5 Salesforce Marketing Cloud Journey Examples to Boost ROI

Return on investment is every marketer’s end goal. Some journeys build trust with early-stage prospects, while others drive immediate conversions - whether through ecommerce or sales teams. In either case, every touchpoint within your customer journey should move the prospect one step closer to that tangible goal.

‘Bottom of the funnel’ customer journeys are crucial as they usually have a single call to action that can be more easily linked to immediate conversion and tied to financial goals.

They’re the ones where you get to cry, “Yes!” when reviewing your reports.

As a Marketing Cloud consultant, I’ve built countless journeys that deliver results for both B2B and B2C brands. Below, I’ll share five tried-and-tested examples to help you boost revenue fast.

A journey in Salesforce Marketing Cloud is an automated series of interactions tailored to move a contact from one stage of the customer lifecycle to the next. Using Journey Builder, marketers can trigger emails, SMS, WhatsApp messages, push notifications, ad campaigns, or even CRM updates based on real-time customer behaviour.

Free guide: Creating Customer Journeys in Marketing Cloud eBook.

Journeys and campaigns often get confused. Campaigns are typically one-off or short-term initiatives, such as a promotional email blast. Journeys, on the other hand, are multi-step automated experiences designed to engage customers over time.

Journey Builder and Automation Studio both enable automation, but they serve different purposes. Journey Builder focuses on customer-centric, multi-step journeys, while Automation Studio is better for bulk data automation, such as scheduled imports and batch email sends.

Free guide: Automation Studio vs Journey Builder eBook.

Without a clear understanding of your customer’s decision-making process, even the most sophisticated journey can fall flat. Customer journey mapping helps ensure that touchpoints are relevant, timely, and aligned with the overall business objectives. Before you get excited about the tech side of things, do your homework and create a documented customer journey map.

This is an entire blog post in itself, but the process can be broken down into five steps:

1. Define your goal e.g. abandoned cart recovery, upselling, or re-engagement.

2. Identify key touchpoints and data points.

3. Design the journey in Journey Builder using decision splits, triggers, and personalised messaging.

4. Test the journey with sample data.

5. Monitor and optimise based on performance insights.

Blog: A Simple Guide to Salesforce Marketing Cloud Journey Builder.

Now, on to the good stuff - five Salesforce Marketing Cloud journey examples to boost ROI!

Cart abandonment is a major revenue leak for ecommerce businesses. This Marketing Cloud journey is designed to bring customers back and nudge them toward completing their purchase.

Steps:

1. Trigger: Detect when a customer adds items to their cart but does not complete the purchase within an hour.

2. Reminder email: Send a personalised email with images of the abandoned products and a clear call to action.

3. Follow-up SMS (if opted in): If no action is taken within 24 hours, send a short, friendly reminder via SMS. You can do this using Marketing Cloud Mobile Connect.

4. Incentive offer: If the cart remains abandoned after 48 hours, offer a limited-time discount or free shipping.

5. Urgency reminder: Send a final email reminding them of the offer’s expiry.

By re-engaging customers at critical moments, this journey recovers lost revenue with minimal effort.

Once a customer has completed a purchase, the next step is to increase their lifetime value by offering relevant upsells or cross-sells.

Steps:

1. Trigger: The journey begins once a customer makes a purchase.

2. Thank you email: Send a ‘thank you’ email, confirming the order and introducing related products.

3. Personalised recommendation: Based on purchase history, recommend complementary products via email or push notification.

4. Exclusive discount: Offer a special discount on the recommended products with a time-sensitive call to action.

5. Final reminder: If the customer hasn’t taken action, send a follow-up email reinforcing the benefits of the recommended items.

This journey encourages repeat purchases and boosts customer lifetime value.

If your business hosts webinars or live events, an event follow-up journey can turn engaged attendees into paying customers.

Steps:

1. Trigger: The journey starts once an attendee joins a webinar or event.

2. Thank you email: Immediately after the event, send a ‘thank you’ message along with key takeaways and any promised materials.

3. Content nurture: Send a follow-up email with additional relevant content, such as case studies or related blog posts.

4. Sales CTA: Introduce a sales-focused call to action, such as booking a consultation or signing up for a trial.

5. Final follow-up: If no action is taken, send a last reminder highlighting a limited-time offer or next steps.

In-person events are effective at quickly building trust and therefore, attendees are a hot audience for conversion, especially if they’ve attended multiple events or been engaged in other ways. This simple journey could be the follow-up that gets them over the line.

Retaining high-value customers is just as important as acquiring new ones. A VIP loyalty journey rewards your most engaged customers and keeps them coming back.

Steps:

1. Trigger: Identify VIP customers based on purchase frequency or total spend.

2. Exclusive offer email: Send a personalised message offering early access to sales or special discounts.

3. Loyalty program invitation: If they haven’t joined your loyalty program, invite them with a compelling incentive.

4. Birthday/anniversary reward: Celebrate key milestones with a personalised discount or gift.

5. Surprise & delight: Periodically send exclusive perks, such as free shipping or limited-time rewards, to keep engagement high.

This journey enhances customer retention and increases lifetime value by making VIPs feel valued. Since driving repeat purchases from existing customers is usually lower cost than acquiring new ones, it can be hugely beneficial for businesses with repeat customers.

For subscription-based businesses, customer retention is key to increasing revenue. This journey ensures customers renew their subscriptions and encourages them to upgrade to higher-tier plans.

Steps:

1. Trigger: Detect when a customer’s subscription is nearing expiry.

2. Renewal reminder email: Send an email highlighting the benefits of renewing early.

3. Incentive offer: If the customer hasn’t renewed within a set period, offer an exclusive discount or bonus for early renewal.

4. Upgrade promotion: Introduce an upgraded plan with enhanced features and a limited-time upgrade offer.

5. Final reminder: Send a last-chance reminder, emphasising the risk of losing access to benefits if they don’t renew.

Running this journey will secure ongoing revenue while maximising customer lifetime value by encouraging upgrades.

Ready to optimise your customer journeys?

Small tweaks to your Marketing Cloud customer journeys can have a big impact on revenue. By focusing on bottom-of-the-funnel activities, you can drive immediate conversions while also enhancing long-term customer relationships.

At MarCloud Consulting, we specialise in designing and optimising Salesforce Marketing Cloud journeys that deliver measurable ROI. If you’re ready to maximise the value of your marketing automation, book a strategy call with our team today!