HomeMarketing CloudCertificationMarketing Cloud Email Specialist Certification

Marketing Cloud Email Specialist Certification

March 22, 2020

Please refer to the Exam Guide for Email Specialist on Trailhead for the latest updates on the modules as there may be changes based on new releases. The below inputs are based on what I have observed as of WI20. Like I mentioned in the main Certification post, do try to get an org for hands-on or find a mentor who can help show you some of these important features – it’s much easier to grasp the areas when you see it in action.

Trailmixes and other references

Exam Modules

Subscriber and Data Management – 28%

This is the most important and fundamental module that you’d need to learn for Email Specialist. Even though it comes 5th in sequence in the Exam Guide, I always ask folks to go through this one first.

Recommended Trailhead modules and references:

Focus Areas:

  1. Understand the Subscriber Model –
    • what is the difference between a Subscriber and Contact
    • what is subscriber key and subscriber id
    • what values can you possibly use for Subscriber key
    • what are various status values possible for a subscriber in Email Studio
  2. Subscriber management using Lists – this is one of the data structures to store subscriber information in Marketing Cloud and only used within Email Studio. You’ll definitely need to know
    • what is a List – how do you create / maintain a List
    • what is the All Subscribers List – and what features are similar to or different from the other Lists that you create
    • what are profile and preference attributes and where are they used – data types permitted, and properties (hidden, required, read-only, default values, etc.) – for e.g. if you wanted to make a profile attribute as a picklist value, how would you define it (restrict possible values)
    • when do you use Lists for storing subscribers – best practices to be followed when using Lists
    • what happens when you send email to a List – and when subscribers respond – flow of updates to the specific List and All Subscribers List
    • what is a Targeted List vs Exclusion List when sending Emails
  3. Data Extensions – this is the more widely used data storage option in Marketing Cloud and supported by all channels. Areas to focus on:
    • what is a Data Extension (DE)
    • what are the field types permitted in a DE
    • understand what a Primary Key is in a DE, how do you specify a field as Primary Key – and how it may be different from a Subscriber Key
    • different classifications of DEs – normal DE, Salesforce DE, Synchronized DE
    • different creation methods for a normal DE – New, From Existing DE, From a Template – when would you use a Template (like SendLog, Triggered DE, etc.)
    • different options for creating a normal DE – Standard, Filtered, Random – the latter two to be covered under Segmentation
    • data retention configuration in DEs
    • what’s the difference between sendable, testable and non-sendable DEs
    • how do you send email to a sendable DE – understand the flow of how the subscriber / contact in DE gets mapped back to the Subscriber model (and All Subscribers List) as part of an email Send
    • what are publication lists – importance of using publication lists with DE Email Sends
    • what are suppression lists – how are suppression lists used during DE Email Sends
    • how do you configure Data Relationships
    • when would you use a DE vs a List – learn best practices for using both
    • review how would you share data extensions across business units – what data extensions can you access from child BUs and when would you need to explicitly share
  4. Importing Data – need to understand how to import data into Lists or Data Extensions:
  5. Segmentation techniques – important to understand what is segmentation and how can it be done for Lists and DEs:
    • what are Groups?
    • types of List segmentation – Filtered and Random Groups
    • types of DE segmentation – Filtered and Random DEs
    • how do you create Data filters for both Lists and DEs
    • what are measures – how do you use them for segmentation
    • how do you use data relationships when creating filters
  6. Unsubscribe management – learn the different types of unsubscribes and how to manage them:
    • what’s the difference between Global, Master and List unsubscribe
    • what are the ways you can do a Master and List unsubscribe – Profile Center (only for Master), Subscription Center, Importing data, through API, through UI (editing Subscriber Properties), etc.
    • what is One-click unsubscribe
    • how do you process unsubscribes across Business Units and Parent Account
    • what happens when a subscriber unsubscribes – where does the status get updated? what happens if the subscriber is re-activated – review scenarios where the unsubscribe happens in a List vs the All Subscribers List – and when re-activation happens in a List vs the All Subscribers List – need to know what will be the status of the subscriber if present in both lists and depending on where the unsubscribe / re-activation is being done
    • learn what is shown on a standard Profile Center and Subscription Center page
    • what happens if a subscriber forwards an email to a friend and he / she clicks on the unsubscribe link or changes preferences
  7. Additional areas to learn – check out the following features in Email Studio as well:

Email Marketing Best Practices – 15%

Recommended Trailhead modules and references:

Focus Areas:

  1. Marketing Cloud Products – understand the basic overview of Marketing Cloud Products
    • what are the functions of each of the Studios and Builders
    • what is Marketing Cloud Connect
    • tools in Marketing Cloud that you shall use for Email Marketing – like Email Studio, Automation Studio, Journey Builder, etc.
    • what are the tenant types and business units in Marketing Cloud
    • what are the standard roles provided by Marketing Cloud
  2. Legal Compliance – what you need to be aware of from a legal perspective during Email Marketing:
    • what is the CAN-SPAM law – and why is it important to follow when using Marketing Cloud?
    • difference between Commercial and Transactional Emails – what are the CAN-SPAM compliance requirements for each, and what does Marketing Cloud check for in a Commercial email
    • what is a Send Classification – learn about CAN-SPAM Classification, Sender and Delivery profiles
  3. Email Deliverability – understand factors that can influence deliverability and how can you improve it:
    • review CAN-SPAM compliance and how to avoid SPAM traps / filters – use of tools like Content Detective in Email Studio
    • how do you ensure list quality to keep only opted-in subscribers thereby lowering bounce rates
    • importance of email authentication (like SPF / DKIM), use of Sender Authentication Package (SAP)
    • identifying Sender Name, Address and using appropriate Subject lines, Content and Frequency of sends
    • how to build ISP reputation – what is IP Warming
  4. Subscriber Acquisition – review effective ways to acquire subscribers
  5. Subscriber Enagement – review best practices to engage subscribers and retaining them

