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Launching PyPardot4

I’m an open source programmer!

As part of my responsibilities at IHS, I am the administrator of  our marketing automation platform Pardot. Pardot is a Salesforce product and it integrates well with IHS’ Salesforce database. However, there are elements of the the database that we want to use in Pardot but Pardot could not access.

There is a Pardot API, which means one can theoretically create computer code to perform actions with Pardot beyond the official features. I found PyPardot, a Python package for accessing the Pardot API. However, it was written for an outdated version of the API and the author is no longer maintaining the package. Luckily, the author released the package as an open source project on GitHub.

Over the past few days, I have updated the package for compatibility with the latest version (4) of the Pardot API! It is now available on PyPI and the code & reference wiki are available on GitHub.

I have already used my new package PyPardot4 to accomplish some of our needs at IHS and I am excited to put it to further use. However, I have already learned so much including:

  • How to call an API from Python
  • What a fully object-oriented programming project looks like from top to bottom
  • How to contribute to and create open source programming projects on GitHub
  • How to upload a Python package to PyPi (the Python Package Index)
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What I’m Working On

Three months ago I started a new job at the Institute for Humane Studies (IHS). My role is focused on digital marketing, in particular marketing automation and marketing analytics. So far I have found the work challenging, interesting, and rewarding.

Marketing automation is the use of software to “automatically” handle marketing tasks. For example, if a potential customer visits your webpage for a product but doesn’t purchase it, you can automatically send them an email with more information (assuming they have granted us permission to email them, of course!) Done properly, you can connect all areas of digital marketing: email, social media, websites, etc. I came in with the preparation for our marketing automation platform finished and was responsible for launching it with training and support. For the most part, this has gone smoothly and it is now used daily to great success. There are more powerful features we haven’t scratched the surface of yet.

Marketing analytics is simply the collection and analysis of marketing data. Working at a non-profit, sales can be a little tricky to define. While a sale is straightforward for our fundraising team, for our programs team it is a more complex question. At IHS, “sales” are more or less participations in our programs, such as PhD scholarships and research seminars. On this front, I have made progress in our ability to collect marketing data in an accessible manner. The next step is to analyze this data and use insights to improve our work.

At IHS we engage with students and professors around the country to encourage the study and advancement of freedom. If you look at higher education today, there is a dire need for the spread of classical liberal ideas throughout academia. I’m proud to be playing a part in furthering this mission while gaining valuable experience in marketing techniques along the way.