Salesforce Marketing Cloud data sync

Sync data from Attentive to Salesforce Marketing Cloud (SFMC) to unify profiles and use your Attentive data within Salesforce.

There are two primary components to this integration:

1. Sync contacts and subscription states between Attentive and SFMC.
2. Trigger Journeys through Salesforce Journey Builder (only applicable for customers using the Salesforce Journey Builder feature).

Pre-Setup Requirements

To complete the setup, you will need:

• Admin access to your SFMC account
• Your Attentive CSM available for coordination
• Approximately 30 minutes for the initial setup

Step 1. Create an API user in SFMC

Log in to your admin Salesforce account and complete the steps to create a Marketing Cloud API user. Ensure that the following are configured for the user:

• Roles: Ensure that you selected both Administrator and Marketing Cloud Administrator as your roles.
• Reply Email Address: We recommend adding your work email address. This ensures that you have access to the email inbox of the account.

Step 2. Install the Attentive app

Complete the following procedure to install the Attentive app from Salesforce AppExchange:

1. Install the Attentive app from the Salesforce AppExchange.
   • Note: We recommend using Firefox when installing the Attentive app, due to an issue found in Salesforce.
2. Click the Get It Now button on the Attentive SMS for Marketing Cloud page.

Step 3. Create an Event Entry Source

If you plan to use Attentive in the Salesforce Journey Builder, you must complete this section. Attentive relies on existing Entry Sources to properly connect the integration to SFMC Journey Builder.

If an Event Entry Source is present, you can skip this step and continue to Step 4. If an Event Entry Source isn't present, you can create an event of any type in the SFMC Journey Builder:

1. Go to your Salesforce Journey Builder account.
2. Using the Events dropdown, select the Entry Sources, and then click New Event.
3. Select API Event from the list of options, then click Next.
4. Enter details for the Name and Description fields. The Event Definition Key is automatically generated. Then, click Next.
5. Select a Data Extension and click Next. It's best to create a new one specifically for this step.
   • Important: This Data Extension is a required placeholder by Salesforce Marketing Cloud (SFMC) to complete the connection setup, even though Attentive will not read or reference any data from it. Creating a new one ensures a clean selection is available.
6. Click Next in the Contact Filter step. You're not required to select a contact filter.
7. Click Done.

Step 4. Collect API Credentials

1. Ensure you have Installed Package > Administrator permissions in Salesforce.
2. In Marketing Cloud, go to Setup > Apps > Installed Packages. Click New.

3. Name the package Attentive Data Feed.
4. Save the package.
5. Under Components, click Add Component. Make the following selections:
   • Component Type: API Integration
   • Integration Type: Server to Server Integration

6. Once you've created the new API Integration, click Edit and select the following permissions to add to the API Integration

   Scope	Permissions	Why It's Needed
   Contacts: list_and_subscribers	Read/Write	Post signups, opt ins, and opt outs back to SFMC subscriber records
   Data: data_extensions	Read/Write	Write subscriber/event data to the Attentive-managed Data Extension; create the Journey Builder Entry Source
   Channels:  email	Read/Send	Trigger email sends (i.e  welcome emails) via Journey Builder
   Journeys	Read/Write/Execute	Read and connect to Journey Builder Entry Sources
   Automations	Read/Write/Execute	Read and connect to Journey Builder Entry Sources

7. Click Save. If the save fails, it indicates permissions are incorrect and you must verify all required scopes are included.
8. Copy the Client Secret that’s presented in a pop-up.
   • Note: You can’t view this again. If you lose this, you must generate and stage a new Secret within Salesforce” Salesforce Developers
     
9. Click “Finish”, and copy the Client Id on the installed package page.
   
   
10. Copy the section of the Rest Base URI between https:// and .rest . (This will be the Subdomain you need in Step 5.)
    
11. Click the drop-down in the upper-right corner, and copy the MID number. (This will be the Account Id you need in Step 5).

Step 5. Connect the Integration in Attentive

Access the new Connections page to finalize the link between Attentive and SFMC.

1. Go to the Marketplace and select Salesforce Marketing Cloud.
2. If you have not set up the integration previously, click Install.
3. Enter the following information, which you collected in Step 4:
   • Client ID
   • Client Secret
   • Account Id
   • Subdomain
   • Note: Previous configuration settings (Email Forwarding and Phone Forwarding) will now be configured on the new Settings page (see Step 6).
4. Click Complete Setup.

Step 6. Rotate Keys Every 180 Days

All newly created client secrets from Salesforce Marketing Cloud have a 180-day time-to-live (TTL) from their generation date, after which they will automatically expire. This is a recent change that Salesforce starting enforcing in 2026 as a proactive security measure. Review the Salesforce Help documentation for more information on this change which is enforced for all integration packages.

1. Before reaching the 180 day expiration date, generate and stage a new key. See Salesforce Developers Docs for the exact steps. Follow only the Generate and Stage a New Secret section from these docs. Do not perform the steps for Activate a Staged Secret. We will come back to that in step 6.6  
2. Within Attentive, navigate to Setup → Marketplace → Installed by you → Salesforce Marketing Cloud → Settings → Connection Credentials
3. Click “show” on Client Secret, then save the existing key in a secure place as a backup.
4. Replace the Client Secret with the one you have staged from Step 6.1, then click Submit
5. It takes up to 15 minutes to take effect. If you notice any connection issues, rollback to the previous key saved from Step 6.3. Reach out to Attentive’s Support team for help.
6. Once you’re confident that the new key is functioning, complete the Activate the Staged Secret section outlined in the Salesforce documentation from Step 6.1. This replaces and permanently deactivates the previous key, allowing you to use only  the new key for the integration going forward