Marketing Cloud Cert Process (Pass any Marketing Cloud Cert With This)
80%+ of people who study for a Marketing Cloud cert suffer from test anxiety.
"Test anxiety is a feeling of agitation and distress associated with test taking" - University of California, Davis
Have you studied for a Marketing Cloud cert before?
Was it overwhelming?
Was it intimidating?
What if you could pass any Marketing Cloud cert with ease?
How would you feel?
Would you be able to:
Get a bonus?
Land a high-paying job?
Take on bigger projects?
Get more job opportunities?
Contribute more to the team?
Show that you know your stuff?
Not long ago...
If you asked me how to pass a Marketing Cloud certification.
I would've said to do These 7 Steps
And that would've been good advice!
But we need to go deeper into step 5...
We need to know the Marketing Cloud Project Process.
You need to know the Marketing Cloud Project Process
What happens if you don't know the Process?
Failing exams.
You'll feel lost.
Always be a beginner.
Feeling Overwhelmed.
Won't help a lot on projects.
Not able to answer questions.
Don't know what or how to study.
No confidence while taking exams.
Don't know how Marketing Cloud works.
Starting from scratch every time you study.
Surprised by questions when taking exams.
Never pick up on the patterns in Marketing Cloud.
That's not what you want.
You should be able to have your cake and eat it too.
Studying for a Marketing Cloud cert shouldn't stress you out.
Marketing Cloud follows a 5 step system.
You can do 500 Marketing Cloud projects, and every project will follow the same 5 Steps.
So... How do you pass a Marketing Cloud Exam?
Glad you asked, my friend.
Here's How to Pass Marketing Cloud Exams:
Know the Marketing Cloud Project Process in depth.
Use it to study for the cert.
But first, how did we arrive at this point?
How We Got Here...
A few years ago, I was doing a project with a luxury skincare company based out of New York.
We were on a Zoom call.
It was 6:30 PM on some random weeknight.
The consultant working on the project shared his screen.
He showed me what his team built in Marketing Cloud.
The list included:
Emails
Reports
Journeys
Automations
SQL Queries
Data Extensions
Attribute Groups
He showed me the whole Marketing Cloud picture.
The zoomed-out version.
It looked similar to projects I did in the past.
That's when it hit me! 💡
Every Marketing Cloud project works the same way!
Only 3 things change between Marketing Cloud projects:
The Data
The Real-World Scenarios
The Company You Work With
But the process stays the same.
Every project you build in Marketing Cloud follows the same pattern.
Every task you do follows a step-by-step system.
I did a lot of Marketing Cloud projects before realizing all of this.
It's hard to describe how I felt in the moment.
I was happy and upset at the same time 😅
Before realizing this, I spent a lot of time feeling confused.
I didn't know how things worked together.
Marketing Cloud felt brand new every time I logged in.
Like I was starting from scratch.
But when that light bulb went off in my head 💡, everything became clear.
I started using the Marketing Cloud Project process in everything.
Including:
Studying for Marketing Cloud Exams.
Last week - I wrote this article about the Marketing Cloud Project Process.
The 1st thing to know - The Marketing Cloud Project Process
The 2nd thing to know - How to use the process to study for your certification.
At this point, you may be asking:
"Okay, but how do you use the Marketing Cloud Project Process to pass a Marketing Cloud certification?"
I'm glad you asked that question!
You're going to use a new process:
The Marketing Cloud Certification Process
But... First things First...
What are the benefits of the Marketing Cloud Certification Process?
The Marketing Cloud Cert Process
(7 Benefits)
Here are 7 benefits of learning The Marketing Cloud Cert Process:
More Credibility (so you can get hired by your dream company)
Land that high-paying job (So you can stop worrying about bills)
Get that bonus you deserve (so you can live the lifestyle you want)
More Career Opportunities (So you can make an impact and get paid)
To understand marketing cloud concepts (so you can become the expert)
To prove that you're smart enough (so you can defeat imposter syndrome)
To show that you know your stuff (So you can take on higher-paying projects)
Could any of those benefits change the trajectory of your career?
Could they change your life?
Yes?
Good - Here's the Marketing Cloud Cert Process!
Take it and watch your career blossom like a flower on a sunny spring day.
This is my 4-step process to pass Marketing Cloud Certifications.
Click the drop-down arrow to learn each step in detail.
Each drop-down arrow represents one of the four steps in the process.
Know the Marketing Cloud Project Process
Marketing Cloud Project Process - (High Level Overview)
Step 1 - Setup & Admin
Setup Deep Dive
Integrations
AppExchange Packages
Step 2 - Data Management
Understand your data
Importing Data
Segmenting Data
Step 3 - Content Creation & Delivery
Content Builder Overview
Creating Content
Testing Content
Step 4 - Automation
Automation Studio vs. Journey Builder
Building an Automation
Building a Journey
Step 5 - Reporting
Purpose of Reporting
Standard Reporting
Custom Reporting
Want to learn more about the Marketing Cloud Project Process?
