Have you tried to map an important Salesforce field in Pardot, only to realize it’s not available in the Pardot field mapping dropdown list? Yeah, me too. The most common reason for this…It’s a dang lookup field in Salesforce, and Pardot doesn’t like lookup fields.
If you’re wondering what a lookup field is, it’s when a field value is being sourced from another field or object.
Side note: User lookup fields are an exception here. Salesforce user lookup fields can be mapped to Pardot CRM User type fields.
If you’re still thinking you need that field in Pardot even though standard functionality won’t allow it, lucky for you, we have three solutions so you can still create and map the field you need in Pardot.
1. Create a Record Triggered Flow in Salesforce
This solution is great when you want to automatically trigger a record sync as field values change.
Step 1: Create a custom text field on the desired object in Salesforce
Step 2: Create a Record-Triggered Flow for the object of interest
- Add the Start Criteria, for example when a field changes. In this example the flow is set to start when the Lookup field changes, and chose ‘Fast Field Updates’ because we’re updating a field on the same record that triggered the flow.
Step 3: Add an Update Record element, set to update the field that will sync with Pardot.
Note: Do you already have a record triggered flow on this object with similar entry conditions? You may choosed to update that flow instead of creating a new one.
Step 4. Create and map your new field in Pardot
Viola! Problem solved.
2. Custom Formula Field
Formula Fields can grab any specific field in the lookup object and pull its data into a new field that you can map in Pardot. A couple things to note about using a formula field as your solution:
- This isn’t a great option when your lookup fields change frequently, because formula fields do not trigger a sync.
- Avoid confusion when looking at another field on the object by making this field hidden for all users except the Pardot Connector User.
Step 1: Create a Lookup Field on your object of choice (Lead/Contact/Account)
Step 2: Create a new Formula Field on the same object
Step 3: Create a formula for “Insert Field” and pick the field on the Lookup Field object (see screenshot below)
Step 4: Save the formula
Step 5. Create and map your new field in Pardot
Viola, again! Another solution.
3. Custom Object
This could be the solution when you can’t use a default object, meaning you don’t have a one-to-one data relationship but you want to use complex filtering within Pardot.
Custom Objects are available in Pardot Advanced Edition and Available for an additional cost in Pardot Plus Edition
For this solution we would be pulling in the ‘Individual’ Salesforce object into Pardot. Pardot can run automation around a custom object in your CRM that is not a Pardot default object. The custom object must be tied to a Pardot prospect record through a prospect ID. You can create and sync a custom object from any queryable object that is linked to a contact, lead, or account in your CRM.
Step 1: Create a Custom Object in Pardot (Custom Objects must be enabled in your account first)
Step 2: Use criteria in Pardot to pull the data in a list. To use this field as a custom object, we need to ‘relate’ the value back to the prospect. This is done with the “Prospect Custom Object” related with properties.
Step 3: Click Run Rules and use your list as you normally would.
And, there you have it, our final voila!
Have you found another solution to map lookup fields into Pardot? Comment below and share.
Last Update: April 2023 (added Salesforce Flow information)
