November 8, 2024

In multi-branded organizations—such as those in retail, banking, manufacturing, and more—it’s essential that each brand’s email communication reflects its individual identity. Salesforce Marketing Cloud provides an ideal setup for multi-brand operations with its business unit structure, enabling organizations to manage and personalize each brand’s communications independently.

Understanding Business Units in Salesforce Marketing Cloud

In Salesforce Marketing Cloud, business units allow organizations to segment marketing efforts across different brands. The platform’s structure is similar to sandboxes, where each business unit functions as an isolated environment that can be customized and branded. This structure is essential for multi-brand companies because it ensures that each brand has its own space to manage its communications and marketing strategies. The top-level business unit is usually reserved for the parent organization, primarily for administrative functions and internal communications. This business unit rarely sends direct messages to customers, as it is intended for organization-level administrators.

Customizing Sending Domains by Brand

Salesforce Marketing Cloud allows each business unit to customize its sending domain for emails and cloud page URLs. This feature is crucial for creating a cohesive brand experience, as it ensures that subscribers receive emails from the specific brand they recognize. For example, let’s take a fictional parent company, ACME Apparel, which owns three brands:

1. Shredders – a shoe brand
2. Shaydeez – a sunglasses brand
3. Urbanite – a clothing line

In this scenario, each brand would have its own unique sending domain:

• ACME Apparel communications would come from acme.com
• Shredders emails would come from shredders.com
• Shaydeez emails from shaydeez.com
• Urbanite emails from urbanite.com

This setup ensures each email aligns with the brand’s identity, enhancing the recipient’s experience and increasing engagement. While ACME Apparel could technically send all communications from acme.com, using separate domains per brand creates a stronger brand impression and reinforces brand trust.

Two Approaches to Setting Up Sending Domains in Salesforce Marketing Cloud

Salesforce Marketing Cloud offers two primary options for setting up sending domains across business units:

1. Single Sender Authentication Package (SAP) with Multiple Sending Domains
2. Individual Sender Authentication Packages for Each Brand

Each approach has distinct benefits and considerations, which we’ll outline below.

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Option 1: Single SAP with Multiple Sending Domains

With this setup, the parent organization purchases one Sender Authentication Package (SAP) and configures additional sending domains for each brand. This method is more cost-effective and allows each brand to maintain its own branded email address.

• Pros:
• Cons:

Option 1 is a cost-efficient solution for organizations that want to establish branded sending domains but don’t necessarily require full branding of links and cloud pages.

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Option 2: Individual SAPs for Each Brand

In this setup, each brand’s business unit has its own Sender Authentication Package. While this approach is more expensive, it offers distinct benefits for brands aiming for a fully branded and independent setup.

• Pros:
• Cons:

Although this approach involves a higher upfront cost, the investment is worthwhile for organizations focused on providing a fully branded experience for each brand. It enables greater personalization, independent reputations among brand lines, and flexibility to grow send volumes.

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Key Takeaways for Multi-Brand Organizations

For multi-branded organizations, setting up sending domains in Salesforce Marketing Cloud requires careful consideration of cost, branding, and scalability. Here’s a quick summary of recommendations:

1. Single SAP with Multiple Sending Domains: Ideal for companies looking for a more budget-friendly approach, where separate email addresses for each brand suffice, and link/landing page branding isn’t a priority.
2. Individual SAPs for Each Brand: Best suited for organizations focused on fully independent branding for each brand, protecting brand reputation individually, and ensuring scalable send volumes for future growth.

Selecting the right approach helps multi-branded companies maintain brand consistency and optimize customer engagement. Ensuring that email communications reflect the correct brand enhances trust, fosters loyalty, and aligns with a personalization-first strategy. Investing in the right setup from the start also minimizes potential technical and operational challenges, allowing marketing teams to focus on strategy, creativity, and customer experience