Salesforce unveils Marketing Cloud Next for AI-driven campaigns

Salesforce has introduced Marketing Cloud Next, aimed at providing agentic marketing capabilities and ending the era of traditional 'do-not-reply' messaging by facilitating two-way conversations across all marketing channels.

Marketing Cloud Next is positioned as a comprehensive solution built natively on the Salesforce Platform, incorporating autonomous AI agents capable of managing actionable data, fostering cross-departmental workflows, and spanning the entire customer funnel.

Salesforce said these AI agents handle complex campaign tasks, such as assembly and personalisation, with the aim of freeing marketing teams to focus on broader strategic work and creative engagement. Unlike platforms that integrate artificial intelligence onto pre-existing legacy systems, Marketing Cloud Next was described as being designed specifically for agentic marketing.

The solution's AI agents are intended to operate autonomously and proactively, handling tasks like campaign creation for targeted customer groups or optimising performance at different stages of the marketing journey. These capabilities are also planned to extend across other business functions, including sales, service, and commerce, for a unified customer experience.

"With Marketing Cloud Next, we're giving marketers more than AI-powered features – we're delivering a complete agentic marketing solution," said Steve Hammond, EVP & GM, Marketing Cloud, Salesforce. "Agentforce transforms how work gets done, but it doesn't replace marketers — it empowers them. By offloading the manual, repetitive tasks to Agentforce, marketers can focus on big picture strategy and being a value multiplier across the business."

The company highlighted the challenges that marketing teams frequently encounter when launching product campaigns, citing ongoing pressure from different departments, the need for up-to-date personalisation data, and slow progress due to approval and review steps.

Salesforce referred to research indicating that customer expectations are rising: 43% of consumers will stop doing business with a brand after a single poor experience, and 69% expect interactions to be consistent across departments. While 75% of marketers report experimenting with AI, only 32% state they use data effectively in creating relevant customer experiences. This was cited as part of the rationale behind the agentic approach taken in Marketing Cloud Next.

Features and workflow

The Marketing Cloud Next platform introduces a series of functions including campaign creation with Agentforce, which allows marketers to collaborate with AI to generate briefs, create audiences, draft content, and organise customer journeys. Integration with unstructured data sources such as Google Drive, SharePoint, Zendesk, and external web content further support campaign personalisation efforts.

Agentforce also facilitates multi-channel engagement by converting marketing communications into two-way interactions. The AI adapts content in real-time, manages responses, and can escalate interactions to human staff where necessary. Agentforce Personalisation Decisioning applies real-time signals to tailor offers and content for users, while Agentforce Web Curation adapts website layouts and recommendations to visitors' behaviour and context.

For lead management, the AI automates the process of adding leads to nurture programmes, scoring, drafting outreach in multiple languages, and booking meetings—with human review options built into the workflow. Paid campaign optimisation sees AI agents monitor ad performance, pause underperforming ads, and suggest modifications to targeting and spend based on business goals. A Segment Intelligence tool helps marketers identify which audiences yield the highest returns, enabling better targeting moving forward.

Current Salesforce Marketing Cloud users will be able to access these new features alongside existing systems, with no requirement for system replacement. Certain features and new Marketing Cloud+ SKUs are scheduled for phased releases throughout 2025.

Customer feedback

Several Salesforce customers commented on the new solution's role in their organisations. Andrew Chang, Chief Marketing Officer, University of Chicago Medicine, stated:

"As a data-driven marketer, I believe that data isn't just for campaigns — it's the foundation for driving organisational transformation. In healthcare, where the stakes are incredibly high, there's an immense opportunity to reimagine the patient experience. By integrating advanced technologies like AI into that journey and harnessing the power of data, we can make receiving care more intuitive and seamless."

Joey Graziano, EVP, Strategy & New Business Ventures, Indiana Fever, said:

"We're in a once-in-a-generation moment for women's sports—and we're meeting it with urgency. Salesforce is the unifier that connects our data, our systems, and most importantly, our fans. With Data Cloud, Marketing Cloud, and Agentforce, we've turned 30+ data sources into personalised, 1:1 fan engagement at scale—so every campaign, message, and moment feels as unforgettable as game day."

Brandon Metcalf, CEO & Founder of Asymbl, commented:

"The real magic is in the partnership between our digital and human SDR. Together they operate as one team, adapting in real time and letting us act like a company 10x our size while keeping costs in check and our people energised."

Availability

Marketing Cloud Next and its majority of features are now available to users, with further updates and integrations planned for later in 2025, including expansions in collaboration with LinkedIn and the launch of Agentforce Web Curation.