing Enterprise 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 (Thrive Marketing Enterprise's default setting to overwrite existing data), based on the unique identifier will overwrite the corresponding data that exists in Thrive Marketing Enterprise. 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 Thrive Marketing Enterprise.
Uploading MSCRM Recipients to Thrive Marketing Enterprise
All Marketing Lists or Views that are transferred from MSCRM to Thrive Marketing Enterprise 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 Thrive Marketing Enterprise
Data can be transferred from MSCRM to Thrive Marketing Enterprise via a scheduled upload or one-time transfer from within Thrive Marketing Enterprise.
Scheduled Upload
The Real Magnet Upload Scheduler (RMUS) is a feature of the integration that allows for automated uploads to the Thrive Marketing Enterprise 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 run when the green play icon is clicked or the Sync on Send functionality is used. Sync on Send will deploy the upload job when a single message is scheduled to be sent to the group that is 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 Thrive Marketing Enterprise and selecting Settings. The details below will cover all aspects of the RMUS.
Icons legend
The following table describes the icons in the Actions column.
Icon | Description |
---|---|
Delete this upload job. | |
Edit this upload job. (On Demand and Scheduled jobs only.) | |
Run this upload job. (On Demand and Scheduled jobs only.) | |
Open the "reject report" dialog which has an option to download the list of rejected records in a text file. |
Upload Jobs tab
The Upload Jobs tab lists the upload jobs that have been created in your Thrive Marketing Enterprise account.
- 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 Thrive Marketing Enterprise 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 the Admin Toolbar, click Admin.
- Navigate to Settings > Integrations > MicrosoftCRM Management.
- Click Create Upload Job.
- Select a Marketing List or View, and click Create Map.
- Select either View Entire Field List or One by One. Select the columns you want to bring over to Thrive Marketing Enterprise.
NOTE: These are a one-to-one relationship when mapping fields; you can map the fields on the left with only one item on the Thrive Marketing Enterprise side. - Click Create Schedule.
- Select either Create New Group or Add to Existing Group.
- Select either Add to existing group or Replace existing list.
NOTE: Depending on account settings, the third upload step may reveal the "update or not" option. Select either Do not Update Existing Records (Only Add Records To Group) or Update Existing Records. - Click Create.
- Select a frequency: Run Now, On Demand, or Scheduled.
- Click Submit.
Character limits
Fields in Thrive Marketing Enterprise have the following character maximums. Make sure these are not exceeded when you are uploading records to Thrive Marketing Enterprise.
Field Type | Character Limit |
---|---|
Email, Address 1, Address 2, all Custom Fields | 100 |
First Name, Last Name, Phone, Fax, City, State, Zip Code | 50 |
Company | 200 |
Enhanced Personalization Fields | 250 |
See Custom Fields and Enhanced Personalization Fields to learn about these personalization features.
Manually upload Marketing Lists or Views to Thrive Marketing Enterprise
When uploading a list independent of the RMUS for tracking information to report 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 Thrive Marketing Enterprise.
Thrive Marketing Enterprise 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 Thrive Marketing Enterprise 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
The following items will be visible in MSCRM after the integration has been set up:
- Additional Activity codes
- Landing Pages Submitted
- Website Visits
- Goal Reached
Prospect creation
Currently, there is no functionality to create new records in MSCRM.
Installation files
To access the installation files and instructions for this integration, see Microsoft Dynamics CRM Installation Guide.