What You Can Do
Email content
Browse Content Builder folders. Draft new emails from chat — HTML, text-only, or from a template. Update subject lines, preheaders, and body content. Preview the rendered email inline before sending.
Campaigns
Create campaigns with names, codes, and color tags. List, view, and delete campaigns. Attach or remove email assets from a campaign. Open any campaign straight in the Marketing Cloud UI.
Journeys
View existing journeys. Draft new journeys from built-in templates: single email, drip, decision split, and random split. Update activity wiring, copy, wait durations, and decision criteria. Publish journeys when ready.
Templates
Read existing templates so Gradial can reference them when drafting new emails. Template authoring stays in the SFMC UI for now.
Prerequisites
- Admin access to your Salesforce Marketing Cloud account
- Permission to create Installed Packages in Marketing Cloud
- Your Marketing Cloud subdomain (found in your account URL)
- A Gradial organization Administrator role to complete setup
How to Connect
Create an Installed Package in Marketing Cloud
- Log in to Salesforce Marketing Cloud.
- Navigate to Setup → Platform Tools → Apps → Installed Packages.
- Click New, enter a name (e.g.,
Gradial) and description, then click Save.
Add a Server-to-Server API component
- In the newly created package, click Add Component → API Integration.
- Choose Server-to-Server and click Next.
- Grant the scopes the team needs:
| Category | Permission | Required |
|---|---|---|
| Read, Write, Send, Publish | Yes | |
| Documents and Images | Read, Write | Yes |
| Campaign | Read, Write | Yes |
| Journeys | Read, Write, Execute | Yes |
| Event Definitions | Read | Yes |
| Data Extensions | Read | Optional |
| Tracking Events | Read | Optional |
- Click Save.
Copy your credentials
From the Installed Package details page, copy:
- Client ID
- Client Secret
- Authentication Base URI (e.g.,
https://mcXXXXXX.auth.marketingcloudapis.com) - Account ID (MID) — the business unit’s Member ID
Add the integration in Gradial
- In Gradial, go to Settings → Integrations.
- Find Salesforce Marketing Cloud and click + Add.
- Fill in the connection details:
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Integration Name | A display name (e.g., Acme Marketing Cloud — Production BU) |
| SFMC Auth Base URL | Your Authentication Base URI (e.g., https://mcXXXXXX.auth.marketingcloudapis.com) |
| Client ID | From step 3 |
| Client Secret | From step 3 |
| Account ID (MID) | The business unit’s Member ID |
- Click Save. Gradial validates the credentials before the integration goes live.
- (Optional) Choose a default Content Builder folder for new email assets.
How It Fits Into Broader Workflows
| Use case | How to use it |
|---|---|
| Email to campaign in one thread | Draft the email and attach it to a campaign in the same Gradial thread that produced the brief or copy |
| Journey authoring | Plan welcome, drip, and A/B journeys end-to-end from chat — entry source, emails, wait durations, branches, publish |
| Inline QA | Use Gradial’s inline email preview to QA the rendered email; click into Marketing Cloud from a campaign or journey artifact when reviewers want the SFMC canvas |
| Cross-integration workflows | Combine SFMC with DAM, asset search, image generation, and content gen so a single thread can produce the creative, place it in Content Builder, and drop it into a journey |
- Ask Gradial to find (or create) the right Content Builder folder.
- Have Gradial draft a new email — subject line, preheader, and body copy.
- Ask Gradial to create a campaign with a name and code.
- Attach the new email to the campaign in the same turn.
- Open the campaign artifact and click into Marketing Cloud when the team is ready to launch.
- Ask Gradial to list the available entry sources.
- Pick one of the bundled templates — single email, drip, decision split, or random split.
- Tell Gradial which email to send, how long to wait, and how to branch.
- Publish the journey when it’s ready.
What’s Not Covered Yet
- Stopping, pausing, or republishing a journey — only the initial publish is supported from Gradial.
- Authoring new entry-source event definitions — Gradial can see them, not create them.
- Activity types beyond Email, Wait, Decision Split, and Random Split (SMS, Push, Update Contact, etc.).
- Automation Studio workflows.
- Template authoring.
Multi-Business Unit Configuration
Parent-Level Access — Create one Installed Package at the Parent Business Unit level with access to all child Business Units. Use the Parent MID when configuring Gradial. Business Unit-Specific Access — Create separate Installed Packages for each Business Unit that requires isolation. Configure multiple integrations in Gradial, one per Business Unit.Troubleshooting
| Issue | Cause | Solution |
|---|---|---|
invalid_client error | Incorrect Client ID or Secret | Verify credentials in the Installed Package |
unauthorized error | Package lacks required permissions | Add missing scopes to the API component |
invalid_request error | Incorrect subdomain or Auth URI | Check the Authentication Base URI |
insufficient_privileges error | MID doesn’t match package assignment | Verify the MID and Business Unit access |
Good to Know
- Inline previews are safe to share: Gradial renders email previews through a server-side proxy that strips unsafe HTML.
- Campaign updates are narrow: Marketing Cloud’s campaign API only allows a small set of updates. To rename or recolor a campaign, delete and recreate it through Gradial, or edit it in the Marketing Cloud UI.
- Publishing a journey is asynchronous: once Gradial publishes, Marketing Cloud takes a moment to transition the journey through its internal states.