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Drive User Engagement at the Point of Impact With In-App Guidance

Drive User Engagement at the Point of Impact With In-App Guidance

In-App Guidance is a new platform tool that allows admins to create and customize prompts to train and onboard users where and when they need help.

Today, In-App Guidance is now generally available for Salesforce customers. In-App Guidance is a new platform tool that allows admins to create and customize prompts to train and onboard users where and when they need help.

As companies transform digital experiences on Salesforce’s Lightning Platform, admins need a better way to engage with users, provide training, make announcements, and drive action. Traditionally, this is done through training webinars, creating hundreds of pages of release notes, or sending e-newsletters. This strategy has limited success, the provided information is either irrelevant or too hard to access. Turns out, the best way to engage with users is to interact with them inside the app — as they use it. In-app guidance was created to encourage this engagement.

In-App Guidance gives admins the ability to add and edit prompts declaratively. Admins can write the content, select the target audience, and specify where it appears and for how long. There are two types of prompts available, a floating prompt in a location they desire to appear on a page within the Salesforce org (or app) or a docked prompt that stays in the bottom right corner of a page. With the help of an orchestration engine, In-App Guidance detects how users interact with prompts to determine whether to show the prompt again or stop showing it after the user has completed the desired action.

These are the top use cases for in-app guidance:

  • Train users: Provide a link to Trailhead about a feature right on the page where the feature shows up.
  • Onboard new users: Provide tips and tricks to familiarize new users with top used features in the app.
  • Highlight changes: Alert specific groups of users (based on permissions) of policy changes that may affect them.
  • Make announcements: Make universal announcements such as updates to the Travel and Expense Policy to everyone.

Beyond the previously mentioned use cases, In-App Guidance offers a whole new channel for admins to engage users. A pilot user and early adopter, Deloitte*, a global leader in professional services, has taken In-App Guidance to the next level.

Deloitte’s Erica Adams is a Specialist Master leading change management to onboard tens of thousands of global employees onto their new worldwide CRM built on Salesforce’s Platform. Erica explores use cases to provide guidance in-app, at the immediate moment of need. One creative use case involves localization of the worldwide platform by region. The In-App Guidance prompts users in their local language on new or intricate features. Without translating the entire user interface, users still have access to an intuitive experience, custom to their region.

On her initial experience with In-App Guidance, Erica remarked, “The true value of in-app guidance is the ability to engage users at their moment of need so they are supported along their journey.”

A true Trailblazer, Erica is planning new prompt ideas and further use cases. Her future prompts will include a way to collect user feedback with pointed surveys on respective features and direct links to relevant training on new features and functionalities. Erica’s innovation with In-App Guidance will support Deloitte’s global adoption and will, most importantly, prioritize user experience.

In-App Guidance is available today in Lightning Experience and in Essentials, Group, Professional, Enterprise, Performance, Unlimited, and Developer editions. Change the way user engagement is handled by heading to the Salesforce Help one last time from outside of an app to learn how to create an in-app prompt.

*Deloitte refers to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, a UK private company limited by guarantee (“DTTL”), its network of member firms, and their related entities. DTTL and each of its member firms are legally separate and independent entities. DTTL (also referred to as “Deloitte Global”) does not provide services to clients. Please see www.deloitte.com/about to learn more about our global network of member firms.

Dary Hsu

Dary Hsu is a Product Marketer Manager on the Lightning Platform team at Salesforce. His current mission is to evangelize app dev on the world's best low code application platform. Prior to joining Salesforce, he worked at a number of startups in spaces such as content collaboration, data analytics, and AI/machine learning. Connect with him on LinkedIn.

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