> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://help.branch.io/llms.txt).

# SFMC Configuration

> Connect Salesforce Marketing Cloud to Branch Email so your campaign links deep link users into your app.

![](https://help.branch.io/img/6a43853-Salesforce_Marketing_Cloud_branch.png "Salesforce Marketing Cloud+ branch.png")

## Overview

Driving your customers from email to app is an amazing way for them to get more comfortable with your brand and increase conversions. Branch Email and Salesforce Marketing Cloud integrate together to improve user experiences and boost retention rates.

## How does it work?

![](https://help.branch.io/img/a379a46e-624b-49af-9914-60a67c5e43f3.png "Universal Email Flow.PNG")

1. User clicks on a link in an email from their mobile mail client (Gmail, Apple Mail, etc.).
2. If the user has the app installed and the link has a corresponding screen in the app, the app will open and deep link the user to the right content.

   - Ex. Product detail page, category shopping page, etc.
3. If the user does not have the app installed or the link only corresponds to a screen on the web, the user is routed to the website using their default mobile web browser.

   - Ex. Unsubscribe link, privacy policy, etc.

## Before you begin

> **Required Roles**
>
> Branch Email requires the following roles involved in order to enable:
>
> - Developers
> - CRM/Email Team
> - Salesforce Account Manager / Support Team

In order to enable Salesforce Marketing Cloud Web Default, you must first:

1. Have admin access to your [Branch Dashboard](https://dashboard.branch.io/).
2. Have Branch's Engagement [product](https://help.branch.io/marketer-hub/products.md) enabled for your Branch Account.
3. Implement the Branch SDK into your mobile app ([iOS](https://help.branch.io/developer-hub/ios-sdk-overview.md) | [Android](https://help.branch.io/developer-hub/android-sdk-overview.md)).

   - Set Up Deep Link Routing. How your mobile app routes to in-app content will determine how you will create and tag your Branch Links.

     - [Build custom routing inside the routing callback](https://help.branch.io/developer-hub/in-app-routing.md#option-1-build-custom-routing-inside-the-routing-callback)
     - [Let Branch use your existing deep link routing](https://help.branch.io/developer-hub/in-app-routing.md#option-2-let-branch-use-your-existing-deep-link-routing)
   - [Track events](https://help.branch.io/developer-hub/track-branch-events.md)
4. Review our [Email Overview](https://help.branch.io/marketer-hub/email-overview.md) and [Basic Email Integration Guide](https://help.branch.io/marketer-hub/email-integration-guide.md) to understand the feature and our integrations.
5. Obtain or set up your Salesforce Marketing Cloud **click tracking domain** (CTD). Reach out to your Salesforce account manager for assistance on this.

   - Only one SAP & CTD is allowed per business unit (BU/MID).
   - Ensure that CTD is secure (`https://`). If not, purchase an SSL SKU through your Salesforce account manager.

## 1. Connect Salesforce in Branch

In the Branch Dashboard in Email → [Manager tab](https://dashboard.branch.io/email/manager), find **Salesforce Marketing Cloud Ver. 1** and click **Enable**.

![](https://help.branch.io/img/2fe668af-9a67-4578-8464-eccdf0572559.png "Enable SFMC.PNG")

### Input Click Tracking Domain

Enter your click tracking domain in the open field and click **Save**.

> **Click Tracking Domain**
>
> - Remove `https://` when adding your click tracking domain.
> - Never add the same CTD to both your **Live** and **Test** Branch environments.
> - You can enable the integration with multiple CTDs, if needed, but you **cannot** add the same CTD to multiple Branch Dashboards or ESP integrations.

![](https://help.branch.io/img/3f47d1a-CTD.png "CTD.png")

## 2. Configure Salesforce

> **Enable Web-Only Default Tagging**
>
> Reach out to your Salesforce account manager to enable **Web-Only Default Tagging** for your Salesforce BU by providing your Salesforce account MID(s).
>
> Once enabled, all emails sent from those MIDs will click wrap every link with a click tracking domain using a `/u` path, which prevents the app from opening in iOS *(Emails that have already been sent before enabling will open the app because they will not have* `/u` *in the path)*.
>
> If you run **Journey Builder or Triggered Sends**, you must do one of the following to ensure the web-only tagging is applied to those emails:
>
> - Republish the journey triggered sends via Email Studio Triggered Send dashboard
> - Update the email activities in Journey Builder
> - Create a new journey version

### Configure AASA File in Salesforce Marketing Cloud

Your Salesforce account must be configured to correctly handle Universal Links. Configure the settings in Deep Linking under the Send Management section in Email Studio. Ensure you're in the account corresponding to the correct click tracking domain.

![](https://help.branch.io/img/556bad6-Salesforce_AASA.png "Salesforce AASA.png")

1. Enter the AppID value.
2. Check the "Exclude Profile" and "Unsub Center" checkboxes to force links to these items to open in the browser and not the app, if desired.
3. Click "Save" to save the configuration.
4. Let Salesforce and Branch know that you've finished this step and your Technical Account Manager will verify that everything looks good.

![](https://help.branch.io/img/c1a5c75-salesforce-aasa-form.png "salesforce-aasa-form.png")

Note: AppID = prefix+bundleID

## 3. Configure your App

### Add your Salesforce CTD to your Associated Domains

For your iOS App, you must add the CTD to the Associated Domains. Additional details can be found [here](https://help.branch.io/developer-hub/ios-basic-integration.md#_3-configure-associated-domains).