Email Message Design – 13%

Recommended Trailhead modules and references:

Focus Areas:

  1. Email Design Best Practices – review best practices to follow for effective email designs, creating responsive emails to cater to multiple devices
  2. A/B Testing – learn how and why A/B testing is done:
    • what test elements are supported in A/B testing
    • how do you determine the winner of an A/B test – when and who would the remaining emails be sent to, and what if there’s a tie
  3. Email Preparation Tools – learn about the various Marketing Cloud tools used when sending Emails:
  4. Email Approvals – understand the use of approvals in Email Studio and Content Builder:
    • learn how to set up a team for Approvals
    • what are the two types of workflows for Approvals – Standard and Two-Step – be clear on the various roles and the status lifecycle permitted for each of the workflows
    • what emails can you send with / without approvals
    • where can you review and approve / reject email approvals

Content Creation and Delivery – 18%

Recommended Trailhead modules and references:

Focus Areas:

  1. Email Creation and Customization – learn different ways to create emails in Email Studio and Content Builder (Classic Content is no longer supported and hence features only available in Classic may not be there for the exam):
    • how to create Email Templates – Paste HTML and from existing Template
    • advantages of using a standard template provided by Marketing Cloud
    • what happens to emails created from a template when the template is updated
    • how to create email using HTML, Text Only, Template or another existing email
    • review best practices for creating emails in Content Builder
    • what are personalization strings and how are they used in Emails
    • how do you customize emails using Dynamic Content and Ampscript (you don’t need to learn detailed syntax of Ampscript – just high level understanding of when you would use Ampscript)
  2. Email Sending and Deploying – learn the different ways you can send an email from Email Studio:
    • understand the difference between User-Initiated and Triggered sends and when each one would be used for an Email Send
    • review the various settings to be configured either in a Send Definition or during Send Flow – such as Send Classification, Email Content, Target Audience, Exclusions, Message Properties, Logging and Tracking. For e.g. – what configuration would you set if you wanted to send both HTML and Text versions of an email to your subscribers in a single send?
  3. Content Creation – discover how to use Content Builder (CB) for creating the building blocks for Emails:
    • explore how to use Content Builder for creating templates, emails and content blocks
    • what is a content block – and what are the different types available in CB
    • what are the best practices to be followed when you create content in CB
    • how can you share content across enterprise and / or business units

Marketing Automation – 19%

Recommended Trailhead modules and references:

Focus Areas:

  1. Automation Studio – learn how to run automated workflows in Marketing Cloud using Automation Studio:
    • Automation Studio overview
    • Types of automation (Starting / Entry sources) – File Drop and Scheduled
    • File Locations in Marketing Cloud – Enhanced FTP folders and Safehouse
    • Review the various Automation Activities – especially File Transfer, Import File, SQL Query, Filter, Send Email, Data Extract, Wait and Verification activities
    • Ensure you learn which activities to use for a scenario and in what sequence – for e.g. if you have to import an encrypted file on a File Drop, segment the data on a particular field / attribute and send email to the audience, then the sequence would be File Transfer Activity > Import File Activity > Filter Activity > Send Email Activity.
    • what are Data Views – and how are they useful
  2. Journey Builder – explore how journeys are used for 1:1 customer engagement in Marketing Cloud:
    • Journey Builder overview – how to create single and multi-step journeys, and use journey templates
    • Entry Sources for Journey Builder – and re-entry criteria
    • Journey Builder activities – focus more on the ones used for Email Marketing – such as Send Email, Decision Split, Engagement Split, Random Split, Join, Wait (by Duration, Attribute, Date), Update Contact – and updating CRM objects (Sales and Service Cloud)
    • How do you set Goals in a journey – what happens when you meet the goal? How is it linked to exit criteria for the journey

Tracking and Reporting – 7%

Recommended Trailhead modules and references:

Focus Areas:

  1. Email Campaign Metrics – identify the various metrics captured during Email Campaign sends
  2. Email Studio Reports – explore the various reporting options available in Analytics Builder for Emails
    • review various options to deliver a report – email, save to ftp, download, save as a snapshot
    • how do you schedule a report – options to deliver would be email, ftp and save to Reports
    • what is a Report Activity – and how do you use it for automated reports using Report Definition activity
  3. Email Send Tracking – review tracking data captured in Email Studio for email sends:
    • explore the Tracking workspace and features available in each of the tabs
    • learn how to use Update Job Links feature to update URLs in email sends after the job is completed / cancelled
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About The Author

Shibu Abraham

Shibu Abraham is an IT Director with UST Global based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He is a Salesforce Certified Application Architect and a Marketing Champion. He is a big fan of Marketing Automation, programming in SFMC and blogging on SFMC topics. He believes in innovation, continuous learning and sharing knowledge about Salesforce and promotes various events for the Salesforce Trailblazer Community.