Studying for your Marketing Cloud Email Specialist Certification? Preparing for any exam can be daunting, especially if you’re out of practice. I generally find that Marketing Cloud exams are more of a challenge than Sales Cloud related exams because a Marketing Cloud sandbox doesn’t yet exist. Where you could complete Trailhead exercises and get hands-on platform experience with Sales Cloud, it’s not easy with Marketing Cloud unless you have your own access to it. With that said, there is still a long list of things you can do to ace the exam with flying colours. In fact, we’ve come up with seven.
7. Know the Score: Study the Exam Outline
Before you start your studying, get to know the exam breakdown. Not all categories are worth the same amount. If you review the breakdown below, you’ll see that Subscriber and Data Management is worth 28% of your total score whereas Tracking and Reporting is only 7%. Knowing how much each section is worth will guide you to prioritise your studies, especially if your time to prepare is limited.
6. Take a Class
The easiest way to learn is by doing. If you don’t have access to Marketing Cloud, taking a class is the best way to get hands-on experience with the platform. Trailhead recently launched a new course MKT101 (replacing EEB101). It’s a great introduction to the platform but it’s also packed with hands-on exercises so you can see the platform in action. Taught by Trailhead instructors, this five-day course is designed for those with zero or limited experience with Marketing Cloud. Here are the topics covered:
- Introduction to Salesforce Marketing Cloud
- Administration
- Subscriber and Data Management
- Email Message Design and Creation
- Message Testing, Delivery, and Email Marketing Best Practices
- Marketing Automation
- Analytics and Troubleshooting
- Summary
5. Complete a Trailmix
If you don’t have the budget or time for a five-day course, look to Trailhead’s Trailmixes, which aims to help you prepare for your certification. The Prepare for Your Marketing Cloud Email Specialist Credential is worth about 8,800 Trailhead points and a great way to add more badges to your profile. If you commit an entire weekend to studying, you should be able to finish the Trailmix.
4. Watch YouTube Tutorials
Learn from industry experts and watch how-to tutorials on YouTube. Check out Salesforce Marketing Cloud’s official channel which is filled with best-practice videos, new releases and platform demos. Not all topics are relevant to the exam but it’s a great way to understand how the platform works. For step-by-step how-tos, we like Datarati’s Implementation Guru. Expect to see topics like Uploading images to content builder, Setting up email templates, and How to bring Data Extension values to an email.
3. Use Practice Exams as a Guide
Sometimes knowing a platform is different from answering questions on an exam. If you feel you’re ready for an exam, test yourself with a practice exam. The registration cost for a practice exam with unlimited retakes is $20USD. The practice exam is hosted by Trailhead and is a great way to familiarise yourself with how the questions are formatted. It’ll also test your readiness.
Registering for the exam is easy:
- Log in to Webassessor.
- Click Register for a new exam.
- Expand the Certified Practice Tests section.
- Locate the exam called “Salesforce Marketing Cloud Email Specialist Certification Practice Test”.
- Click Register. The cost to register is USD 20.
- Click Check Out.
2. Create a Study Group
Connect with others who are also preparing for their certification. Take turns going through the main concepts. Have each person prepare five test questions for each other to answer.
1. Certification Prep Webinars
Did you know Trailhead offers free certification prep webinars? It’s a half-day instructor-led session that covers key exam topics. If you’re looking for a refresher or just beginning your exam prep, register for the free webinars. But do so quickly, spots are limited and the course is always booked out.