Get the Exam Outline Sections in order
Step 1)
Go to the exam outline for the exam you’re studying for
Example = Email Specialist Exam outline
Step 2)
Step 3)
Write the Exam Sections down on paper or in Notion
Email Marketing Best Practices - 10%
Content Creation & Delivery - 24%
Marketing Automation - 26%
Subscriber & Data Management - 26%
Insights & Analytics - 14%
Step 4)
Order the exam sections in the correct order
Ask yourself these 2 questions before you order the exam sections.
What is the step-by-step flow for the 5 step project framework?
How does each exam section fit into the 5 step framework?
Tips:
Brainstorm with a friend that has done a MC project before
The 5 step framework is your compass
Here’s the correct Exam Section order for the Email Specialist cert
Email Marketing Best Practices - 10%
Subscriber and Data Management - 26%
Content Creation and Delivery - 24%
Marketing Automation - 26%
Insights and Analytics - 14%
Add the bullet points (As Questions) this is the most important step
Re-Write each exam section bullet point as real-life questions.
The goal here is to get creative.
Write at least 3 real-world questions that you would ask if you were a manager using Marketing Cloud for the first time.
A good formula to get creative ideas flowing:
Ask:
- Who
- What
- When
- Where
- Why
- How
Tips:
Pretend like you’re a manager using Marketing Cloud for the first time and you’re asking an Email Specialist these questions.
(You have to step into the shoes of someone really doing a project)
This is the key difference between studying to pass vs. studying to master the tool.
How to do this with the Email Specialist Cert
Email Marketing Best Practices - 10%
Given a customer scenario, evaluate elements and techniques of email marketing to design effective emails and email programs.
Re-Write:
What is an email program? Is that a Marketing campaign?
What are the different elements of an email message we need to think about before we hit send?
What are the different types of email designs we could be using in our marketing strategies?
What are the different marketing techniques in that will help us create awesome email campaigns?
Given a customer scenario, differentiate elements of an email that can impact message deliverability.
Re-Write:
What are the different parts of an email that can affect our email deliverability rates?
How is email deliverability affected?
How can we have better email deliverability rates?
Given a customer scenario, demonstrate appropriate and effective subscriber acquisition and retention methodologies.
Re-Write:
How can we get new email subscribers?
What are the different ways we can attract new subscribers?
How can we keep our subscribers from unsubscribing? What should we be thinking about?
Subscriber and Data Management - 26%
Given desired output requirements, set up Data Extensions in Marketing Cloud.
Re-Write:
What’s a data extension?
How do you create a data extension?
Can you connect data extensions together? If yes, how?
What are the different types of data extensions?
Where can you set up data extensions in Marketing Cloud?
Given a customer's business requirements, determine how to import data into Marketing Cloud.
Re-Write:
How do you import data into Marketing Cloud
What are the different import options we can use in Marketing Cloud?
Who is allowed to import data into Marketing Cloud?
How often can we import data into Marketing Cloud?
Can we automate our data imports?
Given a customer's business requirements, configure segmentation tools to model subscribers and data.
Re-Write:
What are the different ways to segment our subscribers?
Can we automatically segment subscribers in Marketing Cloud?
How technical do you have to be to segment subscribers in Marketing Cloud?
Where can we segment our subscribers in Marketing Cloud?
Who can segment subscribers in Marketing Cloud
Given a customer scenario, identify and troubleshoot send discrepancy based on subscriber preference management.
Re-Write:
What is send discrepancy?
How do we identify and troubleshoot send discrepancies?
Can we put systems in place to identify and troubleshoot send discrepancies?
What is subscriber preference management?
How do we troubleshoot a subscriber’s preferences?
How do we properly identify a subscriber’s preferences?
Where can we go to find a subscriber’s preferences?
How do we KNOW that we’ve identified send discrepancy (Is there a way we can know?)
Content Creation and Delivery - 24%
Given a desired sending process, recommend Marketing Cloud tools to use when preparing an email for sending.
Re-Write:
What are the different ways we can send emails in Marketing Cloud?
Who can we send emails to in Marketing Cloud?
Where do we need to go in order to send emails in Marketing Cloud?
Are there automated ways to send emails in Marketing Cloud?
When would we send an automated email vs a broadcast email?
Where do we go to send broadcast emails?
Where do we go to send our newsletters?
Is there a better type of way to send emails in Marketing Cloud?
How do we prepare an email in Marketing Cloud to send out?
