How to Perform a Health Check and Audit in Salesforce Marketing Cloud (SFMC)?
- sfmcstories
- May 25
- 3 min read
Salesforce Marketing Cloud (SFMC) is a powerful platform that helps marketers drive personalized customer journeys across email, SMS, push, and more. But with great power comes great responsibility — especially for Admins. To ensure that your platform runs smoothly, securely, and efficiently, regular health checks and audits are essential.
In this post, we’ll walk you through what to audit, how often, and what tools and reports you can use to keep your Marketing Cloud instance in top shape.
Why Perform an SFMC Audit?
Think of a health check like a regular check-up — it helps you:
Catch issues early (before they impact campaigns)
Maintain compliance and data security
Ensure optimal deliverability and contact hygiene
Optimize automations and journeys
Audit user access to prevent over-permissioned accounts
Key Areas to Audit in SFMC
1. 👥 User Access & Roles
Review Active Users: Remove inactive accounts.
Audit Roles: Are users following least-privilege access?
Business Unit Access: Validate correct permissions across BUs.
MFA: Ensure Multi-Factor Authentication is enforced for all users.
Audit Trail: If enabled, review login and change activity.
📅 Frequency: Monthly or after staffing changes
2. 📊 Data & Contact Management
Contact Count vs. Limits: Stay within licensed limits to avoid extra charges.
Data Extension Audit:
Remove unused DEs
Ensure proper naming conventions
Retention Settings: Enable retention policies to auto-clean old data.
Contact Builder Review:
Confirm Contact Key consistency
Validate attribute group relationships
📅 Frequency: Monthly
3. 🔁 Automations & Journeys
Automation Studio: Check for failed runs or skipped activities.
Journey Builder:
Look for paused or broken journeys
Validate entry source data and exits
Error Logs: Review import, SQL, and script activity errors.
📅 Frequency: Weekly
4. 📬 Deliverability & Compliance
Bounce Rates: Hard bounces should remain <2%.
Complaint Feedback: Monitor unsubscribe and spam complaint trends.
Sender Authentication:
Ensure DKIM, SPF, and DMARC are active
Review sender profiles and reply mail settings
CAN-SPAM & Consent:
Ensure every email includes an unsubscribe option
Review global suppression and preference centers
📅 Frequency: Weekly or Post-Campaign
5. 🔗 Integrations & APIs
Marketing Cloud Connect:
Validate CRM integration and sync status
Check synchronized Data Extensions
API Audit:
Monitor daily API call volume
Rotate client secrets every 90 days
Installed Packages: Remove unused ones and validate access scopes.
📅 Frequency: Monthly
6. 🔒 Security & Governance
Audit Sensitive Fields: Are PII fields encrypted or restricted?
Data Access Governance:
Field-level and BU-level access
FTP/SFTP Folder Review: Remove outdated files.
API Key Management: Rotate keys and remove stale tokens.
📅 Frequency: Quarterly
🧠 Einstein & Intelligence Checks
If you're using Einstein:
Send Time Optimization: Check effectiveness on open/click rates.
Engagement Scoring: Use it for smarter segmentation.
Content Selection: Ensure AI-tagged assets are accurate and relevant.
Health Check Deliverables
After performing your audit, consider producing:
✅ User Access Matrix (Excel)
✅ Automation Failure Report (PDF)
✅ DE & Contact Health Tracker (Google Sheet)
✅ API & Integration Summary
✅ Audit Summary Slide Deck (PowerPoint)
Recommended Audit Schedule
Area | Frequency |
User Access Review | Monthly |
Data & DE Clean-Up | Monthly |
Automation & Journey Checks | Weekly |
Deliverability Review | Weekly |
API & Integration Review | Monthly |
Security & Compliance Review | Quarterly |
Full Platform Health Audit | Twice a Year |
Conclusion
Auditing SFMC isn’t a one-time task — it’s a discipline. Building it into your regular processes not only protects your investment in Marketing Cloud but also ensures your marketing team can scale and innovate with confidence.
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