Step By Step Guide On Using FormAssembly with Salesforce To Create Web Forms

One of the common requirements in a Salesforce implementation is to create a public web form. For example, you may want to create a web form for your customers/partners to 

1. Submit Enquiry
2. Log a Complaint
3. Register for an Event/Training/Workshop
4. Request Callback
5. … etc.

These web forms may need to be embedded in your existing websites/microsites or may need to exist standalone. And at the same time, you will also want the data to be saved in Salesforce so that all such requests received are in one central system and are properly tracked and responded to.

Sounds like a reasonable ask. So what are the different options that you can think of to meet this requirement? If you ask me, here is the list that I have come up with:

1. Use web-to-lead and/or web-to-case 
2. Use Salesforce Community / Force.com Site
3. Use Marketing Cloud / Pardot
4. Use a 3rd Party Tool and an integration using a tool like Zapier
5. Use a 3rd Party tool that has native integration to Salesforce

Web-to-lead / web-to-case are pretty basic in nature and leaves a lot to be desired. But if it serves your purpose and you don’t feel handcuffed, it will be the simplest option.

Using the Salesforce Community or Force.com Site will require additional setup and configuration and may require custom development in some cases. Unless you have other requirements to justify the use of a Salesforce Community or Force.com Site, creating this just for public web form will be an overkill and add unnecessary complexity (in my opinion). And if you want to embed these forms somewhere else (like your company’s corporate website) that will require additional consideration.

Marketing Cloud / Pardot has significant license cost and you wouldn’t want to use these just for web forms.

Then there are 3rd party tools that you can consider. These 3rd party tools usually have a rich, point-and-click form builder tool, pre-defined templates with responsive design and a whole lot of features that will make building and publishing forms on Internet a breeze.

Now, Some of these 3rd Party tools require an integration platform like Zapier to integrate with Salesforce and some of these tools have native, out-of-box integration. 

One such 3rd Party tool or app is ‘FormAssembly’. I first used FormAssembly on a project in 2015/2016 and became a fan of the product. It is one of the most popular and highly-rated apps on AppExchange. This app pair is one of the delicious duos when it comes to Salesforce integrations with other apps.  

What is FormAssembly?

FormAssembly is a paid enterprise cloud form creation and data collection platform. It has an advanced Salesforce integration, drag-and-drop features, and sensitive data protection that allows you to streamline your business processes and collect responses with a breeze. To understand it a little more in detail, let’s watch the following video (1:18 mins) & we’ll then get to know more about it.

When you use FormAssembly with Salesforce, you can quickly create rich and appealing forms with out-of-the-box form builder tool. Add validations, define field input types, and set conditional rules. Guide respondents with help text and placeholders. Enable Google reCAPTCHA so that the form is not vulnerable to bots and responses are filtered when submitted. Either you can choose from a pre-built theme and customize it to match your branding or create a new one from scratch. Once done, preview the form on different form factors and finally publish it on your website or share the public link with others.

Salesforce Connector

You can perform data manipulation operations in Salesforce with FormAssembly Salesforce Connector. It allows you to set up an advanced logic to lookup, update or create object records; add dependent object records. Finally, select whether to run assignment rules, auto-response rules, trigger emails, etc.    

Import Salesforce Object Fields

Another cool feature of FormAssembly allows you to fetch the CRM object fields directly in FormAssembly to create your forms. Once the form is created, you just have to work on the validation and appearance part of it.

But the proof of the pudding is in eating. And hence I have come up with this comprehensive step by step guide with screenshots to give you a jumpstart in getting started from scratch, fly you over creating & publishing forms, integrating it with Salesforce and finally leave you with some of the additional useful features as we touchdown. This guide covers how to:

1. Register for FormAssembly
2. Create a New Form
3. Apply & Customize a Theme
4. Enable Google reCAPTCHA to Filter Spam
5. Preview the Form
6. Publish the Form
7. Add & Configure Salesforce Connector
8. Test the Form
9. View Responses
10. Additional Features

NOTE: Certain sections of the guide will appear as locked in the free preview. You can download the unlocked version of the guide in PDF format by subscribing to our “All Access” Pass through the link below.

References & Useful URLs

• Salesforce and FormAssembly eBook (30 mts) – https://www.formassembly.com/salesforce-ebook/
• FormAssembly on AppExchange – https://appexchange.salesforce.com/listingDetail?listingId=a0N300000016ac6EAA
• FormAssembly Website – https://www.formassembly.com/
• FormAssembly YouTube Channel – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOYnX8OumgNeKAwhU0iMyQA
• Use Case: Create Lead or Update Contact – FormAssembly Help Article (25 mins) – https://help.formassembly.com/help/340554-use-case-create-lead-or-update-contact