Salesforce Experience Cloud (formerly Community Cloud) is a platform for building customer portals, partner portals, and authenticated sites connected to Salesforce. It enables self-service (knowledge + cases), secure account access, and collaboration, so external users can complete tasks without relying on internal teams.

Experience Cloud is most useful when you need to scale service and collaboration: reduce ticket volume with a support portal, give customers visibility into cases and requests, enable partner deal registration and co-selling, or centralize onboarding resources.

If customers need status visibility and answers → then a self-service portal reduces tickets and improves CSAT.
If partners need standardized workflows (deal reg, leads, assets) → then a partner portal reduces friction and increases channel productivity.
If you can’t confidently control who sees what → then you must design identity + sharing rules before you build pages.

A “good” Experience Cloud program includes:

• A clear portal goal (deflection, partner productivity, onboarding)

• Audience and identity strategy (who logs in and how)

• Secure access model (sharing, roles, entitlements)

• Knowledge and search designed for findability

• Adoption and outcome metrics (completion, deflection, cycle time)

What Experience Cloud Is (in plain English)

Experience Cloud lets you create a branded site or portal where:

• Users can log in (or access public pages if you choose)

• Content and workflows pull from Salesforce objects (Accounts, Contacts, Cases, custom objects)

• Access is controlled by Salesforce permissions and sharing rules

• Users can complete tasks like:

  • Search knowledge articles

  • Submit and track cases/requests

  • Download resources

  • Collaborate in a community (if enabled)

Think of it as “Salesforce, packaged for external users.”

What Problems Experience Cloud Solves

Problem 1: Support volume is too high (and tickets are repetitive)

Customers ask the same questions: order status, password reset, how-to guidance, policy clarification.

What Experience Cloud changes

• Provides knowledge and guided self-service to deflect tickets

• Gives customers visibility into status so they don’t need to call

Problem 2: Customers and partners can’t see what they need

Without a portal, external users depend on internal teams for basic information.

What Experience Cloud changes

• Secure access to the right records (cases, assets, requests) based on the user’s account

Problem 3: Partner processes are slow and inconsistent

Deal registration, co-selling, and enablement often happen via email and spreadsheets.

What Experience Cloud changes

• Standardizes partner workflows and provides consistent visibility and resources

Problem 4: Collaboration lives in email threads

Important context gets lost, and internal teams become the bottleneck.

What Experience Cloud changes

• Centralizes communication, updates, and resources in one experience

Common Experience Cloud Use Cases

Customer support portal

• Knowledge + case submission

• Case status tracking and updates

• Deflection content and guided help

Customer account portal

• Request management and status visibility

• Access to assets, contracts, entitlements (as needed)

• Secure documentation and downloads

Partner portal

• Deal registration, lead distribution, co-selling support

• Partner onboarding and enablement

• Tier-based access to resources and benefits

Community / collaboration hub

• Discussions, announcements, Q&A

• Best practices and peer support

• Moderation and content governance

Key Building Blocks (What You Plan Before You Build)

1) Audience and identity

• Who is the user (customer, partner, dealer, employee)?

• How do they authenticate (SSO vs username/password)?

• How are users provisioned and deactivated?

2) Data access and security model

• What objects will users access?

• How do you segment visibility (account-based, region-based, tier-based)?

• What “least privilege” rules are required?

3) Top tasks and navigation

Portals fail when they try to do everything.

• Identify the top 3 tasks users need

• Make those tasks obvious on the homepage

• Remove dead ends and confusing menus

4) Knowledge and search

If search doesn’t work, users open cases.

• Organize knowledge around tasks and outcomes

• Tune search and reduce “no results”

• Keep articles current with owners and review cadence

When Experience Cloud Is the Right Fit

Good fit if:

• You need secure, authenticated access to Salesforce data for external users

• You want to reduce support volume and improve customer experience

• You have a partner channel that needs standardized workflows and visibility

• You want one place for onboarding, resources, and updates

Consider alternatives if:

• You only need a marketing website (no authenticated workflows)

• Your requirements are primarily content publishing without CRM data access

• Your data access rules and record ownership model aren’t stable yet

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Experience Cloud the same as Community Cloud?

Yes—Experience Cloud is the current name. Many teams still say “Community Cloud” because that was the former branding.

Do I need Service Cloud to use Experience Cloud?

Not always. You can build partner portals and resource hubs without Service Cloud. If you want case deflection and robust support workflows, Service Cloud is commonly part of the solution.

What’s the biggest risk in Experience Cloud projects?

Security and visibility rules. If the sharing model isn’t designed carefully, users either see too much (risk) or can’t see what they need (adoption failure).

How do we measure portal success?

Track task completion (top tasks), case deflection rate, time to resolution for portal-assisted cases, and adoption (active users and repeat logins).

How do we get adoption?

Make the top tasks obvious, improve knowledge search quality, reduce friction in login and navigation, and continuously iterate based on usage and feedback.

Book an Experience Cloud Working Session

If you want a customer or partner portal that reduces tickets, improves visibility, and stays secure, book time with our team. We’ll map your audience, top portal tasks, and sharing model, then outline a phased plan that gets you live quickly without creating security or adoption problems.