Given a customer scenario, create and customize an email message to meet customers’ needs.
Re-Write:
How do we create emails in Marketing Cloud?
Where do we need to go in Marketing Cloud to create emails?
How many emails can we create in Marketing Cloud?
How do we store emails in Marketing Cloud?
What are the different types of ways we can customize an email in Marketing Cloud?
Which type of email customization is the best?
What’s the process of creating an email in Marketing Cloud?
Given a customer scenario, configure send settings to meet the customer's requirements.
Re-Write:
What are send settings in Marketing Cloud?
Are there different types of send settings in Marketing Cloud?
Is there a type of send setting I should use in certain scenarios?
Given a customer scenario, organize and manage email campaign content.
Re-Write:
How do we organize email content in Marketing Cloud?
Where do we need to go in order to organize email content?
What’s the best organizational strategy for our email content?
Marketing Automation - 26%
Given a customer scenario, recommend the appropriate marketing automation solution.
Re-Write:
What are the different automation tools in Marketing Cloud?
Is one tool better than the other?
Why would I use one tool over the other?
What does each automation tool do in Marketing Cloud?
What are the different types of use cases that you would use each automation tool for?
Given a customer scenario, build the appropriate Automation Studio solution.
Re-Write:
What is Automation Studio?
Why would we use Automation Studio over Journey Builder?
Are there scenarios that work better for Automation Studio?
Why do companies use Automation Studio?
Who is allowed to use Automation Studio?
How often can we run automations in Automation Studio?
How many automations can we run at once?
How do we build an automation?
Does automation studio connect to anything else?
What’s the step-by-step process to create the world’s best automation?
What's the best way to use Automation Studio?
What happens if something goes wrong in automation studio? What can we do?
Can we run reports on automations?
Given a customer scenario, explain the different metrics available for email campaigns and what each one means.
Re-Write:
What are email metrics?
Which email metrics matter the most?
What does each email metric mean? (Why do they matter at all?)
Are there email metrics that matter the most?
Where do we go to see our email metrics in Marketing Cloud?
Can we automate our email metrics?
Can we customize the way we see our email metrics?
Can we send email metrics to a specific team?
Can we use email metrics to make our campaigns better?
Insights and Analytics - 14%
Given an email campaign, describe the steps involved to analyze the performance results.
Re-Write:
What does it mean to analyze performance results?
How do we analyze the performance of our marketing messages in Marketing Cloud?
Where do we go to analyze the performance of our marketing messages?
Is there specific place that is better for us to analyze our performance results?
What are the most simple results we can analyze and where should we go to see those?
Is there a report we can use to analyze our performance results?
Are there any custom ways we can analyze our performance results?
Given a customer scenario, configure and run Marketing Cloud ad hoc and automated reports.
Re-Write:
What are the different ad hoc reports in Marketing Cloud?
What are the different automated reports in Marketing Cloud?
Is it better to run ad hoc reports vs automated reports?
When would we run ad hoc reports vs automated reports in Marketing Cloud?
Who can run reports? Do they need special permissions?
Are there any additional reports we can run? Like Datorama reports? What do we need to do to get those up and running?
Given a customer scenario, recommend an Einstein product that will analyze campaign effectiveness.
Re-Write:
What are the different Einstein reports that we can use?
Why would we use one Einstein report over another?
What are the use cases for each Einstein report?
Who is allowed to run Einstein reports?
How often are we able to run Einstein reports?
When do Einstein reports run?
Where do we go to set up Einstein reports and run them?
Where do the results go when we run Einstein reports?
Find the resources to study for each bullet point
Answer your questions from the 3rd step in this process.
Research to find the answers for each question you came up with in the 3rd step.
Google is your best friend here
If you want everything in one place
If you don’t want to spend all your time researching
If you want to pass your Marketing Cloud Cert as fast as possible
Here's the Marketing Cloud Email Specialist Course
If you're studying for a Marketing Cloud Cert - use this 4-step process to pass with ease!
Or you can take a course that walks you through this 4-Step process.
How To Pass Marketing Cloud Certifications.
(A Recap)
Here's what we covered in this letter.
Know the Marketing Cloud Project Process
Implement the Marketing Cloud Cert Process
Follow the rest of the steps in the 7-step process
Alright - That's all I've got for ya today.
I'm headed to Comic-Con here in San Diego to see what that's all about.
Enjoy your weekend!
Kaelan Moss - MinuteAdmin Out ✌🏽
PS - When you’re ready, here are 2 ways I can help you:
If you want to learn Marketing Cloud & get certified, I’d recommend starting with a value-packed course. Join 2,000+ students here.
Each week I use tools that make me more productive. I only recommend tools that I like. So here you go - Organize your thoughts and systemize your work with Notion.
