So you want your leads to move smoothly from your marketing automation tool into Salesforce—without duplicate records, broken workflows, or a bunch of manual exporting. If you're juggling Ortto and Salesforce, this guide will walk you through making them play nice. Whether you're in sales ops, marketing, or just the “systems person” by default, this is for you.
No hype, no over-promises—just what works, what doesn’t, and what to skip.
Why connect Ortto and Salesforce?
Let’s be real: Salesforce is your source of truth for sales, but it’s a pain to use for marketing automation or email journeys. Ortto is much better at that part. But if the two aren’t talking, you end up with:
- Leads falling through the cracks
- Sales annoyed at bad or missing data
- Duplicate contacts and wasted time
Connecting them means leads flow in, get nurtured, and show up in Salesforce ready for sales—without you babysitting every step.
What you’ll need before you start
Get these sorted first:
- Salesforce account with admin permissions (you’ll need to install and authorize apps)
- Ortto account with admin rights
- A clear idea of your lead fields and what data you want synced (don’t wing it)
- 30–60 minutes, depending on how picky you are about field mapping
Pro tip: Clean up your Salesforce fields and deduplicate leads before you connect anything. If your data’s a mess, integration will just make it messier.
Step 1: Understand the integration (and its limits)
Let’s set expectations. The Ortto-Salesforce integration is solid for syncing leads, contacts, and some custom fields. But:
- It’s not a full sync. Ortto mainly pushes leads/contacts into Salesforce and can pull updates back. It doesn’t do every object or custom workflow.
- No magic deduplication. If your data is messy, duplicates will happen.
- Field mapping matters. If your custom fields don’t line up, data will get lost or go to the wrong place.
- API limits are real. Salesforce has daily API call limits—don’t go wild with constant syncs if you have a big org.
Don’t expect the integration to fix all your process problems. It’s a bridge, not a panacea.
Step 2: Connect Ortto to Salesforce
Here’s how you do the actual hookup.
a. In Ortto: Start the connection
- Log into Ortto as an admin.
- Go to Settings > Integrations.
- Find Salesforce and click Connect.
- You’ll be prompted to log into Salesforce and authorize Ortto. (Make sure you’re using an admin Salesforce account.)
b. Set permissions in Salesforce
Ortto will ask for various permissions—read/write on leads, contacts, and possibly campaigns. Grant these, or the sync won’t work. If your org is strict, you might need an admin to approve.
c. Test the connection
Ortto should show a “Connected” status. If not, double-check:
- You’re using the right Salesforce environment (sandbox vs. production)
- The Salesforce user has the right permissions
- Any IP restrictions or security settings in Salesforce
Don’t skip the test—if you get errors now, fixing them is easier before you do field mapping.
Step 3: Map your fields—don’t just go with the defaults
This is where most integrations go sideways. Take your time here.
a. Review your lead/contact fields
- In Salesforce, export a list of your lead and contact fields (especially any custom ones).
- In Ortto, do the same.
- Decide which fields actually matter for syncing. Don’t just sync everything because you can.
b. Set up field mapping in Ortto
- In the Ortto Salesforce integration settings, go to Field Mapping.
- Map each Ortto field to its Salesforce equivalent.
- Don’t guess. If you’re not sure, ask your Salesforce admin or check documentation.
- Watch out for picklists and multi-select fields—they often don’t match up 1:1.
What to ignore: Don’t bother syncing fields you don’t use. More data ≠ better data. Only sync what sales actually needs.
c. Decide on sync direction
- One-way (Ortto → Salesforce): Good for sending new leads in, but changes in Salesforce won’t come back.
- Two-way (Ortto ↔ Salesforce): Keeps both sides updated, but makes conflicts and overwrites more likely.
For most people, start with one-way. Once you trust the sync, you can try two-way on a few fields.
Step 4: Set up lead syncing rules
You don’t want every person who downloads your ebook ending up in Salesforce. Be picky.
- In Ortto, use segmentation rules to decide which leads get pushed to Salesforce.
- Example: Only sync leads with a score above X, or with a valid business email.
- Set up “create or update” logic to avoid duplicates. If the lead email already exists in Salesforce, update instead of creating a new one.
Pro tip: Test your rules with a small batch first. Check what happens in Salesforce. It’s easier to fix mistakes before you flood your CRM.
Step 5: Test with real (but safe) data
Don’t trust any integration until you’ve seen it work with your own eyes.
- Create a few test leads in Ortto that match your sync rules.
- Watch them appear in Salesforce—do all the fields show up correctly? Any duplicates?
- Edit a field in Salesforce and see if the change comes back to Ortto (if you set up two-way sync).
- Try a few “edge cases”—weird emails, missing fields, international characters.
If anything looks weird, fix your mapping or rules before going live.
Step 6: Roll out to the team (and set expectations)
Don’t just flip the switch and walk away. Tell your sales and marketing folks what’s changing:
- What leads will they see now?
- Which fields are synced?
- Who to bug if something looks off?
Give it a week or two before you change any processes. People will spot things you missed.
What works, what doesn’t, and what to ignore
From real-world experience:
What works: - Getting hot, qualified leads into Salesforce fast - Keeping key data (like lead source or last campaign) in sync - Simple, one-way syncs—less to break
What doesn’t: - Trying to sync every field “just in case” - Using the integration to fix bad data or messy processes - Expecting perfect dedupe—Salesforce and Ortto aren’t mind readers
What to ignore: - Don’t sync every Ortto contact to Salesforce. Your reps don’t want 10,000 ebook downloaders showing up as leads. - Ignore “advanced” automation until the basics work. Fancy workflows won’t fix broken data.
Keeping it simple (and fixing things when they break)
Integrations are never truly “set and forget.” Check your sync logs every week for the first month. Keep an eye out for errors, duplicates, or missing data.
If something breaks, don’t panic. Most problems come down to field mismatches or permission issues. Go back, retrace your steps, and fix the mapping.
If you need to add new fields or change processes, do it in small steps. Test, check, and only then roll out.
If you keep things simple, focus on the fields and leads that actually matter, and don’t expect miracles, connecting Ortto and Salesforce can really smooth out your lead management. Don’t overthink it, and don’t try to automate everything on day one. Start small, see what works, and tweak as you go.