Salesforce has introduced a handful of entry-level certifications labeled “Associate”. The most recent one, Marketing Associate, covers general marketing principles and features specific questions on Marketing Cloud.
When Salesforce introduces a new certification that’s designed to lead up to the other certifications, one question to ask is “where’s the overlap?”. It’s helpful to know what knowledge can be applied to others when studying for (and passing) a certification.
In the case of Marketing Cloud, there are four other certifications that Salesforce offers. In this guide, I will focus only on the two that will come next in your certification journey after Marketing Associate – Marketing Cloud Email Specialist and Marketing Cloud Administrator. The Marketing Associate tests your knowledge, branching off pretty much equally to the other two.
Marketing Associate vs. Marketing Cloud Email Specialist
| Topic | Marketing Associate Overlap | How Marketing Cloud Email Specialist Goes Deeper |
|---|---|---|
| Marketing Concepts | Regional nature of privacy laws: GDPR, CCPA – plus CAN-SPAM. Effective opt-in processes. Transactional versus commercial: Email types. | More in-depth knowledge on these topics, plus email template design best practices, including responsive design. Send Classifications: i.e. sender vs delivery profiles and their purposes. |
| Email Sending | Email Studio Send Flow. Email send wizard settings: This includes send classifications, i.e. sender vs delivery profiles and their purposes. Content Builder (basic knowledge): Focused on email template components and content blocks, particularly knowing the difference between A/B testing versus dynamic content. Content rendering validation. | Again, more in-depth knowledge on these topics such as understanding every component of the Email Studio Send Flow, elements that can be tested with A/B testing, and setting up dynamic content. Email campaign content: Folder organization, sharing permissions, etc. Marketing Cloud’s Content Detective. |
| Journey Builder | Activate a journey and simple activation troubleshooting. High-level knowledge on certain entry sources. | How to configure a wider range of entry sources. Re-entry rules and configuration. Journey branching, i.e. wait times and different types of splits. |
| Reporting | Identify where specific data can be found in Marketing Cloud Engagement. Interpret undesired send results and possible deliverability consequences. | Be able to utilize multiple types of reports to reach a conclusion on email effectiveness in line with a campaign’s goal. |
| Einstein AI | Know which to use and when – Send Time Optimization, Einstein Content Selection, Einstein Engagement Frequency. |
Marketing Associate vs. Marketing Cloud Administrator
| Topic | Marketing Associate Overlap | How Marketing Cloud Administrator Goes Deeper |
|---|---|---|
| Business Units & IDs | Business Units: Regional or business related account structures – business units versus permissions (basic knowledge). IDs: Subscriber keys, contact keys, and contact IDs (basic knowledge). High-level understanding of the All Subscribers list. | More in-depth knowledge on these topics: – Implications of using business units, e.g. sharing data and assets across business units, handling subscriber opt-in/opt-outs. – Permission management across multiple Marketing Cloud modules. What each of the standard permissions allows/doesn’t allow, and when to create custom permissions. – Subscriber keys, contact keys, contact IDs, and foreign keys when creating a data model and data extensions. Questions are more complex scenarios. – Profile attributes, attribute groups, and audiences. – All Subscribers list function and behavior for managing opt-ins/outs from different channels, for example an email address updates on the “All Subscribers” list, that the email address on the “All Subscribers” list is prioritized. |
| Send Classifications | Sender versus delivery profiles and their purposes. | |
| Journey Builder | How to activate a journey and simple activation troubleshooting. High-level knowledge on certain entry sources. | How to configure a wider range of entry sources. Re-entry rules and configuration. Journey branching, i.e. wait times and different types of splits, joins. |
| Data Import | Given a scenario, summarize the various data import mechanisms and requirements. | Automation Studio import activities, deep understanding of FTP, SFTP and file transfer activities. Import definitions, schedules, and runtime error settings. |
| Data Extensions | Creating a new data extension, including main properties such as ‘Is Testable’ and ‘Is Sendable’. Attributes and how these determine what data you’d expect to be present in a data extension. Filtered data extensions. | One-to-many relationships between data extensions. Retention policies. Data extensions syncing with Salesforce CRM (via Marketing Cloud Connect). |
| Reporting | Identify where specific data can be found in Marketing Cloud Engagement. | Be able to utilize multiple types of reports to reach a conclusion on campaign effectiveness, for example, Subscriber Engagement Report, Impression Tracking by Job, List Performance Over Time, Conversion Tracking Statistics. Admin reports for monitoring account usage and health. Using measures. Tracking data, Tracking Extracts and Data View via Automation Studio. |
Summary
The Marketing Cloud Associate certification is a great starting point for both Marketing Cloud Email Specialist and Marketing Cloud Admin, with many overlapping topics that will help you advance your learning.
Resources
- Marketing Associate Certification Guide & Tips
- Marketing Cloud Email Specialist Certification Guide & Tips
- Marketing Cloud Administrator Certification Guide & Tips