While every technology comes with a cost, the eComm team is aware that our campus partners desire a more affordable model to engage with their constituents. The eComm governance group is currently working on funding models for Salesforce and Marketing Cloud that will sustain the program and provide more affordable options to campus partners. Some possibilities that are being explored include the following:

Business Unit Reduction or Consolidation
Business unit costs represent roughly 21% of overall Marketing Cloud expenses. While we have consolidated units to reduce costs in the past, there may be additional steps that can be taken to manage these costs more effectively. While previous consolidation efforts were more complex due to our former email preference solution, the new email preference model introduces the opportunity to consider a different approach that can be campus-specific based on various factors including user/department complexity and available budget.

Simple Send Tooling
While eComm users have asked for a simple send solution to reduce the complexity of email outreach for users not accessing full Marketing Cloud functionality, a simple send tool may also offer cost savings. The eComm team is currently piloting a simple send solution that could reduce licensing needs and associated costs while offering a more streamlined sending experience to our users.

Solution for Free, Simple Events (eComm Event Management): We will continue working to refine the eComm Event Management tool within Salesforce to create more opportunities for users to host free, simple events without the need for Cvent licensing or cost per registration fees. Users hosting free or simple events are encouraged to consider migrating those events to eComm Event Management to reduce overall program costs.

Volume-Based Billing
In addition to technical solutions, the eComm team and governance group are also exploring opportunities to modify the user fee calculation based on campus use of various features, such as business unit volume. Because larger campuses by nature often require a more complex business unit structure whereas smaller campuses may be able to function in a simpler model, we are working to ensure that the user fee calculation and associated billing model are equitable across campuses for areas where cost can be more variable.