![](https://help.branch.io/img/9f475e3-Associated_Domains-16-.png "Associated Domains.png")

If you do not have your CTD, reach out to your Salesforce Marketing Cloud account manager.

### Return `YES` to `continueUserActivity`

Additionally, you will need to add the CTD to your iOS app's info.plist file. Additional details can be found [here](https://help.branch.io/developer-hub/ios-advanced-features.md#esp-ctd-email).

![](https://help.branch.io/img/13dc276-branch-universal-link-domain-16-.png "branch-universal-link-domain.png")

> **Custom Link Domain**
>
> If you are using a custom link domain and AMPscript to generate Branch Links (more on this on the next step), include your original app.link domain in both Associated Domains and info.plist **and** use the app.link domain as the base Branch URL in AMPscript.

## 4. Add Branch Links to your Emails

### Add Deep Linking Flag

For the links in your email that you want your customers to deep link into app content, you must add the `mc-deep-link="true"` flag to the links.

```xml
<a mc-deep-link="true" href="https://branch.app.link/..."> click me! </a>
```

### Add Branch Links

> **Advanced AMPscript**
>
> If your workflow utilizes AMPscript for your email sends, you can configure AMPscript to generate your Branch Links. Follow the AMPscript guide [here](https://help.branch.io/developer-hub/ampscript-for-sfmc-configuration.md).

#### Short Links

Use Branch [Short Links](https://help.branch.io/marketer-hub/create-web-links.md) to create your Branch Link to be placed in your email template.

##### Name your Link

Add your original URL (ex. link to your product) to the **Original Web URL** field.

![](https://help.branch.io/img/07600d7c-2c46-4cab-8ada-85c9d2c7500a.png "QL 1.PNG")

##### Analytics Tags

| Analytics Tag | Description | Example |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Feature | Feature should describe the action or product where this link is placed. In the UTM world, this is typically utm_medium. | Salesforce Marketing Cloud |
| Channel | Channel should describe the platform or source from which you are expecting users to click this link. In the UTM world, this is typically utm_source. | Email |
| Campaign | Campaign varies from company to company, but it should describe the theme of the link. In the UTM world, this is typically utm_campaign. | Transactional - Add Item |
| Tags | Tags are a free-form list of meaningful labels that can be used as filters in the Short Links table. Use them to keep your analytics organized. | September Sale |

![](https://help.branch.io/img/d3af653a-48f7-44fc-b1c1-101adea4b7ee.png "QL 2.PNG")

##### Link Data

| Key | Description | Value |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `$3p` | This is the indicator for a specific partner of Branch. It is set in order for Branch's systems to properly attribute conversions. | `e_et` |
| `$canonical_url` | The canonical URL, served for SEO purposes. | {Automatically from the **Original Web URL**.} |

![](https://help.branch.io/img/bc6317e4-e90b-4e3c-bf8f-b722969d117e.png "QL 3.PNG")

> **Link Templates**
>
> You can utilize Branch's **Link Templates** feature in order to make Short Link creation much faster for your workflow 👌. Learn more [here](https://help.branch.io/marketer-hub/link-templates.md).

Once you generate your Short Link, you can then place that link into your email template. Your email template should have links like this:

```xml
<a mc-deep-link="true" href="https://my.app.link/abc123" > Open App </a>
```

## Advanced

### Track Web Links

By default, this integration will not let you track web links. Enabling web tracking on specific links will open the web -- not the app.

> **Method 1: Modified Branch Short Link**
>
> 1. In the Branch Dashboard, create a [Short Link](https://dashboard.branch.io/quick-links).
> 2. Add campaign tag for tracking.
> 3. In the Deep Linking tab, add **has_app = false** and **$web_only = true** to the link data.
>
>    ![](https://help.branch.io/img/c1e59b9-sfdc-web-default.png "sfdc-web-default.png")
> 4. In the Redirects tab, set the web redirects for fallbacks. Select web URL for Android, iOS, and Desktop, and add the URL you want to redirect to.
> 5. After the link is created, add `_webonly` to the app.link domain.  
>     \* Ex: If the link created is <https://branchster.app.link/weblinktest>, convert it to <https://branchster_webonly.app.link/weblinktest>.

> **Method 2: Branch Long Link**
>
> - Start with your app.link domain, and add `_webonly` to it.
>
>   - Ex: If your app.link domain is <https://branchster.app.link>, convert it to <https://branchster_webonly.app.link>
> - Add **has_app = false** and **$web_only=true** as query parameters.
>
>   - Ex: <https://branchster_webonly.app.link?has_app=false&$web_only=true>
> - Add **~campaign** tag to the link.
>
>   - Ex: (<https://branchster_webonly.app.link/?has_app=false&$web_only=true&~campaign=email-test-cam>)[<https://branchster_webonly.app.link/?has_app=false&$web_only=true&~campaign=email-test-cam>]
> - Add the URI encoded web redirect link as **$fallback_url**.  
>    - Ex: (<https://branchster_webonly.app.link/?has_app=false&$web_only=true&~campaign=email-test-cam&$fallback_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.myweblink.com%2F>)[<https://branchster_webonly.app.link/?has_app=false&$web_only=true&~campaign=email-test-cam&$fallback_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.myweblink.com%2F>]

**Analytics on the Branch Dashboard**

To see how the email campaigns have performed and break it down into campaigns, it is very essential to tag those links with the ~campaign tag. This will help dedupe the numbers and hence see the downstream events. You can add the campaign tag in any comparisons and filters in any Dashboard views.